This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 90 The War Begins

With the conflict with the Uchiha clan over, the Sand Village delegation's time in Konoha returned to normal.

Those who are supposed to attend classes should attend classes, and those who are supposed to do internships should do internships.

As if nothing had happened, everything returned to how it was when they first arrived in Konoha.

No, there are still some differences.

The Konoha ninjas were more polite to the Sunagakure delegation, and the Sunagakure ninjas walked with their backs straighter.

"These are all changes brought about by you, sir."

When this matter was mentioned, Gallo immediately showered him with compliments.

Well... it's not exactly flattery, since these are all facts.

Long Er held his teacup, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Who doesn't love to hear praise?

This is inside a teahouse set up in a makeshift shed.

Ryuji made a round of inspections at the school, checking on the teachers' attendance and also looking for suitable targets to be replaced by Wood Release ninjas.

During lunch break, he took the opportunity to find Karura and listen to her report on her work progress at the teahouse behind the school. They then talked about the changes in the attitude of the Konoha ninja towards these study abroad teams.

"It's still a matter of strength," Ryuji said, holding his teacup. "Only those strong enough can earn the respect of others. Konoha only agreed to let Sunagakure send people to study there because of the circumstances; naturally, they wouldn't welcome us."

"yes!"

Speaking of this, Karura sighed, "The longer we study here, the more we realize the gap between the Sunagakure ninja education system and the Konoha ninja education system. The starting point is so different, the final strength is probably not even on the same level."

"So work hard!" Long Er said earnestly, "You are the foundation of the village's strength. Only when you learn more will the village become even more powerful in the future."

After finishing his tea, he put the cup on the table, stood up, and continued, "Hei's body has almost recovered. I still need to get a prosthetic limb fitted for him, so I won't chat with you any longer."

"Please give my regards to Mr. Hei."

"Um!"

Long Er nodded and turned to walk towards the hospital.

It was summer, and just past noon, the hottest time of the day.

The streets were deserted, with hardly anyone in sight. Only occasionally could one see elderly people resting in the shops along the roadside, holding palm-leaf fans, reclining on cool chairs with teapots and teacups beside them, and dogs lying nearby fanning themselves.

"It's so hot today."

Ryuji wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up at the blazing sun.

A ninja eagle soars and circles in the sky.

"This is..."

Long Er narrowed his eyes.

He digitized and backed up his memories of his past life, so even after so much time, he still remembered them clearly. The ninja hawks of Konoha circled above the village, a signal to convene a meeting of Jonin.

"Has the Allied Forces' war against Konoha begun?"

Long Er pondered for a moment.

The Jonin Conference is only convened when extremely important events occur. And the only major events facing Konoha right now are the Chunin Exams and the ever-present possibility of war.

However, the current Chunin Exams are just internal selection tests for Chunin within the village. Although they are considered important, they are not yet at the level of convening a Jonin meeting.

Therefore, it was only when war began.

but……

"What does this have to do with me?"

The war in Konoha has begun, which is beneficial to both him and Sunagakure.

Only when fighting breaks out outside will Konoha's leadership shift their attention from the Sunagakure delegation to the war itself, giving Ryuji more opportunities to act.

……

The Hokage's office.

Almost all the Jonin who remained in the village had arrived. There weren't many of them, but they were mostly leaders of their respective departments.

"Is everyone here?"

Sarutobi glanced at everyone, nodded, stood up from his chair, rested his left hand on the desk, and gestured on the map with his right hand, saying, "News just came from the front lines that the combined forces of Kusagakure and Iwagakure have launched an attack on us from the Land of Grass, with 12,000 troops. Kumogakure has also sent 11,000 ninja to launch an attack on us from the Land of Rice Fields."

Where is our defense line?

Sarutobi looked up at the person who had asked the question; it was a captain from the Anbu.

He nodded and said, "Originally, Danzo was to lead 5,000 men to resist the combined forces of Iwa and Kusanagi on the border of the Land of Grass, while Jiraiya and Orochimaru were to lead 6,000 men to fight against the Kumogakure army in the Land of Rice Fields. However, Shikaku said that the people of Kumogakure are skilled in Lightning Release, and it would be more appropriate to send Danzo, who is skilled in Wind Release, to fight against the Kumogakure army on the border of the Land of Rice Fields, so the arrangement was changed."

Upon hearing this, everyone frowned.

Jonin Inuzuka asked in confusion, "Why do we only send 5,000 men to fight the Iwa and Kusanagi allied forces, which number 12,000, while we send 6,000 men to fight the Kumogakure forces, which number 11,000?"

"Because the allied forces are also divided on the surface," Sarutobi explained. "Whether they have reached an agreement or are each pursuing their own agendas, in any case, Iwagakure and Kusagakure do not have a strong desire to attack. They seem to be preparing to let Kumogakure take the lead and exhaust our strength before launching their own attack."

"But how can we be sure this isn't a ploy by the Rock and Grass Alliance to lower our guard?"

"Of their 12,000 troops, only 7,000 reached the front lines to confront our defenders, while the remaining 5,000 were in the rear doing logistics."

"..." Everyone was speechless.

This blatant slacking off, won't the Cloud Village be furious?

"Don't let your guard down, everyone." Sarutobi tapped the table, and when everyone looked at him, he continued, "Even so, we are still at a significant numerical disadvantage. A head-on battle would be certain defeat. Although we could use the terrain for guerrilla warfare, that would only buy us time. There's no solution; we'll still lose in the end. Does anyone have any good suggestions?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

It's not that easy for the weak to defeat the strong!

This is simply impossible if the opponent doesn't give them a chance.

Sarutobi understood this principle, so he didn't have high expectations from the beginning.

But when you actually see the results, you can't help but feel a little disappointed.

"now that……"

"Lord Hokage."

Sarutobi looked at the ninja who had interrupted him; the ninja had dazzling golden hair and a gentle smile on his face.

—Minato Namikaze.

"Does Minato have any objections?"

"Since Iwagakure and Kusagakure want Kumogakure to deplete Konoha's strength so they can reap the benefits, why don't we leave a small force to defend the area, concentrate our forces to first defeat Kumogakure, and then turn our attention to them?"

"This risk is too great."

Sarutobi decisively rejected the suggestion, saying, "Iwagakure and Kusagakure don't want to suffer too much loss, so they're planning to let Kumogakure wear us down first and then take advantage of the situation. But if our defensive strength is too weak, they won't need to go through all this trouble."

"So we have to move the troops without telling them."

(End of this chapter)