Kushina decided to create a hidden compartment in her bedroom.
She dug a passageway downward, leading to a small secret room where she could rest. Every night, she'd sleep there, leaving a shadow clone in her bedroom to maintain appearances.
In the Land of Rain, the downpour continued relentlessly.
Konoha and the Hidden Rain Village were locked in fierce combat.
Danzo was losing hair by the handful.
He had never imagined that under Hanzō's leadership, the Hidden Rain Village would be such a tough nut to crack.
The expected swift victory had not materialized. Instead, the Rain Village had managed to bog down Konoha's forces.
This was something Danzo hadn't anticipated.
And yet, the Hidden Rain had done just that.
Once Konoha's forces entered the Land of Rain, the battle turned into a deadlock.
The thing causing Danzo the most headaches was Hanzō's poison.
Whenever Hanzō appeared, large numbers of Konoha ninjas were poisoned to death.
Fortunately, Konoha had Tsunade, who continuously developed antidotes, gradually reducing the casualties.
Even so, Konoha couldn't secure a swift victory against the Hidden Rain.
The grand battle they had planned for ended up dragging Konoha into a quagmire instead.
"What's the status?" Orochimaru asked, his brow furrowed as he gazed out into the rain, pondering how to break the stalemate.
Damn it!
Danzo's leadership was a disaster. Under his command, wave after wave of Konoha ninjas had been sent to their deaths.
But since Danzo was the overall commander, there was nothing Orochimaru could do but swallow his frustration.
"I never expected the Hidden Rain Village to be this strong. Looks like the old man was right—letting them grow unchecked has become a real threat," Jiraiya muttered. He no longer had the energy he'd shown when they first arrived on the battlefield; now he looked worn out, lying lazily on the ground, too tired to move.
Tsunade shot him a disdainful glance. "But the intel you gathered doesn't match up with the strength the Rain Village is showing."
"You can't blame that on me," Jiraiya replied, sitting up and scratching his head, which was caked with mud. "If you've got complaints, take them to our esteemed commander. That's out of my hands."
"But should you be leaving the camp to enter the battlefield?" Tsunade questioned.
"What's wrong with that?" Tsunade shot back, crossing her arms and frowning. "I can't stand seeing that old man's face, and I've already developed the antidote for Hanzō's poison. The medics can handle it from here."
Tsunade would rather fight on the front lines than stay in camp and look at Danzo's grim face all day.
The Third Hokage had made a mistake by appointing Danzo as the battlefield commander.
Danzo was skilled at plotting and assassinations, but commanding an army? That was a disaster waiting to happen.
Orochimaru wasn't happy, Tsunade was fed up, and even Jiraiya, though less vocal about it, was clearly dissatisfied.
Still, Jiraiya wasn't one to complain openly, unlike Tsunade, who had both the rank and the attitude to voice her displeasure.
"I heard you left your disciple back in the village," Orochimaru suddenly said, looking over at Jiraiya. The grin on Jiraiya's face froze, and he sprang up, shouting, "And who are you to talk? Didn't you leave Nawaki back at camp?"
"Heh," Orochimaru chuckled, his voice rasping as he shot Jiraiya a smug look.
"Stop laughing, you—" Jiraiya began, but suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
Something was wrong.
Slowly, he turned around to find Tsunade glaring at him, her fist clenched and slowly rising.
"Not the face!" Jiraiya's scream echoed across the battlefield as he was sent flying into a rock, embedding himself so deep that it took several tries to pry him out.
While Jiraiya was getting pummeled, Minato had joined Takuya and Mikoto's team, significantly boosting their mission efficiency.
With the onset of war, many ninjas were sent to the front lines. The chaos of war also meant more missions flooding into the village.
Many ninja teams were overwhelmed, constantly on the move. But Takuya's team remained the same.
They occasionally took on missions, but otherwise spent their time resting or training, unlike other teams that were swamped with work.
"Hokage-sama, these are the applications for the Chunin Exams."
Due to the war, Konoha had relaxed the requirements for the Chunin Exams. Unlike in peacetime, the process was now much simpler and less stringent.
At this time, the Chunin Exams consisted of only two parts: a written test and a combat test. Passing both would result in a promotion.
"Leave them here," the Third Hokage said. Since the war had begun, he had been swamped with work, dealing with one issue after another, all of which required his personal attention.
The Hokage's office had practically become the Third Hokage's home, where he ate and slept.
After finishing the paperwork on his desk, he sighed in relief and began reviewing the Chunin Exam applications.
He scrutinized each one carefully, stamping them as he went.
"Jiraiya went to the front lines, but it seems Minato stayed behind in the village," the Third Hokage mused as he came across Minato's file.
Remembering that Jiraiya had specifically asked him to keep an eye on Minato, the Hokage pulled out Minato's records.
That's when he noticed that Minato had joined Takuya and Mikoto's two-man team, turning it into a standard three-man genin squad.
"What?" The Hokage frowned as he looked at the number of completed missions.
Did they forget to add a couple of digits here?
Takuya's team had completed only thirteen D-rank missions and twenty-eight C-rank missions.
Are they sure they didn't miss a digit or two?
Takuya's class had been out of the Academy for almost a year. Other teams from his graduating class had completed at least a hundred D-rank missions, along with numerous C-rank missions. Yet Takuya's team had done so few? Something didn't add up.
"Investigate Takuya's team's mission history. I want accurate numbers," the Hokage ordered.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," an ANBU operative replied before vanishing from the office to gather the necessary information.
It wasn't long before the data was delivered to the Third Hokage.
"These kids," the Hokage chuckled when he compared the reports. It wasn't a mistake—the records were correct. The reason the mission count was low was that Takuya's team simply hadn't taken on many missions.