Naruto: My version is ahead of the ninja world

From God's perspective, whether compared to the First and Second Hokage era or the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha was indeed in a period of transition. The frontline battles were led by Mitokado Homura and Shimura Danzo, neither of whom had much credibility.

Where are those absolute powerhouses on the battlefield who can deliver the decisive blow? At this moment, Konoha doesn't seem to have anyone like that.

Sakumo Hatake had just begun to make a name for himself on the battlefield, while Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade had not yet earned the title of "Sannin".

The only ninja in Konoha who could be considered significant was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. However, he could not easily go to the front lines and could only stay at the headquarters in Konoha Village to coordinate operations.

Just twenty years later, Konoha, once the strongest village in the ninja world, has fallen to this state. At this time, Konoha's overall combat strength is barely on par with other ninja villages, and can even be described as weak.

Of course, Yu Xuan doesn't need to think about why Konoha has become like this, since a ninja like him is part of the already weak Konoha.

Iwagakure is a formidable enemy of Konoha, Sunagakure is a formidable enemy of Konoha, and even Amegakure is a formidable enemy of Konoha.

"I confirmed the news about Iwagakure changing their military route on my return... The information is accurate; Iwagakure is no longer marching through the Land of Birds, but instead is advancing through the Land of Grass," Akimichi Torifu said.

"Is Iwagakure withdrawing from the intense battle with Sunagakure to prioritize crushing Konoha?" Mitokado Homura's face was full of anxiety. Iwagakure had only changed its route of advance, yet it had already put Konoha in a very unfavorable situation.

If Iwagakure enters the Land of Rain from the direction that leans towards the Land of Birds, then Amegakure and Sunagakure will directly face the pressure from Iwagakure. However, if Iwagakure takes the route through the Land of Grass, then Konoha and Amegakure will bear the pressure.

Even setting aside the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Mist Village, which have been holding back their actions, is Konoha currently capable of fighting on multiple fronts?

With Iwagakure, Amegakure, and Sunagakure surrounding them, Konoha is under attack from three sides, bearing immense combat pressure in almost every direction.

If you ask Yu Xian, the problem Konoha is facing at this time is actually not difficult to solve. Konoha should switch from offense to defense, honestly act like a coward, completely withdraw from the Land of Rain, and then establish a defensive line at a distance from the Land of Fire, adopting the Iron Turtle tactic. In this way, whether it is Iwagakure or Sunagakure, if they want to attack the front line of Konoha, they will at least have to go through the Land of Rain first.

This essentially makes Amegakure act as Konoha's shield.

However, as one of the five great ninja villages, Konoha would not easily withdraw from the Land of Rain. In a sense, that would not be a sign of weakness, but rather a surrender. Retreating too close would be meaningless, while retreating too far would be tantamount to abandoning territory, which is unacceptable to both Konoha and the Land of Fire.

"The Land of Birds has no ninja villages, but the Land of Grass does. Iwagakure is using the Land of Grass as a route, which infringes on the interests of Kusagakure... Perhaps we can try to gain the support of Kusagakure." Akimichi Torifu offered a seemingly feasible but actually meaningless suggestion.

Now that things have come to this, should Konoha seek the support of the smaller ninja villages?

"Kusagakure is neither Amegakure nor Takigakure, and its strength is quite weak. More importantly, it's not just Iwagakure that has invaded the Land of Grass," Danzo Shimura said coldly.

Well, this is a bit awkward. To Kusagakure, Iwagakure is domineering and evil, easily disregarding national borders. But what about Konoha? To Kusagakure, is Konoha some kind of good person?

The Konoha ninjas aren't exactly rule-abiding either; this is how the major ninja villages treat the minor ones... You should know that when fighting against Amegakure and Iwagakure, the Konoha ninjas often crossed the border and invaded the Land of Grass.

Putting aside other things, when Akimichi Torifu led his squad behind enemy lines, they ended up in the Land of Grass while running.

"Notify Hiruzen and request reinforcements; there is no other way."

Danzo Shimura was relatively reliable. At this point, there was no time to waste; directly requesting reinforcements was the most reasonable solution. The unreasonable part was that nobody knew how many reserve troops Konoha actually had.

Danzo thus easily shifted the problem from the front lines to Hiruzen Sarutobi, making it his responsibility to solve.

"There's no other way." Mitomon Homura remained silent for a moment, but in the end, he could only accept Shimura Danzo's decision.

"What about the other piece of information? It concerns the fact that the Four-Tails Jinchuriki and the Five-Tails Jinchuriki are acting together and directly participating in the battle. How should we handle this?" Compared to the previous piece of information, Akimichi Torifu was more concerned about this matter.

