Konoha's unusual military movements naturally could not escape Kumogakure's notice, especially since they had to cross so many smaller nations like the Land of Hot Water, the Land of the Moon, and the Land of Frost.
Kumogakure maintained its own intelligence networks throughout these small countries. An army of over ten thousand men mobilizing was simply impossible to hide in silence.
A few hours later, at dawn—
"What?! Konoha's army has mobilized? And that old monkey might even be leading them personally?" The Third Raikage, who had only just resumed command within the village, slammed his hand onto the desk and shot to his feet.
The aftermath of the Eight-Tails' rampage still needed to be cleaned up. The villagers, shaken by the repeated attacks, needed reassurance. And Higashino Shinichi—who knew where that brat was hiding—could emerge at any moment and stab them in the back again.
Every single one of these problems required someone capable of stabilizing morale to remain in the village.
Meanwhile, his son A was leading an elite force of three thousand shinobi together with the two thousand under Troy's command after returning to the Land of Lightning, continuing the hunt for Higashino Shinichi and his subordinates.
And just moments earlier, urgent news had arrived from the front lines.
Konoha's northeastern main force had mobilized in full and was now crossing the border, charging ferociously toward the Land of Lightning.
"Has Sarutobi Hiruzen gone insane?"
The Third Raikage instinctively wanted to curse him out, but the words halted on his tongue as he thought of Higashino Shinichi.
This boy who had caused the deaths of his two "B," brought enormous losses and humiliation upon the village—though he wanted nothing more than to tear that brat limb from limb, precisely because of that, he was forced to admit one thing.
Higashino Shinichi's talent was simply too terrifying.
For Konoha, he was simply too important.
If this Higashino Shinichi had belonged to Kumogakure instead...
The Third Raikage could almost instantly imagine how much he himself would treasure and protect him. Forget leading ten thousand men to rescue him—even alone, he would dare charge into enemy ranks himself, even willing to personally stay behind and fight an army of ten thousand in order to ensure his escape.
A genius like that was the pillar supporting a village's future for decades to come. A priceless treasure.
Only eleven years old.
At eleven years old, he had already reached this level.
What about ten years from now? Twenty years from now?
Precisely because of that, the killing intent in his heart surged even more violently. The more desperately Sarutobi Hiruzen was willing to pay any price to save him, the more it proved this child absolutely could not be allowed to live!
"Send orders to Dodai," the Third Raikage barked loudly.
"Have him immediately establish defensive positions inside the Land of Frost. I'll head to the front lines at once through the Heavenly Transfer Technique."
After a brief pause, he continued issuing orders: "At the same time, urgently recall A back to the village. The village needs him here to hold the line. The mission of hunting down Higashino Shinichi will be handed over entirely to Troy!"
"Yes, sir!"
Several staff members turned and hurried out of the room. The Third Raikage remained where he stood, his gaze passing through the window toward the gradually brightening sky.
A new day had begun once again.
Half an hour later, in the plaza near the temporary Raikage office at the center of Kumogakure, a blazing white flash erupted as the Third Raikage used the Heavenly Transfer Technique to head to the front lines personally, preparing to meet Konoha's aggressively advancing army himself.
And just over an hour after the Third Raikage departed, Higashino Shinichi and his squad—who had no idea where they had been hiding before—suddenly appeared out of nowhere once again and launched another attack on Kumogakure.
This time, however, the commotion was much smaller.
That crafty brat seemed to understand that although Kumogakure currently lacked a top-tier powerhouse overseeing the village, its remaining forces were clearly nowhere near as hollow as before.
As a result, they did not assault the core districts. Instead, they merely destroyed several newly erected outer watch posts and a number of buildings.
After stirring up another wave of chaos, Higashino Shinichi led his squad away before Kumogakure's shinobi could fully encircle them, once again transforming into an elusive gust of wind and disappearing into the mountains and forests.
The attack had been brief, and the damage limited, but the humiliation was immense. It was yet another resounding slap across Kumogakure's face.
