Rushing to the Front Lines

They had just finished selling this batch of weapons when news of war arrived the next day.

The Hidden Cloud Village had launched a surprise attack on the Hidden Sand Village.

Many Konoha civilians were relieved that they had not been the target, but only ninja understood the true situation.

The Third Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village had vanished, and a large number of ninja had gone out to search for him, leaving the village internally vulnerable. With no leader at the helm, this was the Hidden Sand Village's weakest moment.

"This is not good news."

The Third Ninja War had not deviated much from its original course.

As a powerful ninja village second only to Konoha in strength, the Hidden Cloud Village surpassed Konoha in certain respects.

They revered the strong. The Third Raikage was hailed as both the Strongest Spear and the Strongest Shield, and under his highly centralized rule, there would be no rats stirring up trouble within the Hidden Cloud Village.

Anko swallowed a dumpling as she read the latest notice. Civilians were advised not to leave their homes unless necessary, and Anbu ninja could be seen leaping between buildings as they gathered in a certain direction.

"Are we going to the battlefield?"

"Hehe, your little brother has already made appearances in all the major ninja villages. He's been hailed as Konoha's youngest genius. Aren't you jealous as his older brother?"

Asked that by Anko, Muzan merely shook his head. This time, he unusually did not reprimand her for saying something stupid.

He was considering something. Given Kakashi's talent and his bond with Obito, he had most likely caught Madara Uchiha's attention.

As one of the masterminds behind the Third Ninja War, Madara Uchiha was an extremely dangerous threat. Muzan needed to think about how to deal with him.

Old Madara had less than a tenth of his strength left and could not even move freely, but his grasp over the Shinobi World far surpassed that of the major ninja villages.

"Hey, hey, hey, did Kakashi shake you up that badly? This isn't like you. Besides, once we get to the battlefield, we'll definitely be the coolest ones there!"

Seeing Muzan lost in thought, Anko assumed his spirits had been crushed. She stuffed a dumpling into his mouth, and even Mari encouraged him from the side.

"Are you two kidding me?"

While he had been thinking of countermeasures, something had suddenly been shoved into his mouth, nearly choking him to death.

"On the battlefield, the more talented someone is, the more likely they are to be targeted. I'm only worried about Kakashi's safety. After all, Kakashi is my little brother."

"So that's it. Don't worry, Minato-senpai is very strong. Nothing will go wrong!"

Muzan could not be bothered to explain. They did not understand how many people lurked behind this war.

Madara Uchiha, hidden in the shadows, the rapidly developing Akatsuki, and the leaders of the major ninja villages.

"Rather than worrying about Kakashi, we should listen for the Hokage's orders. We don't even know where we'll be assigned."

That was what Anko worried about most. She did not want to be assigned to the desert; it would do terrible things to her skin.

"We'll most likely be assigned to the area around the Hidden Cloud Village. Prepare yourselves to fight those lunatics."

The Raikage was a hardliner comparable to Danzo and had always advocated invading other ninja villages.

Coupled with the village's formidable strength, that only further inflated his ambitions.

Sure enough, not long afterward, an Anbu operative arrived carrying the Hokage's orders. Muzan's squad was to rendezvous with the main force and head for the border of the Land of Lightning.

"Let's go. We're setting out with the main force."

By the time they arrived, quite a few ninja had already gathered outside the village. They even spotted some classmates.

Once the entire group had assembled, they followed an Elite Jōnin of the Aburame Clan to the border of the Land of Lightning, where they would receive Sakumo's unified command.

Sakumo's leadership ability should not be underestimated. During the Second Shinobi World War, his and Orochimaru's command abilities had both been tested. Otherwise, they would not have been assigned to deploy separate battle lines.

"Muzan, I feel like our chance to earn glory is gone. Lord Sakumo will definitely arrange for us to stay in the rear."

Only Anko was troubled by Sakumo becoming the overall commander.

First, Muzan was Sakumo's son, so of course Sakumo could not assign dangerous missions to him. Second, he was an excellent medical ninja, and medical ninja did not need to personally go to the battlefield unless they were confident in their own strength.

A medical ninja's role was to treat people in the rear. As members of the same squad, Anko and Mari might end up just making up the numbers.

"No. I know Father's personality. Only on the battlefield can my abilities have their greatest effect."

He was not a purely medical ninja. Five chakra natures, combined with his enormous chakra reserves, allowed Muzan to accomplish things that other ninja found difficult.

Of course, he would not be denied special treatment. During the journey alone, the Aburame Clan expert kept a closer eye on Muzan. If another unit ambushed them and Muzan happened to be injured or even killed, the Aburame Clan would have to bear the wrath of two Kage Level powerhouses upon returning.

As a result, the three of them were placed in the center of the main force.

After a long journey, the group finally reached the forward area of the battlefield. A row of tents stood in the distance—Konoha's main command camp.

Sakumo was still formulating plans. Compared with the Hidden Sand Village's decline, the Third Raikage had committed most of his own forces against Konoha, creating the current situation.

"Based on the intelligence currently available, the Hidden Cloud Village's A-B Combo has appeared on the battlefield. We cannot rule out the possibility that the Third Raikage and Dodai have personally arrived as well."

The first two were already troublesome enough. If several veteran powerhouses were added to the mix, the pressure on the front lines would be enormous before Ino-Shika-Cho arrived.

Every name on that list was a Kage Level powerhouse from the Hidden Cloud Village, with even the weakest being veteran Elite Jōnin.

Just as they were discussing how to deal with the Cloud Ninja, a messenger walked into the tent and said:

"Lord Sakumo, our reinforcements have arrived. They are led by an Elite Jōnin from the Aburame Clan, and your child is among them."

"An Aburame Clan expert? Their abilities can be quite useful on the battlefield."

At the very least, the newcomers could withstand some of the pressure on the front lines.

Wait! He seemed to have heard that his own son was among them?

"Muzan or Kakashi?"

He hoped it was Kakashi coming to the front lines. At least that would mean the Yellow Flash would come too.

"It's Muzan..."

The thing he feared most had happened. Although Muzan was stronger than Kakashi, unless one could reach Kage Level on the battlefield, they could not affect the overall situation. Muzan's arrival would only make matters more troublesome.

"Go receive the reinforcements from the rear first. Shan Jian Helai will handle the deployment of the medical ninja. Have them treat the wounded."

"Yes!"

A clash with the Cloud Ninja some time ago had left a group of people injured. Muzan's arrival happened to make up for the current shortfall.