Along the Land of Fire's border, the vast Kumogakure army was advancing at full speed.
Leading them was Fourth Raikage A, his skin dark and his muscles bulging.
Under Fourth Raikage A's leadership, every Kumogakure ninja approached the Land of Fire brimming with fighting spirit and momentum.
"Lord Raikage! Once we cross the valley ahead, we'll officially enter the Land of Fire!"
"Which route should we take next?"
A Kumogakure sensory ninja came before the Fourth Raikage and asked loudly.
Hearing the sensory ninja's words, Fourth Raikage A stopped, his brows furrowing involuntarily, then sank into thought.
The Land of Fire was Konoha's territory. Its defenses were surely extremely tight, with sensory barriers and hidden sentries everywhere.
Without knowing Konoha's exact defense layout and the barriers' weak points, recklessly leading an army into the Land of Fire would surely invite ferocious ambushes from Konoha ninja, causing Kumogakure unnecessary losses.
Thus, even though the Raikage was furious and wanted to take revenge on Konoha and seize territory immediately, he had to force himself to calm down and carefully consider their route of advance.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just then, a series of sounds suddenly cut through the air.
On a large tree not far away, a dozen or so figures appeared, dressed in tight black outfits and wearing animal masks.
Seeing these black-clad figures suddenly appear, the Fourth Raikage and the surrounding Kumogakure ninja immediately grew wary.
"Who's there!"
"Protect Lord Raikage!"
All the Kumogakure ninja drew their ninja blades in unison, watching the black-clad figures warily.
If these figures made any suspicious move, they would attack immediately.
Seeing this, the leader of the black-clad figures hurriedly shouted, "Kumogakure ninja, we mean no harm. We're here to help you."
Help us?!
Hearing the figure's words, the Fourth Raikage and the surrounding Kumogakure ninja did not relax their vigilance in the slightest.
A group of black-clad figures who dared not even show their faces had suddenly appeared claiming they wanted to help. Only a fool would readily believe them.
The leader wasted no more words. He took a scroll straight from his robes and casually tossed it onto an open patch of ground a short distance in front of the Fourth Raikage.
"This is a detailed map of Konoha's defenses along the Land of Fire's border, along with the weak points of all its sensory barriers. This should be useful to you, Lord Fourth Raikage."
With that, all the black-clad figures flickered and swiftly retreated, vanishing into the dense forest in the blink of an eye.
As for who these figures were, they were undoubtedly Root members.
The Fourth Raikage watched the direction in which the black-clad figures had retreated. Rather than ordering a pursuit, he swept his sharp gaze around and warily sensed the movements nearby.
Only after confirming there really were no ambushes or dangers nearby did the Fourth Raikage turn his head and signal a Kumogakure ninja beside him with his eyes.
"Go check that scroll. See if it's trapped."
"Yes!"
The Kumogakure ninja carefully approached the scroll on the ground. Only after confirming there were no chakra fluctuations or dangerous traps did he pick it up and slowly open it.
After scanning the scroll, the ninja hurriedly presented it to the Raikage with both hands.
"Lord Raikage! There are no traps on the scroll! It marks all sorts of hidden sentries and barrier nodes... It looks like this really is Konoha's border defense map!"
Hearing his subordinate's confirmation, the Fourth Raikage took the scroll. Looking at the extraordinarily detailed defensive arrangements, he was deeply puzzled.
Who was that?! Why give me Konoha's intelligence?
But he could hardly leave this defense map unused when it had been delivered right to him!
After repeatedly confirming that nothing was wrong with the map, the Fourth Raikage immediately gave his command.
"All troops, listen up! Follow this route map and charge into the heart of the Land of Fire at top speed!"
"Raze Konoha!"
Konoha, the Hokage Building.
The Hokage's aide, Shikaku Nara, was reporting the Kumogakure situation to Gengetsu.
"Lord Fifth, we've just received an extremely urgent report from the front!"