Naturally, this left Yotsuki A absolutely furious after returning to the village, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The news quickly reached the Third Raikage as well, who had already arrived at the front lines and was discussing defensive deployments with Dodai. His reaction was much the same. All he could do was order Troy to intensify the search efforts and find them at any cost!
Afterward, he devoted all his attention to the approaching Konoha army.
That very afternoon, the vanguard forces of both sides erupted into fierce clashes along the border region of the Land of Frost.
Konoha's forces came in aggressively, but Kumogakure was no easy opponent either. Although most of the village's logistics and medical systems had been destroyed, the logistics and medical support of this frontline army remained largely intact—for now, at least.
As a result, the battle rapidly escalated from probing engagements into a brutal war of attrition.
For three full days, the flames of war never ceased. The two sides slaughtered one another repeatedly across the hills, valleys, and riversides of the Land of Frost, while the casualty numbers continued to climb.
The supreme commanders of both armies—the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, hailed as "the strongest Hokage in history," and the Third Raikage, known as "the strongest spear and the strongest shield"—personally clashed on the battlefield several times as well.
The collisions between these two peak figures of the shinobi world shook the earth itself, becoming the most eye-catching focal point across the entire front line.
And yet, even they were unable to easily break the deadlock between the two armies.
Meanwhile, while Konoha and Kumogakure's main forces were locked in a brutal deadlock within the Land of Frost, another far stranger and more unpredictable battle of pursuit and counter-pursuit was unfolding deep within the vast interior of the Land of Lightning.
Under Troy's unified command, the previous two-thousand-man search force had been merged with the three thousand elite shinobi left behind by Yotsuki A, creating a total force of five thousand Kumogakure shinobi.
Like a giant net spread across the land, they pursued Higashino Shinichi and his squad relentlessly along every suspicious trail they could find.
And yet, while five thousand sounded like a large number, once scattered across the towering mountains and vast wilderness of the Land of Lightning, they became as thin as paper.
The Shinichi Squad was like the wind through the mountains—its traces could be seen, but its shadow could never truly be grasped. They always managed to find a gap and slip away before the encirclement could fully close, or, when Kumogakure's forces were forced to split up during the pursuit, they would suddenly concentrate their strength and launch swift, thunderous strikes against isolated units.
Not only did the five-thousand-man force fail to capture Higashino Shinichi and his men, but within just three days, they suffered over a hundred casualties instead.
On the third day of the pursuit, Troy finally seemed to succeed in forcing the Shinichi Squad into a valley located only fifteen kilometers from Kumogakure through a series of meticulously arranged interception lines.
The news was immediately sent back, and Yotsuki A personally led elite reinforcements from another direction, preparing to complete the encirclement.
However, just as Kumogakure's full attention became completely focused on that valley, Higashino Shinichi and his squad somehow reappeared outside Kumogakure once again and launched yet another surprise assault on the increasingly hollowed-out village.
Only then did everyone realize that Higashino Shinichi had never actually been cornered inside the valley at all. The "Shinichi Squad" Troy had chased all the way into that dead end had merely been an illusion created by Shadow Clones.
The real Higashino Shinichi had already taken his true squad on a massive detour and, while Kumogakure's attention was fully focused on the suppression operation, slipped back to the outskirts of the village once again.
The temporary Raikage building was smashed apart with a single strike.
The newly recast statues of the previous Raikages were once again shattered into pieces amid the flames.
By the time Yotsuki A and Troy abandoned the prey inside the valley and rushed frantically back to the village, the Shinichi Squad had already vanished without a trace.
Four days.
Four separate penetrations into and out of Kumogakure!
Under the leadership of their captain, Higashino Shinichi, this unit that had not even received an official designation yet sometimes dispersed into small groups for infiltration and maneuver warfare, while at other times regrouped to deliver concentrated strikes.
Every operation was like dancing upon the edge of a blade.
Every attack landed precisely within the gaps of the enemy's response time.
Deep within the Land of Lightning—a nation that worshipped martial strength and prided itself on military power—and right before Kumogakure itself, the hidden village famed for its "lightning offensives"—
They perfectly demonstrated a textbook-level lightning guerrilla war that left the entire shinobi world staring in astonishment.
The news swept across the shinobi world like a storm.