Konoha can handle Iwagakure's routine mobilization in a conventional way, but how should they deal with unconventional methods?

Konoha cannot fight one Jinchūriki against another. At this time, Mito Uzumaki is too old to leave Konoha Village... If Mito Uzumaki were still young, why would they worry about the Jinchūriki of Iwagakure?

After a while, Konoha will have to replace its Jinchūriki.

The actions of Iwagakure were very coincidental; neither the old Jinchuriki of Konoha nor the newly replaced Jinchuriki could become direct combat forces on the battlefield.

"Why does Iwagakure act so extremely? Aren't they worried about the Jinchuriki possibly suffering any mishaps on the battlefield?" Mitokado Homura disliked Iwagakure's reckless approach.

"Hmph, Iwagakure and Kumogakure are always like this, only seeing the benefits and never considering the consequences of their actions."

"Perhaps we should ask the Land of Whirlpools for help."

Since it was a matter of asking for help anyway, Mitomon Homura simply expanded on Shimura Danzo's strategy.

It is extremely difficult to deal with Jinchuriki or Tailed Beasts head-on, but it is not so difficult to attack from the side. If the Uzumaki ninjas, who are extremely skilled in sealing techniques, are deployed, it may not be difficult to resolve the Jinchuriki threat.

However, although the Uzumaki clan is a traditional ally of Konoha, they are ultimately not part of Konoha, but rather an independent ninja village... Given the current chaotic situation in the Land of Rain, with the three major ninja villages and Amegakure engaged in a war, it is difficult for the Uzumaki ninjas to directly participate in the battle.

"No," Shimura Danzo immediately stopped them. He was silent for a moment, then offered a new strategy. "We are not the ones most anxious about this. After all, the Jinchuriki of Iwagakure are active in the Land of Rain. Who is most worried about the damage they might cause? The answer is self-evident... Find a way to leak this information to Hanzo of Amegakure. He will help us deal with the Jinchuriki."

That's why Shimura Danzo is called "the shadow of the pot"—he's cunning, but what's most insidious is that he actually uses open schemes.

However, Danzo's words had their own logic. The person who least wanted the Jinchūriki of Iwagakure to be active in the Land of Rain was none other than Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure.

Hanzo was at the peak of his power at this time. With his "power close to that of a god", he could probably easily deal with one or two Jinchūriki.

In short, after reporting the news brought back by the squad, Akimichi Torifu's squad was temporarily disbanded.

Akimichi Torifu will remain where he is for the time being, while Hagen will head to Konoha Hospital to have his injuries treated thoroughly. Omori Kairi and Uchiha Hazuki can rest for a few days.

After the unrelated personnel left, only Mitokado Homura, Shimura Danzo, and Akimichi Torifu remained in the tent.

"Qu Feng, is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"Our forward reconnaissance outposts were destroyed almost simultaneously. The enemy's actions were so precise that I suspect there was a leak of intelligence... There is a high possibility that there is a spy from Iwagakure at the command post, and this spy is in a high position, at least he has access to some classified information."

Akimichi Torifu's words immediately put the other two on alert. If such a spy really existed, the harm he could cause would be enormous.

"Oh no, that means the location of the frontline hospital has been exposed, and it could be attacked by the enemy at any time..." Mitomon Homura was shocked. Once the key location was exposed, the enemy could attack Konoha's weak point at any time.

"Transfer?"

"Don't move for now. We need to find a way to catch the spy first, otherwise no matter how we move the location, it will be exposed soon."

"If a spy is located close to the intelligence core, we cannot interrogate them blindly, otherwise it will cause widespread panic."

"Hmph, don't worry, it's just catching mice, I have many ways to do it."

Whether in peacetime or wartime, different ninja villages have a tradition of sending spies to each other. On Konoha's side, the person in charge of intelligence for a long time was Shimura Danzo.

He viewed the enemy's act of planting spies in Konoha's front-line camps as a provocation.

In many cases, each ninja village actually assumes that there are spies in their own ranks. As long as the spy's position is not too high and they are not allowed to access core intelligence to avoid causing irreparable huge losses, then it can be proven that their anti-espionage measures are adequate.

Intelligence such as the location of frontline hospitals, with so many people moving around every day, could never be completely concealed.

The weaker the power, the more one has to fuss over strategies and conspiracies. If this were when Konoha was first established, there would be no need for such scheming. No matter how many moves the enemy makes, I would just throw a punch.

When the First Hokage was alive, there was never a Shinobi World War.

Unfortunately, all of that is now gone.