Warlock Invasion of Naruto.

As Minato Namikaze was explaining the changes to the deployment, the voices of ANBU ninjas came from outside the tent.

"Come in!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow and said in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

An ANBU ninja entered the camp and delivered the intelligence scroll to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Minato Namikaze sat down again, looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi with a tense expression.

Everyone's attention was focused on the scroll, and no one dared to breathe loudly.

Compared to the 'evenly matched' battles on the Northwest front, the Northeast front was the most crucial of the four battlefields.

Orochimaru also faced an army of more than twice the size of the Sunagakure army in the western region, and his top combat strength was also at a disadvantage.

However, Kumogakure was the village that sent the most troops in this great war, with nearly three times the number of Konoha's troops, and it also had the Third Raikage, the strongest of the Five Kage of the time.

Perhaps if Hiruzen Sarutobi were ten years younger, he might be able to fight the Third Raikage, but he is definitely no match for him now.

Some of the Jonin present have witnessed Kushina unleashing the Nine-Tails' chakra, but her true combat strength remains unknown.

Furthermore, the Hidden Cloud Village also possesses an Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

Of the four fronts, the Northeast front was the one that could not afford any problems.

"how's it going?!"

"Didn't Kushina defeat the Third Raikage a while ago?"

"Has the Hidden Cloud Village also sent Jinchūriki to the front lines?"

"Could there be a problem at the front?"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's solemn expression, everyone's hearts sank.

Please, please, it can't be bad news!

"The Hidden Cloud Village has withdrawn!" Hiruzen Sarutobi put down the scroll and breathed a sigh of relief.

"what?!"

"The troops have withdrawn!"

"Lord Jiraiya and the others have driven back Kumogakure!?"

"Great!"

"This is truly the best news I've heard in years!"

The Jonin exclaimed excitedly.

"Third Hokage, what exactly happened? Why did Kumogakure suddenly withdraw its troops? Could it be that Kushina...?" Minato Namikaze couldn't help but ask, the Third Hokage's expression was very strange.

“It’s Kushina, and Shiraha.” Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said, “Kumakunobi deployed the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, but they were defeated by Kushina. Shiraha suddenly appeared and displayed great strength, gaining the upper hand in the battle against the Third Raikage, so Kukunobi chose to withdraw.”

Even now, Hiruzen Sarutobi still hasn't recovered.

Leaving aside why Bai Yu's strength suddenly increased so dramatically.

The mere thought of leaving Konoha with Kushina to rebuild the Uzumaki clan filled Hiruzen Sarutobi with a profound sense of defeat.

He truly regretted the Shuomao incident.

People's hearts have already fallen.

All the contributions he has made to Konoha since becoming the Third Hokage cannot outweigh this enormous mistake.

“Shiraha…” Minato Namikaze looked surprised.

He was also present when Bai Yu unleashed his true power to protect Kushina last time.

Although he was surprised by Bai Yu's power at the time, he believed that he was still stronger than Bai Yu with his Flying Thunder God Technique, and there was a certain gap in their strength.

However, upon hearing that Bai Yu had gained the upper hand in his battle against the Third Raikage, he was somewhat dazed.

Minato Namikaze's current mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique still has room for further development and is not yet perfect.

Against a ninja like the Third Raikage, who had no weaknesses in either attack or defense and was without any blind spots, he not only didn't have much of an advantage in speed, but more importantly, the techniques he mastered were simply impossible to break through his defenses.

Even if he has mastered several powerful S-rank sealing techniques, it is meaningless if he cannot break through the Lightning Release Armor.

"Bai Yu actually possesses this kind of strength?"

"It seems that Kumogakure knew that continuing the fight would only lead to defeat, so they chose to withdraw their troops?"

"This reduces our stress considerably."

"Yes, although the four villages attacked us at the same time, they also have conflicts with each other. With the withdrawal of the Cloud Village, the other three villages are likely to be affected, which will increase our chances of winning!"

The Jonin were surprised by Bai Yu's strength, but they were even more pleased that the war would definitely take a huge turn after the Cloud Village withdrew.

"Jiraiya is still guarding the border, while Tsunade, Shiraha, and Kushina are escorting the wounded back to Konoha. According to the agreement made beforehand, Kushina and Shiraha will leave Konoha together to rebuild the Uzumaki clan, and the village will help them as much as possible."

After saying those words, Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have aged considerably.

"Leaving Konoha..." The Jonin who attended the war council were basically aware of this matter, but at this moment, the joy of hearing that two top combatants were about to leave Konoha and that the war was about to be won was overshadowed by this news.

