Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

After selecting the location, Shikaku directed his troops to deploy according to his orders, while also sending personnel to meet the retreating frontline troops. However, not long after, someone returned to report.

They claimed that the hero from their own ninja village had actually arrived with his companions from the Wuyuan Mountain base.

While Lu Jiu was surprised, a deep look of delight also appeared in the depths of his eyes.

"Yes, Lord Shikaku. The reconnaissance team has confirmed the relevant intelligence. Lord Jiraiya and Gekko Zentsubasa, the commander of the Wuyuan Mountain base, have arrived in an area less than ten miles from us and are about to join up with the support force you dispatched!"

The Chunin who came to deliver the message, wearing a Konoha-style vest, lowered his head and replied with a very respectful expression.

Although they were puzzled as to why their Jiraiya-sama was acting with the defeated troops at the front, they were even more delighted that their side finally had a true leader. In the past wars, the ninja corps dispatched by their Hidden Leaf Village were all commanded by the village's top figures, such as Sakumo Hatake, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Minato Namikaze!

After the three wars, Konoha's top figures had either died, defected, or left the village. Nara Shikaku was truly a candidate for commander under duress. Now that he could welcome Jiraiya back, Shikaku was naturally overjoyed!

He was well aware of his own abilities and knew that he was best suited for roles like 'advisor' or 'strategist'. He believed that a true commander needed someone like Jiraiya.

Unlike ordinary warfare, ninjas place greater emphasis on individual strength.

Jiraiya undoubtedly possessed such extraordinary personal strength and prestige!

Let alone the current war, at this moment Shikaku even imagined the future development. For example, this time he must persuade his hero to return to the village completely, and preferably succeed as the Fifth Hokage!

This is what Shikaku believes is the most important thing for his village to regain its former glory. The Third Hokage is old, and this has been well demonstrated in the past three years since the Fourth Hokage died and the Third Hokage returned to power.

The village needs a leader with more courage and vision.

Of course, these are all things to be discussed later. They only briefly crossed Shikaku's mind. The most important thing right now is to deal with the dual pressure from Iwagakure and Kumogakure. Only by getting through this crisis can we talk about what comes next.

He issued orders to deploy and organize the troops according to the established plan.

Shikaku also personally rushed to the front to greet Jiraiya, which was the proper attitude for a junior and subordinate. Not to mention, Shikaku originally belonged to the generation that grew up hearing about Jiraiya's reputation.

Deep down, he held his own hero in high esteem and respect.

A short distance walked quickly forward.

A group of people quickly came to greet them.

In just a short 10 or 20 minute journey, Shikaku met Jiraiya and his group who were returning. Upon seeing Jiraiya's familiar figure, Shikaku's face lit up with excitement, and he immediately strode forward.

"Lord Jiraiya!"

We haven't gotten to a closer position yet.

Lu Jiu stopped abruptly, then bowed slightly with extreme respect, and looked at the white-haired man coming from the opposite direction, speaking in a deep voice.

The Konoha ninjas who accompanied Shikaku bowed their heads in excitement and exclaimed, "Lord Jiraiya!"

This was the true backbone of Konoha. Although the Third Hokage was very good at cultivating his image and was considered a highly respected Hokage by many low- and middle-ranking Konoha ninjas, it still came down to this: Hiruzen Sarutobi was old and no longer the hero he once was. Even those Konoha ninjas who trusted and were most loyal to the Third Hokage still had some concerns about him.

But things are different from naturally.

His illustrious achievements in the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars are proof of the strength of this hero of his own ninja village.

Most importantly, Jiraiya is only just over forty years old and is still at the peak of his ninja career. Compared to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who is now over sixty, the sense of security that Jiraiya brings is far superior to that of the people of Konoha, even if they don't say it out loud!

