Battle of Kikyo City

The next day, Uchiha Aoba, who had rested in the camp for the night, was awakened by a commotion.

After returning yesterday, he had eaten a simple dinner, washed up, changed his clothes, and gone to the tent arranged for him by logistics, falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Waking up now, he assumed Sunagakure had launched a sneak attack, so he hurriedly dressed, grabbed his weapon, and rushed out of the tent.

As it turned out, the reality was not what he had imagined.

Just as he stepped out, he saw the leader of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Tayama, leading his clansmen toward him.

Throughout the entire camp, the air was thick with a heavy, murderous aura.

The ninjas coming and going all wore extremely solemn expressions.

"Senior Tayama, has Sunagakure made another move?" Uchiha Aoba asked proactively.

Uchiha Tayama shook his head, then nodded, explaining, "It is not that Sunagakure has moved, but that Lord Orochimaru has made arrangements. There will be a major battle ahead, and you must prepare yourself."

"Can you tell me more?" Uchiha Aoba asked.

Uchiha Tayama stared at him intently, his expression softening slightly after a moment: "Yesterday, we followed Lord Jiraiya to reinforce the battlefield and repelled the Sunagakure offensive."

"Last night, Lord Orochimaru summoned me and all the Jonin in the camp. It was decided that today, we will split into two forces to launch a surprise attack on Sunagakure. One force, led by Lord Jiraiya, will feign an attack on the Sunagakure front line to draw their attention."

"The other force, led by Lord Orochimaru, will lead the main army to attack Kikyo City, which is held by Sunagakure."

"This will inevitably be a battle that determines the course of the war."

"So, return to your squad; we of the Uchiha Clan will serve as the main assault force."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Aoba's eyes lit up instantly. He tightened his grip on the long sword at his side and stepped into the ranks.

Seeing this, Uchiha Tayama said no more and led everyone to rendezvous with the main force.

A short while later, they reached their destination.

In a spacious clearing, nearly two thousand ninjas were densely gathered.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya stood at the very front, atop a two-meter-high command platform.

"It is time."

Orochimaru's slightly hoarse voice rang out.

"Then let us proceed according to plan."

As Jiraiya spoke, he raised his right hand. Seeing this, the gathered crowd immediately split off about four or five hundred people.

Then, Orochimaru and Jiraiya exchanged a glance and nodded to each other.

Decades of bonds meant that some things did not need to be said for them to understand what the other intended.

The next second, Jiraiya took the lead, disappearing from his spot with a Body Flicker Technique as he charged toward the Sunagakure front-line camp.

The other ninjas following him immediately took action as well.

Before long, his figure vanished into the depths of the dense forest.

Seeing this, Orochimaru said nothing more, his dark golden, snake-like pupils flickering. He calmly spat out two words: "Move out!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The sounds of the Body Flicker Technique echoed one after another.

In the blink of an eye, the clearing was empty.

On the way to Kikyo City, Uchiha Tayama moved closer to Aoba and whispered, "Kid, don't charge too fast. Today's situation is nothing like yesterday's."

"As a key talent being cultivated by the clan, you were brought to the war mainly to broaden your horizons and witness the cruelty of the ninja world, not to actually kill enemies. Survival is the priority."

Aoba raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "Senior, that's not the right way to put it."

"Since I've come to the battlefield, if I don't kill the enemy, outsiders might think the younger generation of the Uchiha Clan are cowards who only know how to hide behind their seniors."

Uchiha Tayama's mouth twitched: "Is that what I meant?"

"Oh? Isn't it?" Aoba asked with a smile.

Uchiha Tayama snorted coldly: "Regardless of how you interpret my words, just be careful. Don't let the praise of being a 'genius' cloud your judgment."

"Genius, genius—only those who survive the war are truly qualified to be called geniuses."

"Understood, Senior," Aoba replied helplessly.

"Please rest assured, I am not some hot-headed fool. I will take care of myself."

"See that you do. Don't make me collect your corpse," Uchiha Tayama warned one last time before falling silent.

They traveled for an unknown amount of time.

At a single command, everyone stopped in their tracks and hid within the dense forest.

Orochimaru stood behind a large tree, listening to a report from a ninja of the Hyuga Clan.

"We are two kilometers from Kikyo City. The city's defenses are tight, Lord Orochimaru. Based on the chakra reactions I observed with my Byakugan, there are about a thousand Sunagakure ninjas in the city."

"Among them, one person has an exceptionally vast amount of chakra. It feels like a Jinchuriki to me."

The several Jonin guarding Orochimaru's side turned pale at these words.

Jinchuriki. Sunagakure actually stationed their Jinchuriki in Kikyo City; it seems they anticipated that Konoha might take action against the city.

"The plan remains unchanged."

Compared to the others who were slightly flustered, Orochimaru only looked a few shades more solemn.

After all, it was common knowledge in the ninja world that the One-Tail Jinchuriki was a kind-faced old monk with no combat ability to speak of; only a Tailed Beast transformation would be a thorny issue for him.

However, as long as the operation was swift enough, the One-Tail Jinchuriki would have no chance to transform.

Besides, Orochimaru could not retreat now; if he were to pull back, it would be equivalent to selling out Jiraiya.

At this moment, a ninja from the sensory squad ran over quickly.

"Lord Orochimaru, we have received the agreed-upon attack signal from Lord Jiraiya."

"Move out!"

"Yes!"

On the other side, atop the walls of Kikyo City, A Sunagakure genin responsible for patrol duty let out a bored yawn.

His captain noticed this and glared at him irritably, "Pull yourself together and pay attention."

"Sorry, Captain. We've been patrolling for so long without anything happening; it's really hard to keep my spirits up," the Sunagakure chunin explained apologetically.

The captain wanted to scold him, but the words died on his lips.

After all, this kind of slackness wasn't just happening in his squad; the other teams were the same.

Furthermore, no one could maintain constant vigilance for such a long time.

"Tell me, will Konoha ninjas really come to attack Kikyo City?"

Seeing that the captain wasn't blaming him further, the Sunagakure genin breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "Lady Chiyo has placed so many troops in the city and even brought the Jinchuriki here. Could it be..."

"You bastard!"

Upon hearing this, the captain slapped the genin, turned around, and cursed, "What the hell do you know? Kikyo City is the gateway to our Land of Wind. If we don't reinforce the defenses and it gets taken by Konoha, do you have any idea what that would mean?"