Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 286 Thunder of Ruin

Jonin meeting... Heh!

Fugaku, using his Fire Release clone technique, smiled slightly, dispelled the Amaterasu flames in mid-air, got up, opened the door, and went out.

The Jonin Conference is an emergency meeting convened by the Hokage when a major crisis occurs in the village or when there is an important decision that concerns everyone. All Jonin in Konoha are required to attend upon being notified.

However, this has nothing to do with the Uchiha clan. Even though the Uchiha clan's guard force is part of the Konoha ninja organization, the Third Hokage did not allow the Uchiha clan's guard unit's Jonin to participate.

Fire Release Clone - Fugaku is the head of the Security Department, so he shouldn't be involved in this Jonin meeting.

The Third Hokage specifically sent someone to summon Fugaku to the Jonin meeting, indicating that Konoha couldn't withstand the pressure for the past six months.

The Third Hokage had no choice but to bring the Uchiha clan into the war.

Thinking of this, Fire Release clone Fugaku smiled, then jumped onto the roof and ran towards the Hokage Building in the quiet moonlight.

Along the way, dark figures leaped across the rooftops.

"Wow... double happiness!"

As they moved, a smile suddenly appeared on the face of Fugaku, the Fire Release clone.

The Hatake family.

Outside the training room, Kakashi stood anxiously waiting, glancing frequently at the tightly closed door.

The Hokage just sent someone to inform my father to attend the Jonin meeting, but because my father is training in the training room, he is relaying the message on my behalf.

But when he notified his father, his father did not respond.

If it weren't for the peculiar chill emanating from inside, he would have thought something had happened to his father.

He didn't dare to barge in rashly, fearing it would disturb his father, and could only anxiously wait outside.

Inside the training room, the Lightning Release clone, White Fang, stood up, raised his hand, and pure gray lightning coiled around it. There was no crackling sound from the lightning; it was very quiet and seemed to have no power.

But... Lightning Release clone - White Fang pointed at a kunai on the floor of the training room, and instantly a gray lightning bolt struck the kunai.

In an instant, the metallic kunai turned grayish-white and then scattered like a cloud of gray powder.

Lightning Release clone - White Fang walked over, pinched a handful of gray powder, which felt like lime powder and emitted a rotten smell as if it had been sitting for hundreds of years.

Smelling the rotten odor, Lightning Release clone - White Fang laughed.

"The lightning that brings financial ruin has finally struck."

"Today is truly a day of double happiness."

Lightning Release Clone - White Fang opened the door and walked out with a pleasant feeling. He looked up at the moon, which was quite beautiful tonight.

"Father..." Kakashi.

"I understand." Lightning Release Clone - White Fang raised his hand to interrupt Kakashi, and left with a Body Flicker Technique.

"So fast!" Kakashi stood there, his face showing amazement. This was the first time in many years that he had seen his father use the Body Flicker Technique, and it was incredibly fast.

If he were to fight his father, he would be killed in an instant.

"Looks like I'm not strong enough!" Kaka thought to himself, then turned and went back to his bedroom. He wouldn't sleep tonight; he was going to train extra.

The side hall on the first floor of the Hokage Building is a large space and is the location of the Jonin meeting.

On the steps, the Third Hokage sat behind his desk, with two Hokage advisors standing beside him.

At the bottom of the steps, all the Jonin who had stayed in the village had arrived.

Among these Jonin, the Fire Release Clone - Fugaku is the most special, because he is the only one here who is the clan leader.

The heads of the other major families in the village were all at the front lines, and he was the only one still in the village.

Everyone knows why, so it was quite unexpected that the Fire Release clone - Fugaku - appeared here.

Besides the Fire Release clone Fugaku, the appearance of the Lightning Release clone White Fang also drew the attention of many Jonin present.

The failure of the Lightning Release Clone - White Fang's mission back then caused quite a stir in the village, forcing White Fang to quit being a ninja altogether, a story that many people still remember vividly.

Now that even someone like Lightning Release clone White Fang, who has clearly stated that he will no longer be a ninja, has been summoned, many people have realized what's going on and feel the heavy pressure.

