Takuya Yagami sheathed his weapon, not even bothering to deal with the enemy's corpse. Someone else would take care of that when dawn arrived.
He was contemplating where exactly the Mist Village's attack point might be.
"Deliver the scroll to Orochimaru."
He wrote a report of the situation in his assigned area, placed it in a scroll, and let the small white snake, which had been slithering alongside him, carry it to Orochimaru.
Takuya jumped into a tree, settled into a hollow, and pulled out a meat pie he had made earlier, munching on it as he kept watch.
What Takuya didn't know was that it wasn't just his area that had encountered only a few enemies; similar situations were reported from all other areas.
The small white snake obediently returned to Orochimaru's side, spat out the scroll, and then disappeared out of the tent without a trace.
Upon opening the scroll, Orochimaru could no longer keep his usual smile.
It wasn't just Takuya's scroll; he had received several like it.
"This scroll is from Takuya. In his area, only three squads of Chunin appeared throughout the night, without a single Jonin leading them," said Orochimaru, handing the scroll to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya's brows furrowed.
"This doesn't add up. With Yagura's skills, there's no way he'd let an opportunity like this slip by. But each area hardly faced any significant enemy attacks or incursions. Could it be that the Mist Village has abandoned a full-scale invasion?"
Originally, Jiraiya had his own mission, but due to the strange circumstances, Orochimaru had no choice but to call him back.
"If you were Yagura, would you let this opportunity go?"
"Absolutely not."
Jiraiya shook his head decisively.
If he were Yagura, he wouldn't just launch a full invasion under cover of night; he'd attack before the tailed beasts could be handled and when Konoha's morale was at its lowest, striking deep into the Fire Country's heartland.
Mist Village had held back during the day, but even at night, they made no major moves. It made it easy to suspect that they were planning something far more sinister.
"If it were me," Orochimaru said, with a cold smile, "I would attack when morale is shaken, when there's no defense in place! At the very least, with the weather on our side tonight, I would launch a full-scale assault on the enemy's defensive lines. Yet the Mist Village has not. This is not like Yagura at all."
After numerous exchanges and confrontations over the years, Orochimaru had come to understand Yagura fairly well.
Despite his innocent-looking baby face and short stature, Yagura possessed a ruthlessness few could match, and his strategic mind was remarkable.
So, the question was: what was keeping Yagura from making a move?
Was it part of a bigger plot, or had something unexpected happened within Mist Village?
Orochimaru and Jiraiya both believed it was the former—that the Mist Village was hatching some sort of conspiracy.
"Have the captives revealed any useful information?"
"Nothing of value," Orochimaru replied.
"The Yamanaka clan has already begun digging through the minds of the captives, but unfortunately, these individuals are too low-ranking to have access to higher-level information."
"In that case, I'm out of ideas. You're in charge here, after all," Jiraiya said with a shrug, indicating his helplessness.
With the strange turn of events, even Jiraiya dared not leave the camp to gather information.
He feared that Mist Village might be attempting to divert their attention to launch a surprise attack on the camp, which was precisely why Orochimaru had urgently summoned him back.
Time ticked on, and dawn eventually broke.
With his mission complete, Takuya returned to the camp. Many of the shinobi there had smiles on their faces—the brutal battle they had anticipated had not come, and everyone was relieved to have made it through a difficult night.
The village's reinforcements would arrive at the camp by dusk, and with their support, Konoha would have enough strength to face any assault from Mist Village head-on.
Orochimaru was very busy, so Takuya asked Shikaku Nara to submit his mission report and then returned to his tent to rest.
Far away, in the Wind Country, Sunagakure.
The Third Kazekage saw an opportunity—the sincerity of Mist Village was evident.
Mist Village was willing to sacrifice two Jinchūriki, even let the tailed beasts escape, all to strike Konoha a devastating blow.
And they had succeeded. Konoha's losses were indeed substantial, and Mist Village wasn't just blowing smoke; they genuinely wanted Sunagakure involved.
It turned out that the Third Mizukage still had a sense of honor.
Shaking his head, the Third Kazekage turned around, his face serious as he addressed those gathered in the Kazekage's office. "Everyone, the war is about to begin."
A golden opportunity was presented to them. The Third Kazekage, who had long been tired of the indemnities and the disdain, was eager to wipe away the shame brought upon them by Konoha.
Now the chance had come.
"Rasa, as my student, I need you to lead the vanguard and capture Konoha's outposts along the Fire Country border."
"Ebizo, I need you to command the Anbu, gather useful intelligence for the village, and eliminate key threats."
"Chiyo, the puppet brigade will be under your command."
Order after order was given, and soon all of Sunagakure was mobilized for war. A large number of shinobi began gathering, heading for the border.
Due to the sneak attack during the Second Great Ninja War, Konoha had prepared for such tactics, making a repeat surprise attack by Sunagakure impossible.
Fortunately, the Third Kazekage had no need for stealth this time. A straightforward attack was all that was necessary.
With Mist Village, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, launching their offensive, Sunagakure's pressure on Konoha from a second front would be enough to shake the Leaf Village's defenses.
As long as Mist Village didn't fall short, the Third Kazekage was convinced that Konoha would eventually be defeated.
He had waited a long time to erase this stain of dishonor.
"Sakumo Hatake!"
"Are you ready, or have you lost even the right to stand on the battlefield?"
The various happenings in Konoha were no secret, as spies had long relayed such information back to Sunagakure. Even an ordinary person could gather such intelligence.
The Third Kazekage was curious if Sakumo Hatake could still come out and face him.
Meanwhile, in Mist Village, their actions felt almost like child's play. By now, Konoha's reinforcements had successfully reached the camp.
With reinforcements in place, Orochimaru, who had been on edge, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now he could handle any further attacks from Mist Village more calmly.
Even if Mist Village launched a full-scale assault, he no longer feared that the enemy would penetrate into the Fire Country's interior.
To prevent such a scenario, the Third Hokage had suggested reminding Orochimaru that while losses were acceptable, chaos within the Fire Country was not. Otherwise, they would have no way of explaining themselves to the Daimyo.
"Tell the old man I won't fail," Orochimaru said.
Orochimaru was confident in his abilities. As long as he had sufficient manpower and avoided a direct collapse on the front lines, Mist Village would not be able to defeat Konoha. If the battle dragged on, it would be Mist Village that suffered.
First, Mist Village lacked Konoha's depth of resources. Secondly, their logistics and personnel transport were far less efficient compared to Konoha's.
Sea routes simply couldn't compete with overland transport.
Orochimaru planned to send people to disrupt Mist Village's supply lines at sea. If supply lines that were already challenging were further harassed, Mist Village would surely struggle.
This was Orochimaru's confidence.
As long as the front lines remained intact, Mist Village would ultimately face defeat.
What Orochimaru didn't know was that Mist Village hadn't yet reached a desperate state. Instead, Konoha would soon find itself in dire straits.
"Master, I have returned."
After a respectful bow, Yagura stepped forward to stand beside the Master without sitting down.
"You've worked hard."
The elderly Master's face seemed to have gained a few more wrinkles, and his voice carried a weariness.
"Don't take being recalled to heart. I'm sure you've noticed it as well—our Mizukage-sama has changed."
"Master..."
Yagura's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the Master.
"Master, do you mean... you're with the others... as well?"
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Bonus chapter
Next Bonus: 2000 power stone
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(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read up to chapter 400+ at Patreon com/ Emik01.
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