After the jōnin meeting ended, Kitazawa returned to the Hokage's office.
Even though he had already decided to go to war, mobilizing twenty thousand ninja would take time—no matter how fast they moved, it wouldn't happen until tomorrow.
He pushed the door open and saw Tsunade.
She'd taken off her shoes and was sitting on the Hokage's desk, her long legs swinging back and forth.
"Tsunade-sensei, you're not at the casino?" Kitazawa walked up to her and asked with a smile.
"I was going to go, but I couldn't stop worrying, so I came to see you instead." Tsunade rolled her eyes at him.
"Then why didn't you attend the jōnin meeting?" Kitazawa shot back.
"Too much trouble." Tsunade shook her head. "Besides, I'm retired."
"If you're retired, then you don't need to worry about any of this." Kitazawa chuckled, then suddenly said, "But if you really want to help… there is one thing."
"What?" Tsunade asked, curious.
"Help me relieve some stress."
Kitazawa reached out and rested his hand on her thigh.
"In a situation like this, you're still trying to take advantage of me?" Tsunade froze for a beat, then realized what he meant.
"When have I?" Kitazawa said solemnly. "As Hokage, facing an assault from four villages, I'm under a lot of pressure."
"You bastard!" Tsunade lifted her leg and kicked at him.
Kitazawa blocked on instinct—only to be booted straight onto the sofa.
Tsunade stormed over, sat down hard on his lap, and pressed his head into her chest.
Kitazawa instantly felt pressure like never before.
His whole face was squashed in; he could only breathe through a tiny gap.
Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around Tsunade's restlessly shifting body.
"Y-you… when are you leaving?" Tsunade paused and asked.
"Probably tomorrow," Kitazawa thought for a moment.
"Do you need me to go with you?" Tsunade let out a breath.
"No." Kitazawa reflexively opened his eyes, but all he saw was an uneven expanse of pale whiteness.
Still, this was exactly how he liked holding Tsunade.
After all, it let him fully appreciate her greatest strengths.
"Besides, I won't be staying on the battlefield the whole time," Kitazawa added.
"That's true." Tsunade adjusted her position. "You have the Flying Thunder God."
"That's only part of it." Kitazawa lifted a hand and gave her peachy backside a smack.
Her soft, pale skin rippled from the impact.
"And what's the other part?" Tsunade tightened her legs in displeasure.
"Because this war won't last long," Kitazawa said after a brief pause.
"You're that confident?" Tsunade's ten fingers dug into his back, like she wanted to knead him into her heart.
"Of course." Kitazawa kneaded her hips and asked, "Shouldn't I be?"
"Fair." Tsunade thought of his strength. "Looks like I've been worrying for nothing."
"How could it be for nothing?" Kitazawa opened his mouth—
"Childish!" Tsunade complained.
But Kitazawa had already lost the ability to speak.
Tsunade instinctively held him tighter. In that moment, their hearts pressed closer than ever.
By afternoon, Tsunade had come in worried—and left fully satisfied.
After she left, Kitazawa was still sitting on the sofa.
Footsteps sounded.
A pair of black-stockinged legs entered his view.
Kitazawa looked up and saw Konan.
Konan crouched down, glanced at him, then lowered her head.
"Good girl." Kitazawa raised a hand and patted her head.
Once again, he felt that contrast in Konan—cold on the outside, warm underneath.
The reason she looked so indifferent was simple: this chaotic era had shaped her that way.
But it didn't matter. The chaos would end soon.
"Tomorrow, you're coming with me to the battlefield," Kitazawa said, looking at Konan's puffed cheeks.
Konan's throat bobbed, and she made an indistinct sound in response.
Kitazawa couldn't help but smile.
He stretched lazily, thinking to himself that life like this wasn't bad at all.
Half an hour later, there was a knock at the door.
Kitazawa jolted.
Konan instinctively covered her mouth and nose.
"You go down first," Kitazawa said as he stood and walked toward the Hokage's desk.
Konan nodded and vanished on the spot.
"Come in," Kitazawa said calmly, looking toward the door.
"Kitazawa." Shizune walked in.
"What is it?" Kitazawa asked casually.
"Kabuto said he wants to leave tonight," Shizune replied.
"Tonight?" Kitazawa asked in surprise. "He's ready that fast?"
"White Zetsu sent word—Sand's vanguard is about to enter the Land of Rivers," Shizune explained. "Kabuto's idea is to take the summoning-beast unit ahead of time and stop them, so the Land of Fire doesn't turn into a battlefield."
There was another reason, too.
Kabuto wanted to be the first to earn merit.
At the jōnin meeting, plenty of people didn't trust an unknown like him.
