"Huh?"
"So that's how strong it is."
Two green-haired, entirely white creatures crawled out from beneath the ground.
"Why are the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki and Sarutobi Hiruzen here?" one of the White Zetsu asked.
With White Zetsu's level of intelligence, he simply couldn't understand why those two would appear on the Grass Country battlefield.
Perhaps pondering what it felt like to go to the bathroom would interest him more.
"Don't worry about it," the other White Zetsu said, sounding bored as he looked at the enormous crater before them.
"Just report whatever happened to Madara-sama."
"You're really boring. You're not curious about anything at all."
"What's the point of caring so much?"
"We're just wage slaves anyway. Might as well lie flat and slack off."
…
—
"Hokage—ah?"
kaoru was just about to greet Sarutobi Hiruzen when she suddenly felt an intense gaze. The next second, she saw Kyusei staring straight at her, eyes burning.
Why was Kyusei here?
And this place… clearly wasn't Konoha.
Sarutobi Hiruzen briefly explained the situation on the Grass Country front, then quickly laid out his plan.
"I see. I understand, Hokage-sama."
kaoru 's expression turned serious.
Strike first. Go straight for the Sand Village's heart.
Before the true decisive battle began, sever one arm of the allied forces.
It was undoubtedly the correct choice—and also an extremely bold one.
If the few of them failed and were stalled by Sunagakure, then once the alliance reacted, they would pour in all their forces and smash through every front in one fell swoop.
What they were fighting for now was time.
"kaoru , I'm counting on you," Sarutobi Hiruzen said.
"We need to head to the River Country immediately."
"Leave it to me, Hokage-sama."
kaoru stated that using Flying Thunder God to carry several people over long-distance space-jumps wouldn't be a problem.
"Wait—there's one more person."
Kyusei suddenly spoke up.
"What is it? Who else?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned slightly.
But Kyusei simply said, "Wait a moment," and ran out of the tent.
A short while later, he returned, pulling along a red-haired, delicate-looking girl.
Because there were no women's clothes in the camp—only standard Konoha combat uniforms—Kyusei had dressed Meixiang in a Konoha-issued battle outfit.
Even so, dressed in shinobi gear, Uzumaki Meixiang still looked frail and gentle.
kaoru glanced at the girl Kyusei had brought over. Her beautiful blue eyes narrowed slightly.
Before Kyusei could even speak, she casually hooked her arm around his, clearly asserting her claim.
"Meixiang's body is too weak," Kyusei explained.
"And since Sister Tsunade is also on the River Country front, she can examine Meixiang while we're there."
Completely unaware of kaoru 's little maneuver, Kyusei naturally held onto her hand as he always did.
What Kyusei said was true.
Uzumaki Meixiang had been born with one of the Uzumaki clan's rarest and finest bloodline talents—Vitality Healing.
She possessed an enormous reserve of life force. Anyone who bit her could rapidly recover injuries and chakra.
Uzumaki who possessed this talent were exceedingly rare. If they studied fuinjutsu or medical ninjutsu, they would progress at an astonishing rate.
As for Kyusei himself, he had only awakened Vitality Healing during a life-or-death moment—after being thoroughly beaten by kaoru in Sage Mode.
However, Vitality Healing was not without cost.
Life force, as the name implied, was the caster's own lifespan. Excessive loss would directly shorten one's life.
Moreover, chakra was tied to life force. Since life force was born from the body, losing too much would inevitably result in physical weakness.
"In that case, kaoru —can you manage it?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked.
He wasn't familiar with space-time ninjutsu, so he wasn't sure about the limits.
"No problem at all, Hokage-sama."
Although she answered Sarutobi Hiruzen, kaoru shot Kyusei a fierce glare.
Feeling that look, Kyusei finally realized—far too late—that he might have overlooked kaoru 's feelings.
Heavens help him, he truly had no improper thoughts about Meixiang.
Or rather—how would he even dare?
One Nao had nearly gotten him sent to meet the Sage of Six Paths by kaoru .
If there were another Meixiang, wouldn't he be off to chat with Uzumaki Mito about the future of sealing techniques?
Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately sent word to Jiraiya, entrusting him with full authority over the Grass Country front, and prepared to depart for the River Country with kaoru .
There was no helping it—Konoha was fighting on four fronts, and manpower was stretched to the limit.
"All right, let's move."
kaoru glanced at Kyusei. That look alone made his scalp tingle.
He could feel her grip on his hand tightening. It hurt—a little.
Meixiang remained quiet, accepting Kyusei's arrangements without objection.
Having escaped hell itself, she dared not ask for anything more.
Hand in hand, as kaoru activated the Flying Thunder God technique, Kyusei felt his vision blur—
In an instant, they vanished from the Grass Country command tent and appeared inside Konoha's central tent on the River Country front.
Kyusei sniffed lightly.
A sharp, pungent smell filled the air.
This scent was—
Alcohol.
"Tsunade!"
Before Kyusei could react, Sarutobi Hiruzen glared at Tsunade, who was hurriedly trying to hide a bottle behind her back, and shouted furiously.
"As the commander-in-chief, you're drinking on duty?!"
"Ah—well—"
Tsunade looked at the group that had appeared out of nowhere, flustered, but still tried to justify herself.
"The Sand ninja have been behaving themselves in their camp…"
"I only drank… a little bit. That should be fine, right…?"
"Heh… haha… hahaha…"
Caught red-handed, Tsunade laughed awkwardly, completely lacking confidence.
Sarutobi Hiruzen snatched the bottle from her hands and smashed it to the ground in rage.
Clear liquor and shattered glass splashed everywhere.
What a waste…
Tsunade and Kyusei both looked at the mess on the ground with identical expressions of regret.
"I don't have time to deal with you right now," Sarutobi Hiruzen snapped.
"Do your job properly!"
"If I catch you violating military orders again, I'll deal with you myself!"
He glared at Tsunade, utterly exasperated.
Honestly—none of these disciples gave him any peace of mind. Jiraiya was like this, Tsunade was like this…
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help glancing at the man beside him and sighing inwardly.
Orochimaru was truly reliable.
Unlike those two troublemakers who caused headaches all day long…
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