"Yes, I'll handle it immediately." Shikaku Nara responded as he rose and left the command headquarters.
While walking away, however, his thoughts could not help drifting.
Shinichi Higashino… was probably already the strongest contender for the future position of Hokage.
His young age should originally have been a tremendous disadvantage.
But once the talent, achievements, and prestige he displayed had already far exceeded what the framework of age could define, that disadvantage instead began transforming into an advantage.
People would think: He's already capable of reaching this level at such a young age, then what about five years later? Ten years later?
For geniuses who were too outstanding, age itself could sometimes become the most eye-catching halo.
Shikaku Nara shook his head, suppressing those thoughts.
Half an hour later, the confidential report had already been delivered to Konoha's Hokage Building.
After the third Hokage finished reading the letter, he immediately ordered someone to urgently summon Danzo Shimura.
Danzo hurried over and took the report, then his gaze swept across it.
"Inform Jiraiya and the others directly."
"Good!"
...
Southwestern front headquarters.
Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru passed the confidential document among themselves once.
Jiraiya was the first to raise his head, his expression solemn as he said, "My opinion is to immediately order the entire front into the highest state of combat readiness. What do you two think?"
Tsunade stood with her arms crossed while nodding.
"I have no objections."
Orochimaru merely smiled lightly.
"Since it is Shinichi-kun's judgment... Then let us do as he says."
After speaking, he said nothing more and was the first to turn and leave headquarters.
To know before the battle begins, to move only after thorough planning.
Could this be considered winning a battle from a thousand miles away?
As Orochimaru walked along the silent paths of the encampment, a trace of complicated emotion passed through his heart.
"It seems the possibility of Shinichi-kun becoming Hokage is growing larger and larger."
His parents had died when he was young. During those long years, his teacher had not only been a mentor who taught him Ninjutsu and guided his path, but had also invisibly taken on the role of a father.
Precisely because of this, when his teacher placed high hopes upon him and wished for him to become a qualified successor to the Hokage position, Orochimaru had obediently followed those expectations and worked hard to play the role of the perfect successor.
Only after the second Shinobi World War, certain things within him had quietly changed.
He had witnessed too much of life's fragility and impermanence, and gradually lost that desire for the power and responsibility symbolized by the position of Hokage.
In its place arose a desire to seek out all the mysteries and ultimate truths of the world.
But not desiring it anymore was one thing.
Yet when personally witnessing that goal he had once worked toward for the first half of his life, now very likely being achieved by another youth who was younger, more dazzling, and equally favored by their teacher…
An indescribable feeling still arose within Orochimaru's heart.
A moment later, he softly exhaled, turned around, and disappeared into the darkness outside the headquarters.
...
Four days later, at dawn.
A faint pale glow had just appeared where sea and sky met, while the heavy darkness of night had yet to fully recede. The ocean surface was shrouded in gray mist.
On the waters outside White Sand Bay, shadowy figures were rapidly dashing across the waves. Chakra burst beneath their feet, exploding sprays of seawater with every step; they were the members of the Kaguya Clan.
At the front, Memaro Kaguya charged ahead like a mad beast, his massive body heavily landing upon the beach first.
Then his rough gaze casually swept around the surroundings.
The silent tidal flats were completely empty. Only the morning wind rolled fine grains of sand gently through the air.
"Hahahahaha!"
Memaro Kaguya immediately erupted into booming laughter that shook the coastline.
"I told you those idiots from Konoha could never have guessed I'd land here! That kid, Yagura, even told me to be careful. What the hell does he know? He's just a self-righteous fool!"
The Kaguya Clansmen landing behind him also burst into laughter, their crude and arrogant voices echoing through the empty bay.
"The Clan Head is right! Those Konoha cowards are probably still dreaming in bed!"
"What kind of bullshit defense is this? There isn't even a damn ghost in sight!"
"Charge with me!"
Memaro waved his large hand, his face full of contempt and excitement.
"If we run into anyone on the way, ninja or civilian, kill them all! Let Konoha properly remember the terror of our Kaguya Clan!"
After speaking, he strode forward toward the inland first, while the Kaguya Clansmen behind him howled and followed close after, murderous like beasts released from a cage.
However, the moment Memaro stepped into a stretch of sandy terrain ahead…
Boom! Boom!! Boom!!! Boom!!!!
A chain of deafening explosions suddenly erupted into the sky without warning, blazing firelight instantly tearing apart the dimness of dawn!
Damn it!
Memaro Kaguya cursed inwardly as the explosive shockwaves and heat blasted toward him!
An ordinary ninja caught within such a dense center of explosive tags would have absolutely no chance of survival and would be blown to pieces on the spot.
But the Kaguya Clan was different.
They possessed the Corpse Bone Chain Kekkei Genkai, granting them naturally monstrous physical toughness.
They could also condense a hardened bone membrane beneath their skin, greatly increasing their defenses.
This first wave of concentrated explosions, rather than injuring them, felt more like a painful sensation!
After forcefully enduring the first round of explosive impacts around him, Memaro reacted extremely quickly. Cracking sounds erupted throughout his body as countless pale bones burst from his flesh, instantly intertwining and overlapping around him, wrapping him into an airtight sphere of bone.
He did not bother in the slightest with the nearby clansmen who had also been caught in the explosions, even though he could have done so.
Because in the survival philosophy of the Kaguya Clan, trash incapable of surviving even this level of ambush deserved to die!!
And almost at the exact instant his bone shield formed, countless Ninjutsu attacks suddenly erupted from behind the cliffs and reefs on both sides of the coastline, roaring in from all directions like torrential rain toward their area!
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
Lightning Style: Lightning Ball!
Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!
Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!
The second wave of destructive energy, mixed with explosions and Ninjutsu, completely engulfed the beach.
The batch of Kaguya Clansmen at the very front had already been heavily injured by the explosive tags and now crashed headfirst into this wave of Ninjutsu coverage, immediately resulting in screams and flying flesh.
"It's an ambush! Konoha bastards!"
Though all this sounded lengthy, it had actually happened in only an instant.
The Kaguya Clansmen, farther behind, who had not yet entered the trap zone, roared furiously and were just about to charge forward in support when…
Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!
Thick earthen walls suddenly rose from beneath the sand; these abruptly erected barriers forcibly separated the front and rear groups of Kaguya Clansmen!
At the same time, countless figures rushed down from the cliffs on both sides under the faint light of dawn, rapidly weaving through reefs and sand while seizing positions.
Clearly, the second wave of attacks was already underway.
Among them, one figure was especially eye-catching!
His entire body flowed with pale green chakra light, dragging behind him a long trail of compressed air. Wherever he passed, the air was violently pushed aside, forming a vacuum pathway suitable for extreme-speed movement.