"Lord Hokage, we successfully located Kōki Itō. Unfortunately, he was the only survivor. His Jonin instructor, Mamoru Uehara, and his teammates, Masato Yoshino and Yui Fujiwara, all died in action," Minato Namikaze reported as he approached Hiruzen Sarutobi.
After saying this, he paused before continuing, "Every member of the Sunagakure unit that infiltrated the heart of the Land of Fire, the targets of this mission, has been killed. We have brought back some of their bodies."
"We also successfully recovered the intelligence brought back by the Anbu."
As Minato Namikaze spoke, he took the scroll containing the intelligence out of his pocket and handed it to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Minato, thank you all for your hard work. Did you manage to get anything out of those Sunagakure shinobi?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took the scroll Minato Namikaze offered, released the seal on its surface, and opened it to read.
The scroll was filled with encrypted writing, but Hiruzen Sarutobi, who knew the Anbu's cipher well, could clearly understand what the intelligence said.
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's question, Minato Namikaze realized he had mistakenly assumed they had killed the Sunagakure shinobi. He hurried to explain, "Lord Hokage, we weren't the ones who dealt with those Sand shinobi. They were already dead before we arrived. Kōki killed them, and he recovered the intelligence as well."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands stopped moving. He seemed to have heard something incredible. He raised his head to look at Minato Namikaze.
"Minato, what did you say?"
"Lord Hokage, Kōki dealt with that Sunagakure unit that infiltrated the Land of Fire all by himself."
Minato answered a little louder. He knew the feat sounded rather outlandish, but it was the truth.
Minato's serious expression finally convinced Hiruzen Sarutobi of this outlandish fact.
He knew Kōki possessed strength close to that of a Jonin, and that with Wood Release, he could display exceptional combat power even among Jonin.
But Kōki's shortage of chakra had always limited what he could do with Wood Release.
So Hiruzen Sarutobi still found it hard to believe Kōki had grown so quickly, reaching the point where he could wipe out a Sunagakure unit made up of Jonin in just a few months.
What Hiruzen Sarutobi did not know was that Kōki had been able to kill so many Sand shinobi precisely because he had released the chakra he had accumulated over several months. That much chakra had sustained the consumption of his Wood Release, allowing him to kill more than a dozen Jonin alone.
But this was all temporary power that could only last for one battle, so Kōki's actual combat strength was currently only at the Jonin level. Even with Wood Release, he could only be called invincible among Jonin, but had not yet reached Kage level. Facing an assault by multiple opponents, Kōki would still be in danger of defeat.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed Minato Namikaze's hesitant expression and asked in puzzlement, "Minato, what is it? Is there something else?"
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's question, Minato Namikaze thought for a moment. Deciding he had to clarify such important information, he asked Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Lord Hokage, did you know Kōki possessed Wood Release?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi had not expected Minato to suddenly ask such a question. His heart lurched, and he looked around at all the shinobi present, discovering that they wore the same expression as Minato.
He sighed inwardly, realizing he could no longer keep Wood Release a secret.
"Yes, I knew Kōki had awakened Wood Release."
"I was also the one who wanted him to hide his awakening of Wood Release. News of its reappearance would have an enormous impact on the Shinobi World."
Everyone present was an intelligent, knowledgeable shinobi. They knew what Wood Release meant to Konoha, and what it meant to the Shinobi World.
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi personally confirm the news of Wood Release filled everyone around him with excitement.
Before, they had only been guessing. Though they had already realized it was Wood Release, without a direct confirmation, they could not help feeling anxious and uncertain. Now that Hiruzen Sarutobi had personally confirmed it, their unease disappeared, leaving only excitement.
They had all grown up hearing legends of Hashirama Senju. They had yearned for the glory of Wood Release their elders had spoken of, and had lamented its disappearance. They had never expected Wood Release to reappear today, and the news left them overjoyed.
At the same time, everyone present realized that the reappearance of Wood Release would bring enormous changes to all of Konoha, and even the entire Shinobi World.
They all looked at Kōki's small, young form in unison, never having expected such a young body to inherit such tremendous power.
Hiruzen Sarutobi also looked at Kōki. He could see that Kōki's expression was cold, with sorrow in his eyes.
He recalled Minato's earlier report. Kōki had been the only one to survive the entire battle, which meant Mamoru Uehara and the others had all died fighting.
So he asked in a somewhat hesitant tone, "Kōki, are you all right?"
Kōki understood what Hiruzen Sarutobi meant and replied, "Lord Hokage, I'm all right. I've already inherited the will of Teacher Uehara, Katsuto, and the others. I'll carry their will with me and keep moving forward with strength."
Elsewhere, at Sunagakure's frontline camp, a Sunagakure shinobi hurried into camp and headed straight for the commander.
Upon seeing the commander, he immediately dropped to one knee and reported, "Lord Rasa, we've lost contact with the Sunagakure unit we sent out earlier. We've also lost contact with Taku's team, which was pursuing the Konoha Anbu."
"Lost contact?"
Rasa froze for a moment, but immediately recovered. He was no fool. He knew very well what losing contact inside the Land of Fire meant.
It meant the intelligence on their side might have been leaked.
He made a swift decision. "Begin war with Konoha immediately."
"But, Lord Rasa, we haven't received instructions from the rear yet. If we go to war..."
"There's no time to hesitate. Our intelligence has already been leaked. Once Konoha reacts, we'll be at a disadvantage." The leak was actually something he had anticipated. He had sent an elite squad to infiltrate the Land of Fire precisely to provoke Konoha's anger.
Although he was a member of the militant faction, being the first to start a war would give others grounds to criticize him and damage his reputation.
If the squad's plan succeeded, Konoha would be the one to attack Sunagakure first, and Konoha would bear the blame.
The problem was that the intelligence had now been leaked, so Sunagakure could only shoulder the infamy of starting the war.
"I am the commander on this battlefield. If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility."
"Yes, Lord Rasa."
Konoha's scouts also noticed Sunagakure's unusual movements and immediately relayed the news to Orochimaru, who was commanding the Sunagakure front.
"Lord Orochimaru, Sunagakure has begun to move."
"As expected, they couldn't hold back any longer."
Hearing the scout's report, Orochimaru also realized that Sunagakure could no longer restrain itself, and immediately issued orders to the shinobi in camp.
"Follow my orders and prepare to engage the enemy. Also, send word back to the village that Sunagakure has started the war."
After he finished speaking, a trace of excitement appeared in Orochimaru's eyes as well. After these long three months, he too had grown tired of waiting.
Konoha's forces also took up formation, ready to meet the enemy.
Before long, an overwhelming wave of Sand shinobi charged at them from the front. A Konoha ninja who had lived through the Second Shinobi World War stared somewhat dazedly at the mass of Sunagakure troops charging toward them and murmured, "The Third Shinobi World War has really begun."