If it weren't for Kitazawa's backing, they absolutely would've objected to him becoming commander of the Fourth Ninja Division.
"After Kabuto leaves, who takes charge of the Fourth Division?" Kitazawa asked after thinking a moment.
"Kakashi and Kurenai," Shizune answered—exactly what he'd expected.
"Got it. I'll go see him now," Kitazawa said after a bit of consideration.
From how things looked, Sand and Konoha would most likely clash first.
It was the perfect chance for him to watch—and also see how Kurenai and Kurama Yakumo performed.
"Okay." Shizune was a little surprised he was going personally, but she didn't ask more.
After Shizune left, Konan reappeared, freshly washed.
Kitazawa nodded to her and took her to the Forest of Death.
Plenty of Konoha ninja were busy running around here.
When they saw Kitazawa, they hurried to greet him.
"Don't mind me," Kitazawa said, waving them off as he headed for where the Fourth Division was gathered.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Yakushi Kabuto came up to meet him.
White Zetsu had already informed Kabuto in advance.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Kurama Yakumo and Karin called out together, along with the others.
"Kitazawa, why are you here?" Kurenai walked up and asked.
With outsiders present, she carried herself with extra composure.
"I'm going with you to face Sand," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"Really?" Kurenai's face lit up with surprise and delight.
"Why would I lie to you?" Kitazawa paused. "But I'm only there as a spectator. I won't interfere."
"We don't want you to interfere either." Kurenai grinned proudly. "Just leave it to us."
"Kabuto, you leave tonight," Kitazawa said, turning to him.
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei." Kabuto nodded. "I won't disappoint you."
"I believe you," Kitazawa said, nodding back.
The summoning-beast unit wasn't large—only a hundred ninja—but every one of them was a Ryūchi Cave contractor.
When a hundred giant snakes were summoned, even if the enemy had ten times the numbers, victory would come easily.
"I'll go prepare now." Kabuto bowed slightly and turned to leave.
Not long after, he led the summoning-beast unit toward the Land of Rivers.
As the sun set—
On the eastern border of the Land of Wind.
At Baki's order, Sand's vanguard halted and began setting up camp.
Since it was only a vanguard force, their numbers weren't huge—three thousand.
Their goal was simple: seize favorable terrain in advance for the main army.
Once the tents were up, Baki entered the command tent.
Several Sand jōnin came with him.
But Rasa, Chiyo, and Ebizō were not among them.
"Satetsu," Baki asked, "what's the situation in Konoha?"
Satetsu was a Sand jōnin.
In the original story, he took part in the Konoha Crush and was later dispatched to search for the missing Fourth Kazekage, Rasa. He specialized in intelligence gathering.
"Konoha split its forces into four and formed four divisions to face our Four Great Villages," Satetsu answered immediately. "The Fourth Division is the one assigned to us."
"Who's the commander?" Baki nodded and asked.
Splitting into four routes wasn't surprising.
After all, the four villages were attacking Konoha together.
Trying to pick them off one by one would be difficult.
"Yakushi Kabuto," Satetsu said at once.
"That name sounds familiar." Baki paused, not recalling who that was right away.
"Kitazawa's student. Skilled in medical ninjutsu," Satetsu reminded him.
"Oh, him." Baki laughed. "So Sand hasn't earned Kitazawa's attention, huh?"
The other Sand jōnin bristled with indignation.
Kabuto really wasn't famous.
Not famous—and, in their eyes, not strong.
A mere medic ninja wasn't worth fearing.
They'd assumed the Fourth Division's commander would be someone like Orochimaru or Jiraiya.
Instead, it was plain old Yakushi Kabuto.
"That's a good thing." Baki raised a hand, expression calm. "We can catch Konoha off guard."
He knew his limits well.
If someone like Orochimaru or Jiraiya showed up, Sand would be under enormous pressure.
If they had a soft target like Kabuto to squeeze, why wouldn't they?
"Everyone, get some rest. We move out at dawn. Once we reach the Land of Rivers, set traps immediately—make sure we give Konoha a brutal welcome!" Baki said in a deep voice.
"Yes, Baki-sama!" Satetsu and the others answered in unison.
Far away from Sand's temporary camp, in a distant forest—
Konoha's summoning-beast unit stood silently in the shadows beneath the trees.
Without sensory ninjutsu, it would be nearly impossible to detect that a hundred ninja were hidden in the woods.
A moment later, White Zetsu—dressed in Anbu gear—rose from the ground.
"Kabuto-sama." White Zetsu produced a map. "This is the layout of Sand's temporary camp."
Kabuto unfolded it and felt his heart lurch.