This time, the northwest of their own ninja village was attacked by Iwagakure, and the northeast was under pressure from Kumogakure. The middle and high-ranking Konoha ninjas were somewhat worried. But now, seeing Jiraiya has greatly eased these worries. For Konoha, Jiraiya has such charm.

Moreover, Jiraiya was the personal disciple of the Third Hokage, making his status impeccable. Of course, at this moment, everyone subconsciously overlooked the other disciple of the Third Hokage who had committed a rebellious act.

"Haha, you're the Nara family's kid, aren't you? It's been years since we last met!"

As the ninja clan in Konoha that was closest to the Hokage's lineage, Jiraiya was naturally familiar with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Moreover, Akimichi Torifu, who had died in battle, had guided Jiraiya and the others when they were young. Before the Third Hokage was busy with his work and before the three young ninjas had fully grown up, Akimichi Torifu and others had led the three young ninjas on missions.

This applies to Danzo as well, which is one of the reasons why Danzo was able to trick Orochimaru into entering the Root organization later on.

Therefore, in terms of familiarity, Jiraiya might be less familiar with other ninja clans, but he was quite familiar with clans like Ino-Shika-Cho, not to mention that Nara Shikaku himself was a person with a very strong presence in his own village.

Jiraiya took a quick step to get closer, patted Shikaku on the shoulder heavily, and laughed heartily.

"Yes, Jiraiya-sama, please come this way!"

Although he had many questions he wanted to ask Jiraiya immediately, Shikaku held back for the time being, stepped aside to lead the way, and spoke with a respectful and composed expression.

Seeing Shikaku's performance like this.

A hint of satisfaction also appeared in Jiraiya's eyes.

Among the younger generation in the village today, Shikaku can be considered the most outstanding one. Although his personal strength as a ninja may be lacking, his other qualities and talents are beyond the reach of many people!

Jiraiya had extremely high standards. In the vast Hidden Leaf Village, there were very few people he valued, and Shikaku was one of them.

Jiraiya hurried back to the established camp and saw the Konoha ninjas carrying out their respective deployment tasks in an orderly manner. The look of satisfaction on Jiraiya's face grew even stronger. His village still had successors. Shikaku was indeed someone who could shoulder heavy responsibilities. The Konoha ninjas he encountered along the way all showed excitement when they saw Jiraiya. Unlike the later plot in the original work, this was only Konoha Year 51, less than four years after the end of the Third Shinobi World War. Even the younger generation of the village could easily recognize Jiraiya!

For these people, Jiraiya's arrival was like a stabilizing force, giving them a sense of security.

Faced with the excited greetings from these Konoha ninjas, Jiraiya smiled and responded with very friendly words, as he had led the Konoha ninja army into battle many times.

Jiraiya knew all too well what role he needed to play at this moment.

He needs to instill confidence and reassurance in these people.

Therefore, they deliberately slowed down their pace. Shikaku understood this perfectly. Even earlier, when he went to greet Jiraiya, he consciously had his men spread the news of Jiraiya's arrival throughout the army, in order to boost the morale of his troops.

The morale was visibly boosted by Jiraiya's arrival, and a hint of joy also appeared in Shikaku's heart.

Morale is often considered an ethereal thing, but in reality, humans are ultimately governed by emotions and desires. They are not like machines that can repeatedly perform a certain operation without restraint. If a person is constantly in a state of fear and timidity, there is a certain probability that they will indeed explode, but more likely they will self-destruct!

The same applies to ninjas.

Given his innate fear, he'd be lucky to unleash 60-70% of his full potential, which was a concern Shikaku had previously worried about. However, this problem has been greatly alleviated with Jiraiya's arrival.

"Lord Jiraiya, over here!"

Following a straight path, the group marched into the camp, and under Lu Jiu's guidance, they arrived at the main camp in the core area.

After entering the main account.

He respectfully invited Jiraiya to sit in the main seat, and then gave a very detailed report to Jiraiya on all the information he knew, including the situation of the reinforcements he had led!