"The rebuilt Uzumaki clan will also be a steadfast ally of Konoha."

Hiruzen Sarutobi added a sentence, but he himself seemed somewhat unsure of himself when he said it.

Regret.

When the Land of Whirlpools was besieged, he neither sent his main force nor went to its rescue personally. The Whirlpool clan was disheartened, and Kushina must have always remembered this incident.

The Shuo Mao incident also caused Bai Yu to drift away from the village.

But before many things happen, who could have imagined such serious consequences?

The reason for not saving the Uzumaki clan was to preserve strength. Who could have imagined that Kushina would become the perfect Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails in her early twenties? Who could have imagined that Sakumo would commit suicide simply because of the slander from others? And who could have imagined that Shiraha, a medical ninja, would possess strength comparable to the Third Raikage?

Unfortunately, there's no going back.

"Let's continue the war council," Hiruzen Sarutobi said dejectedly.

"Yes!" Minato Namikaze snapped out of his daze and nodded.

......

Konoha Village.

Compared to the sense of urgency on the front lines, things were much more peaceful in the village.

Ninja Academy.

Some of the genin who graduated in the previous batch may have already entered the battlefield.

For the newly enrolled sixth-grade students, the cruelty of war is not immediately apparent.

Even during wartime, they would graduate in four years.

Rope Tree stood on the podium, holding chalk and writing on the blackboard.

Suddenly, he paused, turned around, and threw half a piece of chalk at a student in the back row who was secretly eating.

"Kenta! Are you testing the teacher's hearing?" Nawaki said helplessly, arms crossed.

These kids really don't know how lucky they are!

Just being enrolled means they have four years to grow, and if they're lucky, the war might end in four years.

Even if you're unlucky, the war four years from now certainly won't be as intense as it is now, but you'll still need to have some strength to survive in the war.

Even newly graduated genin now have to carry out combat missions, which are at least tasks like dealing with bandits, robbers, and purging wandering ninjas within the territory.

Therefore, Nawaki is very strict with his students.

In recent years, Nawaki has mastered the puppetry techniques he obtained from Sunagakure. Now, with his puppet prosthetics, he can perform normal actions just like a normal person.

If you didn't roll up his trouser legs, people who didn't know him would never guess that both of his legs were broken.

Nawaki's current strength is probably much stronger than a Chunin, but compared to a normal Jonin, his mobility is insufficient.

Because the puppetry techniques obtained from Sunagakure are incomplete, they might be insufficient for high-intensity combat.

Although Bai Yu told him a few years ago that the development of limb regeneration technology would be completed soon, as the war gradually escalated, Nawaki gave up on this idea.

He no longer longed to regain his healthy and strong legs as he had before, and instead devoted his energy to education.

Compared to ordinary Chunin teachers, Nawaki's teaching is more in-depth and more patient.

Since the Senju clan had already disbanded, Nawaki had no qualms. If a student was exceptional and asked for his advice, he would even teach them the ninjutsu of the original Senju clan.

Despite his strictness, Nawaki was always the most popular teacher at the Ninja Academy.

Many students now know his true identity: the grandson of the First Hokage, the younger brother of Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin and a medical expert, and a disciple of Orochimaru.

If he hadn't been injured in the war, his strength would be far greater than it is now.

When such a person came to teach at the ninja academy, many students knew what it meant to have a good relationship with Nawaki.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Nawaki, I was wrong!" The student named Kenta scratched his head, smiled sheepishly, and quickly wiped the grease from his mouth with his hand: "I overslept this morning and didn't have time to eat breakfast."

"Then you can't eat in class. I'll give you five minutes to eat outside the classroom and then come back in."

Rope Tree pointed to the doorway and smiled helplessly.

"Um... thank you, teacher." Kenta picked up his lunchbox and walked out of the classroom.

"Hahaha, what a good-for-nothing!"

The students burst into laughter.

"Quiet down, continue the lesson." Rope Tree's expression turned serious, and the students immediately fell silent.

After two classes, Rope Tree said "Class dismissed" and walked out of the classroom.

He had just stepped out of the classroom when he saw the tall young man standing by the window and was immediately stunned.

"Bai Yu?!"

Rope Tree was overjoyed and rushed over in a few quick steps. He first punched Bai Yu in the chest, and then hugged him.

"You rascal, when did you get back?! You didn't even tell me."

Bai Yu patted Sheng Shu on the back and said with a smile, "I just got back this morning. I came to find you right after finishing up in the medical team."