Mizukage's Pokémon Ninja Scroll

Chapter 60 Frontline Situation

"What?! It's Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin!"

Mei Terumi exclaimed in surprise.

Fortunately, the barbecue restaurant was almost empty by then, so no one noticed this direction.

"Yes, the village's previous deployment of troops to the front lines to establish outposts was intended to put pressure on Konoha, making the other major ninja villages see Konoha's weakness so they could divide and conquer it. That's why the village didn't immediately launch a large-scale attack on the Land of Fire's mainland."

"However, what we didn't expect was that the Land of Earth, which had declared war on the Land of Fire before us, withdrew its large force, which had already penetrated deep into the Land of Grass, back into the Land of Earth after seeing the troops sent by Kirigakure."

"This led to Konoha, which should have been attacked from three sides, immediately mobilizing enough troops to go to the eastern border to fight against our Kirigakure forces."

"Even Orochimaru, who was originally supposed to be the commander of the northwest front against Iwagakure, was transferred to the eastern border. It was precisely because of the lack of timely intelligence that the sensory squad ran head-on into the enemy's support forces."

After Qing explained, the three little ones finally understood the current battle situation and the village's purpose.

Following Ao's train of thought, Jianchuan Ju thought about it carefully.

It's estimated that the Hidden Mist Village's higher-ups didn't originally intend to fight so soon. They just thought that the major ninja villages would launch a massive attack together, keeping Konoha busy, and then they could find an opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Perhaps they also had the intention of tricking those brutes from Kumogakure into leaving the battlefield sooner.

In any case, Kirigakure is isolated overseas, and its frontline troops can hold onto Uzushima Island. Unlike other ninja villages that advance on the mainland, once their troops enter the territory of a small country that serves as a buffer, they will have to fight even if they don't want to.

Unexpectedly, not only did the Cloud Village delay its intervention for some unknown reason, but the Iwa Village also pulled a trick, withdrawing its troops directly from the Land of Grass.

Now it's the wind and water kingdoms that are leading the charge.

"So, Ms. Ao was sent to the front lines because the class leader of the Perception Class, Nakayoshi, was injured?" Mei Terumi asked with some concern.

"That's only one reason. Too many sensory ninjas have been killed on the front lines. If we don't send reinforcements, it might affect subsequent operations."

"On the other hand, the village will also send a large number of ninjas to the front lines. The losses at the front lines this time are considerable, and Konoha may launch an attack on the camp at any time. Moreover," Ao hesitated, but after thinking for a moment, he continued.

"Furthermore, if we lose troops at the beginning of the war and the village does not retaliate, it may damage the dignity of the Mizukage."

Ao is right. Some time ago, the Kirigakure troops stopped advancing, which caused quite a bit of discontent in the village. Now, if they are beaten and do not fight back, some people may think that the Kirigakure leadership is too weak.

"But Ao-sensei, Konoha might want to inflict as much pain on us as possible to force Kirigakure to withdraw from the war. If the village is too reckless, it might..."

Jianchuan Ju didn't continue speaking, because no matter what they discussed, they couldn't change the village's higher-ups' decision.

Kirigakure needs to get revenge, and Konoha needs to eliminate the Kaze and Mizu clans while still having a numerical advantage.

Both companies are now poised for a decisive battle.

"Teacher Qing, if you take another batch of sensory ninjas to the front lines, what will happen to the village's defenses?"

Jianchuan Tachibana suddenly remembered that he had heard Qing say before that the village's sensory ninjas were already in short supply.

We still need to patch up the holes at the front lines, so why should we abandon our hometown?

"It's alright. With the Mizukage in charge of the village, and the ninjas from those clans who have mastered sensory ninjutsu also participating in the village's defense, there's no need to worry about the village's safety."

Although Kirigakure does not have a dedicated sensory clan, most ninja clans still train some sensory ninjas, but the village usually does not allow them to directly participate in these tasks.

Zabuza, who had remained silent until now, gave Tachibana Kanagawa a strange look.

His eyes conveyed an expression that said, "You're a low-ranking ninja, yet you worry about so much."

Seeing this, Jianchuan Ju scratched his head somewhat awkwardly and stopped asking questions.

The main reason is probably that the shock of encountering Orochimaru on the battlefield was too great, which made Tachibana Kanagawa eager to learn more information.

But looking back, when he actually went to the battlefield, danger lurked everywhere. Whether he encountered an ordinary Jonin or Orochimaru, it didn't make much difference to him.

Seeing that the three disciples understood the current situation, Qing spoke up to offer a brief reminder.

"The squad will suspend training for the next few days. Go back and make more preparations. Don't get to the battlefield only to find out you're unprepared and lose your lives. I also need to go to the perception unit to arrange support personnel. We'll meet at the village gate in three days and depart."

"Teacher Qing, are we setting off with the main support force?" Mei Terumi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Yes, but only the sensory unit will be there. The rest of the main force will be led by Jonin Karatachi and will depart in five days."

The three children were somewhat surprised, not because of the departure time, but because they didn't expect that Yagura Karatachi would be leading the team this time.

Having experienced two somewhat special missions before, the three of them had gained some understanding of the internal struggles within the village. Given Yagura's strength and status, going to the front lines would undoubtedly mean directly taking over command of the front lines.

But don't forget, there are still plenty of clan ninjas as mid-to-high-level combatants on the front lines, so the village isn't afraid of internal conflicts.

Seemingly noticing the confusion of his three disciples, Qing replied somewhat dejectedly.

"There's no other way. The only people in the village who can truly match Orochimaru's strength right now are the Mizukage and Jonin Karatachi. Since the Mizukage is unable to go to the front lines, we have no choice but to send Jonin Karatachi to oversee the front lines."

Ao is indeed right. Currently, the only two people in Kirigakure who can reach the Kage level in terms of combat power are the Third Mizukage and Yagura Karatachi.

If the Mizukage really does take action personally...

Don't forget that the Land of Lightning, which is separated from the Land of Water by the sea, hasn't joined the war yet. It might be the story of the Raikage descending upon the Land of Water.

Furthermore, Ao also knew about the two tailed beasts within Kirigakure. The Three-Tails was currently still sealed and did not have a suitable jinchūriki.

As for the Six-Tails, although it had obtained a lot of sealing knowledge from the previous annihilation of the Land of Whirlpools by the Hidden Mist Village and other ninja villages, and had successfully sealed it into a Jinchuriki, the Jinchuriki was too young to be used as a fighting force.

So the village really doesn't have any high-end combat power anymore; it's just that thanks to Kirigakure's long-standing policy of secrecy, it's unknown to outsiders.

"Alright, you don't need to worry about the infighting among the village's upper echelons. You just need to be prepared and make sure you survive on the battlefield."

"Yes!" x3

(End of this chapter)