After listening to Shikaku's report, Jiraiya shared some of the intelligence he had previously gathered with Shikaku, including the detailed process of the fall of the Wuyuan Mountain stronghold.

After listening to the information Jiraiya had provided.

Shikaku finally understood why the Wuyuan Mountain stronghold had fallen so easily. In the end, it was because the Iwa ninja were too unpredictable. Strictly speaking, Shikaku had already estimated and calculated according to the highest standards, but he still suffered a heavy loss. It can only be said that war is truly the most unpredictable product. Even the most intelligent person finds it difficult to predict or even control the course of war according to their own wishes!

This is almost impossible.

Just like this time, even if Shikaku could be 100% sure that his micro-management would not make any mistakes, he could not control the actions of Shoji and the Yellow Earth Ninja, so it was only natural that an unexpected result would occur.

"Furthermore, I've discovered that Iwagakure has received reinforcements, estimated to be between one and two thousand people. However, this group didn't advance further; instead, they stopped within the Land of Grass and took over the outposts previously established by the Iwagakure ninja on these three flanks. In addition, there's intelligence that the Grass ninja have completely retreated back to Kusagakure, leaving the entire Land of Grass completely undefended. Shikaku, I need your advice: is there still a possibility of retaking the Wuyuan Mountain area, and can our village's forces deployed in the northeast effectively stop the Kumogakure ninja from advancing south?"

Jiraiya looked at Shikaku with a very serious expression and asked in a deep voice.

Although Jiraiya himself possessed rich war experience, this situation was the first time this hero of Konoha had encountered it. It wasn't that Konoha hadn't faced being attacked from both sides in past wars. Not to mention the distant past, during the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha experienced being attacked from both sides by the three major ninja villages simultaneously. However, Konoha was still at its peak then, and could send out as many as four or five Kage-level figures. Moreover, the attacks from the three major ninja villages were not all at once, with all their main forces mobilized. In many cases, it was a one-on-one fight against the main force of one ninja village, while dealing with small elite forces from the other ninja villages.

For example, when fighting against Sunagakure, they dealt with the elite Cloud Ninja forces of the Ab brothers.

When Konoha was at war with Kirigakure, and faced with the remnants of Sunagakure and the invading forces of Iwagakure, to put it bluntly, Konoha had never encountered a pincer attack from two major ninja villages at the same time. It must be said that Konoha was really lucky. If three or even two of the four major ninja villages had been able to work together to attack Konoha at the right time, regardless of whether they would win or not, Konoha would definitely have suffered heavy losses.

Unfortunately, it's too difficult to achieve that.

Even among the four great ninja villages, there are still conflicts and contradictions, making it difficult for them to join forces. Konoha, situated in a place of constant warfare, has faced many dangerous and vulnerable moments, yet it has repeatedly overcome difficulties. This reason is crucial!

But this time the situation is fundamentally different!

Even if Kumogakure and Iwagakure didn't send out their entire forces, the combined strength of the two ninja villages already exceeded ten thousand!

This is fundamentally different from dealing with one side's 10,000 troops on one side.

Jiraiya must make the most careful decision in order to ensure that his village can weather this crisis as safely as possible.

354. The next key point

In its 20 years of existence, Konoha has weathered numerous storms. Although it has faced several major crises, the one that truly threatened its very survival was the most critical moment in Konoha's history. Only when the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had just died in battle, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, then only in his twenties, succeeded him as Hokage, was Konoha's most perilous situation. At that time, a single misstep could have led to Konoha's complete destruction.

Back then, in the vast Hidden Leaf Village, only Hiruzen Sarutobi could be considered a prominent figure. Mito Uzumaki, the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, was already old and frail at that time, serving only as a deterrent rather than providing significant resistance. That period was indeed the most dangerous and difficult time in the history of Hidden Leaf Village. However, after Hiruzen Sarutobi managed to weather that period, Hidden Leaf Village truly became as stable as Mount Tai for the next thirty years.