Clearly, a major change has occurred in the war on the front lines.

"Everyone."

When the Third Hokage spoke up, everyone fell silent and looked at him.

"The situation on the front lines is dire." The Third Hokage's face was more serious than ever before. He said, "Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure have all sent out all the genin who have just mastered the Three Body Techniques in the past six months, causing great damage to all our fronts. Konoha is now on the verge of destruction."

"so……"

The Third Hokage looked down at the group of Jonin whose expressions had changed drastically and said with a heavy face, "After discussing with the two advisors and elders, we have decided that tomorrow, all those who have mastered the Three Body Techniques will be promoted to Genin at the Konoha Ninja Academy. The day after tomorrow, they will go to the battlefield with the students you are currently leading to support the front lines."

Is the situation on the front lines already that serious?

After hearing what the third generation said, the same thought flashed through everyone's minds.

Why would a child who has just mastered the Three Bodies Technique be sent to the battlefield?

The crowd below began to discuss amongst themselves, noting that Konoha had not sent any children to the battlefield during World War I and World War II.

During World War II, Minato Namikaze, who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy at the age of eleven and already possessed the strength of a Jonin, was not assigned to the battlefield.

However, now... everyone felt a surge of anger with nowhere to vent it.

Because their anger is directed at themselves.

It was because they were not strong enough that those children who had just mastered the Three Bodies Technique were forced to go to the battlefield.

Despite their reluctance, they knew that the Third Generation would not have made this decision unless they were forced into a corner.

So no one voiced their opposition.

Only one person looked very unwell.

I disagree.

Tsunade stood up, loudly objecting, looking directly into the Third Hokage's eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Those brats who have just mastered the Three Body Techniques are just going to their deaths on the battlefield; they will have no impact on the outcome of the war."

Tsunade knew very well how her younger brother, Nawaki, died.

Relying on his talent as a member of the Senju clan, he joined the battlefield right after graduation, but even with Orochimaru watching over him, he still died in the end.

Ninja battles are not child's play.

Sending inexperienced kids to the battlefield is tantamount to sending them to their deaths, and Tsunade firmly disagrees.

"I'll go wherever the situation is dire at the front."

Tsunade's eyes were resolute; even if it meant sacrificing herself, she was unwilling to send those seven-, eight-, or ten-year-old children to their deaths on the battlefield.

The third generation remained silent; there were some things he couldn't say.

However, there are others who can speak.

Koharu Utatane said coldly, "Tsunade, this is a matter of life and death for the village. If we don't fight, even more people will die."

Mitokado Homura said with an equally cold gaze, "For the sake of Konoha, we have no other choice."

In the eyes of the older generation, it was commonplace for children to go to the battlefield, nothing strange about it. Only by winning could Konoha survive, and only then could more people survive.

Everyone present understood this principle, so although they were heartbroken by the decision of the third generation to send their children to the battlefield, they had no objections.

Only Tsunade was still deeply troubled by the death of her younger brother, Nawaki, and didn't want her grandfather's ideal—that the village was founded to protect children from the battlefield—to be shattered.

But the silence of the three generations made her realize that her opposition alone was useless.

The decision to send the child to the battlefield is irreversible.

Tsunade could only try to reduce the number of children who went to the battlefield, so she brought up the suggestion that she had made to the Third Hokage several times before, which had been rejected each time.

"If the children go to the battlefield, I propose that each squad must be equipped with a medical ninja."

Back then, Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki, was injured by an explosive tag in a trap because there was no medical ninja in the team. His wound kept bleeding and he stopped breathing by the time Orochimaru arrived.

If there had been a medical ninja in the team at the time, even if they only knew the most basic first aid methods such as medicine and bandaging wounds, her younger brother Nawaki would not have died.

"no."

The Third Hokage refused without hesitation. Facing Tsunade's angry glare, he sighed and said, "Not everyone possesses both powerful medical abilities and formidable strength like you. Adding a medical ninja to a ninja team will only drag down the team's overall strength and make casualties more likely."

(End of this chapter)