Ninja World: I'm really a support-type ninja

The thoughts of the powerful elders of Kumogakure are easy to understand.

The one who tied the knot must untie it; Akira Hatake undoubtedly became the key factor in the Third Raikage's recovery.

"Let's hold off for now. The Land of Earth hasn't given us a clear answer yet. If we go too far, I'm worried that Onoki might stab us in the back."

The Third Raikage looked much older than usual, but his mind was still sharp, and he considered things quite comprehensively.

"Then your body..."

"I'm just a bit older, it's not like I can't move." The Third Raikage said nonchalantly, "Even if my strength isn't what it used to be, I'm still one of the strongest ninjas!"

"I asked you to investigate the information before. Have you investigated it thoroughly? The two Konoha ninjas who fought against me will be the number one enemy of our Kumogakure in the future."

The Third Raikage was truly concerned about Akira Hatake and Minato Namikaze; that was what worried him the most.

"Third Hokage, the investigation is complete."

As he spoke, the powerful elder of Kumogakure opened the document in his hand, "Namikaze Minato, an elite Jonin of Konoha, proficient in the Rasengan and Flying Thunder God Technique."

"Akira Hatake, a Chunin of Konoha, is Minato Namikaze's student and is also proficient in the Rasengan and Flying Thunder God Technique."

"That's all the intelligence we have. More detailed information about the two of them is still under investigation."

The powerful elder of Kumogakure closed the document and then quietly awaited further orders from the Third Raikage.

"Continue the investigation, and while you're at it, compile the information I gave you about the two of them, combine it with the information you have, put it all together, and then distribute it to everyone."

"Yes, Sandaime-sama."

"Get to it quickly." The Third Raikage waved his hand. "I have a feeling that those two, master and apprentice, are very likely to gain fame in this war by stepping on our Hidden Cloud Village..."

"Third Hokage, isn't your assessment of them... a bit too high?"

"Tell the ninjas at the front lines to be careful, especially A and Killer Bee, they need to be extra careful!" The Third Raikage clenched his fist. "They must keep a close eye on those two!"

Chapter 127 Fate, Wonderful Beyond Words. (Completed in the third update, 10,000 words. Please subscribe and vote!)

Three days later, Akira Hatake, Minato Namikaze, and Kakashi, having finished their rest, embarked on another mission.

During these three days, the northeastern border of the Land of Fire remained peaceful, and there was not a single conflict between the Konoha ninja and the Kumogakure ninja.

However, beneath the calm surface, the hidden storms are growing stronger day by day.

I'd like to talk about the Land of Hot Springs, which has been largely occupied by the Land of Lightning. Because of the evidence presented by Jiraiya, they generally believe that the daimyo of the Land of Hot Springs has died at the hands of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki from the Hidden Cloud Village.

The remaining clothing of the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water, along with the traces of the Eight-Tails' chakra, is highly convincing.

Combined with the remnants of the great battle on the border of the Land of Lightning, the Land of Hot Water became even more convinced of this fact.

Although some people have doubts about this outcome, it is also an unspoken guess that the Land of Hot Water will always have to choose a side between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.

Undoubtedly, the Land of Hot Springs, which borders the Land of Fire, ignored part of the reason for the death of the daimyo of the Land of Hot Springs and chose to side with the Land of Fire.

This caused significant damage to the Land of Lightning's long supply lines by the ninjas of the Hidden Hot Springs Village, greatly hindering the advance of the main force of the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas.

The Konoha ninja forces, led by Jiraiya, were pleased with this outcome. While continuing to focus on building defensive fortifications, they also devoted some of their energy to assisting the ninjas of Yugakure.

Of course, this assistance is limited to material aid, which is a common practice when major powers are at war.

That is, it is small countries that shed blood and tears, while large countries rarely get involved unless absolutely necessary.

However, this is relative. Given the current state of the war, it is only a matter of time before Jiraiya's forces are completely bogged down in the quagmire of war.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru's southwestern defensive ninja forces have already clashed with the ninja forces of the Land of Wind, and have fought several battles, large and small.

Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but the Sand Village ninja forces of the Land of Wind had the greater advantage because the number of their directly participating troops had exceeded 1.

