Chapter 72: Half a Year
Near a year had passed since Konoha had sent their shinobi to Ame.
Kumo had started empowering its borders in these years. In response, the Hokage assigned Hatake Sakumo near the borders close to Kumo. The Hokage had even sent envoys to Shimogakure, asking for military access so that they could attack or lay an ambush for Kumo.
Shimogakure agreed readily, but they also expressed that their people wouldn't join this war from either side. The Hokage had no issues regarding this condition, he also believed that it would be best if their village remained neutral.
As for the Yugakure, which lied in the middle of Shimogakure and Konoha? They were given an ultimatum that they should allow military access within their land, or they would meet with the troops led by Hatake Sakumo.
The next day, the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water sent his agreement regarding the alliance with Konoha.
The Third Hokage cared little about their agreement. It was to be expected that the threat would work. If not… it would be a good chance for Konoha to expand its borders.
Now, coming to an even more important location. The Land of Rain…
This was the location that was carefully observed by Konoha and Iwa.
The Hokage had sent 100 Shinobi; these shinobis were from well-reputed clans in Konoha, excluding the Senju Clan. Not just well-known shinobi, but even young shinobi had joined them.
In turn, Iwa had fortified their borders by reputed shinobi whose fearful names had entered the Bingo Book. Many of them could be classified as A Ranked or A+ Ranked Shinobi, while 1 of them was the rare S-Ranked Shinobi.
For half a year, nothing significant occurred in Ame. Just a few skirmishes now and then, and even low to mid chunins could take care of them.
During this time, Tsuchikage asked Hanzo to let his shinobi travel through Ame. However, Hanzo clearly denied any passage between Ame.
Hearing that Hanzo had rejected his deal, the Tsuchikage was naturally infuriated. He asked Hanzo one more time before Hanzo rejected the deal again. The reason was because of his alliance with the Third Hokage.
If this was during the time when Hanzo was working with Danzo, he would have allowed the Iwa's forces to travel through Ame. However, the Third Hokage was another man altogether. If he tried to pull back from the alliance now, the Third Hokage wouldn't delay in personally coming and fighting against him.
And even as strong as Hanzo was, he had no assurance of winning against the Third Hokage. This man had survived 2 Great Shinobi Wars and was about to see another one… There was no way Hanzo could underestimate him.
Now, after half a year, the Third Tsuchikage had ordered his forces to start moving towards the Ame. Although he didn't feel that his forces were ready for an attack on a village, they could still create some problems for Ame shinobi.
It was to make the situation even more chaotic so that Hanzo would be forced to spend on stabilising his village before dealing with the Iwa forces.
Moreover, during this half a year, the Third Tsuchikage had received info from his spies that Konoha had sent many talented shinobi to Ame to show their sincerity and temper these young shinobi.
Although these young shinobi had come to temper and their families must have been prepared for their deaths, their deaths should still strike a strong blow in the heart of Konoha.
The relatives of these clan members who had come to the Ame would probably fall in despair, or maybe, they would burn in anger.
Either of these two was good for Iwa. If they were in despair, they were one step away from becoming a dead body in a war. And if in anger, it was possible for them to be extremely rash and almost all experienced shinobi were aware of what happened to a rash shinobi in a war. The only thing awaited him was a crushing defeat or death!
With these thoughts in his mind, the Third Tsuchikage didn't hesitate in ordering chosen groups to advance towards Ame.
He was well aware that with Public in chaos, and Iwagakure charging at Ame, Hanzo wouldn't hesitate in sending Konoha Shinobi along with the Ame Shinobi to hold them off.
This was quite a good tactic from the Third Tsuchikage.
However, he still couldn't anticipate what actually happened on the ground. Naturally, he wasn't aware of, Namikaze Minato's potential, Uchiha Keshiro's strength, and the true fearfulness of Nara Shikaku's mind.
There was also the fact that Minato was in Ame. However, he rarely met his friends at Ame. It was mostly because for half a year, other than small skirmishes, Iwa hadn't taken any real action.
Minato utilised that time to get himself familiarised with Jiraiya's contacts. After every 3 days, he would meet a new person and learn new things. And… during the evening time, he would be spending his time examining the Flying Raijin Jutsu and learn more about seals from Uzumaki Isao.
Now that Iwa had started moving against Ame, these young shinobi from Konoha were being sent to the frontlines more often than not.
Minato joined them regularly because, just as he had said to Araki, he did not wish to stand by and do nothing while his friends were fighting.
He stopped examining the Flying Raijin Jutsu and used that time to learn more about seals. He had changed his time to meet with Jiraiya's contacts. Now, he had to contact them at the night time. Needless to say, his time to sleep had shrunk to 4-5 hours a day.
Among all the Konoha Shinobi, three people had made the most difference.
Minato could be grouped among the reinforcements. He was one of the first ones to arrive when they were under attack. He had his first kill here, but before he had the time to even register it, he killed the second one, and then the third.
Only after did he return home did he experience a suffocating feeling. However, he still moved past it with little to no help. He was aware that this was the true reality of a shinobi and must be accepted as early as possible.
His friends weren't the same as him, though. But fortunately for them, they talked to each other about it.
However, he wasn't the one who had truly made a significant impact on Iwa's forces. Well, it couldn't be helped, considering he was focusing on reinforcing the allies.
The ones who had truly made an impact against Iwa were none the other two.
Uchiha Keshiro had killed 2 A-ranked Shinobis of Iwa while fighting against them at the same time. Meanwhile, Nara Shikaku had commanded a small group of shinobi and destroyed four to five times the number of his enemies.
Even though their progress could be called quite great, the Ame and Konoha suffered losses as well. Out of 100 Shinobi sent to Ame, only 60 or so remained.
Perhaps because of the report of heavy losses against Konoha, the Third Tsuchikage had urged the S-Ranked Shinobi stationed at the front lines to make his move.
And in the 10th Month, the S-Ranked Shinobi from Iwa personally made his move. However, shortly enough, the Third Tsuchikage would come to regret it.
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