Learning A-rank Jutsu

After grumbling inwardly about White Fang's disregard for the bigger picture, Hiruzen Sarutobi began accelerating the recall of shinobi scattered across various locations.

At the same time, under the coordination of several advisors, the work of assembling armies for each front quickly got underway.

The other four great Shinobi Villages had all suffered severe losses during the Second Shinobi World War, but Iwagakure's Ninja Academy had developed the fastest, so more personnel needed to be assigned there.

Sunagakure was the most aggressive. Strong fighters had to be sent to intimidate them. Since they had Puppeteers, Tsunade should originally have led the team, but unfortunately, she had developed hemophobia. Jiraiya would have to go instead.

Jiraiya had happened to head to the Land of Rain not long ago, which was not far from the Land of Rivers.

Kirigakure could be set aside for now. A small number of shinobi would be sent to monitor them first. Once the other three great Shinobi Villages had been dealt with, Konoha could focus on them.

As for Kumogakure...

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced once more at the letter he had set aside, anger rising in his heart.

He had already figured it out. From beginning to end, the White Fang incident had been Kumogakure's scheme.

Kumogakure must have colluded with Danzo!

It had to be Chiba Shun, the one from that Ninja Academy exchange group last time.

Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure had reacted so quickly because Kumogakure must have informed them in advance!

But how had Kumogakure guessed that White Fang would commit suicide?

Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered it for a long time, yet still could not figure it out.

Could Kumogakure have seen through White Fang's personality long ago?

But during the Second Shinobi World War, White Fang had mainly operated on the Sunagakure battlefield. When had Kumogakure ever come into contact with him?

Hiruzen Sarutobi could not understand it, but there was no longer any need to. He had to make a decision.

A moment later, he summoned all the advisors back, Danzo included, and said, "Danzo, lead a team to the Land of Grass border and guard against Iwa Shinobi."

"I will have Jiraiya head to the Land of Rivers, Orochimaru to the Land of Whirlpools border, and Tsunade remain behind to defend the village."

After a pause, he said, "I will personally head to the Land of Moon and form an alliance with the Third Raikage!"

Utatane Koharu said, "Hiruzen, isn't it too much to send Kage Level fighters to the battlefield from the very beginning?"

Utatane Koharu's thinking was still stuck in the eras of the First and Second Shinobi World Wars.

Back then, each village only had one Kage Level fighter, who often needed to remain behind to guard the village. Thus, the major battles on the front lines were fought between ordinary shinobi.

Jinchūriki would occasionally appear.

But the situation was different now.

Hiruzen Sarutobi saw it clearly. Though the four great Shinobi Villages appeared threatening, they were all paper tigers.

As long as Konoha displayed overwhelming strength, it would soon frighten them into retreating.

After all, everyone was still licking the wounds left by the Second Shinobi World War.

But if Konoha did not appear flawless from the start, it might magnify the ambitions of every side. Then the Third Shinobi World War might truly break out.

Konoha could send one Kage Level fighter to each of the four battlefields, but it currently had no Jinchūriki capable of using their full power.

The other villages, besides their respective Kage, also had Jinchūriki. Konoha could not possibly fight one against four.

The ambitions of every village had to be extinguished immediately.

Danzo was deeply dissatisfied with Hiruzen Sarutobi's arrangements. He did not want to go to the front lines; he wanted to remain behind and oversee the village.

If he could stay in Konoha while Hiruzen Sarutobi was away, there would be far too many things he could manipulate!

But Hiruzen Sarutobi would not give him that chance.

Hiruzen Sarutobi would rather leave the hemophobic Tsunade behind than trust him.

Danzo was furious and was about to argue. "Hiruzen..."

But Hiruzen Sarutobi cut him off. "White Fang's trusted subordinates will all be handed over to you."

Danzo immediately fell silent. It was a windfall from heaven.

When he had negotiated with Chiba Shun last time, he had already been considering those people.

At the time, he had thought that if he could suppress White Fang and then win those subordinates over to his side, it would be ideal.

But the current situation seemed even more perfect. He could openly force those people into Root and plant each of them with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal!

Danzo's Root had actually only just begun developing and did not have many strong fighters. Otherwise, Chiba Shun could not possibly have survived the previous assassination attempt.

But with White Fang's trusted subordinates joining, Root's strength would immediately undergo explosive growth.

Naturally, Danzo's ambitions swelled along with it.

After using White Fang's trusted subordinates to win Danzo over, Hiruzen Sarutobi's will was quickly carried out.

Konoha's shinobi were rapidly mobilized. Even the peace faction within the Uchiha Clan sent people to support Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Meanwhile, Kumogakure had arrived at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water even before Konoha began mobilizing.

However, Kumogakure remained restrained and did not allow its army to directly invade the Land of Fire.

After all, the Third Raikage's letter to Hiruzen Sarutobi had made it very clear that they had come to sign an alliance treaty.

Of course, he could not restrain all his subordinates. If a few small-scale battles broke out, Hiruzen Sarutobi surely would not make a huge issue out of them.

Only then did Chiba Shun realize how severe Kumogakure's losses during the Second Shinobi World War had been.

In order to create momentum, even a Ninja Academy civilian worker like him had been drafted to the front lines this time.

