The smoke of war had finally ignited.
Iwagakure and Sunagakure attacked simultaneously, marking the complete outbreak of the war.
Fortunately, Sakumo Hatake and Jiraiya were on the two front lines, blocking the fierce attacks of the enemy villages at the same time.
Two battlefronts were drawn out.
Konoha, Suna, and Iwa fell into a stalemate.
Frontline battle reports kept coming to Konoha.
Even the atmosphere of the entire Konoha became much heavier. The prices of food and ninja tools rose significantly.
Although the front lines blocked the enemy's attack.
The impact of the war was comprehensive. Prices showed no sign of dropping.
Konoha, Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office chair, blowing smoke rings, looking at his teammates.
Danzō Shimura sat with his eyes closed as if resting, while Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado frowned at the frontline battle reports.
They were the small group of people who decided the direction of the coming war.
"Iwagakure and Sunagakure must have formed an alliance."
"Otherwise, it's impossible for them to attack simultaneously."
"Kumogakure and Kirigakure haven't made any moves yet, which might be the only good news."
"But what about the Land of Rain? The village can no longer support a third battlefield."
The two looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was thinking about countermeasures.
The village had now deployed a large number of ninjas because of the two battlefields, especially the Iwagakure battlefield.
The Iwagakure battlefield involved a route sandwiched between three countries, and they also had to guard against Takigakure and Kusagakure.
These two forces were fence-sitters. Who knew what they would do if they saw Konoha's weakness?
In contrast, the Sunagakure battlefield was a bit better.
The Land of Rivers didn't dare to have any ideas about Konoha, and although the area was vast, it didn't have much population.
They only needed to deal specifically with the Sand ninjas without being influenced by other forces.
But how could Sunagakure be easy to deal with?
The number of people invested in these two battlefields already amounted to seventy percent of the village's strength.
As for the remaining ninjas.
Konoha also needed people to stay and guard, so at most, they could squeeze out another fifteen percent of their strength.
At this time, the Land of Rain was critical. After all, it was a country at the intersection of three major powers.
Not only did they have to face Iwagakure and Sunagakure simultaneously, but the ninjas of the Land of Rain (Amegakure) were also troublesome.
But the strength in the other two battlefields couldn't be reduced, otherwise, Sunagakure and Iwagakure would drive straight in.
Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't think of a good solution for a moment.
"Danzō, what do you think?"
He kicked the ball to Danzō Shimura.
Only then did Danzō open his eyes.
"Transferring the Uchiha to send to the Sunagakure front is the best way."
This made Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitate, but he soon made a decision.
"Let's discuss this later."
The main force of the Uchiha was guarding against Kirigakure. Although Kirigakure hadn't made any strange moves now, they needed to be prepared just in case.
The others naturally understood Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts. There were quite a few elites in the Uchiha. If they were allowed on the battlefield, it would be too easy for them to accumulate war merits.
Once war merits went up, prestige would naturally follow. Hiruzen Sarutobi was afraid he couldn't suppress them.
One Uchiha Jin was enough for him to handle.
"Does this Uchiha Jin have a bit too many war merits?"
Homura Mitokado looked at Uchiha Jin, who was far ahead on the battle report.
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples.
"He submitted one A-Rank ninjutsu and six B-Rank taijutsu techniques from the front lines."
This silenced the group.
After a long time, Koharu Utatane asked with a doubtful tone.
"Is there still time to research ninjutsu on the front lines?"
"They were all created by him before. He's only submitting them now."
Mentioning this made Hiruzen Sarutobi angry. This counted as exploiting a loophole, but this loophole was really hard to plug because Jin's ninjutsu were simply too effective.
If there were more of these, it could increase Konoha's strength significantly.
"Hmph!" Danzō Shimura snorted coldly. "Let's talk about what to do with the Land of Rain next."
Hiruzen Sarutobi changed the subject upon hearing this.
"Then let Orochimaru lead a team to the Land of Rain battlefield."
"Hiruzen, Orochimaru's ability isn't enough yet." Danzō interrupted Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"I will lead the team to the Land of Rain this time."
"Danzō, you need to face the potential attack from Kumogakure."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's arrangement made Danzō frown. Kumogakure was badly hurt in the First Ninja War and hadn't fully recovered yet.
It was unlikely they would take the initiative to attack.
This also disrupted Danzō's idea of going to the front lines to scout for talents.
"Letting the immature Orochimaru lead the team... Hiruzen, you will regret this."
Danzō's face turned dark.
"Danzō, I am the Hokage."
Hiruzen Sarutobi had already made the conclusion.
The news that Orochimaru was going to open up the battlefield in the Land of Rain soon spread.
This was also a way to get the village's ninjas to actively contribute to the village.
Might Duy, who was helping a wealthy merchant move goods, also learned the news from roadside ninjas.
"The front line battlefield?"
Might Duy fell into thought.
He spent the day helping the merchant move goods and finally went to the mission center to settle his wages.
Looking at the two thousand ryo note in his hand.
"Diapers, milk, clothes, and future ninja tools, tuition fees."
He calculated in detail and sighed.
With muddy hands, he solemnly placed the money inside his clothes.
He walked to the door of his remote home.
"Little Guy, grow up quickly and help your father."
A gentle female voice came from inside.
A smile appeared on Might Duy's face as he pushed the door open and walked into the house.
"I'm back."
His gentle wife was coaxing the child. Seeing Duy return.
"Dinner is on the table."
After speaking, she continued coaxing the newborn baby. Might Guy was reaching out his small hand to grab something, giggling non-stop.
"Thanks for your hard work." Might Duy scratched his head awkwardly. "Sorry, only two thousand ryo today."
His wife smiled. "It's enough for expenses for a while."
Might Duy sat at the table and began to eat his wife's cooking.
With a gentle wife and a cute son.
He was actually quite satisfied.
A Genin's income could barely support the family's expenses. If he worked hard, he could save a little for Guy by the end of the month.
As long as they lived peacefully like this, it would be fine.
Is it really fine to just live peacefully like this?
Might Duy stopped his chopsticks. His lips moved slightly, then he suddenly sped up, shoveling rice and vegetables into his mouth fiercely.
"Delicious! It's really too delicious!"
Might Duy's abnormality was noticed by his wife.
After all, this man was really like a child sometimes.
Perhaps sensing something, Might Guy also closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Only then did the wife sit at the dinner table.
"Speak. What happened?"
The couple faced each other.
Might Duy put down his bowl and chopsticks. His beard was covered with rice grains. He took a deep breath before speaking in a very loud voice.
"I want to protect the village. I want to give you guys a better life. I want to..."
"Go to the front lines!"