This was Orochimaru's emergency contact method.
He only used it in exceptionally urgent situations!
Whenever Orochimaru went on a high-risk mission, the Lord Third did his best to remain in the Hokage Office.
Even if important business forced him to leave, he would have Anbu wait there, so they wouldn't miss any intelligence Orochimaru sent back in an emergency!
Or a distress signal...
The Lord Third quickly cleared his desk, then pulled out a scroll he'd prepared long ago from beneath it and unrolled it across the tabletop.
The little snake immediately crawled onto the scroll. After wriggling around several times, it left a few peculiar marks on the paper.
"White Fang has been rescued... encountered... the Five-Tails Jinchuriki!?"
The Lord Third's heart skipped a beat. How had Orochimaru gotten mixed up in White Fang's mission?
Wasn't that a B-rank rescue mission?
The Five-Tails Jinchuriki? They'd run into him!?
But this wasn't the time to spend too long in surprise. The Lord Third shouted at the empty air, "Notify Ino-Shika-Cho and Team Minato! Now!"
No one answered. A figure hurried out of the Hokage Office Building.
The little snake continued to wriggle. The Lord Third watched it without taking his eyes off it, deciphering the message as it went.
"Ruohuo... captured... the Five-Tails."
"..." The Lord Third froze for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. He still couldn't make sense of it, so he hurriedly pulled out his glasses and found his codebook for communicating with Orochimaru.
He compared the symbols as fast as he could and deciphered them again. The message was still the same.
Little Ruohuo... had captured... the Five-Tails?
Had the danger Orochimaru faced already left him delirious?
That kid was only seven! How could he possibly capture the Five-Tails?
This had to be a distress signal.
The Five-Tails Jinchuriki wouldn't be traveling alone. Orochimaru might have been surrounded by the Five-Tails Jinchuriki and Iwagakure Ninja!
"What is this child trying to tell me?!"
Worry clouded his judgment. For a moment, the Lord Third truly couldn't figure out what Orochimaru meant by such a concise message.
In fact, it meant exactly what it said...
"Urgent... reinforcements... Iwagakure direction..."
This time, the Lord Third understood the message—but only half of it.
He understood that reinforcements were urgently needed, but what about the location?
The Iwagakure direction?
Where exactly?
"Never mind!"
The Lord Third swept his hand through the air. "Notify the Jonin Squad. Assemble!"
Caw—! (An eagle's cry; see the first Chunin Exam.)
The signal to assemble the jonin had barely gone out when several ninja rushed into the Hokage Office.
But they weren't there to assemble. They'd come to report urgent news!
"Lord Lord Third! A large force of Iwagakure Ninja has launched a surprise attack. There are more than five thousand!"
"Lord Lord Third! Iwagakure has deployed a Jinchuriki. The number of tails is five, and he's already crossed the border!"
"Lord Lord Third! Iwagakure has deployed a Jinchuriki. The number of tails is unknown, and he's advancing toward Konoha!"
One urgent battle report after another rang out in the Hokage Office.
What astonished the ninja was that the Lord Third was already dressed for battle, wearing the armor of his era!
As expected of the Lord Third! Had he already noticed Iwagakure's movements?
"Keep scouting!" the Lord Third bellowed.
Ninja gathered at a rapid pace. In just a few minutes, all the jonin on standby in Konoha had assembled!
The reports from the front lines and Orochimaru's urgent message now matched perfectly.
Clearly, Orochimaru had sent his message in such a hurry to warn Konoha!
Whether Iwagakure's sudden, hurried attack was also connected to Orochimaru—and whether anything had happened to him...
"Everyone! Ōnoki has utterly destroyed any hope of peace." The Lord Third pushed aside his worry and shouted.
He had to appear resolute now. He wasn't just Orochimaru's teacher; he was also Konoha's Hokage!
More than five thousand Iwagakure Ninja had deployed on the front lines. With the Five-Tails Jinchuriki leading the charge, they had already crossed into the Land of Fire!
"Ōnoki clearly intends to use this opportunity to break through Konoha's defenses, but he has underestimated our resolve!"
The Lord Third raised his arm and called out, "We'll defeat every enemy who dares invade and drive Iwagakure's ninja back!"
"Yes!" Without another word, the distinct groups of ninja knelt on one knee. The Jonin Squad stood on the left, while the Hokage's Anbu guards stood on the right!
And among the assembled ninja, there wasn't a single figure bearing the Uchiha Clan Crest...
Iwagakure had deployed its entire army, and the Five-Tails was almost at their doorstep. Of course the Lord Third would lead from the front!
"Team Minato, the Sealing Squad, come with me to face the Five-Tails head-on!" the Lord Third ordered.
"Yes!" Minato accepted the order.
"Yes!" the Sealing Squad captain replied.
"Shikaku! Inoichi!" the Lord Third shouted.
"Yes!" *2
"Set up a defensive line as quickly as possible. Avoid the Five-Tails and head to the front lines!"
"Yes!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
There was no time to lose. Nara Shikaku accepted the order and immediately led a large force of ninja toward the front lines.
With the Anbu and the Lord Third gone, only four people remained at the scene.
Three were members of Team Minato: Namikaze Minato, Akimichi Choza, and Aburame Shibi. (See The Lost Tower for the team's composition.)
And...
A red-haired woman.
"Lord Hokage! What about me?" The red-haired woman looked agitated.
"..." The Lord Third fell silent for half a second. "Kushina, you're Konoha's last line of defense..."
"If I can't stop the Five-Tails..."
"Then Konoha is in your hands!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Lord Third set off with his subordinates.
The red-haired woman stamped her foot. "The same old line again. So annoying!"
Faced with Iwagakure's large-scale surprise attack, Konoha's ninja rushed into action!
Nara Shikaku quickly planned thirteen separate routes for Konoha's forces to advance along!
Every route avoided the Five-Tails' path and took the Iwagakure army's speed into account, ensuring Konoha could reach the front lines as quickly as possible and begin intercepting the enemy as soon as they arrived!
Advancing along multiple routes would also make it much harder for Iwagakure's flanking units to launch a surprise attack!
There was a reason the Nara Clan tended to have high hairlines...
The Lord Third was leading from the front, personally heading straight for the Five-Tails with the Anbu, Team Minato, and the Sealing Squad!
"Has Ōnoki gone mad..."
The three elders remained in the Hokage Office to guard it.
With the Lord Third heading to the battlefield, they had to protect Konoha's rear.
"An attack of this scale, with all the Jinchuriki deployed... this doesn't look like a feint."
Having survived from another era, the three elders remained remarkably composed.
Meanwhile.
The person who had directly set all these events in motion had suddenly stopped on the way back to Konoha.
"Hey! You, the white-haired uncle up ahead!!!"
"Are you heading to Konoha too? We're going the same way. I can take you along!"
Before you continue