Skirmish!

Turbulence in the Shinobi World had already begun, but none of it mattered to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Having cultivated bitterly in the Forest of Death for half a month, Hiruzen's cultivation had reached the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, though the speed of his cultivation's rise had already slowed down.

Being able to have his current speed was simply because he was living his life a second time, and re-practicing was extremely familiar and straightforward.

Meanwhile, at the borders of the Land of Fire, Konoha's first wave of offensive operations had already begun.

Neither Rock Ninja nor Cloud Shinobi expected Konoha's counterattack to come so quickly!

During the Third Shinobi World War, although Konoha won, its strength became even weaker.

In all three shinobi world wars, Konoha won every single time, but its strength grew weaker and weaker with each.

Every war was inevitably accompanied by deaths and sacrifices, and after the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha lost several Kage Level powerhouses.

Coupled with the Nine-Tails Uprising, Konoha lost Minato Namikaze, an extremely formidable Hokage, while problems also arose with the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki; Hiruzen had grown old, his strength degraded, and his heart had turned cowardly.

Two of the Legendary Sannin had even left, and Orochimaru was also on the verge of defecting.

It was precisely because of these reasons that Rock Ninja and Cloud Shinobi grew restless in the border regions, constantly testing Konoha's bottom line.

Both Rock Ninja and Cloud Shinobi wanted to replace Konoha as the strongest shinobi village, and at the same time, the internal unity of these two villages was superior to Konoha's; Cloud Shinobi's strength even vaguely seemed to surpass Konoha's.

Yet, Konoha's location was uniquely blessed, and the position occupied by the Land of Fire possessed resources far surpassing other countries, but it was precisely because of this location, situated in the middle of the major nations, that it had to face enemies from front and rear in every war.

Even so, Konoha was Konoha after all; now Orochimaru began commanding this war, having Jiraiya lead the team, with Kakashi operating alongside the Uchiha Clan and Tenzō.

Faced with this lineup, any faction in the current Shinobi World was not weak, and could even wipe out the current Akatsuki in one go—after all, Akatsuki was not yet that strong. Founded during the Second Shinobi World War, Akatsuki was currently at the timing of Yahiko's death and Nagato's breakdown.

Obito had just taken advantage of the void, Nagato had not yet fully mastered the power of the Rinnegan, and Akatsuki still needed a long time to develop.

Meanwhile, Rock Ninja and Cloud Shinobi had also suffered heavy losses in the Third Shinobi World War, and were merely trying to test and weaken Konoha's strength after Konoha suffered the Nine-Tails Uprising.

After a complete reshuffling of Konoha's higher-ups, they urgently needed a sweeping victory to solidify their position.

The Cloud Shinobi active at Konoha's border were basically taken down immediately upon encountering Jiraiya and his group.

The Uchiha, knowing the village no longer targeted them, similarly harbored an urgent hope of establishing more battle merits.

Do not think that the village and the Uchiha seemed to have significant friction; in reality, most Uchiha deeply loved this village.

Upon encountering a group of crazed Uchiha, there was only one outcome, and that was death!

Led by Fugaku Uchiha, the Uchiha Clan, together with Jiraiya and a host of ANBU, began clearing Konoha's borders from two different directions.

Whether Rock Ninja or Cloud Shinobi, there was no one among them who could withstand a single blow.

They could not even transmit intelligence back; upon meeting, it was total annihilation in a split second.

In just two days, the majority of other shinobi active at the border of the Land of Fire were swept away.

A portion of ronin and bandits suffered unprovoked disaster and were likewise cleared away cleanly.

Master, the situation is somewhat wrong, you should hurry back to Cloud Lightning Gorge!

At the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, Samui was extremely worried. Clearly, the Raikage had ordered her master, Killer B, to cultivate properly in Cloud Lightning Gorge, but Killer B frequently ran out to play around everywhere.

"Hey, it's fine, my bond with the Eight-Tails is unmatched by anyone!"

Killer B had a very good relationship with the Eight-Tails, and after the Third Shinobi World War, his coordination with the Eight-Tails grew better and better, to the point where he could now skillfully use Tailed Beast Bombs.

Recently, friction occurred from time to time between the village and Konoha, and Killer B simply could not endure the loneliness, bringing his disciple Samui to the border.

Master, many units have already lost contact. Konoha must have dispatched powerhouses over there, we should retreat early.

Samui acted with extreme composure and caution, forming a complete polar opposite to Killer B. Although she was not old, she was deeply trusted by the Fourth Raikage.

"It's fine, it'll just let me meet Konoha's guys!"

Having become a Perfect Jinchūriki, Killer B was extremely eager to prove himself, which was why he came to operate in the border region.

However, this time Killer B would pay the price for his arrogance.

"Lord Jiraiya."

Fugaku Uchiha and a group of Uchiha shinobi successfully completed their mission. Shisui Uchiha also displayed his budding brilliance, his Body Flicker Technique and swordplay complementing the Blood Wheel Eye perfectly, and along this way he instantly killed quite a few Chunin.

"Only the last few areas remain, let's finish the mission quickly."

Jiraiya nodded, holding a very favorable impression of this new Uchiha clan head; he lacked the blind arrogance of ordinary Uchiha, and instead possessed extreme composure.

Moreover, Shisui, this junior, also won Jiraiya's deep fondness. In fact, in a brief trance, Shisui reminded him of his own disciple: Minato Namikaze.

Jiraiya felt a slight stirring of the thought to take an apprentice; for the village to draw closer to the Uchiha Clan, having one of the Sannin take an Uchiha as a disciple seemed like a decent choice.

Of course, that would also need to wait until this mission was completed.

The group of Konoha shinobi regrouped briefly and moved on toward the next area.

Ahead, Killer B was also standing on guard, waiting for the arrival of the Konoha shinobi.

Yet what he could not imagine was that this time Konoha had resolved to completely drive out the Rock Ninja and Cloud Shinobi, deploying a lineup of such extravagant luxury.

Wrong, someone is coming!

Soon, Killer B sensed something was amiss.

The aura of powerhouses!

This place was closer to Cloud Village, serving as a base camp where many squads carried out supplies.

Yet during this period, several squads had already failed to return for supplies.

"Idiot! Bastard! Let Lord B crush you all!"

Killer B struck a pose, but the next second, several pairs of blood-red pupils suddenly appeared in the forest not far away.

The Uchiha Clan, and every single one of them had three tomoe!

Evil chakra overflowed, sending chills through the bodies of the Cloud Shinobi.

Upon seeing the white-haired Jiraiya and Kakashi as well, cold sweat was already streaming down Killer B's face.

Naturally, he recognized Jiraiya, along with Kakashi and several members of the Uchiha Clan; those spinning three tomoe were terrifying.

Three tomoe were equivalent to Elite Jonin, and these Uchiha looked like the elite of the elites, plus Jiraiya was leading the team—their group was simply no match!

It was already too late to run!