"Yagami-kun… can you still find that unknown 'holy land'?"
After a long sigh, the Third Hokage asked again.
If Konoha could obtain more Den Den Mushi, then the village and the frontlines would be able to share information in real time. Orders and deployments could be carried out immediately, without any delay for messengers to run back and forth.
In that case, Konoha's chances of victory would at least double.
"I can't find it."
Yagami deliberately sighed and shrugged, looking extremely helpless.
The Den Den Mushi in front of the Konoha leadership even mimicked Yagami's expression perfectly, its little face twisting in regret as sorrowful sounds echoed through the conference room in the Hokage Building.
Such a powerful intelligence tool had slipped through Konoha's fingers.
"What a pity…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen also sighed softly.
The two talked a bit more.
In the end, Yagami handed over Mikoto's Den Den Mushi, which was temporarily requisitioned by the Third Hokage under the justification of wartime necessity.
Yagami's teeth ached at the thought, his heart filled with regret.
If he had known this would happen, he would've contacted Mikoto at night. If he hadn't gotten that call in earlier…
Now, the hope of chatting with Mikoto over the Den Den Mushi was completely dashed.
By the time he hung up, Yagami's stamina had nearly recovered.
Shaking off his frustration, he once again focused on developing new techniques with the Lightning Fruit.
At this time, in Sunagakure, seven full days had passed since the declaration of war against Konoha.
Kirigakure and Kumogakure also received news of the war breaking out one after another.
Kirigakure immediately convened an emergency council and began mobilizing troops at full speed.
Meanwhile, in Kumogakure, the hot-tempered Third Raikage kicked a hole straight into the wall of the Cloud Village building and resolutely declared war on the spot.
The Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning was a village that worshipped military expansion.
Because of that, their mobilization speed was astonishingly fast.
In just one afternoon, an army of five thousand was assembled.
Then, under the personal command of the Third Raikage, they marched directly toward the Land of Fire.
The future Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee also followed at his side.
As for Konoha, they received intel on Iwagakure's movements almost at the same time, and their own forces had already finished assembling. Their preparations were also quite thorough.
However, Iwagakure didn't charge straight at Konoha.
The crafty Ōnoki first analyzed the reports concerning Kumogakure's movements and confirmed them. Only then did he lead his forces toward the Land of Fire.
He intentionally delayed his departure by two days, just to give the Hidden Cloud Village time to flex their muscles first.
If both sides advanced at almost the same time, Konoha would be forced into a situation of being attacked from both sides. Their effective combat strength would be weakened by another thirty percent.
While Iwagakure and Kumogakure were beginning to move, Konoha's intelligence operatives lurking outside the villages also hastily returned and delivered the latest intel and trends of both villages to Konoha.
Time passed quickly while Yagami immersed himself in the development of his Devil Fruit abilities.
The sun set, night fell.
Very soon, a new day arrived.
By noon the next day—
Yagami and Kushina once again headed to the gate headquarters at Kikyō Castle.
Konoha's commanders had already gathered there, waiting.
Unlike the relaxed Yagami, they could not afford to be at ease. Other than when they were moving with the army, they spent almost all of their time in this command center.
"Lord Yagami! Lady Kushina!"
As Yagami and Kushina approached the entrance of the headquarters, the ninja on guard duty outside immediately bowed, his voice filled with excitement.
His enthusiastic greeting instantly alerted everyone inside the command room that Yagami and Kushina had arrived.
Yagami nodded to the guard, and then he and Kushina stepped straight into the headquarters.
"Yagami-kun, has the development of your new technique been completed?"
The moment the two of them entered, Orochimaru, seated at the head of the command table, was the first to speak.
The other Jōnin all turned their attention toward Yagami as well, eyes full of curiosity.
They all wanted to know whether Yagami, who had used such a precious lull in the fighting to develop a new technique, had actually achieved any results.
"It's already done."
Yagami nodded with an easy smile, sounding completely confident.
Then he and Kushina each took their seats.
"Hehe… I'm really curious about Yagami-kun's new technique."
Orochimaru let out a hoarse chuckle and then announced the official start of the meeting.
However, just as the meeting was about to begin, Yagami suddenly interrupted everyone.
He reached into his things, took out a snail, and placed it on the conference table.
The strange action and the even stranger creature immediately piqued everyone's curiosity.
But Yagami gave no explanation.
Instead, he calmly dialed the Den Den Mushi.
Anyway, they would see the effect for themselves very soon.
"Blu~ blu~ blu~ blu~…!"
At that same moment, in the Hokage Building's conference room back in Konoha, the Den Den Mushi began to ring—and was picked up almost instantly.
"Moshi moshi, is this Yagami-kun?"
The sweet, gentle voice of the beautiful operator, Mikoto, came floating out from the mouth of the Den Den Mushi.
Inside the gate headquarters at Kikyō Castle, everyone was instantly stunned.
A snail… was talking?!
"Ahem, Mikoto… this is the Kikyō Castle headquarters. Is Lord Third there?"
Feeling Kushina's suspicious gaze on him from the side, cold sweat broke out on Yagami's back.
He hurriedly forced his tone to become serious and businesslike.
Now was not the time to confess anything.
He absolutely didn't want these two women to discover each other's existence yet.
He wasn't mentally prepared for that at all.
"Yagami, we're all here—we've been waiting for your call."
"Indeed, indeed."
Just as everyone in the command center was still confused, the familiar voice of the Third Hokage rang out from the Den Den Mushi.
Immediately afterward, a series of other familiar voices followed.
"Is that… Lord Third's voice?"
"I think I just heard the voice of our clan head!"
"And that sounded like the elder from the village council just now!"
Everyone in the headquarters stared at one another in shock, disbelief written all over their faces.
Seeing their expressions, Yagami raised his hand and briefly explained the purpose and function of the Den Den Mushi.
Everyone finally understood.
They had never imagined such a mysterious and incredible communication creature could exist.
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