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"Urgent report!"

"Strategist Nara Shikaku has sent back orders: abandon the Wind Defense Line and focus on defending Konoha!"

"And! Her Highness the Little Princess has abandoned the group and is acting alone! She requests Lord White Fang's support!"

At this moment, the intelligence analysis department was in complete chaos, just like a vegetable market.

The ninjas were processing the massive amounts of intelligence reports with a fever pitch. Hiruzen Sarutobi stood quietly behind them, a pipe dangling from his lips, his brow furrowed as he pondered the endless stream of urgent reports, including those that should have arrived first but were overtaken by the urgent ones.

The rapid pace of updates on the front lines and the dense flow of intelligence were keeping every intelligence ninja somewhat overwhelmed.

I've never been this busy, not even during the Second Shinobi World War!

The intelligence ninjas, marveling at their busyness, spun around with their feet barely touching the ground.

Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped his pipe, taking stock of the current situation.

The general situation is quite obvious.

The Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning have formed an alliance, breached the defenses of the four countries, and invaded the Kannabi region.

Meanwhile, a group of unknown individuals, led by Onoki from the Land of Earth, guarded the border of the Land of Wind, attracting the attention of everyone, including the strategist Nara Shikaku.

There was nothing that could be done about it; no one could have imagined that the Tsuchikage would be so bold as to use himself as bait to carry out his plan, while simultaneously manipulating people's hearts.

The Land of Wind and the Land of Fire have just formed an alliance, which is the closest their relationship is to date, but also the most vulnerable.

If the Land of Wind were to ask the Land of Fire for help at this time, the Land of Fire would undoubtedly spare no effort to maintain the relationship between the two countries.

This act of maintaining the relationship played right into Onoki's hands, and he readily accepted Onoki as a poisonous bait.

The strategist Nara Shikaku was confined to the Land of Wind, resulting in a slow response to intelligence from the front lines of the Land of Fire, and thus he was unable to detect the anomalies in the Kannabi region.

As the commander-in-chief at the front, Orochimaru immediately noticed something was wrong, but ultimately, because his attention was diverted to the Land of Wind, it was too late to redeploy his troops.

The breach in the Kannabi region dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Land of Fire, forcing Orochimaru to retreat his troops and request support from various parties.

At this time, the Land of Grass, due to the defeat of the Land of Fire, simply switched sides and chose to support the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, thus preventing Tsunade and Jiraiya's troops from entering Kannabi to provide support.

This is a difficult situation, meaning that Konoha must provide support to Orochimaru's forces.

Otherwise, if Orochimaru's forces are defeated, Konoha will have to face the combined forces of the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning.

The situation has become so urgent that it is necessary to mobilize the ninjas stationed in Konoha as well.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply. The troops at the front lines couldn't move, and the ninjas in the rear weren't very experienced. The only ones they could use were the Hyuga and Uchiha clans, along with a large number of genin and some chunin. This made things very difficult.

However, both the Hyuga and Uchiha clans had their own reasons for not being able to use them, leaving only ordinary ninjas.

A fierce battle, a truly fierce battle.

Compared to these problems, Chiaki's solo actions seem insignificant.

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand and sent an ANBU member to inform White Fang to go and meet Chiaki, while he began to frown and ponder the battle situation on Kannabi's side.

With his abilities, he could indeed lead a large army on the front lines and fight on par with the armies of the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, but this is not in line with the behavior of a Kage.

Moreover, the frontline forces are stretched thin. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi personally takes to the front, the odds are at best 50/50, and he cannot truly change or solidify the course of the battle.

"Sarutobi".

At this moment, Shimura Danzo suddenly appeared beside Sarutobi Hiruzen and said to him in a deep voice, "I heard that the situation in the Kannabi region is not good?"

"Hmm, do you have any good insights?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow and looked at Danzo.

Danzo said in a deep voice, "What good insights do you have? Isn't the situation already quite obvious?"

"Mobilize all of Konoha's manpower, even those clerical Chunin and immature Genin, send them all to the battlefield!"

"Ninjas are meant to play a role, and you're probably the only one in the entire ninja world who treats genin like treasures, holding them in your hands and afraid to let them fight!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi subconsciously shook his head. "That's not a good idea. Those genin are all recent graduates. They don't have any ability to participate in the war!"