Also accompanying him were Sakai Yushi, who had only recently completed his promotion, along with Yozuki A and Killer B.

Two of Yozuki A's subordinates had died in the battle where they were ambushed by Kirigakure shinobi last time, while another was still recovering from his injuries.

So he brought Chiba Shun and Sakai Yushi along, and also dragged in his beloved younger brother, Killer B.

Last time, Killer B had sparred with Chiba Shun and Sakai Yushi for a long time and used a great deal of chakra, yet the Eight-Tails had shown no unusual reaction.

The higher-ups concluded that Killer B got along well with the Tailed Beast and had the potential to become a Perfect Jinchūriki.

This operation was also a test for Killer B.

Chiba Shun was very happy to be going to war.

Because everyone participating in the war could receive supplies from the village.

It could be said that from now on, the village would bear all of every shinobi's expenditures!

For example, Chiba Shun had collected a large amount of supplies from the village.

He was already a Special Jonin, so the supplies he could receive were extremely considerable.

He had received ten Explosive Tags alone. At three thousand ryo each, that was thirty thousand ryo.

Adding kunai, senbon, Soldier Pills, and other items, Chiba Shun had received nearly fifty thousand ryo worth of supplies for free.

And beyond those basic supplies, all three daily meals were free as well.

The food was all meant to rapidly replenish what they expended, and there was no limit to how much they could eat.

On the other side, Konoha's shinobi who had originally been carrying out missions within the Land of Fire had already returned, but that did not mean there were no other shinobi at the Land of Fire border.

In fact, to monitor the movements of Kumogakure's army, Konoha had dispatched several elite reconnaissance shinobi ahead of its main forces.

Chiba Shun's group was targeting those reconnaissance shinobi.

Although Konoha was the source of White Fang's suicide, its war preparations had been a step slower than the other four sides.

Thus, before Konoha's army reached the front lines, elite squads such as Chiba Shun's dispersed and infiltrated the Land of Fire, hunting Konoha's reconnaissance shinobi.

Yozuki A, Killer B, Sakai Yushi, and Chiba Shun formed a four-man squad that continuously searched for and killed Konoha shinobi.

Yozuki A saw Chiba Shun's current unusual state, so he took good care of him. In several battles, he created opportunities for Chiba Shun to fight Konoha Jonin alone.

Of course, Konoha Jonin were generally stronger than Kirigakure Jonin. Though Chiba Shun had improved considerably recently, he was still far from being a match for them.

Most of the time, he still needed support from Yozuki A and the others.

For instance, this time, Yozuki A's group quickly ended their battle, leaving only Chiba Shun to face a Konoha ninjutsu-type Jonin.

The Konoha shinobi was well-rounded. Though he specialized in ninjutsu, he also had a solid foundation in taijutsu.

Chiba Shun first closed in to engage him, intending to use swordsmanship to finish him off while his attention was still focused on his three subordinates.

However, although Chiba Shun's Four-Sword Style Swordsmanship left him somewhat disheveled, he did not lose immediately.

After Chiba Shun cut several wounds into his left arm, he successfully broke free.

Then came a clash of ninjutsu.

Because Chiba Shun had spent rather too long studying A-rank Jutsu, he had barely trained any other ninjutsu.

The only offensive ninjutsu he knew were a few C-rank Jutsu obtained from Konoha, and they required lengthy hand seals. He was quickly taught a harsh lesson by that Konoha Jonin.

In the end, Yozuki A and the other two attacked together and quickly ended the battle.

Chiba Shun adjusted his breathing and remained silent.

Strictly speaking, this was Chiba Shun's first true shinobi battle.

The previous fights within Kumogakure and his battles with Kirigakure shinobi had all been sudden and brief.

Chiba Shun had never been too tense, but after frequently fighting Konoha's strong shinobi within the Land of Fire recently, his mindset quickly changed.

This was war!

Even if it was merely the early probing stage of a real war, it was incomparable to his previous battles with Kirigakure shinobi.

After battle after battle, Chiba Shun's will had finally strengthened somewhat.

Yozuki A was somewhat disappointed in Chiba Shun's performance. He had thought that with Chiba Shun's talent, after so many battles, he should have completed the strengthening of his will and become a Jonin.

Yet although Chiba Shun had improved noticeably, he still had not undergone a direct transformation.

But Chiba Shun was in a good state of mind. He did not think his progress was slow. He had already accurately assessed his own talent. He was not a genius like Yozuki A, and gradual improvement was normal.

He closed his eyes, pressed his fingers to the ground, and carefully scanned the surrounding area.

This was the B-rank Sensory Jutsu he had learned.

He did not actually need to close his eyes to use sensory jutsu, but doing so broadened his sensing range.

A moment later, he shook his head and said, "There are no Konoha shinobi nearby."

Yozuki A thought for a moment, then said, "Let's go a little farther."

Killer B said, "Idiot brother, stupid brother, farther ahead means going too deep."

"It's already been five days. Konoha shinobi are about to arrive."

Chiba Shun added, "That's right. Konoha must be mobilizing now. They may have already finished."

"If we go too deep, it will be bad if we run into Konoha's main forces."

"Then we'll become Konoha's hostages, and Lord Raikage probably won't get any benefits when signing the alliance treaty."