Analyzing the Ninja World Starting from Konoha

Chapter 157 The Ominous Man

Aoba nodded, her gaze resolute.

"The Tailed Beasts are too intimidating on the battlefield! As long as the Four-Tails and Five-Tails are still around, Iwagakure will always have the trump card, and we will always be at their mercy."

He walked to the map and pointed heavily at several locations representing the Rock Hidden Fortress.

"But if we take out these two high-level combatants first, it will not only greatly damage the morale and fighting will of Iwagakure, but more importantly, it can fundamentally eliminate Iwagakure's confidence to launch an offensive."

"As long as Iwagakure is forced to adopt a defensive posture, we can dispatch a rescue team from the front lines to intercept Sunagakure in the Land of Rivers as soon as possible."

Aoba paused for a moment, then drew a circle around the location of Minato on the map.

"At the same time, notify Minato-senpai to redeploy the troops that were originally transferred back from the Land of Rivers to the southwest of the Land of Fire to intercept them. With the mobility of Minato-senpai's Flying Thunder God Technique, he can set up a defensive line before the Sunagakure army arrives."

At this point, Aoba's expression became extremely serious.

"Also, make sure to tell Minato-senpai to keep an eye on the movements of Kumogakure. If Sunagakure dares to attack the Land of Fire at this time, there must be accomplices behind them. Kumogakure may also take advantage of the situation and launch a large-scale attack."

Jiraiya gave Aoba a deep look.

This kid not only saw through Luo Sha's conspiracy, but also came up with a complete and feasible countermeasure in a very short time.

First, eliminate the Jinchūriki to undermine Iwagakure's offensive confidence.

They then redeployed troops southward to intercept Sunagakure, while simultaneously issuing warnings towards Kumogakure.

The three lines work together in a coordinated and interconnected manner.

This kid is growing up fast!

"Okay! We'll do it your way!"

Jiraiya did not hesitate at all and made the decision on the spot.

"I'll report our plan to the old man right away!"

Meanwhile, in Konoha Village, deep in the Land of Fire.

Inside the Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat quietly behind his large desk, holding his iconic pipe, but he hesitated to light it.

In front of him were two urgent intelligence reports delivered through special channels.

One report states that Iwagakure has suddenly increased its troop presence on the border of the Land of Grass, with a large army pressing in.

The other report states that the Hidden Cloud Village has also made an unusually large-scale troop movement on the border of the Land of Lightning.

As a ninja leader who governed Konoha for decades, Hiruzen Sarutobi possessed an exceptionally keen political sense.

When these two intelligence reports were presented to him at the same time, he immediately realized that he had made an extremely fatal strategic mistake!

In order to forge an alliance with the Land of Wind and to alleviate the pressure of fighting on multiple fronts, he was certain that Sunagakure would not dare to act rashly.

Besides placing too much faith in the so-called endorsement of famous figures, they also underestimated the madness of the young Kazekage, Rasa.

At this point, it would be too late to urgently recall the troops that had been deployed to other battlefields back to Kawano Province.

Moreover, if Konoha's troop deployment becomes chaotic, Iwagakure and Kumogakure will definitely launch a joint attack without hesitation.

If they are not careful, Konoha may follow in the footsteps of the Land of Whirlpools and be completely destroyed under the siege of the three great ninja villages!

"well----"

Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his pipe, brought it to his lips, took a deep drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

In the swirling smoke, he seemed to age ten years in an instant.

"I might really be getting old."

He turned his head and glanced at the prosperous and peaceful Konoha Village outside the window, sighing inwardly.

Neither their courage nor their judgment can keep up with this unpredictable era.

"Perhaps after this war ends, it's time to hand over the position to the younger generation!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi made a decision in his heart.

In a daze, a young face with a bright, sunny smile and dazzling blond hair appeared in his mind.

If it were him, he would surely lead Konoha to new heights of glory.

"Quack—"

—

A clear croak of a frog interrupted the third generation's thoughts.

A small ninja frog appeared on the windowsill at some point, and with a leap, it landed steadily on the Hokage's desk.

Greninja opened its mouth, spat out a scroll, and then with a "bang," it turned into a puff of white smoke and disappeared.

Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe, picked up the scroll, and quickly unrolled it.

As his gaze swept quickly across the scroll, Hiruzen Sarutobi's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and a strange light began to shine in his eyes.

On the scroll was the latest frontline intelligence sent back by Jiraiya, which detailed the unusual movements of Iwagakure and analyzed the true intentions of Sunagakure.

What shocked and pleased Hiruzen Sarutobi the most was the latter half of the scroll, where Jiraiya relayed in detail Aoba's accurate analysis of the entire situation and his final proactive plan to break the deadlock!

As Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the name on the scroll, the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.

"Yamashiro Aoba————"

This young man, who was personally approved to enter the Ninja Academy and promoted step by step by him, is growing at an astonishing pace.

Not only does he possess formidable fighting strength comparable to that of a Jinchūriki, but more importantly, he has political wisdom and strategic vision beyond his years.

