Then—

Another wave of shinobi emerged from the forest.

They were mostly dark-skinned and heavily built.

Hiruzen's heart sank.

They wore the headbands of Kumogakure. Leading them were none other than the Fourth Raikage, A, and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, Killer Bee.

"Well, well, old man! Didn't think you were still kicking, let alone still fighting on the frontlines."

The Raikage looked up at Ōnoki.

Ōnoki grunted. "Even if you died, I'd still be alive. Enough talk—let's crush Konoha first, we can settle our scores afterward."

"Hmph." The Raikage glanced at the barrier with a cold sneer. When he spotted Hiruzen, his eyes filled with contempt. "Old man, here's your moment—why don't you go first?"

"I've been chasing down Konoha's main force this whole time. It's your turn to shine now," Ōnoki snapped back.

---

Within the barrier.

Hiruzen gasped for breath. Since becoming Hokage, he had never fought a war this humiliating.

It wasn't just that he'd been chased all the way back by Ōnoki—

He had no one left to rely on.

Even with Mount Myōboku's help, all they could do was keep him alive. Gone were the days of Konoha's multi-front superiority during the Third Shinobi World War.

Then—

Yet another army surged from the woods.

They wore desert-yellow armor and bore the forehead protectors of Sunagakure.

At the head stood the Fourth Kazekage: Rasa.

Rage burned inside the barrier.

Hiruzen's pupils shook violently as he roared, "Rasa! You dare betray the alliance between Konoha and Suna?! Are you not afraid of our retribution when this is over?!"

At the front of the Sand forces—

Rasa stood with arms folded, face cold and impassive. He gave no reply to Hiruzen's accusation.

After all—

What "future" did Konoha even have anymore?

A moment passed.

Rasa said in a deep voice, "It's precisely because we're allies that I promise you—Sunagakure will absolutely not be the first to attack Konoha!"

He had only agreed to Onoki's plan to target Konoha for the sake of gaining a share of the spoils—not to be the one to lead the charge.

"Hmph!"

Though the Raikage was inwardly displeased by the presence of Sunagakure, he said nothing.

At present, the most urgent matter was taking down Konoha and carving up the Land of Fire.

If Sunagakure overestimated their worth at that point, the Raikage wouldn't mind letting Rasa see just how strong Kumogakure had become after years of lying in wait.

"Old man, let's attack together. Konoha's barrier won't last more than a day!"

The Raikage turned to Onoki.

High above, Onoki chuckled, "Very well. Everyone—Sarutobi Hiruzen and Konoha have occupied the most fertile lands of the Land of Fire, yet they are unworthy of them. Today, we take Konoha and redistribute that land!"

With those words—

"Attack!!!"

The Raikage raised his right arm high and issued the order to storm the village.

The ground trembled faintly.

In the forest—

The Iwagakure forces, having finished their preparations, joined by the newly arrived Kumogakure forces—nearly 20,000 elite shinobi—launched an all-out assault on Konoha's barrier.

In an instant, countless jutsu lit up the sky like fireworks and meteors, raining down on the protective barrier of the village.

The Konoha shinobi looked grim, worried whether the barrier could withstand such a bombardment.

"Barrier Unit! Repair the barrier!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen shouted in panic.

Nearby, inside the barrier control room, the Konoha Barrier Unit began urgently channeling chakra into the central node.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—

Explosions shook the skies one after another, deafening and relentless.

The barrier held on with great difficulty—each time cracks began to form, new chakra quickly sealed them up.

"…"

Sarutobi Hiruzen hurriedly led his squad back to the village.

Just as the Raikage had predicted, under the combined assault of Iwagakure and Kumogakure, the barrier wouldn't hold beyond a day. By this time tomorrow, it would collapse completely.

At that point, the remaining defenders of Konoha would face the full onslaught of three great ninja villages.

Konoha would fall.

"Edo… Edo Tensei."

Sarutobi Hiruzen muttered gravely under his breath as he led the heads of the Konoha clans toward the Root Organization's base.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Rock evacuation site—

Shinno stood before a viewing hollow, gazing down at the village, now completely surrounded.

He let out a cold smile.

The war had come at the perfect time. With this chaos, the Zero-Tails inside his body would awaken much faster.

When that happened, he would unleash chaos from within the village, coordinating with Iwagakure and Kumogakure from the outside—Konoha would fall for sure!

…

In the forest near the Konoha training grounds—

Atop a massive brown serpent—

"Heh… a barrier like this can be broken with a little thinking. Iwagakure and Kumogakure chose brute force? How foolish."

Orochimaru gazed toward the front lines with interest.

He was preparing the Edo Tensei ritual. He planned to resurrect Rin Nohara and Kushina Uzumaki ahead of schedule—as a surprise gift for Uchiha Yu.

As for sacrifices, an ANBU squad had just tried to track him down—perfect timing. Orochimaru had taken care of them, and two of them would serve as ideal offerings.

Now, those two Konoha ANBU knelt motionless at the head of the serpent.

…

Within the Land of Fire—

Due to the siege of Konoha, none of the towns or villages had any ninja stationed.

Uchiha Yu and his group, riding Garaga, traveled unimpeded and undisturbed—nearing Konoha.

That night—

Now that their mount had been switched to Garaga, Uchiha Yu no longer made things difficult for Mikoto. He sat alone at the head of the serpent, gazing at the night sky.

Consider it a break—for both Mikoto and himself.

"You're heading to Konoha… but can I…" Tsunade's voice suddenly sounded.

Uchiha Yu caught a strong scent of perfume and looked up at the elegant figure of Tsunade.

Her eyes lowered, and she said in a heavy tone, "I don't want to go back to Konoha."

°°°

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