Uzumaki Kuming, Minato, and Kakashi received the Third Hokage's latest orders and parted ways at the Land of Fire's border. Later, Kuming set off for the Land of Rivers with Uchiha Fugaku, Hizashi Hyuga, and Might Duy.
By the time they reached Konoha's temporary command post in the Land of Rivers, it was already the early hours of the morning several days later.
The Land of Rivers lay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. On the map, it was a long, narrow country. Because it was sandwiched between the two great nations, it had become the battlefield for the war between Sunagakure and Konoha.
The Land of Rivers had no shinobi village of its own, so it had no say in the military deployments of Konoha and Sunagakure, despite being the host country.
Konoha had established its own headquarters in the Land of Rivers. Mitokado Homura and the Konoha Ninja had set up a forward command post in the forest. Hatake Sakumo had been in charge of the post, but after failing a mission, he had been sent back to Konoha under house arrest.
The position of commander had therefore fallen to Homura. As one of the few members of Konoha's advisory council, his personal strength was only average, but he was fairly capable at coordinating a war effort. He quickly steadied the wavering morale. Then, just as things were settling down, Sunagakure launched a brazen attack on the Konoha Ninja stationed in the Land of Rivers.
Many of the scouting teams that had ventured out suffered devastating losses. In a short time, a large part of Konoha's network of informants in the Land of Rivers had been wiped out.
"Who are you?" Kuming and his three teammates reached the forward base in the heart of