On the other side, half an hour ago, within the Land of Fire, deep behind the Konoha border defense line.
A Konoha Ninja frowned, gazing at the sea of trees stretching to the edge of the horizon in the distance.
The area he was in was already a flat plain; crossing it would lead to the vast inland of the Land of Fire.
At the same time, it was completely outside the alert zone and patrol range.
"Still haven't returned—"
This Konoha Chunin glanced at the sky and murmured.
His companion had already gone to the Stronghold in the sea of trees to deliver the daily mission report; logically, he should have returned long ago.
It was a bit strange.
After waiting a little longer—
At this moment, an insect suddenly flew to his side and circled him a few times.
The man initially wanted to shoo it away, but quickly recognized it as an insect controlled by a Secret Technique used by a member of the Aburame Clan.
He extended his finger, and the insect landed on his fingertip as expected.
Immediately, it flew down to his feet, crawled slowly on the ground, and used its body to trace a few characters on the dirt.
"!!!"
Upon seeing the characters and the message they conveyed clearly, the Konoha Chunin instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
His eyes looked toward the distance in shock.
The next second, he ran away rapidly without looking back.
Late at night, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been busy all day, was preparing to rest.
But suddenly, the door to his office was pushed open by a guard.
His expression could not hide his panic.
"Hokage-sama, it's bad! Our border bordering the Land of Rivers has been occupied by the army of Sunagakure!"
What?!
Upon hearing this, even as steady as Hiruzen was, his eyes instantly widened.
After being stunned for a moment, he immediately said in a deep voice: "Assemble everyone!"
"Yes!"
The guard obeyed the order and turned to leave.
Hiruzen rubbed his eyes and sank into his chair, his face full of exhaustion.
His brows were instantly clouded with worry.
Sunagakure's army actually launched a surprise attack on their Land of Fire?!
The Village had not received any intelligence in advance—
Land of Rivers—did Sunagakure reach some unknown cooperation with the Land of Rivers?
Hiruzen was still calm; the outbreak of war was not unexpected—after all, the few of them had already had premonitions beforehand.
What was unexpected was—it unfolded in this way.
Furthermore, it was Sunagakure, which was considered the least likely to provoke war, that took the initiative to strike them—
Instantly, Hiruzen's thoughts were complex—he began to delve into all the intelligence and information related to Sunagakure from the past.
Sunagakure's sudden mobilization seemed like a surprise attack—but given the state of their Village, since they dared to make a move, it must have been planned for a long time.
"When did it start?"
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and muttered.
Sunagakure had lost the Third Kazekage and was now leaderless, naturally weak—were they disregarding the development of the Village?
Who on earth gave them the confidence?
No—they couldn't possibly be unaware of the cost of war.
If they dared to act, they must be prepared.
Soon, the entire higher-ups of Konoha arrived upon hearing the news, moving quite quickly.
Not only Utatane Koharu, Homura Mitokado, and Danzo, but also Orochimaru, the Clan Chiefs of various Families—as well as the heads of the Village's various institutions, and representatives of the younger generation who had already begun to stand out, stepped onto the battlefield, and were beginning to be reused by the Village.
Everyone was on high alert, and the atmosphere was heavy.
They had already questioned the person who brought back the battle report.
The conclusion drawn caused everyone's mood to sink.
Because, what could be confirmed at the moment was that their border had fallen—to occupy an entire war zone in such a short time, even if the forces deployed by their Village were not many, it was enough to show that Sunagakure was coming fiercely with a massive military force.
And had planned it even earlier.
"However—judging by the speed of the battle report's return, the situation is very unfavorable for us. Our people must have been completely wiped out by Sunagakure; otherwise—we should have received the news long ago. To be able to achieve this level—who is the person leading the Sunagakure army? The Third Kazekage?"
A higher-up said in a deep voice.
Having such battlefield dominance—could it be the Kazekage?
That is to say, the Third Kazekage did not disappear; it is very likely a play directed and acted by Sunagakure themselves, deliberately misleading the outside world.
It was designed just for attacking the Land of Fire now.
"No—according to our intelligence analysis, the Third Kazekage has indeed disappeared, and it has been for some time. Currently, all affairs in Sunagakure are being handled by that old woman, Chiyo. Moreover, the commotion earlier, plus Sunagakure's furious and indiscriminate attitude, doesn't seem fake—"
"The Village will immediately enter a state of combat readiness!"
Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe, did not participate in the discussion of this topic, and instructed the people below.
After speaking, he looked at one person: "Mobilize troops and head to the combat zone at full speed."
"It has already been notified."
The latter replied.
"Not only the border on the side of the Land of Rivers, but the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning, including the coastal areas must be fortified."
Hiruzen said.
The Great War has started; the people their Konoha has to deal with are definitely not just Sunagakure.
Such war news will spread quickly; perhaps, other Villages already know about it now.
Once the word spreads, then—these restless rivals of Konoha will definitely take the opportunity to invade.
You must know, because of the Third Kazekage's disappearance, the public opinion storm Sunagakure stirred up in the Ninja World was not small; it had long ago planted a time bomb for this war that is highly likely to escalate to the level of the Ninja World.
Several Villages all had a premonition that war would break out; it just depended on who took the first step.
In other words, the current Konoha cannot afford to commit all its troops to the battlefield against Sunagakure. Even if the disparity in military strength and combat power is large, wanting to annihilate the entire Sunagakure army is not something that can be done in a day or two.
Moreover, the enemy was already prepared.
Once there is no time to return for defense or mobilize troops, then—bad news like having the border occupied by Sunagakure's army could happen again.
They must guard against enemies that might pop up at other borders in advance.
And it's not just Konoha—but the Five Great Ninja Villages; from now on, everyone must be careful throughout!
They were just plotted against by Sunagakure and were caught a bit off guard.
At this thought, Hiruzen intentionally glanced at Danzo.
You know, Danzo previously asserted that given Sunagakure's current state, they would absolutely not dare to provoke a war.
And what was the result?
They not only provoked it but were the first to make a move.
And, once they made a move, it was a ruthless one!
Danzo noticed his old friend's gaze, without any guilt or unease from being slapped in the face by reality; instead, he was expressionless and very calm.
At this critical juncture, Hiruzen was in no mood to "settle scores with Danzo"; the war was the priority.
Looking at this group of people from the Village in front of him, the feeling was particularly obvious—
Compared to the last Second Great Ninja War, this time, there really weren't many characters in the Village who could be delegated and take on major responsibilities in this war.
Every border of the entire Land of Fire could become a large-scale battlefield—in the situation where top-tier combat power was insufficient, the only choice to withstand the pressure was to let the new generation "fill the gap" and begin true training.
For these juniors, it was also an opportunity.
"Orochimaru—take troops immediately and head toward the Land of Rice Fields, pay attention to the next movements of Kumogakure."
"Yuichiro, Yaseki, Aoki—you lead a portion of the people to the Land of Grass to defend against potential attacks from Iwagakure."
Subsequently, Hiruzen quickly and briefly carried out the combat deployment.
Konoha was very experienced with this kind of war—especially these characters who had experienced the Second Great Ninja War, they all knew what to do and what not to do.
"Yes."
Everyone accepted the order one by one.
Then, Hiruzen Sarutobi cast his gaze toward a few faces of the Village's younger generation.