Only I can make Konoha Village great again.

After crossing the defensive line, the Konoha army did not stop at all, and headed north towards the Land of Hot Springs.

The Land of Hot Springs is located between the Land of Fire and the Land of the Moon. It serves as a buffer zone between the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Leaf Village, and is also the main battlefield where the two villages clash.

This hilly country, dotted with hot springs, is now firmly under the control of the Hidden Cloud Village. Their food is confiscated by the Hidden Cloud Village as military rations, and their hot spring ninja are used as forced laborers.

In order to extract as much resource as possible and ensure the security of the supply lines, the Hidden Cloud Village has planted many spies in the Land of Hot Springs.

These informants are now a problem for the Konoha army. They can't eliminate all the informants, nor can they keep their own intelligence secret.

Orochimaru asked, "Hatsukyu, even you couldn't detect and eliminate the Cloud Village's spies?"

Yamanaka Chuu shook his head and said, "It's impossible. The spies that Kumogakure has planted are not only ninjas, but also many more ordinary people who have been bribed."

"I can distinguish ninjas, but I can't tell ordinary people apart."

"There are just too many ordinary people."

Orochimaru frowned and said, "This is troublesome..."

Yamanaka Hatsukyu laughed and said, "Orochimaru-sensei, your thinking is limited by ninja mindset."

"The Hidden Cloud Village uses a large number of ordinary people as informants in the Land of Hot Water in order to save on the demand for its own ninjas, which makes it impossible for me to remove all of them."

"But on the other hand, do these few Cloud Village ninjas really have the ability to stop my four thousand Konoha troops?"

"No, that's impossible. They can't even launch a guerrilla war to slow our march down in the slightest."

"So we don't need to worry about them at all. We should cross the Land of Hot Water as quickly as possible. No one can stop us here."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up, but he had one last question: "Will the Fourth Hokage, who remained in Sakurahara, know that we have arrived in the Land of Hot Springs?"

"This brute is actually quite clever. No matter how unbelievable it seems to him, he'll figure out what we're going to do."

"So, he'll catch up at full speed... How do we deal with that?"

Yamanaka Chuku confidently replied, "Orochimaru-sensei, the pursuers are coming. Let's choose a propitious spot, set up an ambush, and give them a good 'welcome'."

"We in Konoha are very familiar with the Land of Hot Springs. The terrain is gently undulating, and there are no large canyons that are absolutely suitable for setting up an ambush."

"The Cloud Village ninja are also familiar with this place, and they will surely assume we won't ambush them here. But I will do the opposite and ambush them in the hills, which are unsuitable for an ambush!"

"How can the advantage of terrain in an ambush compare to the psychological element of surprise?"

Yamanaka Hatsukyu's smile gradually turned sinister. Pointing to a point on the map of the Land of Hot Springs, he said, "I'm going to hollow out this little hill, fill it with enough explosive tags, lure the Cloud Village ninjas to gather on the hill, and send them flying into the sky in one fell swoop!"

Orochimaru laughed: "It's not difficult to get them to gather here. As long as we set up our defensive positions a little ahead and create a pincer movement from two sides, the Hidden Cloud Village will obediently climb Death Hill on its own."

Orochimaru's eyes flashed with approval: "Perfect tactics, just as you said."

He couldn't help but sigh again, "Yama no Hachiku, my student, you are truly the strangest ninja in the ninja world, and also the most suitable one to command a large army."

"I think that even if I were your enemy, my only chance of victory would be to assassinate you beforehand."

Yamanaka Chujiu shook his head helplessly (Old Man Looking at His Phone.jpg): "Orochimaru-sensei, why should I be your enemy?"

"Even if you lose your fight against Hiruzen Sarutobi, I will still become a rogue ninja with you."

Orochimaru suddenly felt a warm feeling in his heart and stuck out his tongue to lick his cheek.

Then he deliberately chuckled and said, "You really are my good student, worthy of being my last disciple."

Shan Zhongchu laughed and said, "There are still many days ahead. How can you say that I am the last student, teacher?"

Orochimaru chuckled, "Heh, do you think I could ever meet another young person as intelligent, strong, considerate, and loyal as you?"

Yamanaka Chuku thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Orochimaru-sensei, you probably don't have that kind of luck."

"But I think you can have children..."

Orochimaru sneered, "Impossible!"

"Who can I marry and have children with? Tsunade?"

"...She'll probably kill me."

"Apart from Tsunade, there's no one in this ninja world I find acceptable!"

Shan Zhong Chu Jiu pouted: "That's hard to say..."

Ha, if you look down on others, do you think you can look down on yourself?

The following day, the Konoha army no longer concealed their movements. Instead, they assembled and formed a line stretching for several kilometers, marching openly along the main road.

This way, although the speed isn't the fastest, all the ninjas can take the opportunity to recover their stamina.

A few Konoha ninjas skilled in Earth Release techniques broke away from the main force beforehand and went to designated locations to set up ambushes, traps, and concealed positions.

Information about the Konoha army's operation began to spread, first reaching the Kumogakure army in Sakurahara.

The Fourth Raikage was stunned upon hearing the news: "Orochimaru and Yamanaka Hatsuku are in the Land of Hot Springs?"

"What kind of bullshit intelligence is this? How did they suddenly appear behind us and have already traveled almost two thousand kilometers..."

The Fourth Raikage suddenly remembered that his current predicament of impending defeat was due to Yamanaka Hatsuku infiltrating his battle lines and launching a surprise attack on the Cloud Village army's supply center.

If he can do it once, of course he can do it again.

The problem is they've gone way too far. What kind of target in the Land of Hot Springs is worth attacking by thousands of Konoha ninjas?

Not at all...

Suddenly, the Fourth Raikage leaped to his feet, shouting in terror, "Damn it, I've been tricked!"

"I was wondering why the Konoha ninjas had been so quiet these past two days; it didn't seem like Orochimaru and that Yamanaka Hatsuku's behavior."

"They...they're actually going to attack Kumogakure..."

"What?!"

Killer Bee was shocked to the point that the Eight-Tails' chakra leaked out, and the chakra storm directly blew away his own tent.

But no one paid attention to the Jinchuriki's loss of control; all the Cloud Village ninjas jumped up and started shouting at the top of their lungs.

"That's impossible! We're still within the Land of Fire. How could they dare to let us go and attack the Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning?"

"That's right, we're only 1,200 kilometers away from Konoha, but how far are they from Kumogakure?"

"It's at least three thousand kilometers long, and it will cross the lands of four countries, one of which is the Moon Kingdom, which we control."

"This is impossible, this is absolutely impossible!"

"I think they're just going to attack the Land of Hot Springs to sabotage our efforts to requisition supplies from there, and to push us into a food shortage even faster."

The Fourth Raikage stood up, his dark face turning pale. He said resolutely, "No, that's not it!"

"We don't need four thousand ninjas to disrupt our plans in the Land of Hot Springs."

"Especially since Yamanaka Hatsukyu went along, you've all experienced his command abilities. With just three hundred Konoha ninja, or at most five hundred, he can throw the entire Land of Hot Springs into chaos."

"The four thousand Konoha ninja under Yamanaka Hatsukyu's command should be considered as ten thousand Konoha ninja!"

"What do you think is the destination of these 10,000 Konoha ninja marching north at breakneck speed?"

The Cloud Village ninjas all turned pale.

The goal of the 10,000 Konoha ninjas is either the same size Cloud Village army, or the Cloud Village itself!