"Fourth Raikage A has personally led a force into the Land of Fire in a massive invasion!..."
"Accompanying him are not only large numbers of elite Kumogakure ninja, but also the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Yugito, and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B..."
"By visual estimates, Kumogakure has deployed more than five thousand troops this time..."
"And worst of all, Kumogakure seems to know our defensive layout completely. They've avoided every sensory barrier, and their army has already swept through three of our defensive lines!"
"..."
At this point, Shikaku Nara felt an unprecedented weight of pressure.
He knew very well that, with Kumogakure's offensive proceeding this unhindered, their army would reach Konoha's gates in another month.
When that happened, Konoha would be finished.
Yet despite the urgency of the situation, Uchiha Gengetsu, seated behind the Hokage's desk, could not help smiling.
"Kumogakure is advancing that quickly? Looks like someone tipped them off and handed over our defense map!"
Hearing Gengetsu's words, Shikaku Nara froze, then quickly caught on.
"Who leaked our defense map! Could it be that renegade ninja, Danzo!"
Shikaku Nara knew very well that Danzo, formerly a member of Konoha High Command who had controlled Root for years, knew far too many of Konoha's core secrets. The border defense map was no secret to him at all.
Although Konoha had immediately made changes after Danzo defected,
the Konoha ninja's border deployments were far too extensive and widespread. One change affected everything else, making it impossible to alter them all in such a short time.
"Who else... but him?"
Gengetsu gave a disdainful snort. Clearly, he thought nothing of Danzo's despicable methods.
Then, as though something had occurred to him, Gengetsu looked at Shikaku Nara and asked,
"Shikaku, give me your assessment. With Konoha's current strength, could we march straight over and occupy the entire Land of Lightning?"
Shikaku Nara was stunned by Gengetsu's question.
Kumogakure's five-thousand-strong army was attacking furiously with two tailed beasts, having broken through three defensive lines in succession and nearly reached their doorstep!
Any normal person would be thinking about how to hold their defensive lines to the death.
Yet this Fifth Hokage was asking how to counterattack and occupy their country?!
Although Shikaku Nara was deeply puzzled, he still began thinking quickly.
"Lord Fifth, that would be very difficult... Although Konoha has countless powerful ninja, and our strongest fighters are certainly no weaker than Kumogakure's."
"The Land of Lightning also has an extremely vast territory and complex terrain..."
"With Konoha's current number of ninja, completely occupying and controlling the entire Land of Lightning is simply impossible in terms of manpower."
"However, if we selected elite ninja and concentrated our strength on crushing Kumogakure's main force, then occupied several key cities in the Land of Lightning to cut off their economic lifelines, that would still be achievable."
Shikaku Nara honestly laid out his tactical analysis.
"All right! I understand!"
Hearing Shikaku Nara's words, Gengetsu sighed helplessly.
With his current strength, Gengetsu was confident he could utterly defeat the Kumogakure ninja and conquer the entire Land of Lightning.
But strength alone was not enough to fully occupy a country.
It also required large numbers of ninja.
Although Konoha was known as the foremost ninja village and had large numbers of ninja, it still lacked enough people to occupy the entire Land of Lightning.
Still, even if they could not occupy the entire Land of Lightning, occupying half of it was achievable.
At that thought, Gengetsu immediately said,
"Notify all of Konoha's clan heads at once. Have them come to the conference room immediately for a war council!"
"Yes, Lord Fifth!"
Shikaku Nara accepted the order, then immediately turned and ran out of the office to relay it.
Soon, the heads of Konoha's major ninja clans all hurried into the spacious conference room in the Hokage Building.
Among them were Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura.
Although Gengetsu had forcibly stripped them of all their authority as members of Konoha High Command,
they remained the heads of their respective clans.
After hearing the Fifth Hokage's order to hold an emergency meeting, the three shamelessly came to the conference room in their capacity as clan heads and found seats.
