Exhaustion

Preparations for the war were in full swing. The assembly areas for the forces lay in the northeast of the Land of Fire, the Land of Fields, the southeast of the Land of Lightning, and other locations. This entire region had been designated as the war zone, where the Fourth Shinobi World War would unfold across a vast expanse.

Although the declaration of war had outlined the general terms, the actual confrontation naturally would not be so detailed.

Neither side was naïve enough to trust the other completely. War was founded on deception—while the shinobi world had no such saying, everyone understood the same principle. How could a war that determined the lives and deaths of countless people possibly place the key to victory in the enemy keeping their promises?

Wave after wave of shinobi changed into the uniforms of the Shinobi Allied Forces and headed for the battlefield. Konoha, which had once resembled a massive military camp, gradually began to feel empty. The village that had once been bustling with life became uncharacteristically desolate, as the effects of war spread into every aspect of the shinobi world.

The truly important figures would naturally make their appearance last.

As the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade was still busy with village affairs. Jiraiya, burdened with a tireless fate, had long since begun running about outside. With such a highly respected figure appearing in public, many matters that normally required the official Hokage's presence could be handled by Jiraiya and still earn everyone's approval.

After Hatake Kakashi returned to Konoha, many matters finally had their proper person in charge, allowing Mizuki to pull himself out of the mountain of documents and endless meetings and make time for his own affairs.

Kakashi had been urgently summoned back because the Shinobi Allied Forces had been divided