Whether it was Iwagakure, which had yet to officially enter the war, Kirigakure watching the conflict from afar, or the countless smaller nations and hidden villages, for a time, it seemed as though the entire shinobi world had focused its gaze upon that land where thunder never ceased.
There, a boy named Higashino Shinichi used a method bordering on artistry to show the entire shinobi world, in utterly shocking fashion, what a true lightning war really looked like.
This endless string of humiliating blows finally completely enraged Kumogakure.
And at precisely this moment, a secret letter delivered through special channels from Iwagakure arrived upon the desk of the Third Raikage at the front lines.
No one knew the contents of the letter.
But after reading it, the final trace of hesitation within the Third Raikage's eyes vanished completely, replaced instead by the resolve of a man prepared to stake everything.
He immediately issued an order that caused every frontline commander to tremble inwardly.
The northwestern border army, which had originally been tightly guarding against the Land of Earth and preventing Iwagakure from taking advantage of the chaos, was to begin a massive withdrawal at once.
Only a token force would remain behind to maintain the most basic level of vigilance.
Every remaining elite unit was to turn around and join the extermination campaign against Higashino Shinichi.
And even that was not enough.
The Third Raikage also activated a large-scale wartime mobilization order for genin.
More than seventy percent of all adult genin—regardless of whatever basic duties they had previously been performing within the village—were now reassigned into the search and pursuit forces to assist the core shinobi units in hunting down Higashino Shinichi.
Although only adult genin were being mobilized, and only in supporting roles for chūnin and jōnin units, this still meant that among the three major hidden villages already participating in the war—Konoha, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure—Kumogakure had become the first to formally push large numbers of genin onto frontline combat assignments.
Combined with Troy's previous search forces, the total number pursuing Higashino Shinichi now exceeded ten thousand men.
No cost spared.
No room left behind.
Even at the risk of leaving the northwestern defenses dangerously hollow, they were determined to completely trap and annihilate the Konoha shinobi named Higashino Shinichi, together with the ghost-like unit under his command.
For a moment, it seemed that Higashino Shinichi—the legendary boy who had roamed freely through enemy territory over the past several days, entering and leaving Kumogakure four separate times—had finally been pushed into an inescapable dead end.
...
Land of Fire, Daimyō Residence.
"This Higashino Shinichi—I absolutely love him!"
The Fire Daimyō slapped the document in his hand onto the desk and burst into loud laughter. Rising to his feet, he paced back and forth through the spacious study, unable to hide the smile on his face no matter how hard he tried.
After walking two laps around the room, he could not resist picking up the intelligence report again for another careful read.
His gaze repeatedly lingered over phrases such as "four entries and exits into Kumogakure," "the statues of the previous Raikages destroyed," and "the Raikage building smashed apart twice."
The more he read, the more satisfying it felt.
Don't be fooled into thinking that the visible protagonists of every shinobi war were always the major hidden villages, as though official figures from the various nations—especially national rulers like the Daimyō—had little involvement.
In reality, the outcome of every war directly affected their fundamental interests.
And if one were to ask who in the entire shinobi world least wanted war to break out, it would undoubtedly be him—the Fire Daimyō.
The Land of Fire already possessed the most fertile land in the shinobi world, the densest population, the most prosperous commercial network, and the most stable productivity...
It already had everything it could possibly need. It had long since passed the stage where wealth needed to be accumulated through warfare and plunder.
Even if they won a war, how much wealth could really be squeezed out of those neighboring countries that were poor as dirt?
But if they lost, what would be lost was an expanse of rich and fertile land. The risks and rewards were completely disproportionate.
Other nations might be poor enough to need war in order to divert internal conflicts or seize resources, but the Land of Fire had no such need.
What the Fire Daimyō desired most was stability.
Peace.
As long as the situation remained stable, the lands under his rule would continue functioning smoothly, and wealth would continue to be produced and accumulated endlessly.
But once war erupted, no one could predict what kind of waves it would stir up, what sort of upheaval it might trigger, or whether it might even shake the very foundations of the nation itself.
And throughout it all, he would have to keep paying.
Paying.
And paying even more.