Even though they seemed to encounter dangers such as being besieged by various countries in the two subsequent Shinobi World Wars, they were able to get through them smoothly. None of them really threatened the foundation of Konoha. As the disciple of the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, who rose to prominence during the Second Shinobi World War, knew this better than anyone!

During what seemed to be Konoha's most dangerous period, Jiraiya never worried. But this time was different. His village was no longer the powerful Konoha of the past, and the Iwa and Kumo ninjas were coming on strong. In particular, the Iwa ninja he had to face this time were a brand-new Iwagakure army with the entire Uchiha clan joining them!

Jiraiya found it difficult to make judgments based on past experience and had to rely on Nara Shikaku's wisdom.

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya. I think we can rest assured about the eastern front for now. Regardless of the forces deployed in our village or the intentions of that Fourth Raikage, it's enough to delay them for a while. Moreover, the Hokage has already made the worst-case scenario plan in advance, and the village has made the corresponding preparations. If necessary, the Hokage will personally take action!"

Plans are one thing, and taking action is another.

No matter how sound the plan is, there are always certain risks involved. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi has made up his mind, as long as it doesn't involve Konoha's core interests—such as handing over the Nine-Tails—Konoha will almost completely meet any conditions proposed by the Hidden Cloud Village!

All we ask is that the Hidden Cloud Village can settle things peacefully and refrain from resorting to violence again!

This was a strategy decided at the highest level meeting of Konoha. Logically speaking, it could yield substantial profits without using military force, expending any resources, or taking any risks. It is highly likely that the Hidden Cloud Village would not take military action but would instead sit idly by and watch the conflict between Konoha and Iwagakure.

But things that are highly probable are never 100% certain.

Don't even mention that there's still a 10-20% chance that the Cloud Ninja will launch a surprise attack. Even if the probability is only one in ten thousand, Konoha must prepare in advance. Of course, this is a prediction and preparation for the worst-case scenario. As long as there is a sliver of possibility, Konoha does not want to see the situation deteriorate to that extent.

However, what this illustrates is that there is no need to worry about the safety of their own ninja village's eastern front in the short term. Shikaku also clearly understood the core meaning of Jiraiya's words, and grasped the key point, speaking with the most confident tone.

"Ah That's good!"

The risk of the first problem can be determined.

Jiraiya's expression softened slightly, and he nodded gently.

"As for your second question, when I was in the village, my advice to the Hokage was to show weakness as much as possible, lose a battle within a controllable range, so that Iwagakure could at least superficially maintain complete control over the western front."

"Wait a minute, are you trying to attract the attention of the Hidden Cloud Village?"

Without Shikaku needing to continue, Jiraiya immediately grasped the meaning behind Shikaku's words, and frowned slightly as he spoke.

"This approach is just as risky, Shikaku-kun!"

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya, I also explained this to the Third Hokage. It was indeed the best choice at that stage, and the chosen battlefield was actually in the Wuyuan Mountain area. Now that the Wuyuan Mountain stronghold has fallen, it has added many uncertainties to this plan. However, the plan itself is still feasible, as evidenced by the fact that the Yun and Yan sides are still deploying their defensive forces on each other's borders!"

Lu Jiu first nodded slightly with a wry smile, then changed the subject and said with a determined look.

"As you said, there is indeed some room for maneuver, but the choice is almost entirely in the hands of the Hidden Cloud Village, making it too uncontrollable, Shikaku."

Jiraiya shook his head again.

"Yes, the biggest uncertainty in this choice lies with the Cloud Ninja. Therefore, we now have other options. However, before that, Lord Jiraiya, I need to confirm a few things with you!"

Shikaku nodded as well, then raised his eyelids again, a resolute look in his pupils, and looked at Jiraiya, saying each word clearly.

Jiraiya's expression also became very serious at this moment.