In contrast, Orochimaru's forces number only around 1500. The vast disparity in ninja numbers meant that maintaining the current situation was the limit of what Orochimaru could achieve.

However, after only a week of fighting on equal footing with the main force of the Land of Wind ninjas, Orochimaru's forces began to request reinforcements from Konoha.

This was an inevitable result of the overwhelming disadvantage in manpower, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was stationed far away in Konoha Village, had long anticipated this situation.

So when Orochimaru asked Konoha for help, Hiruzen Sarutobi generously provided both supplies and personnel, and the village's support team for the front lines was reassembled.

However, compared to the ninja units previously sent to the front lines, this ninja unit, although still numerous, has experienced a decline in overall strength.

War is not only a battle of financial resources, but also a battle of population.

Apart from the ninjas who were necessary to stay behind in Konoha, the ninja teams that Konoha sent to the front lines this time almost emptied two-thirds of Konoha's ninja reserves.

Almost all the Chunin were deployed to the battlefield, and most of the Genin were also drawn from the ranks, including many young men and women who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy.

Kurenai Yuhi, Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, Genma Shiranui...

Genin who had graduated a year ago or had just graduated were sent to the battlefield in large numbers, and they were all deployed to the front lines of the war between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan was simple: even if the Land of Fire was besieged, it was not without a way out.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's anticipated breakthrough point was the Land of Wind, the weakest of the five great nations in terms of overall national strength.

Despite the fact that the Land of Wind started the Third Shinobi World War, if the war had really broken out, the Land of Wind wouldn't have been able to defeat the Land of Fire single-handedly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, like a pickpocket, wanted to deal with the Land of Wind as quickly as possible, subdue them, and then split Orochimaru's forces to fight on other borders of the Land of Fire.

This strategy isn't necessarily flawed, but it's somewhat reckless and inevitably introduces more uncertainties.

As expected, the resilience of the Sunagakure ninja forces this time far exceeded that of the past. Even though the arrival of Konoha reinforcements greatly increased Orochimaru's forces, the battle did not progress smoothly.

Even if there is some progress, it is only a shift from being in a slump to gaining a small advantage in local battles.

From the overall perspective of the great war, the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire are still locked in a stalemate.

It was precisely because Orochimaru's forces failed to quickly eliminate the main force of Sunagakure ninjas that the chain reaction finally erupted!

After a brief rest and dealing with the ninja from Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning who had been constantly harassing their supply lines, the ninja forces immediately launched a general offensive against Jiraiya's forces.

At the same time, as if they had planned it, a large force of ninjas from Iwagakure in the Land of Earth also pressed in, immediately causing Danzo Shimura, who was leading the ninja forces on the northwestern defense line, to be in a state of utter chaos.

What's even more worrying is that Kirigakure in the Land of Water has completed its military operations across the entire Land of Waves, and has successfully established its first strategic supply point at sea, giving Kirigakure ninjas a springboard to invade the southeastern border of the Land of Fire.

Moreover, the Hidden Mist Village ninja forces split into two groups. The ninja forces that landed in the Land of Bears were unstoppable and have now occupied most of the Land of Bears. It is believed that it will not be long before they will be able to invade the southeastern border of the Land of Fire.

In an instant, messages requesting help flooded Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk like snowflakes, all saying "We need people! We need people! We need people!"

Helpless, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only accelerate the training of ninjas at the Ninja Academy, significantly shortening the students' study period and even approving several batches of genin to graduate early.

But this is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst. The role of genin on the battlefield is really limited, and the large number of genin who die in vain will also deal a heavy blow to Konoha's foundation.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly found the report submitted by Jiraiya, which detailed the mission to rescue the daimyo of the Land of Hot Springs, carried out by Minato Namikaze, Akira Hatake, Kakashi, and Hizashi Hyuga.

This delighted Hiruzen Sarutobi, who immediately disregarded other factors and treated Minato Namikaze, Akira Hatake, and Kakashi as mobile firefighters.

"What?! Another mission!"

Akira Hatake, who had just returned from a mission, was full of complaints. The fatigue was secondary; the real problem was that his research on the Flying Thunder God Kunai - Multiple Shadow Clone Technique had been delayed again and again.

