At the same time—
Dozens of kilometers away from Kikyo Mountain Fortress, atop a barren hill, more than ten thousand shinobi were encamped.
The allied forces were split cleanly into three distinct sections.
Iwagakure.
Sunagakure.
Kumogakure.
They relied on each other—
And guarded against each other.
At the summit, inside a seemingly unremarkable tent, the leaders of the three armies sat around a low table.
They, too, were holding a war council.
"I'm not exaggerating," said the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure, A, his body wrapped in bandages from head to toe. Though his aura was weakened, his eyes burned fiercely. "Uchiha Jin is dangerous. His large-scale Fire Release techniques are extremely troublesome. If no one restrains him, we will suffer massive casualties."
After joint medical treatment from Kumo, Iwa, and Suna medics, A had regained consciousness. He still couldn't engage in high-intensity combat, but he was stable enough to attend.
After several hours of deliberation, the allied command had agreed on a general strategy:
Their elite fighters would restrain Konoha's strongest combatants.
The remaining forces would swarm forward and crush the defenders with overwhelming numbers.
Ten thousand versus four thousand.
At that advantage, intricate tactics were unnecessary.
Overwhelm them head-on.
Simple.
But disagreement remained—specifically over who required the most containment.
A, having suffered personally at Jin's hands, demanded more resources be dedicated to neutralizing Uchiha Jin.
Iwagakure and Sunagakure disagreed.
To them, the true threat was the man whose name had shaken the Third Shinobi War—
The Yellow Flash.
Minato Namikaze.
A leaned forward sharply.
"Minato may be fast, but how many can he kill at once? Five? Ten?"
"We have ten thousand shinobi!"
"Even if it were ten thousand pigs lined up for slaughter, it would take him three days and three nights to finish them!"
He slammed his palm against the table.
"We don't need to obsess over him. Once Kikyo Mountain falls, we win."
"But Uchiha Jin is different!"
"His Fire Release can wipe out dozens—hundreds—at once. A standard Great Fire Annihilation requires an entire squad of Water Release users working together just to neutralize it. Ordinary shinobi cannot withstand him."
"If we don't restrain him, what happened to my Kumo forces will repeat!"
A's caution wasn't paranoia.
He had seen Jin activate the Mangekyō Sharingan.
One moment, he and over a hundred Kumo shinobi had been pressuring Jin.
The next—
Everything had collapsed.
He still didn't understand what ability Jin had used.
The memory chilled him.
It reminded him of the ancient terror once associated with another Uchiha—
The man called the "Shinobi of the Abyss."
The mere existence of someone like that on the battlefield was destabilizing.
Across from him, the Five-Tails' jinchūriki, Han, spoke calmly.
"Jin's Fire Release is formidable. Our vanguard suffered heavily because we were caught off guard."
"But I do not believe he surpasses Minato in threat."
"We have large-scale destructive power as well."
He tapped his armored chest.
"Our Tailed Beast Bombs exceed his techniques in both range and raw output."
"And the greater his Fire Release, the greater the chakra cost."
Han's voice remained steady.
"This is war."
"Under sustained combat, how long can he maintain that level of output?"
"After that 'palm strike from the heavens,' he was already nearly drained. Had reinforcements not arrived, he might have died at my hands."
In Han's assessment, Jin had simply exploited surprise.
He was dangerous—
But not insurmountable.
A's jaw tightened.
"That's because he'd already burned through chakra before facing you!"
"He pursued our envoy the night prior—wiped out elite Kumo units—marched across extreme distances—defended Kikyo Mountain—repelled two thousand of my forces—then faced your vanguard!"
"His reserves aren't Senju-level, but they're far from small!"
A's urgency wasn't just strategic.
Kumogakure was the weakest contingent here.
Iwa had five thousand.
Suna had four thousand.
Kumo?
Barely over one thousand.
Their Eight-Tails jinchūriki remained in Konoha custody.
Their Two-Tails jinchūriki was dead.
He himself was heavily wounded.
His voice carried the least weight at this table.
If he couldn't influence strategy—
Kumo would be the one paying the price.
A faint chuckle broke the tension.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, finally spoke.
"Raikage-sama may be overstating things."
"I won't deny Jin's threat."
"But to claim he surpasses the Yellow Flash?"
Rasa shook his head slightly.
"Minato hasn't demonstrated large-scale destruction, true."
"But if he initiates targeted decapitation strikes?"
He let the implication hang.
"Other than the three of us, how many among our commanders can survive him?"
"Yes—one man cannot slaughter ten thousand pigs."
"But if he selectively kills the shepherds?"
"The flock collapses."
"And don't forget—Minato is not alone. Konoha still fields several thousand troops."
Rasa's golden eyes sharpened.
"In my view, the primary focus must remain on restraining Minato Namikaze."
"Contain him—and the rest becomes manageable."
The tent fell silent.
Three leaders.
Three priorities.
One battlefield waiting at dawn.
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