As head of the Hyūga branch family, Hyuga Hizashi was far more proficient with the Byakugan than most of his clan.
What he saw—
He saw clearly.
Too clearly.
And that clarity made his expression turn grim.
Jin's unease deepened.
"Jin… the one leading that force is Mimura Yohaku, commander of the Grass Country border garrison. They're all border defense shinobi."
That sentence hit like a hammer.
Border defense units only left their posts for one reason.
Their line had broken.
When a Line Becomes a Hole
The Grass Country front existed to guard against Iwagakure.
If they were here—
Then Iwa had already crossed into Fire Country.
But that didn't make sense.
Even if Iwa launched five thousand troops, Konoha's layered outpost system should have allowed phased resistance.
Fallback.
Delay.
Reinforce.
Not this.
Not a full retreat to Kikyo Mountain without warning.
Hizashi turned urgently.
"Jin. What do we do?"
Jin's expression hardened.
"We wait. Regroup the men. Recover chakra."
"Everything else—we confirm from Mimura directly."
The Truth Arrives on Foot
Moments later, the battered column entered the fortress.
They froze at the sight of carnage.
They clearly hadn't known Kikyo Mountain had been attacked.
"Report! What happened here? Who's in command?!"
Their leader stepped forward.
A weathered man, armor scarred, face drawn tight from exhaustion.
Jin approached.
"Commander Mimura. A word."
The man squinted at him.
"You are…?"
"Uchiha Jin. Head of the Uchiha. Chief of the Military Police."
Recognition dawned.
"You're the 'Red Sun' from the Mist front?"
He straightened and bowed formally.
Respect still mattered.
Even in ruin.
The Order That Opened the Gates
Jin wasted no time.
"Why are you here?"
Mimura gave a hollow smile.
"We were broken."
Then he explained.
Yesterday morning—
A direct emergency order from the Hokage's Office.
Withdraw five hundred shinobi from the Takigakure border to reinforce operations near the Land of Rice Fields against Cloud forces.
That single withdrawal—
A gap opened.
A hole in the defensive line.
Before Mimura could reposition Grass front units to cover Takigakure—
That very night—
Iwagakure launched a full assault through the weakened Takigakure border.
There was almost no resistance.
Then came the second blow.
Iwa troops advanced into Fire Country and swung toward their flank and rear.
Simultaneously—
Sunagakure attacked River Country to pin down defenders.
Then dispatched an elite detachment through Rain Country to strike from another angle.
Four-sided pressure.
Encirclement.
No winning formation.
"I made the call to withdraw," Mimura said quietly.
"I consolidated Grass and Rain border forces and fell back here."
"If I had waited for official retreat orders—"
"We'd all be dead."
A Strategy Turned Inside Out
Jin absorbed everything.
If Konoha's border defense was a continuous line—
Then removing Takigakure forces punched a hole straight through it.
Iwa exploited that breach instantly.
Once inside—
The defensive "line" ceased being a line.
It became isolated points.
Cut apart.
Individually surrounded.
That wasn't incompetence on Mimura's part.
It was a structural collapse.
And Jin didn't need to guess whose decision had caused it.
Only one man had both the audacity and authority to issue such an order under the Hokage's seal without consultation.
Danzo.
Even when Hiruzen was in office, Danzo had issued commands in the Hokage's name.
Now?
With the Third absent?
He wouldn't hesitate.
The Cost of Survival
"How many did you bring back?" Jin asked.
"About twelve hundred."
A pause.
"We lost nearly three hundred during the retreat."
"If not for them…"
He didn't finish.
They would have been annihilated.
Encircled and erased between Iwa and Suna.
Jin exhaled slowly.
So this was the full picture:
The clouds attacked Kikyo Mountain.
Iwa exploited the Takigakure gap.
Suna coordinated flank pressure.
Border lines collapsed inward.
This wasn't a skirmish anymore.
This was a multi-front destabilization.
And Konoha was bleeding from every direction at once.
Jin's gaze shifted toward the horizon.
If the first domino had fallen—
The rest wouldn't stop by themselves.
And now—
Kikyo Mountain wasn't just a fortress.
It was the last hinge holding the entire western front together.
If it fell—
Fire Country would burn.
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