Two days later.
At the break of dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, an urgent intelligence report shattered the calm of Konoha's forward command headquarters.
"Jiraiya-sama, an emergency transmission from the reconnaissance unit!"
A communications ninja pushed aside the tent flap and strode in, immediately presenting the report to Jiraiya.
"Sunagakure has made its move."
Jiraiya took it, unfolded it, scanned it briefly, then passed it to Tsunade at his side.
Tsunade accepted it with a cold snort. Without saying a word, she handed it over to Suzaku.
Suzaku stepped forward quickly, took the report, and skimmed through it at high speed. Several staff officers gathered around him, and the atmosphere instantly grew tense.
The Sunagakure army had completed its final assembly last night. At dawn this morning, the entire force mobilized, splitting into three divisions and advancing straight toward Konoha's main camp.
The left flank—approximately one thousand men—was maneuvering from the northeast, attempting to cut off Konoha's connection to its rear supply lines.
The right flank—also around one thousand—was flanking from the southeast, targeting Konoha's forward outposts and supply depots along the side.
And the center—
Eight thousand men.
Sunagakure's main force—eight thousand strong—was advancing along the most direct route toward Konoha's headquarters, clearly aiming to force a large-scale engagement.
Most of the time, ninja combat was conducted in small squads—teams of three to five—focused on reconnaissance, harassment, ambushes, and counter-ambushes, emphasizing flexibility, mobility, and stealth.
But that wasn't absolute.
When the scale of war expanded to a certain point, when both sides realized that small skirmishes could no longer decide victory, large-scale chaotic battles became inevitable.
At the start of every Shinobi World War, combat would begin in dispersed formations. But as fighting intensified, the front lines would tangle together, eventually escalating into massive clashes involving thousands—or even tens of thousands—of shinobi.
Jiraiya took a deep breath and shouted: "Notify all units—prepare according to the previously simulated plan!"
"If Rasa wants a fight, then we'll give him one!"
"Understood!"
With the order issued, Konoha immediately sprang into motion.
Though "motion" wasn't entirely accurate.
Because over the past two days, all units had already completed preparations according to the projected battle plan. In particular, the predicted focal point of Sunagakure's central offensive—Kikyō Pass—had long been reinforced with a large number of elite forces.
All remaining personnel, supplies, and equipment were already in a state of full readiness. The moment the order came, each unit streamed out from their respective positions, moving along predetermined routes to assemble at designated locations.
The medical and logistical units were no exception.
Once large-scale combat began, the concept of a traditional rear hospital would become blurred. The wounded could no longer be transported back in batches for calm and methodical treatment.
A large number of medical-nin would have to advance alongside the main force, establishing temporary treatment points behind the front lines—or even be directly integrated into combat squads, providing emergency care during brief lulls in fighting.
Just like in the later Fourth Shinobi World War—where, as the battle intensified, even the medical and logistics units were pushed onto the front lines.
This meant that Shinichi would also be heading to the front.
Before departure, Tsunade shot Shinichi a sharp glare. Only after he nodded to reassure her did she give a slight nod in return, then turned and led an elite unit that had long been on standby, striding out of the camp.
Shinichi watched her back as she left. Then he turned to Hyūga Hizashi beside him and said: "I'll be counting on you from here on, Hizashi-senpai."
Hizashi nodded, saying nothing more.
Two days earlier, Konoha's reinforcements had arrived at the southwestern front—around two thousand troops.
A significant portion of these reinforcements came from the Hyūga clan—over a hundred members in total, all of them elite.
In the past, something like this would have been unimaginable. The Hyūga clan had always been known for its conservatism, rarely deploying such a large number of elite clan members to a single battlefield at the early stage of a war.
But this time, they had no choice.
The reason was simple—the Red Eye.
Ever since that night, when Ebizō's ambush took place, it had drawn immense attention on Konoha's side. The Byakugan, hailed as the strongest perception dōjutsu in the shinobi world, had been completely deceived during that ambush.
In the subsequent small-scale encounters, similar situations occurred again and again.
Even when Byakugan users were present in the squad, they were consistently detected in advance by Sunagakure, avoided ahead of time—or even counter-ambushed.
When this information was reported back to the Hyūga clan, it caused a massive shock. Clan Head Hyūga Hiashi convened the elders for several consecutive days, repeatedly running simulations, analyses, and discussions.
At first, they believed Sunagakure had developed some kind of secret technique specifically targeting the Byakugan. But later, through intelligence channels, they confirmed that it wasn't a secret technique at all—
—but another kind of dōjutsu.
The Red Eye.
An obscure, little-known small clan, yet one that possessed a strange Kekkei Genkai—one extremely similar to the Byakugan, but with the added ability to interfere with perception.
Once this information was confirmed, the entire Hyūga clan was shaken—and then came an overwhelming surge of killing intent.
The authority of the Byakugan had been challenged.
If the existence of the Red Eye was not eliminated, if it were fully mastered by Sunagakure and developed on a large scale—then the strategic value of the Byakugan, which the Hyūga clan took such pride in, would be greatly diminished. Even the very foundation upon which the Hyūga clan had stood for thousands of years in the shinobi world could be completely shaken.
So this time, the Hyūga clan was serious.
Over a hundred clan members, all elites—including Hyūga Hizashi, the younger brother of the clan head—were dispatched to the southwestern front.
They had two objectives.
First, to support the village in the war.
Second, to kill as many Red Eye users as possible—preferably to the point of exterminating their entire clan.
They would not allow any existence that threatened the status of the Byakugan to continue living.
And the moment Hyūga Hizashi arrived at the front, he was assigned by Jiraiya and Tsunade to the medical logistics unit—and specifically placed at Shinichi's side.
Over these past few days, Konoha had already grasped some of the Red Eye's characteristics.
That Kekkei Genkai was indeed strange—but its users were extremely few in number.
In other words, they could interfere with some Byakugan users, but they could not cover the entire battlefield.
And Hizashi's Byakugan—even under the possibility of interference—remained one of the most reliable sensory abilities on the battlefield.
With him guarding Shinichi's side, danger could be detected in advance, ensuring Shinichi's safety to the greatest possible extent.
…
Half an hour later, twenty-five kilometers outside Konoha's main camp—Kikyō Pass.
Eight thousand Sunagakure main forces stood in formation across the plain before the mountain, a vast, dark mass stretching into the distance.
Beyond them, the mountain range rose and fell, and Kikyō Pass towered imposingly.
From the base of the mountain up to its midsection, over six thousand Konoha shinobi had established layered defenses, already occupying the high ground, clearly having awaited Sunagakure's arrival for quite some time.
Eight thousand versus over six thousand.
In terms of numbers, Sunagakure held a clear advantage.
But with one side attacking and the other defending, the advantage of terrain was enough to offset the difference in manpower.
Sunagakure's left and right flanks, each a thousand strong, were now maneuvering around the sides.
Konoha had also split off eight hundred troops to each side, moving to intercept those two forces—not seeking victory, only to delay and hold them back.
On the main battlefield at Kikyō Pass, only these eight thousand and these six thousand remained as the core forces.
At the front of Sunagakure's formation, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, raised his head and gazed at the towering mountain in the distance. His eyes swept over the enemies faintly visible across the slopes.
After a long silence, he slowly spoke, his tone filled with admiration: "As expected… Kikyō Pass truly lives up to its name as the greatest stronghold in the Land of Fire."
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