The atmosphere in the conference room was oppressive, and every clan head wore an extremely grave expression.
Clearly, they too had learned that Kumogakure's army was bearing down on them and had declared all-out war on Konoha.
Gengetsu sat at the head of the table in the Hokage's seat. Looking at the assembled clan heads, he got straight to the point.
"Everyone, I'll spare you the unnecessary talk..."
"Kumogakure has now declared all-out war on Konoha, and the Raikage is approaching with an army of five thousand."
"I am now issuing my highest order: immediately mobilize elite ninja from every clan and form a counterattack force."
"Do any of you have objections?"
As Gengetsu's voice fell, the entire conference room went silent for a moment.
Then Uchiha Fugaku was the first to stand.
"Every ninja of the Uchiha Clan stands ready, entirely at your command, Lord Fifth!"
Gengetsu was a member of the Uchiha Clan and now Konoha's Hokage. Who would Uchiha Fugaku support if not him?
Then Hyuga Hiashi stood without hesitation.
"Our Hyuga Clan can also immediately mobilize fifty elite Jonin and one hundred ninja of other ranks, ready to head to the front at any time!"
Hyuga Hiashi knew very well that Kumogakure's pretext for launching this ninja war was largely connected to its designs on the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan.
Gengetsu had gone so far as to kill the Kumogakure delegation to save Hizashi. The Hyuga Clan had to repay that debt!
Their Hyuga Clan truly ought to contribute the most.
Then Shikaku Nara, Chōza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka stood together and declared in unison, "The Ino-Shika-Cho Clans are entirely at your command, Lord Fifth!"
The Ino-Shika-Cho Clans had now fully sided with Gengetsu.
Next, the heads of the Inuzuka Clan, the Aburame Clan, and others also rose one after another, offering varying amounts of manpower and assistance, firmly supporting Gengetsu's decision.
Seeing the Great Clans' eagerness to join the war, Gengetsu nodded in satisfaction.
But when it came to the Sarutobi Clan, the Utatane Clan, and the Mito Clan, the atmosphere suddenly changed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his chair, took two puffs of smoke, and put on an anguished expression.
"Fifth, it isn't that our Sarutobi Clan refuses to help..."
"During the recent Nine-Tails' Rampage, our Sarutobi Clan fought at the very front and suffered extremely heavy losses. Now only the old, weak, sick, and disabled remain in the clan. We truly don't have enough ninja to mobilize."
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi take the lead in refusing, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura immediately understood.
Utatane Koharu sighed and followed up, "Our Utatane Clan's ninja are all currently responsible for maintaining public order within the village. We really can't spare anyone for the front."
Mitokado Homura also nodded repeatedly. "It's the same for our Mito Clan. Logistics and medical services cannot do without our people. We truly cannot help."
In the eyes of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two, Gengetsu was certain to lose this ninja war.
Since they were certain Gengetsu would lose, how could they send their clans' ninja to their deaths!
They were still waiting to preserve their strength and take over power in Konoha!
Thus, the three had already agreed that they would not dispatch a single ninja from their clans this time.
Seeing the three's reactions, all the other clan heads in the conference room frowned, a trace of contempt flashing in their eyes.
Who didn't know that these three clans had barely suffered any losses during the Nine-Tails' Rampage?
With a powerful enemy upon them, they clearly wanted to preserve their strength and deliberately embarrass the Fifth Hokage!
Gengetsu had long anticipated this reaction from the three.
He had never counted on them at all.
"In that case... the three of you can get out."
"We're holding a war council. Since you can't provide anyone, this has nothing to do with you. The door's over there. Get out."
Gengetsu pointed at the door, his tone utterly blunt.
At his words, the hypocritical expressions on the three's faces immediately froze.
Gengetsu had actually told them outright to get out. He was giving them no respect at all.
But cowed by Gengetsu's immense strength, they dared not lash out.
The three could only snort coldly, rise, and leave.
Before you continue