It was more detailed than he'd expected—like Baki had drawn it himself.
Every hidden sentry position was marked, along with the night patrol routes.
Most absurd of all, it even listed the strength of the ninja sleeping in each tent.
Kabuto's gaze instinctively shifted to White Zetsu.
Who knew where Kitazawa had found someone like this.
But one thing was certain: White Zetsu was not a Konoha ninja.
Kabuto had spent time in Anbu before.
White Zetsu definitely wasn't one of them.
"First infiltrate—then launch the full assault," Kabuto decided quickly.
Without this map, he would've attacked head-on.
But now that he had it, he couldn't waste Anbu's effort.
And Kabuto had a bigger ambition: wipe out Sand's vanguard without taking losses.
The night grew deeper.
After dinner, Baki and the others fell asleep.
Only Sand's night watch remained, patrolling the camp.
But in the darkness around them, tiny venomous snakes slithered silently.
Once inside the camp, they spread out and encircled tent after tent.
They only surrounded the genin and chūnin tents.
As for the jōnin—stronger and harder to kill with a direct sneak attack—they were left alone.
Then, in one instant, screams rang out in succession.
"What's going on?!" Baki jolted awake.
His eyes widened—screams were coming from all directions.
"Konoha's sneak attack?!" He rushed out of his tent.
He looked around, but didn't see a single Konoha ninja.
"It's snakes!" Satetsu ran over and shouted. "More than half our ninja have been hit by venomous snakes!"
"Half?!" Baki's face changed drastically. "What are the casualties?"
"A lot," Satetsu said grimly. "No time to count yet—I've already sent the jōnin to rescue them."
"Where are Konoha's ninja?" Baki demanded, frowning.
"No idea," Satetsu said, shaking his head. "We still haven't found any intruders."
"So you're saying these snakes got past our traps, our sentries, and our night patrols?" Baki asked, face dark.
"The ninja controlling them is most likely Orochimaru," Satetsu warned.
"…" A chill ran through Baki.
He finally remembered—Orochimaru's summons were snakes from Ryūchi Cave.
If it was him, then controlling that many venomous snakes at once was possible.
"Orochimaru!" Baki snarled.
The next second, massive shadows appeared around the entire camp.
Baki's breathing stalled.
They were giant snakes—each one at least five meters tall.
"Sorry," a voice rang out. "The one who came this time isn't Orochimaru-sama."
Kabuto's voice.
Baki looked over instinctively.
Kabuto stood atop the head of a snake far larger than the rest.
A Ryūchi Cave legend—
Manda.
"Let me introduce myself," Kabuto said expressionlessly. "I'm Konoha's Yakushi Kabuto."
As soon as he finished, he raised a hand.
All the giant snakes charged straight into the Sand forces.
In an instant, the ground shook like an earthquake.
Wherever the snakes passed, deep trenches were carved into the earth.
Sand's ninja turned pale, as if the apocalypse had arrived.
"Attack!" Baki shouted immediately.
Sand reacted.
A shriek of wind rose.
Countless blades of wind spread in all directions like knives.
Then clusters of fireballs appeared out of nowhere, lighting up the night.
A chaotic melee erupted.
"I'm going to kill Yakushi Kabuto!" Baki said without hesitation.
Capture the leader, and the rest collapse—if Kabuto wasn't killed, they couldn't win this encounter.
He used Body Flicker at once, rushing toward Kabuto at blazing speed.
Wind Release: Vacuum Shuriken!
Mid-charge, Baki hurled a shuriken.
With wind chakra clinging to it, the shuriken flew like a spear.
Wind Release: Vacuum Spheres!
Kabuto formed hand seals.
He opened his mouth and spat out streams of compressed wind—like bullets.
With a bang, the shuriken was knocked away, and the remaining blasts poured toward Baki.
Baki was surprised.
Who said Kabuto was just a medic?
That Vacuum Bullets alone proved his Wind Release was no joke.
Wind Release: Wind Blade!
Baki lifted his hand.
A blade of wind shot from between three fingers, slicing through the wind bullets and sweeping toward Kabuto.
"You're only this much!" Baki snorted.
He could already picture Kabuto being shredded to pieces.
After all, his Wind Blade was an A-rank technique—more than enough to instantly kill an average special jōnin.
"Is that so?" Kabuto simply rose into the air.
"What?!" Baki's pupils shook violently.
He can fly?!
Is that a kekkei genkai?
In his memory, only the Third and Fourth Kazekage could fly, thanks to Magnet Release.
A flying opponent was a headache.
Baki immediately felt things turn tricky.
Kabuto hovered above, scanning the battlefield, his gaze sharpening.
Sand's ninja—especially the jōnin—were strong.
