When Hiruzen Sarutobi heard the news, his first reaction was to hurry and summon his "think tank" for a discussion.
Soon, the four "great minds" had gathered in the Hokage's Office.
"Hiruzen, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. While they're away and their defenses are thin, I..."
After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished explaining the intelligence he had just received.
Danzo grew somewhat excited.
But before Danzo could finish, Hiruzen Sarutobi cut him off.
"Danzo, enough! Don't even think about it. Absolutely not!"
There was no need to hear Danzo out.
Anyone who knew anything about Danzo knew what he meant.
But the timing was wrong.
They had gone out, not met with disaster.
Provoking them like this-did he really think they were dead?
"Hiruzen!!!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi ignored Danzo.
He continued puffing noisily on his pipe, its stem slightly dented in the middle.
His face flickered in and out of view behind the thick smoke. Coupled with his gloomy gaze, it gave him an intensely brooding air.
"Hiruzen, let's secure the borders first. Those lunatics from Kumogakure might not stop at attacking Sunagakure."
Seeing that the room had fallen somewhat silent.
Mitokado Homura offered his opinion.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
"Not just Kumogakure. We need to shore up our defenses against Iwagakure, too. Ōnoki has plenty of ambition!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi had dealt with the Third Raikage and Ōnoki for decades, and he knew these old rivals' temperaments and personalities well.
That old dwarf Ōnoki would never readily pass up a chance to gain an advantage.
"Have Shikaku draw up a defensive plan, and dispatch two more teams from the village to reinforce the two fronts."
Now that a decision had been made, it was put into action immediately.
Kumogakure's sudden move had disrupted all of Konoha's plans.
But plans could never keep up with change.
The reinforcements dispatched by the village had only just reached the defensive lines.
Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could even catch his breath.
He received a piece of bad news that shocked him to the core: after tasting success in Sunagakure, Kumogakure had actually declared war on Iwagakure and Konoha!
The news hit like a bombshell, causing an uproar throughout the village.
People discussed this sudden turn of events, worry and fear showing on their faces.
Hiruzen Sarutobi understood the gravity of this war. If handled poorly, it would not only cause enormous losses to the village, but might even endanger the peace and stability of the entire Shinobi World.
"They actually declared war on us and Iwagakure at the same time..." Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured, his heart filled with worry.
He knew Kumogakure's strength could not be underestimated. Konoha had just sent reinforcements to the border, leaving its defenses relatively weak, and there was also the restless Uchiha factor.
"We must devise a response as soon as possible!" Hiruzen Sarutobi made up his mind and turned to give orders to the ninja beside him.
"Notify the elder advisers, the clan heads, and the head of the Jonin Commander to convene a meeting of the village's leadership immediately. We must discuss our response together."
Hiruzen Sarutobi gazed into the distance, his eyes grave as he silently considered how to respond.
"Lord Hokage, I believe we need to strengthen our ties with the other villages," Shikaku Nara proposed.
"That's right, Hiruzen. We cannot face Kumogakure's attack alone," Mitokado Homura agreed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "Send envoys immediately to contact the other villages so we can confront Kumogakure's threat together."
"In addition, we must mobilize every resource available to us," Hiruzen Sarutobi continued. "Recall the ninja currently out on missions and prepare for battle."
Everyone present acknowledged his orders. A fierce war was about to begin.
As the orders went out, Konoha entered a state of tense war readiness.
The ninja swiftly took action, strengthening border patrols and defensive fortifications.
The various clans also began mobilizing their members to prepare for war.
The Uchiha Clan compound.
"That's the situation. This time, we Uchiha need to deploy 1,000 ninja, half of whom must be jonin."
After attending the meeting, Fugaku returned to the clan compound and held a clan meeting as well.
Aside from the clan head and elders, those attending were Seiichi and the Uchiha Clan's jonin.
"Isn't 1,000 too many?"
The chief elder objected, and Seiichi frowned slightly as well.
The Uchiha Clan currently had a total population of 20,928, including 11,239 ninja: 3,756 genin, 5,789 chunin, and 1,694 jonin.
It sounded like a lot, but most of these clan members belonged to the Konoha Military Police Force and already had jobs.
Mobilizing 1,000 people at once meant nearly one-tenth of their ninja. For the Uchiha, this already required scaling back other duties to free up personnel.
In a war on this scale, even jonin were in danger, let alone genin and chunin. They were nothing but cannon fodder, used as expendables.
Fugaku said gravely, "These are orders from above. Every clan has a fixed quota. The Uchiha aren't being singled out, so we have no reasonable grounds to refuse.
"Besides, these are extraordinary times. Kumogakure has declared war on three villages at once. We must give it our all."
The clan members whispered among themselves, discussing the matter.
"Clan Head, I'm willing to lead our people into battle!" Uchiha Yunhai, deputy chief of the Konoha Military Police Force and an elite jonin, stepped forward with a resolute gaze.
Fugaku glanced at him, a surge of pride rising in his heart, though a trace of worry flashed through it as well.
This was a fine son of his Uchiha Clan.
"Good! Yunhai, I appoint you leader of this operation. Remember, protect yourself and our people!" Fugaku patted Yunhai on the shoulder.
Yunhai nodded, then turned and called out to the clan members, "Everyone, this is our moment to defend our home! Let us fight together for the glory of the Uchiha!"
The clan members were fired up and shouted in unison, "For the Uchiha!"
Amid the fervent atmosphere, the Uchiha Clan's ninja set out. They would defend their clan's honor and the village's peace with their blood and lives.
Watching the ninja leave through the village gates.
Seiichi felt somewhat uneasy. He knew that perhaps only half of them, or even fewer, would return.
The rest would become nothing more than cold inscriptions on the village's Memorial Stone and handfuls of earth in the cemetery.
In the village, Seiichi would hear bad news mixed with even worse news from time to time.
There were constant reports of how many more people had died on the battlefield.
Seiichi actually knew little about the Third Shinobi World War.
He only knew that its turning point was the "Battle of Kannabi Bridge."
The Battle of Kannabi Bridge was far too famous.
Anyone familiar with Naruto's plot knew that this battle had made two people famous.
One was the dirty-minded, white-haired societal dead weight known as the "Copy Ninja" and "Konoha's Technician"-Kakashi Hatake.
The other was one of Naruto's minor bosses.
He was Tuzige-Obito Uchiha-whose combat strength ranked among the best in the entire Naruto world, the man who went, "My wife died, and after turning evil, instead of choosing to resurrect her, I chose to make everyone in the world dream!"
These two remained entangled in life and death, fighting from everyone's flashbacks all the way to the finale.
Ahem, his thoughts had wandered a little too far.
Back to the point.
Although Seiichi did not know exactly how long the Third Shinobi World War lasted, it had certainly gone on for several years.
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