Year 1 of the Grass God.
Autumn, Konoha Year 49.
The brutal war continued. Small-scale, high-intensity blocking actions broke out within the Land of Fire, and as three shinobi villages attacked simultaneously, a pall fell over the entire country.
In such a brutal war, no one could see any hope. Calls for surrender even arose within the Land of Fire, only to be swiftly suppressed.
The Four Great Nations, now truly enraged by the fighting, were putting their lives on the line this time.
From Konohagakure, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya and Orochimaru of the Sannin, Konoha's White Fang Hatake Sakumo, the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Kushina, the heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan, and Konoha's two great clans, the Uchiha and Hyuga, all entered the war.
From Iwagakure came Fourth Tsuchikage Kitsuchi, the Four-Tails Jinchuriki Roshi, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki Han, the Kage-level powerhouse Dong Siren...
From Kumogakure came the Third Raikage, the A-B Combo of A and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer B, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Toroi...
From Kirigakure came Fourth Mizukage Yagura, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki Utakata, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and others.
This alone showed why Konoha could survive the attacks of the Three Great Nations and defeat them: Konoha had more top-tier fighters, and they were stronger.
Compared individually, the other shinobi villages were not even in the same weight class.
Even fighting three at once, Konoha could hold out.
As time moved into summer, the forces of Kumogakure and Kirigakure gradually entered the Land of Fire in full and were guided toward Kikyo Mountain.
As the stalemate continued, Kirigakure and Kumogakure deepened their cooperation, directly combining their armies to launch a fierce assault on the Land of Fire.
Just then, on the Land of Fire's western front, Iwagakure suddenly headed north, shattered