Just like that, the Third again issued a new S-rank mission to Obito.
To avoid the problem that happened last time during the battle with Iwa-nin, when Obito didn't have the authority to halt Konoha's offensive, the Third even specially appointed Obito as the supreme commander-in-chief of the Fire-Lightning battlefield.
Seeing that matters had been handled more or less, Obito said to Sarutobi Hiruzen, "Lord Third, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave first."
However, the Third once again called Obito back.
"Actually, there's still one last matter. I want to hear your opinion on it."
Obito couldn't help but stop in his tracks, "Lord Third, please speak."
The Third thought for a while before speaking, "Obito, you also know, not long ago, about the four great ninja villages besieging Akatsuki."
"This matter, aside from making us realize that Uchiha Madara is still alive and still possesses combat strength equal to his peak, also made us notice something abnormal."
"Kirigakure didn't participate at all."
"That village has always been mysterious. Because they've long practiced isolationism, it's hard for spies to infiltrate. Many of our people have been lost there, yet the intel we gained is little. What do you think they're really up to?"
Obito put on an innocent expression.
"Lord Third, even you don't understand Kirigakure. How could I possibly know? Not participating in the siege against Madara, maybe it's just because Kirigakure needs to fight across the sea, so it's inconvenient?"
In truth, when it came to knowledge of Kirigakure, even many native-born Mist-nin might not know more than he did.
That country, for quite a long period, had actually been under his control.
As for why Kirigakure didn't come during the siege against Akatsuki, it was simple. Because the Third Mizukage himself was being controlled by Madara. No one understood Madara's terrifying power better than the Third Mizukage.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "If they really disliked the long sea route, Kirigakure wouldn't have stationed large forces on the eastern coast of the Land of Fire."
"Their excuse was that they feared the flames of war would spread into their own land, so they set it up as a kind of defensive measure."
"But after all, the eastern coast of the Land of Fire is quite close to Konoha. If Kirigakure suddenly launched a surprise war against Konoha, it would be quite troublesome."
After hearing this, Obito suddenly asked, "Is it really that close?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen replied, "Closer than you think."
"If they wanted, within a single day they could strike Konoha Village."
"Obito, looks like because you learned Flying Thunder God too early, you're not too sensitive about distances."
Inside, Obito felt like laughing, but couldn't.
He was very sensitive about this distance, too sensitive.
So he said, "Actually, distance works both ways. The closer they are, the easier it is for our reinforcements to arrive."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, "I've already set up forward scouting posts. If anything stirs over there, we really can respond immediately and send in massive reinforcements."
Obito exclaimed in admiration, "So even scouting posts are in place."
Sarutobi Hiruzen showed a look of self-satisfaction, like a teacher eager to instruct, "Of course. Battles between ninja are fought through information. If you can't grasp the enemy's movements at the first moment, you'll easily suffer losses."
Obito felt less and less like talking to Hiruzen.
Disinterested, he just reminded, "Then, Lord Hokage, please pay more attention. Otherwise, Kirigakure might really deal a serious blow to Konoha."
Strictly speaking, Obito believed that in Rin's incident, Hiruzen wasn't necessarily playing the role of a villain.
After all, besides Rin, there was Kakashi.
Perhaps, because of some lingering guilt over the death of Konoha's White Fang, Hiruzen took rather good care of Kakashi.
Kakashi had from beginning to end been nurtured toward the path of Hokage.
Even if Hiruzen abandoned Rin, he would not abandon Kakashi.
So, at that time, maybe something really did happen that left him too distracted to care?
Obito knew very little about what had happened during that time. After all, half his life was gone, and he was recovering under Madara.
But carefully reasoning it out, it wasn't hard to deduce.
After Konoha and Iwagakure finished the Kannabi Bridge battle, Kirigakure should have launched a surprise war against Konoha, catching them off guard.
All intelligence sources were cut off, leaving the ninjas on that battlefront isolated and without support.
Kirigakure dispatched the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, aiming for a decisive strike. The decision was very correct, and to Konoha, it could have been fatal.
But no one expected that, with Konoha lacking in top-tier combat power, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's collective attack would end up accidentally meeting a Konoha squad whose average strength was only chunin, and still suffer defeat.
Four dead, three escaped, their army shattered.
You had to understand, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were at the very least at the level of renowned jonin, absolute elites. Only a ninja of later Sharingan Kakashi's caliber could deal with them.
Some among them, Kakashi might not even have been able to defeat. After all, they already met Akatsuki's official recruitment standards.
It was precisely because the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were broken, and… that on a certain Hell Night, vast numbers of ANBU were turned into blood rain, that the war shifted from a surprise attack into a prolonged one.
Later, when the Uchiha entered the battlefield, Shisui carved out the title of "Shunshin Shisui." To some extent he reached the level of a legendary shinobi, and the war was won.
Konoha indeed won, but actually, in terms of tactics, it was a complete defeat. Only, there were too many freaks around.
At this time, Hiruzen was also thinking about this problem.
After considering a bit, he said, "I really am worried about this point. So, I want to send an absolute elite to infiltrate Kirigakure and gather intelligence. He'll need both strong enough strength, and the ability to survive and return alive."
"Right now, I haven't made a final decision. But since Kirigakure didn't come to the siege against Madara, I think we must investigate."
Obito was stunned.
This mission seemed tailor-made for him. He was strong enough, and he had Flying Thunder God.
But he had just taken the mission to end the Fire-Lightning war. Even though he could do both at the same time, Sarutobi Hiruzen probably wasn't aware of his terrifying ability to cover distance.
So he asked, "Lord Hokage, do you have someone in mind?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, "What do you think of Kakashi? I plan to send him to carry out this mission as an ANBU squad leader."
In Obito's eyes, a trace of realization flashed.
Inexplicably, he suddenly thought of what Naruto from another world once said about that whole system of compensating debts owed.
When it came to certain ninjas, those strong enough, famous enough, and who had never betrayed the village, that mechanism seemed to be in effect.
The Third Hokage was pushing Kakashi toward the position of ANBU Commander. Behind this, not only was there the idea of training talent for Minato, but likely also a way of compensating the debt toward White Fang.
At this moment, Hiruzen once again looked like a good person.
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