A long-lost smile finally appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face.

That was a smile of great satisfaction.

At least, under his rule, Konoha still produced geniuses like Minato and Aoba.

As long as these young people are here, Konoha's future is full of hope, and the Will of Fire will never be extinguished.

He believed that Konoha would be able to weather this crisis safely once again.

but----

Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze gradually sharpened.

We can't expect the younger generation to do everything on the front lines.

These old guys are just old, they're not dead yet!

At this critical juncture concerning the life and death of the village, it is time for these old bones to step forward and support the young people. "Someone come here!" Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted in a deep voice.

Swish!

A member of the Anbu ninja instantly knelt down on one knee in front of the desk.

"Go and inform the three advisors to come to the conference room immediately!"

"yes!"

The secret agents received the order and vanished instantly.

The Land of Grass, the Leaf Village Frontline.

While the Third Hokage was gathering his three advisors in Konoha, Aoba and the others at the front-line command center had already finalized their action plan.

"The intelligence has been confirmed."

Jiraiya pointed to two highlighted red circles on the map, "The Four-Tails Jinchuriki of Iwagakure, Rōshi, and the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Han, are currently stationed in these two locations."

In this era, tailed beasts are symbols of calamity, and jinchūriki are regarded as ominous figures by the world.

Even Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) did not give its Jinchūriki much preferential treatment, and they also suffered rejection and fear from ordinary ninjas and villagers.

Therefore, in order to avoid the tailed beasts going berserk and accidentally injuring friendly forces, the positions of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki were arranged in desolate areas far away from the main force of Iwagakure.

They were called "independent combat units" to put it nicely, but to put it bluntly, they were used as toilet plugs by the village.

When not in use, it sits in a corner collecting dust; when needed, it's taken out and shoved into the enemy's face.

This, in turn, created excellent conditions for Konoha's surprise attack plan!

This also explains why, in the original story, one of Iwagakure's two Jinchūriki became a rogue ninja and the other a wandering savage, and were eventually captured one by one by Akatsuki, while Iwagakure only received the news much later.

Therefore, prejudice in people's hearts is like a mountain.

The operation plan was simple: Aoba was in charge of the Four-Tails, Rōshi; Might Guy and the sealing team were in charge of the Five-Tails, Han; and Jiraiya was in charge of providing support and assisting the two of them at any time, while also blocking Ōnoki from making any rescue attempts.

The objective of the operation is clear: capture is best, but if capture is not possible, the enemy must be severely injured or sealed off.

"Remember, the core of this operation boils down to one word—speed!"

Jiraiya's gaze swept over everyone present, his tone serious.

"Although there are basically no Iwagakure troops around the Jinchuriki, once a battle breaks out, it will inevitably attract the attention of the nearby Iwagakure ninja responsible for liaison. We must completely eliminate the Jinchuriki before the main Iwagakure force can react!"

Matt Day clenched his fists, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.

"Understood! Leave it to me!"

Aoba nodded without saying anything more.

After quickly finalizing some operational details, the group split up to carry out their mission.

The sky was getting dark.

Qingye moved through the dense forest like a ghost.

This time, he didn't use his signature ninjutsu as usual, arrogantly flying through the air on sand.

A flying target is far too obvious and would easily expose its presence. Anyone with a modicum of sense could deduce its target based on its flight path.

To remain concealed, Aoba chose the most traditional ninja parkour style.

Upon entering the territory of Iwagakure, Aoba stopped and quickly formed hand seals.

"Spiritual communication!"

boom!

With a wisp of white smoke, the mutated raven with transplanted white eyes landed steadily on his shoulder.

"Connect to the optic nerve—the third eye, open!"

Aoba forms a hand seal with one hand.

The next second, the Byakugan's unique nearly 360-degree field of vision unfolded, taking in everything within a two-kilometer radius.

The patrolling Iwagakure squad, the sentries hidden in the shadows, and even some hidden traps were all exposed.

"Go."

The crow flapped its wings and flew high into the distance.

With the Byakugan's almost cheating all-around vision, Aoba moved through the enemy ranks as if they were empty, easily avoiding most of the Iwagakure ninja stationed and patrolling.

Occasionally, you'll encounter situations that are unavoidable.

With a slurp, the kunai sliced ​​through his throat cleanly and swiftly, giving the other party no chance to raise any alarm.

The body was covered in sand and silently dragged into the ground for burial.

Soon, he approached the area where the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi, was located.

When they were two kilometers away from their target, Aoba stopped.

With his Byakugan, he quickly located the Iwagakure liaison officer who was specifically responsible for communicating with Rōshi.

A few minutes later.

The liaison officer had his neck broken by Aoba outside a secluded cave.

Aoba looked at the corpse on the ground and formed a hand seal with one hand.

Transformation!

With a bang, the white smoke dissipated, and Qingye had transformed into the appearance of the liaison officer.

After finishing all this, he straightened his Iwagakure vest and strode toward the camp where Old Purple was.