Chapter 124: A Dire Situation
Soon, Kyosuke and the other returned to the camp and reported to Orochimaru.
"What's the result?" Orochimaru asked, sitting in the commander's chair, licking his lips with his long tongue.
To his question, Kyosuke nodded without hesitation, indicating that the talks had been successful.
Although he had already anticipated this, upon hearing the news, Orochimaru was genuinely happy. After all, as the commander of the southwestern front, facing a Sand ninja force several times his own, to say he felt no pressure would be a lie.
Fortunately, the successful alliance with Hanzo had alleviated some of that pressure. Otherwise, Orochimaru would have requested more reinforcements from Konoha.
Seeing Orochimaru's strange expression, Kyosuke asked with curiosity, "Did something happen? Is it the Sand ninja?"
Orochimaru closed his eyes and nodded silently. "That's right. According to reliable intelligence, the Sand Village elders, Chiyo and Ebizo, are leading 2,000 Sand ninja and have arrived on the battlefield."
"Another 2,000?! Are the Sand ninja planning to fight to the death?" Kyosuke said, gritting his teeth.
"And that's not all. According to the intelligence, the Third Kazekage may have also personally come to the battlefield."
"What?!"
At this time, in the Sand's First Army's location, four people were sitting in the commander's tent, discussing something.
These four were the Third Kazekage, Chiyo, Ebizo, and the original unit's commander-in-chief, the Kage-level powerhouse, Bunjin.
However, since the Third Kazekage was here, the command of the unit naturally fell to him.
"Bunjin, how are the preparations?" the Third Kazekage asked, sitting in the main seat, looking at his most capable subordinate.
"I'm sorry, Lord Kazekage. The advance has been very slow. Konoha has set up numerous traps along the way, so..." Bunjin said with hesitation.
"No matter. Just speed up the clearing," the Third Kazekage said with a wave of his hand, his tone casual.
Just then, Ebizo, who was on the side, suddenly asked, "Has Konoha sent any teams to disrupt our operations?"
Bunjin turned and nodded, confirming that this was indeed the case.
"You know, traps don't distinguish between friend and foe," Ebizo said with a smile.
Hearing his words, Bunjin's eyes suddenly lit up.
"That's right. Since Konoha has the guts to send people, that means they must have a map of the traps. Why can't we just take it from them?"
He bowed respectfully to Ebizo, then went to reassign the mission.
"Sigh." Watching Bunjin's hurried figure, Ebizo couldn't help but sigh to himself.
At this time, he once again wondered why Konoha had so much talent.
In the end, unable to figure it out, he could only attribute it to the rich soil of the Land of Fire.
"But soon, that place will be ours."
Konoha Village, inside the Hokage Tower.
Thump! The Third Hokage slammed the documents in his hand onto the table in anger, shouting, "The Sand ninja are going too far!"
"What's wrong, Hiruzen?" The two elders, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, had just walked in. Seeing their old friend's angry expression, they couldn't help but ask with concern.
"Look, look at this," he said, handing the documents to them. "The Third Kazekage has personally gone to the battlefield. Are the Sand ninja planning to wage a war of attrition?!"
The reason the Third Hokage was so angry was because this move by the Sand ninja had completely shattered his last shred of hope.
He understood that war... was truly inevitable.
And the ridiculous thing was that just a few days ago, the Sand ninja had just sent a message, expressing that they had no intention of starting a war.
What was the meaning of this now? Were the Sand ninja making a fool of him, Hiruzen Sarutobi?
The more the Third Hokage sat there, the angrier he became. In the end, he threw off his Hokage cloak and called for the Anbu on standby outside the door. "Go and get my battle armor."
"Don't, Hiruzen, don't be so rash. Calm down," Koharu Utatane said, seeing that he was serious. She couldn't help but laugh and cry as she stepped forward to stop him, while also waving for the Anbu to leave.
The Anbu member looked at the situation, thought for a moment, and then slowly retreated.
However, as a precaution, he still sent someone to get the Hokage's equipment.
What if the Hokage is serious this time? Then I won't have disobeyed his orders, the Anbu thought.
In the office, Koharu Utatane and the other spent a great deal of effort to finally calm down the furious Third Hokage.
Then, the three of them fell silent for a long time.
"Sigh," the Third Hokage suddenly sighed deeply, then asked the two of them, "If I don't go to the battlefield, with just Orochimaru's men, I'm afraid they won't be able to stop a full-power assault from the Sand."
At this moment, the Third Hokage was filled with a deep sense of nostalgia for Sakumo Hatake. If he were still here, would he have to personally go to the battlefield in this situation?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but curse Danzo in his heart again.
But despite his cursing, he couldn't bring himself to really punish Danzo.
"Sigh, there aren't many old friends left. Danzo..."
Just then, Koharu Utatane suddenly spoke. "Actually, we still have a force that can be used to counter the Sand, but..."
"Another force? Where do we still have..." The Third was a bit puzzled by her meaning at first, but then he understood what his old friend was referring to.
"The Uchiha clan..."
He closed his eyes and weighed the pros and cons in his mind. Then, the Third Hokage suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Send a message. I want to see Uchiha Fugaku."
"Yes, sir."
After a long while, a weary-looking Fugaku arrived at the Hokage's office.
"Lord Hokage," Fugaku greeted him faintly.
"Fugaku, you've arrived," the Third replied with a brilliant smile. He then handed the previous document to Fugaku.
Fugaku took it with both hands and stood there, looking down at it.
When he saw that the Sand had reinforced with another 2,000 men, and that the Third Kazekage had personally come to the battlefield, his eyes widened.
"Lord Third, this..." Fugaku looked up at him, at a loss for words.
"Sigh," the Third sighed deeply, then said with a heavy heart, "I know that you Uchiha have been working very hard to maintain the village's security, but I hope you can contribute to Konoha once more. What do you think?"
Hearing this, Fugaku paused for a moment, then said in a clear voice, "The Uchiha are willing to shed their last drop of blood for Konoha."
"Good!!!"
The Third praised him loudly, then ordered with a solemn expression, "Uchiha Fugaku, I order you to lead the Uchiha clan to the southwestern front immediately to support Orochimaru."
"Yes, sir!"
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 100 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!