"There's nothing we can do about it..."

Jiraiya rubbed his temples. "With Minato, you, and Kakashi here, we can hold out for a while, but things won't be so easy for the other defenses..."

"If it weren't for the three of you returning in time to complete your mission, our northeastern defense line might have suffered a major defeat."

Jiraiya was telling the truth. If Minato Namikaze hadn't held back the Kumogakure AB combination, and Akira Hatake had led Kakashi to slaughter the Kumogakure ninja forces, the Kumogakure ninja forces would have launched a full-scale attack, which would have been the beginning of the major collapse of the northeastern defense line.

"But what will happen here if we go to support other defense lines?" Akira Hatake frowned.

"You're going to provide support alone."

"Me alone?!" Akira Hatake pointed to himself. "Aren't you overestimating me?"

“It’s not that I think highly of you, it’s that the old man thinks highly of you. It’s the reputation you’ve built up over this period of time that gives you enough strength and prestige to be competent for this support mission.”

"..."

Upon hearing Jiraiya's words, Akira Hatake fell silent.

As Jiraiya said, Akira Hatake did indeed make a great name for himself in the month following the start of the war.

Severely injured the Third Raikage, dealt a heavy blow to the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and became the terminator of Chunin and Genin...

As one incident after another was added together, Akira Hatake became a ninja that opposing ninjas wanted to fight and hunt down. Moreover, in the ninja forces of the northeastern defense line, Akira Hatake's reputation reached a level second only to Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze's reputation also grew rapidly, mainly due to his single-handedly stopping the A and B teams from Kumogakure.

The reason Minato Namikaze was able to accomplish such a feat was because Killer Bee was too timid to use the Tailed Beast Ball.

The Flying Thunder God Technique, used to transfer the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball, still left Killer Bee with a lingering trauma.

Although it was Akira Hatake who used the Flying Thunder God Technique, Killer Bee also learned from the information gathered by Kumogakure that Minato Namikaze was Akira Hatake's teacher.

It's common for students to surpass their teachers, but there's no reason why a student might know a move that the teacher doesn't.

Therefore, Killer Bee preferred to remain locked in a stalemate with Minato Namikaze rather than release the Tailed Beast Ball after transforming into a Tailed Beast.

He didn't want to be the executioner of his own people!

For this reason, and given Minato Namikaze's unbeatable speed, a stalemate and a draw were inevitable.

Kakashi's fame stemmed from his mastery of the Bloodstained Elimination Sword Technique.

Whenever Kakashi swung his sword, he left behind a trail of dust. This terrifying scene made Kakashi the undisputed Grim Reaper in the hearts of Chunin and Genin.

It is precisely because Kakashi is so good at mowing down weaker people that his reputation is somewhat tarnished, and he is known as a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong.

The main reason is that Kakashi has no record of fighting against top-tier fighters. Even if he has, he's just a minor character, so it's understandable that he's not well-known.

That is why Jiraiya chose Akira Hatake to carry out the mission of supporting other battlefields.

Akira Hatake's speed is also present in Minato Namikaze, and he can also fulfill the important task of restraining the Kumogakure A and B teams.

Akira Hatake used the Flying Thunder God Technique to cut grass faster. Although Kakashi didn't know the Flying Thunder God Technique, his Bloodstained Elimination Sword Technique was even faster and simpler when cutting grass.

There were many overlaps among the three, and after careful consideration, Jiraiya decided to abandon Minato Namikaze and send Akira Hatake to carry out the firefighting mission.

"Which defensive line should we support?"

In the end, Akira Hatake could only nod in agreement. He felt that even if time did not allow it, he would use gold coins to buy equipment and force himself to acquire all the ninjutsu talents!

Thinking this way, my resistance to this support mission lessened.

"Go to Orochimaru's southwestern defense line, and you may be staying there for a long time!"

Jiraiya unfolded a large map and pointed to the southwestern border of the Land of Fire. "It's quite a coincidence, actually, it was Sakumo who defeated Sunagakure during the Second Shinobi World War!"

Akira Hatake raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.