A New Crisis in Konoha

Not long after Uchiha Madara finalized his successor plan, Iwagakure launched an offensive from the northwest of the Land of Fire as scheduled, led by the elite Iwagakure jonin, Higashi Shito.

Higashi Shito's force was not particularly large, but it consisted mostly of battle-hardened elite ninja, posing a lethal threat to Konoha, which was already locked in fierce combat with Kirigakure on the eastern front.

After much deliberation, the Third Hokage ultimately decided to send the newly promoted chunin into the war.

Konoha actually possessed significant hidden ninja strength, but these forces belonged to either Danzo or the Uchiha clan, neither of which the Third Hokage could directly command.

Danzo was currently hoping for the Third Hokage to commit a major blunder during the war, forcing him to take responsibility and step down. As for the Uchiha clan, they were unwilling to contribute to Konoha's war effort; the Third Hokage's previous attempts at negotiation had failed, with Uchiha Fugaku repeatedly using the excuse that the Uchiha clan was needed to protect the rear of the village.

Although this decision by the Third Hokage would result in the needless loss of many young, inexperienced ninja, he had no other choice, just as Uchiha Madara had anticipated.

Considering the village's newcomers had never seen a battlefield, their experience, strength, and morale were incomparable to those who had truly survived war.

The Third Hokage decided to distribute most of the newcomers across various active war zones while recalling experienced ninja from those fronts to form a new unit tasked with intercepting the Iwagakure forces.

In this way, the new ninja were spread evenly among the various units, minimizing the impact on overall strategic deployment while barely scraping together enough military strength to weather the immediate crisis.

Because Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin were students of Namikaze Minato, the Third Hokage dispatched them to join Minato's unit, which was currently containing Terumi Mei.

In addition to Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin, their peers—including Might Guy, Shiranui Genma, and Ebisu—who had just become chunin, were also sent to the front lines.

Furthermore, the eternal genin Might Duy finally had the opportunity to enter the battlefield due to the emergency, allowing him to fight side-by-side with his son, Might Guy.

Under the Third Hokage's arrangements, a new unit was quickly reorganized. Led by the village's elite jonin, Mimura Hamaki, they rushed toward the northwest to confront the invaders from Iwagakure.

However, to the Third Hokage's disappointment, news of a disaster arrived from the northwestern front shortly thereafter.

The Iwagakure force was far more powerful than the unit led by Mimura Hamaki, and after an extremely brutal engagement, most of Mimura Hamaki's subordinates were wiped out.

Mimura Hamaki had no choice but to lead the remnants of his unit in a fighting retreat, eventually falling back to a place called Kannabi Bridge to make a desperate stand, while repeatedly sending subordinates to Konoha to request reinforcements from the Third Hokage.

Kannabi Bridge was a location of vital importance to the Land of Fire; once the Iwagakure forces broke through, they would have unimpeded access to the prosperous heartland of the country.

Even if this Iwagakure force did not attack Konoha, simply rampaging through the cities of the Land of Fire would cause catastrophic losses, and as the military organization tasked with protecting the country, Konoha would inevitably bear the ultimate responsibility for such a failure.

At this point, the Third Hokage had no choice but to ask Namikaze Minato to step in once again.

Because Namikaze Minato had mastered the Flying Thunder God technique, he could travel rapidly between various battlefields. Moreover, his personal strength had reached the pinnacle of the current ninja world, and dealing with the force led by Iwagakure's Higashi Shito should have been well within his capabilities.

The units led by Namikaze Minato and Terumi Mei were currently in a cold standoff; if Minato could secretly rush to Kannabi Bridge to resolve the crisis, he could return to the battlefield before Terumi Mei realized he was gone.

This plan carried significant risks; if Terumi Mei discovered Minato's movements, she could launch a sudden assault in his absence, which would also result in heavy losses for Konoha.

However, at this moment, the Third Hokage had no choice but to take the gamble.

Upon receiving the order, Namikaze Minato did not hesitate. He immediately made emergency arrangements with the utmost speed, handed command of the unit to his subordinate Nara Suzaku, and set off for Kannabi Bridge alone.

(Note: In the original work, Namikaze Minato departed from the village with Team Kakashi to support Kannabi Bridge; at that time, including Mimura Hamaki, only four Konoha ninja remained at the bridge.)

Nara Suzaku was a jonin from Konoha's Nara clan, and together with his partners Akimichi Tōshi and Yamanaka Santen, they formed Konoha's signature Ino-Shika-Cho formation.

These three were the best among Minato's subordinates, holding a place of prestige and strength among Konoha's jonin. Nara Suzaku, having inherited the brilliant intellect of the Nara clan, was the only choice to temporarily replace Minato as commander.

Although Minato's deployment was swift and covert, he did not realize that a deeply hidden force was watching his every move from the shadows.