"Kakashi!"
Might Guy kept knocking on the door of Kakashi's house. Even after half a minute, no one came to open it.
"Kakashi! Which battlefield were you assigned to?"
Still, no one answered.
Might Guy's eyes were filled with anxiety. It was not that he feared war. He simply did not know where his friend had gone.
What he did not know was that Kakashi had already followed his teacher, Namikaze Minato, to the Land of Wind several days ago.
After walking two streets, he ran into Sarutobi Asuma.
"Asuma, which front are you going to?"
Asuma said, "I'm following my teacher, Orochimaru, to the Land of Grass front. What about you?"
Normally, he always thought Might Guy was noisy. But now, facing a shinobi world war of unprecedented intensity, Asuma found himself wanting to speak with him a little longer.
Might Guy said, "Me, Ebisu, and Shiranui Genma. Our team is going to the Land of Whirlpools."
Asuma had a special identity and knew a lot of information from the higher-ups.
"The Land of Whirlpools, huh? Lord Nara Shikakaku is the commander, and Clan Head Uzumaki Yuka is the deputy commander.
When you get there, be careful of the Hidden Mist Technique. Don't charge into thick fog when you can't see anything."
"Thanks, Asuma. You be careful too."
"Careful?" Sarutobi Asuma's eyes darkened. "My brother and sister-in-law died in a joint ambush by Stone and Cloud ninja. Unfortunately, this time I can only deal with the Stone. I'll find a chance to settle things with the Cloud later."
Might Guy thought, 'You want to fight two villages at once? Even the Hokage's son shouldn't be that arrogant.'
The two parted ways, each going to find their teammates.
Might Guy hurriedly found Ebisu and Shiranui Genma.
"Guy, you were almost late."
"Sorry, Captain Genma."
Shiranui Genma had a steel senbon in his mouth, proudly bobbing up and down.
"Well, I was the first to become a Chūnin, so I became squad captain.
I can't compare with Kakashi, who's already a Jōnin, but I'm only behind Asuma and Anko, right?"
Might Guy did not continue the topic. He was still in a bad mood because he had not seen Kakashi.
Ebisu suddenly pushed Guy's shoulder.
"Guy! Look, isn't that your father?"
Might Guy froze and quickly turned his head.
His father, Might Duy, was following behind a ninja, walking toward Konoha's gate.
The ninja in front of his father had red hair and was a Jōnin of the Uzumaki clan.
The Uzumaki clan had only joined Konoha in recent years, and Might Guy had not interacted with them much.
Shiranui Genma sounded puzzled.
"The ones gathering at Konoha's gate today are the troops heading for the Land of Whirlpools front.
Guy, I don't mean anything by this, but why is Uncle Duy here too? He hasn't left Konoha in more than twenty years, right?"
Might Duy was somewhat famous in Konoha too, but in the wrong way.
He always messed up missions. He only knew taijutsu, not ninjutsu or genjutsu, so no squad captain was willing to team up with him.
He had been a Genin for more than twenty years and had already earned the title Eternal Genin.
Might Guy said in confusion, "This morning, Father said he hadn't been summoned. He said he would cheer me on. Why is he...?"
Around Konoha's gate, squads were gathering everywhere. Might Guy wanted to go forward, but he was blocked by the other teams.
The crowd was packed with two thousand Konoha ninja. Might Guy could not squeeze through.
Nara Shikaku appeared behind Shiranui Genma's team. He stared at Might Guy for a few seconds, wondering what secret the father and son were hiding.
"Don't worry, Might Guy," Nara Shikaku said. "Summoning Might Duy and assigning him to Princess Kushina's guard squad is the will of the higher-ups.
They believe Might Duy possesses a certain quality that is an important part of Princess Kushina's guard squad."
Might Guy quickly turned around and saw the young clan head of the Nara clan, Nara Shikaku.
"Jōnin Shikaku! Hello!"
Might Guy quickly asked, "Which senior leader ordered my father's summons? My father has hardly ever left Konoha. I'm very worried about him."
Nara Shikaku said, "There's no harm in telling you. The person who decided to summon your father was ANBU Commander Fox."
After explaining and reassuring him, Nara Shikaku walked toward Konoha's gate.
Because of his sensitivity toward intelligence, Nara Shikaku always felt there was a deeper meaning behind Commander Fox summoning Might Duy. However, he had too little information and could not see the full picture.
Even after deliberately contacting Might Guy, he did not gain any useful information.
At the village gate, Nara Shikaku met the senior leaders of the Land of Whirlpools war front.
Overall commander, Nara Shikakaku.
Deputy commander, Uzumaki Yuka.
His father was the commander and would lead two thousand ninja to block the Mist Blade forces.
Uzumaki Yuka was the clan head of the Uzumaki clan and was familiar with the Land of Whirlpools.
It was said that this woman had inherited the Uzumaki clan's summoning beast legacy and possessed many powerful summoning beasts.
As for Princess Kushina, her identity had already been made public. She was Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Previously, Fox himself had been responsible for the Nine-Tails seal.
In this war, Commander Fox had a more important mission, so the Nine-Tails seal would be handled by the Uzumaki clan.
Behind Princess Kushina, Nara Shikaku saw Might Duy, his face full of nervous anticipation, his thick black eyebrows twitching constantly.
How curious.
He truly wondered what secret Might Duy was hiding.
The Ino-Shika-Cho clans, the Uzumaki clan, and a large number of civilian ninja formed the main force of the Land of Whirlpools battlefield.
After the thirty-five captains finished organizing their forces, they came to Nara Shikakaku's side.
"Lord Shikakaku, the troops are assembled. We can depart."
"Good. Move out. We head for the Land of Whirlpools front!"
The massive force of two thousand ninja left Konoha's gate.
The area around the gate instantly emptied.
Not only the gate, but the entire village seemed much emptier.
When the five thousand ninja heading to the Land of Grass left tomorrow, and the three thousand heading to the Land of Hot Water left the day after tomorrow, Konoha would become even more deserted.
Once the front-line ninja all departed, only a little over two thousand ninja would remain inside Konoha.
Nara Shikakaku thought that since the village had sent the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, he was confident this battlefield would be the first to achieve victory.
He looked toward the Land of Rivers.
He wondered whether the village's arrangement there would succeed.
Sunagakure was weak, but preparing no army at all was still somewhat risky.
At that moment, in the Capital of the Land of Wind, the daimyō met with the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
More than thirty people walked toward the noble estate.
"Kazekage, recently there has been a roaming force in the Land of Wind. That force has been assassinating nobles in different towns. Why has there still been no result from the investigation mission I sent to Sunagakure?
The shinobi world war is important, yes, but nobles of the Land of Wind keep dying tragic deaths. This matter cannot be ignored either."
Rasa quickly said, "Daimyō-sama, Sunagakure has been busy preparing for war recently, but we have not neglected the Land of Wind's missions.
I sent three Jōnin, but all of them were killed by that mysterious organization.
Please rest assured. Before the shinobi world war begins, I will resolve the trouble threatening the nobles of the Land of Wind."
The daimyō nodded.
"As long as you kill the culprit constantly hunting nobles, I will increase Sunagakure's war funding by an additional five percent."
After Rasa left the castle tower, he immediately called over an intelligence ninja.
"Windbird City? The target was last seen in Windbird City?
Windbird City is not far from the Land of Rivers border. For the sake of the daimyō's funding, I will personally carry out this pursuit mission."