They were already trying to locate the members of the summoning-beast unit controlling the giant snakes.
If they found them, casualties would be unavoidable.
That didn't match Kabuto's objective.
"Then let's end this here," Kabuto said, forming seals.
Baki noticed the movement and hurried to form seals as well.
Wind Release: Whirlwind Technique!
A surge of chakra became countless wind blades, rushing toward Kabuto.
Baki suddenly froze.
A red dragon appeared in his vision.
Before he could even process what technique it was, he lost both sight and hearing.
Agonizing pain surged through his entire body, leaving him unable to move.
Sage Art: White Rage Technique.
And Kabuto's target wasn't only Baki.
Invisible sound and blinding light swept across most of Sand's jōnin.
Caught off guard, they were struck by Sage Art: White Rage as well.
In that moment, the giant snakes counterattacked, swallowing them whole.
Kabuto clenched his fist and knocked Baki unconscious with a single blow.
Baki was still a Sand jōnin.
Capturing him alive was more useful than killing him.
With most of their jōnin dead, Sand's vanguard collapsed like a landslide.
And they had already been hit by the snake ambush—losing over half their chūnin and genin.
"Clean up the battlefield," Kabuto said coldly, looking at the bodies scattered everywhere.
"Yes, Kabuto-sama!" The summoning-beast unit revealed themselves one after another.
Kabuto surveyed the area and nodded.
No one on their side had died.
One hundred against three thousand—and a flawless victory.
That kind of encounter was extremely rare in shinobi history.
Of course, considering Ryūchi Cave's strength, it wasn't that shocking.
This time, Ryūchi Cave could practically be called "all-out."
Kabuto and his men didn't linger.
They quickly took the surviving Sand ninja back to the Land of Rivers.
But Kabuto didn't plan to return to the Land of Fire.
He would stay in the Land of Rivers to set up defenses.
Exactly like Sand's vanguard had intended: build outposts and lay traps to seize the initiative.
The next morning.
Inside the Kazekage's office.
"Kazekage-sama!" An Anbu knelt on one knee. "We just received intelligence—Baki-sama's vanguard has been completely wiped out!"
"That's impossible!" Rasa shot to his feet, disbelief all over his face.
"What happened?" Chiyo frowned. "That vanguard had three thousand ninja. Even if Konoha's Fourth Division came in full, there's no way they could annihilate all of them."
She was calmer than Rasa, but still found it absurd.
Konoha splitting into four divisions wasn't a secret.
Sand had that intel too.
But the issue was: Konoha's Fourth Division only had five thousand ninja. Numbers alone shouldn't have let them dominate absolutely.
And if Baki was losing, couldn't he retreat?
How did it end in total annihilation?
"It happened like this…" The Anbu quickly recounted last night's events.
Although Sand's vanguard had no living witnesses, certain techniques could make the dead "speak," revealing the rough sequence of events.
"So even Ryūchi Cave is fully backing Konoha…" Chiyo sighed, her expression heavy.
Ryūchi Cave had claimed to support Konoha before, but in practice it supported Orochimaru—and it had never deployed snakes on this scale.
It made Chiyo suspect that Ryūchi Cave had struck some kind of deal with Konoha.
If Ryūchi Cave was in… what about Shikkotsu Forest and Mount Myōboku?
"Snakes alone aren't enough to wipe out a vanguard," Chiyo rubbed her forehead. "As expected of Kitazawa's student—his strength is truly frightening."
"It was just an ambush!" Rasa snapped. "I'm going to the Land of Rivers right now with our forces!"
"I'll go with you," Chiyo said sternly. "We need to be on full alert."
Rasa took a deep breath and nodded.
No matter how much he hated Kabuto's sneak attack, losing three thousand ninja was a devastating blow to Sand.
Worse, it was humiliating.
Three thousand dead—and they didn't even kill a single Konoha ninja.
For Sand, one of the Five Great Villages, it was shameful.
Meanwhile, Kabuto and Konoha's summoning-beast unit became famous overnight.
Konoha's ninja were both thrilled and stunned.
In the end, they could only praise Kitazawa for recognizing talent.
On the open field outside Konoha's Forest of Death—
All four divisions had assembled, ready to depart.
"I'll leave those three to you," Kitazawa said, glancing at Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyūga Hinata as he spoke to Uchiha Fugaku.
"Please rest assured, Hokage-sama. I'll take good care of them," Fugaku promised immediately.
Of course, he knew full well how strong Team Seven was.
They didn't need anyone to "take care" of them.
Kitazawa nodded, then headed for the Land of Rivers with Yūhi Kurenai, Hatake Kakashi, and the others.
~~~
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