Konoha, the Hokage Building.
Smoke hung so thick in the room that it would not disperse.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, taking one drag of tobacco after another.
The crackle of burning tobacco sounded especially grating in the quiet room.
Two days.
Since Qian Ye had left the village with that so-called Seventh Special Guerrilla Corps, not even a single report of victory had come back from the front.
Mitokado Homura leaned against a corner, his face sagging with displeasure.
"Hiruzen, you should never have let him do whatever he pleased."
Mitokado Homura turned around, resentment in his voice.
"Forty million ryo in banknotes, twenty thousand Explosive Tags, and all those precious medicinal supplies."
"Those people were nothing but street auxiliaries without any formal military designation. They could handle catching thieves in the South District."
"But sending them to a meat grinder like the Land of Hot Water?"
"That wasn't just sending them to their deaths. It was throwing the village's reserves down the drain!"
Utatane Koharu pushed up her glasses and chimed in.
"Iwagakure is eyeing us hungrily from the Land of Grass, and Sunagakure is watching from the north."
"Orochimaru's main force is surrounded in Blackwater Marsh, and Minato's Flying Thunder God has been countered."
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, together with the Hidden Cloud assault squads—who could possibly hold against that?"
"The people Qian Ye took with him are Uchiha clan troublemakers, Hyuga clan branch family members, and a bunch of civilians."
"If a force like that routs on the battlefield, they'll only break up Minato's defensive line."
Listening to his two old companions complain, Hiruzen Sarutobi's wrinkles bunched together.
How could he not understand that?
But the Eastern Front had been in desperate need of help. Orochimaru and Minato's lives had hung by