For Hiruzen Sarutobi, all children are seeds of Konoha, beings worthy of protection.

It is because of his ideals that Konoha has so many powerful ninjas.

However, because of this philosophy, Konoha's genin experienced far fewer wars and life-or-death situations compared to other countries. In terms of actual combat strength, Konoha's genin were no match for those of other countries, especially the Land of Lightning.

"What do you mean by 'incapable'? How old were we when we went to war?"

Danzo said sternly, "If you continue to spoil those children, Konoha will collapse!"

"If we let the Uchiha fight..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated before speaking, but before he could finish, Danzo immediately waved his hand to stop him.

"no!"

"The Uchiha clan must not be touched! This was decided starting with the Second Hokage!"

"……Why."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. He glanced at an ANBU member hidden in the shadows. Apart from having a small dachi on his back, the ANBU member was no different from an ordinary ANBU member.

"If you can't make this decision, then let our roots carry it out!"

Danzo's voice rose slightly, "Our Root organization can execute the mission perfectly!"

"Report!"

Just then, another piece of intelligence was delivered.

"The strategist suggests blowing up the Kannabi Bridge to cut off the supply lines between the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, and then persuading the Land of Grass to join the encirclement!"

"At the same time, assign a ninja, the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze, to complete the mission!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Granted!"

After saying that, he glanced at Danzo and said, "Shimura, Root should focus on protecting Konoha. Leave the frontline tasks to Minato."

"……snort!"

Chapter 346 Rushing Towards Life and Death

"Seventh Class, assemble!"

Minato stood at the entrance to Konoha village and shouted to the ninjas.

He glanced at the swarm of ninjas around him and couldn't help but sigh softly.

At this moment, those lined up at the entrance of Konoha were all young faces, almost all of them genin who had recently graduated from the Ninja Academy.

Their eyes held tension, excitement, and a touch of bewilderment.

Regardless of the circumstances, they were all going to the battlefield.

This is what ninjas are like; this is the true ninja world.

Even if they are only teenagers, they will fight to the death with their opponents, and risk their lives against genin, chunin, or even jonin who are also teenagers.

After this battle, who knows how many more of these young faces we'll see?

Even if we meet again, their youthful naiveté will probably have faded, and they will have transformed into resolute faces.

Minato shook his head, dismissing his own sentimentality, and began calling out names.

"Hatake Kakashi."

"……arrive."

Kakashi, with his dead fish eyes, swayed over to Minato and yawned.

Compared to those young and impetuous genin, Kakashi had already broken through the limits of chunin and become a jonin.

That's awesome.

You can tell from his attitude that this guy is incredibly arrogant.

Minato nodded to Kakashi and continued calling out, "Nohara Rin!"

"To!"

Compared to Kakashi, Rin Nohara was much more energetic. She carefully adjusted her headband and bowed respectfully to Minato.

"very good."

"And one more... Uchiha... Obito!"

When Minato mentioned the Uchiha, his voice paused for a moment, but he quickly masked his hesitation and called out.

It seems...maybe...

Obito Uchiha was completely excluded from the Uchiha clan. He wandered around outside on his own, and nobody cared about him.

It's important to know that even the Uchiha clan's genius, Shisui, was strictly confined to the village, prevented from venturing out and earning merit for the Uchiha clan.

The other Uchiha clan ninjas were also crushed to death in the village; not a single one was released.

Only Uchiha Obito...

This good-for-nothing, considered the worst in the Uchiha clan, was released, and even Danzo, who had already noticed it, didn't say anything.

After all, the mission Minato was carrying out this time was quite difficult, and it was uncertain whether his three subordinate ninjas would be able to return.

Even if I can come back...

It's nothing to make a mere Uchiha kid, a genin, disappear outside the village.

Ultimately, it's because Obito was too weak; people looked down on him, and even a tiny ant slipped through his fingers.

In addition, since he was a member of Team 7 led by Minato, he had to give Yellow Flash some face to avoid leaving him without subordinates.

Uh……

That being said, it seems that even without the Root ninjas taking action, Obito has disappeared somewhere.

"Obito?"

Minato looked around at the genin with surprise. Under the command of their respective captains, they had already lined up neatly, and some of the faster ones had even finished explaining their missions and set off.

But to this day, Minato still hasn't found Obito.

"What is that idiot doing?"