"Take the initiative?"
Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in a daze.
It wasn't that he wanted to undermine his teacher's confidence.
In his view, even though Hiruzen Sarutobi was indeed powerful—capable of destroying the Ten-Thousand-Mile Earth-Style Wall formed by dozens or even hundreds of Hidden Stone shinobi—
The enemy had four thousand men.
If even a thousand of them joined forces to cast that technique, then unless Senju Hashirama himself descended upon the battlefield, there was simply no way to break through such an impregnable fortress.
"Even you, Sensei…"
Orochimaru hesitated, clearly unconvinced.
"Heh. When did I ever say I came alone?"
Hiruzen chuckled lightly.
Immediately after, a voice rang out that caused Jiraiya's face to collapse on the spot.
"That's right—there's also me."
Under Jiraiya's stunned gaze, a red-haired youth wearing a grin pulled open the tent flap and walked inside.
The newcomer was tall, with slightly long red hair tied back. A few messy strands fell across his forehead, giving him a wild, unrestrained air. His gray-brown eyes were sharp and lively, his features well-defined, his build strong and upright.
Beneath Konoha's jōnin vest, he wore black shinobi garb, and on his left sleeve was a red Uzumaki clan crest.
Konoha's Nine-Tails jinchūriki—
Uzumaki Kyusei.
"Old man, you—!"
Seeing him, even Jiraiya immediately understood Hiruzen's intent.
This was an attempt to wipe out the entire Hidden Stone force in the Grass Country in one decisive blow.
"Old man, you need to think this through!"
"If you let this brat onto the battlefield, will there be anyone left alive in that Hidden Stone unit?!"
"And Huangtu is the Tsuchikage's son!"
"When that happens, Ōnoki will never let it go!"
"The war will instantly escalate!"
"How many people will die then?!"
Jiraiya's emotions surged, words spilling out in a rapid torrent.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked calmly at his agitated disciple.
"Who started this war?"
Hiruzen countered.
"And next time, I'd like you to wear Konoha's forehead protector."
Kyusei looked at Jiraiya and gave him a mocking smile.
"That's because of this little bastard!"
"This little bastard attacked the Hidden Mist!"
Jiraiya was a man who believed in peace. In his eyes, his teacher's actions were completely contrary to that ideal.
The moment a jinchūriki was deployed first, the war would instantly turn white-hot.
And then—countless casualties would follow.
"Then why did I attack the Hidden Mist?"
Kyusei, clearly enjoying the chaos, smiled and echoed Hiruzen's question.
"You little shit!"
"Come back with me!"
Jiraiya reached out, trying to drag Kyusei away. He couldn't allow Kyusei onto the battlefield.
Konoha had never been the first to use a tailed beast. Not before—and absolutely not now.
Besides, the four thousand Hidden Stone shinobi weren't impossible to deal with.
However, just as Jiraiya's hand reached out—
A pale hand pressed firmly down on his arm.
Orochimaru looked at him calmly.
"Sensei is right."
Just four words.
They fully conveyed Orochimaru's stance.
"Jiraiya, next time you want to do something to me, put on a Konoha forehead protector first."
Kyusei pointed at the neatly worn Konoha headband on his own forehead.
"Jiraiya, do you know this?"
Hiruzen ignored Kyusei and Orochimaru's words and instead spoke calmly to Jiraiya.
"There are fewer than five thousand shinobi left in the village."
"When the Hidden Stone surrounded the Third Raikage, they deployed over ten thousand men. Right now, they still have at least seven thousand shinobi who haven't been sent out."
"That alone is enough power to rival Konoha."
"And there's still the Hidden Cloud, the Hidden Sand, and the Hidden Rain."
"Do you know what all of this means for Konoha?"
"This isn't the past anymore. The entire shinobi world is our enemy."
Jiraiya clenched his fists tightly. Hiruzen's words left him speechless.
After a long silence, he finally spoke hoarsely:
"We still have… the Hidden Mist…"
"Yes. Yesterday, Yagura sent five hundred reinforcements. I had them assist Sakumo."
Hiruzen's cold words were like a blade, severing Jiraiya's final hope.
"If we don't strike first, then we'll be forced to wait for them to deploy their jinchūriki."
"And when that happens, countless comrades will die for nothing."
"Can you take responsibility for that?"
"Jiraiya."
"Letting Kyusei enter the battlefield early means saving more of our comrades' lives."
Hiruzen looked calmly at the disciple most like himself and continued:
"And take off that oil-character headband."
"Put on Konoha's."
Jiraiya froze in place.
He felt like he no longer recognized the Hiruzen Sarutobi standing before him.
The man in his memories had never spoken to him this forcefully.
"Heh, Jiraiya-sama, don't blame me—this is the Hokage's order."
Kyusei grinned as he walked up to Jiraiya and reached for his oil-character headband.
Jiraiya shot him a fierce glare.
"What are you looking at? If you're unhappy, go complain to the old man."
Kyusei glared back without any restraint.
Then, without hesitation, he forcibly removed Jiraiya's oil headband.
Orochimaru sighed softly, took off his own headband, and placed it on the silent Jiraiya's head.
Jiraiya didn't resist.
He only looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi with disappointment in his eyes.
"Old man… do you know what it means to let this kid onto the battlefield?"
"Slaughter."
Hiruzen answered plainly.
He had always known the consequences.
But those who seek great achievements cannot be bound by trivialities.
Especially now—although Konoha was stronger than it had ever been under the Second Hokage, it still fell short when facing four villages at once.
"Jiraiya… don't disappoint me."
Hiruzen sighed softly.
This was not what he wanted.
He understood Jiraiya's nature. Just because of a ridiculous prophecy from a toad on Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya had abandoned Konoha for three years during wartime.
He was naïve.
Hiruzen didn't know what kind of bewitching nonsense those toads had fed him—but at this life-and-death moment, Konoha could not tolerate Jiraiya's willfulness.
He was the Hokage.
If this war was lost, Konoha's strength would plummet to rock bottom.
Even if there was still a chance to turn things around as long as Kyusei lived—
That would come at the cost of countless Konoha lives.
As long as there was even a sliver of possibility, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want a single Konoha shinobi to die in vain.
Given the current situation, sending Kyusei onto the battlefield first was the only way to minimize friendly casualties.
As for the enemy's casualties?
That was called results.
Only Konoha's leaf was a leaf.
The enemy's leaves?
They should burn as soon as possible.
This—
Was the nindō of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha.
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