Sorrow by the Stream

War always needed a reason. No matter what one wanted to obtain, there had to be a purpose. If that purpose could no longer be achieved, the war lost its meaning.

In the forest near Konoha's Third Training Ground, there was a small stream that could barely be called a river. The rain clouds had long since scattered in the night, and exceptionally bright starlight spilled across the softly murmuring water. Silver halos and colored stones reflected amid the tinkling sounds.

Kushina Uzumaki liked sitting by the stream. The quiet nights always carried an inexplicable sense of distance that gradually calmed her heart. But ever since she had gotten together with Minato Namikaze, she had rarely come here.

"Minato... why aren't you back yet?"

Resting her chin on her hand, she idly tossed small stones into the stream. Their plinking sounds carried far through the silent night.

Though she was usually somewhat hot-tempered, when she was alone, she rarely showed any obvious expression. Beneath that exterior was a mature woman who understood everything, as if she had seen through the ways of the world, carrying a little more sorrow.

In the distance, ANBU shinobi hidden among the trees silently watched Kushina sitting by the stream, their eyes filled with familiar yet distant complexity.

Protecting her while remaining wary and watchful was their duty. But after all these years, aside from Minato and the few people close to her, they had become the ones who understood Kushina best. They were also among the very few who knew her true identity.

"Lady Kushina..."

"Lord Minato should be back very soon..."

The voice from the forest made Kushina freeze. With surprised delight and a touch of confusion, she looked at the masked ANBU emerging from the trees.

For years, these people had followed her like shadows. Other than pulling back slightly whenever Minato was around, they had almost never communicated with her. Sometimes, she even forgot they were there.

"Is... is that true?"

Kushina's willow-leaf eyes were long, narrow, and bright as carved ice as they stared fixedly at the ANBU before her. But that seemed to be the limit. The ANBU said nothing more and leaped back into the forest.

"Is Konoha going to win? How is Minato? He isn't hurt, is he...?"

The ANBU always learned some information before ordinary shinobi did. Knowing their rules, Kushina did not chase after them to ask. Instead, she paced anxiously and excitedly along the streambank, her once-calm heart instantly becoming a tangled mess.

"No! I have to ask that old man, the Third!"

Night gradually enveloped Konoha completely. Kushina hurried away from the stream and leaped toward the still brightly lit Hokage Building.

The next day, news of Minato and Jiraiya defeating the Eight-Tails and A spread throughout Konoha. Hiruzen Sarutobi even gave a speech in person at Konoha Academy, praising Minato's achievements...

"Hmph, that old man, the Third... that rotten old man..."

Sometimes, Kushina did not know whether Hiruzen Sarutobi did it deliberately or unintentionally. It seemed he was always waiting for her to make a statement.

It was as though he did not value Minato's talent, but merely valued Minato's relationship with her. Yet at other times, his actions seemed perfectly reasonable. Concealing information about the war was only meant to protect Minato, and he appeared to hold Minato in extremely high regard.

She had long awakened the Mind's Eye of the Kagura and could understand the good and evil in people's hearts. Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to wander between good and evil, making it impossible to see what his true purpose was.

"As long as Minato is safe..."

She sighed softly, unwilling to think too much. Those who could see things others could not were always troubled by them. She had been like that before and had suffered greatly because of it, so now, unless it concerned someone close to her, she almost never actively used the Mind's Eye of the Kagura...

The good news from the Cloud Shinobi front left the Stone Shinobi Battlefield elsewhere in an awkward position. If any bad news emerged, it would be magnified countless times over.

"Kato, it seems your mission went very well..."

Far to the west of the Land of Fire, Orochimaru had also obtained detailed intelligence on the Cloud Shinobi Battlefield through his own channels. It was even more thorough than the reports sent back by Konoha.

Orochimaru paid particular attention to information regarding Kato Osamu. After all, Kato Osamu could be considered his disciple in name.

Several thousand Konoha shinobi had gathered on the western battlefield of the Land of Fire. Under the Hyuga Clan's ultra-long-range surveillance, they had not suffered major casualties, but neither had they earned any major achievements.

Following Hiruzen Sarutobi's defensive counterattack policy, Orochimaru had deployed his troops and faced off against Ōnoki on the Stone Shinobi Battlefield for a long time. Yet unexpectedly, no large-scale battle had broken out.

Ōnoki was as cunning as sticky candy, able to advance and retreat freely through the mountains. When Konoha attacked, he withdrew. When Konoha defended, he led small teams over to harass them. Yet he always refused to engage Orochimaru in any direct battle.

Although this suited Konoha's interests as well, Orochimaru had long grown unbearably impatient. He handed command of the troops to Hyuga Hiashi and hid alone in his laboratory to research his Immortality Technique.

The closer one got to the Land of Earth, the more jagged rocks and towering mountains appeared. Distant peaks veiled in a light mist flickered in and out of sight amid drifting clouds and haze. Ōnoki's camp had been established within these steep mountains.

But at this moment, Ōnoki floated in the air with a dark expression.

"The Third Raikage's son is truly an idiot!"

The news from the Cloud Shinobi Battlefield made Ōnoki, who was temporarily allied with the Cloud Shinobi, fly into a rage. Things were going extremely well on the Stone Shinobi Battlefield. This war had clearly only just begun, yet he had never expected the Cloud Shinobi to seem as though they had already been defeated.

"The commander on the Sand Shinobi Battlefield is an idiot too! Why... why do the Cloud Shinobi always produce idiots like this for their village's leadership?!"

The Cloud Shinobi's defeat on Konoha's battlefield was not what angered him most. What enraged him most was the Sand Shinobi Battlefield. Because it was closer, gathering intelligence had been much easier. Ōnoki simply could not understand why the Cloud Shinobi, who had been so confident, could not even defeat the long-weakened Sand Shinobi.

If the Cloud Shinobi could gain the upper hand over the Sand Shinobi and tie down Konoha, or even achieve some victories, then they could use the momentum of victory to join forces with the Cloud Shinobi and force Konoha to bow its head.

They could even join with the Cloud Shinobi to launch a thunderous strike against the Konoha shinobi on the Stone Shinobi Battlefield, rather than being stuck as they were now, unable to fight yet unable not to fight...

The Stone Shinobi were like clowns, hopping back and forth as they played this childish war game with Konoha's shinobi.

"Those foolish Cloud Shinobi! Why didn't they send the Eight-Tails to the Sand Shinobi Battlefield? Instead, they let those Sand Shinobi brats beat them until they couldn't fight back at all!"

Ōnoki understood that the Cloud Shinobi could not possibly send the Eight-Tails somewhere so far from Kumogakure and so deep behind enemy lines. Yet he was still furious. If the commanders of the two battlefields had switched places, things would never have turned out like this.

He punched the rock wall of the camp, and the earthen stone layer gradually cracked apart. Loose rock and soil continuously slid down through the fissures...

"Someone! Send a message to the Raikage!"