Because of that, the astonishing achievements this surprise force led by Higashino Shinichi had attained deep within enemy territory carried significance far beyond the military level alone.
It had dealt a devastating blow to Kumogakure's momentum, greatly alleviated the pressure on the front lines, and was even likely to shorten the duration of the war itself, allowing the situation to return to stability more quickly.
That was exactly what he most wanted to see.
"Good! Good! Good! I must reward him heavily!"
The Fire Daimyō exclaimed "good" three times in a row before abruptly stopping mid-step and turning toward the elderly steward Munemasa, who stood respectfully nearby with lowered hands.
"Munemasa, what do you think about granting our Konoha genius ninja a—"
Before he could finish speaking, the Fire Daimyō himself realized the impropriety of what he was about to say and stopped short, realizing he had become overly excited.
Bestowing formal titles upon a ninja was against protocol.
Up until now, the Land of Fire's government had officially granted such honors to only a single ninja.
That person was Tsunade.
And that was because she was the direct eldest granddaughter of the First Hokage. Her investiture symbolized the unbreakable alliance between the Land of Fire and Konohagakure and carried immense political significance.
In fact, when Tsunade received that title, she had only just been born and was not even a ninja yet.
Thinking of this, the Fire Daimyō said nothing further. He turned and returned behind his desk, spreading open a sheet of specially crafted imperial paper adorned with golden patterns.
Dipping his brush heavily into thick black ink, he wrote five bold and powerful words across the page:
Champion of the Entire Army.
He set the brush down and silently admired the still-wet calligraphy for a moment, satisfaction visible in his eyes before he finally looked back toward Munemasa.
"Munemasa, have this properly mounted. Also prepare imperial wine and suitable gifts, then personally take people to the northeastern front... hmm... when the time comes, act according to the situation."
"Yes, Your Highness. This old servant understands."
Munemasa, the old steward who had served the Fire Daimyō for many years, immediately bowed and accepted the order. He also understood the deeper meaning behind the Daimyō's words.
Although the achievements Higashino Shinichi had accomplished were already dazzling enough to shock the entire shinobi world, the boy was still currently deep within the Land of Lightning, surrounded and hunted by countless Kumogakure elites.
No one could guarantee whether he would return alive.
Especially now that Kumogakure had reportedly been driven completely into a fury, to the point that even genin had been added to the search forces.
If, by the time Munemasa arrived at the front lines, that legendary boy had already broken through the encirclement and returned in triumph with his squad, then this reward laden with honor—especially the personally written imperial inscription "Champion of the Entire Army"—would naturally and rightfully belong to Higashino Shinichi himself.
Not only would this serve as the proper coronation of a young hero, but it would also represent the Land of Fire government demonstrating to Konohagakure its appreciation for talent and military merit.
More importantly, it would be both a political investment in Higashino Shinichi and a gesture of personal goodwill.
With the monstrous talent and extraordinary military achievements Shinichi had already displayed, he would inevitably become one of the supreme powerhouses standing at the peak of the shinobi world in the future.
He might even become an existence comparable to the former God of Shinobi himself—the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
At the same time, Shinichi was also highly likely to one day contend for the position of Hokage.
Showing goodwill in advance was absolutely necessary.
But if, by the time Munemasa arrived, the news that greeted him was instead tragic—that the young hero had failed to return and had fallen upon enemy soil—then those wines and treasures would instead become offerings to comfort the spirit of a fallen hero and to express sympathy for Konoha's loss.
As for that immensely symbolic inscription, there would then be no need—and no possibility—for it to ever be publicly revealed again.
"Oh, right." The Fire Daimyō suddenly remembered something else and added a special instruction.
"When you meet Hokage-sama, be sure to convey my regards to him on my behalf. Also pass along my position: no matter how this war develops, the Land of Fire will stand firmly at Konoha's side and provide full support in every aspect. The Konoha shinobi need only fight without reservation—the nation itself will bear everything behind the front lines."
"This old servant will remember it well and will deliver Your Highness's words exactly as spoken."
Munemasa bowed deeply once more, his demeanor respectful as ever, before quietly withdrawing from the study.
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