Page 79
Everyone present knew the strength of Jiraiya's three generals, and immediately felt that Sarutobi's arrangement was somewhat inappropriate.
"Hurizen, if you arrange it this way, wouldn't the northeastern border defense force have too many top-level combat forces?" Utane Koharu frowned and raised an objection.
"Not many." Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head, "The strength of the Land of Lightning is not weaker than ours, and according to the intelligence of the spies, the Land of Lightning has sent out the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki in the village!"
"What!" Utane Koharu gasped, "Are you going to make such a big deal right from the start?!"
"I agree with Hiruzen's arrangement." Shimura Danzo stood up, but he did not contradict Sarutobi Hiruzen as usual. "The warriors from the Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning have a very clear idea. They want to achieve success in one fell swoop with absolute force!"
"Danzo is right." Sarutobi Hiruzen took over the conversation, "The Land of Lightning does have this idea, so the northeastern front will be the most intense one."
Turning to look at Jiraiya, "You have extensive experience in commanding large-scale military operations during World War II, and I have sent you the best of the two generations of young men from Konoha to assist you. Do you have the confidence to hold on?!"
"No problem!" Jiraiya answered firmly.
"Well, then let's take a look at the northwest front I marked, which is the border between our country and the Land of Grass and the Land of Taki."
Sarutobi Hiruzen pointed at the map and said, "The intentions of the Land of Earth are still unclear. I can't figure out whether they will attack our country first, or settle the old scores between the two countries with the Land of Lightning first."
"But one thing is certain, the Land Kingdom will definitely get involved in the war to besiege our country. The only difference is the time."
He turned his head and glanced at Shimura Danzo, "Danzo, the defense of the northwest front is now in your charge. Is there any problem?"
"No!" Shimura Danzo's eyes flickered, and then he nodded heavily.
"But Danzo, I need to remind you that you need to be careful about the tough nut to crack in the Rain Country. Hanzo the Salamander is an ambitious and powerful man, which has been proven in the last war."
"Don't worry, Hiruzen. With me here, they can't cause much trouble." A sinister look flashed across his eyes. In foreign wars, Danzo Shimura never failed to lead.
Nodding, Hiruzaru Sarutobi then looked at Tsunade, "I will leave the final southeastern front to Tsunade, and I will ask Fugaku and Hiruzu to assist you."
He reached out and tapped the map. "Since the Water Country is separated from our territory by the sea, there are only two routes for them to invade our country."
"One is to capture the Wave Country and use it as a springboard to threaten the security of our southeastern country. The second is to capture the Bear Country and use it as a springboard to threaten our national security."
"But there is another most dangerous situation, that is, the Water Country advances on both fronts at the same time, causing the southeastern front to be stretched very long, thus causing a series of problems. You need to be careful about this!"
"I'll pay attention." Tsunade nodded, with a hint of boredom and fear flashing deep in her eyes.
Tsunade's hemophobia symptoms are getting worse...
"Hiashi, I'll have to count on you, the Hyuga clan, this time." Then, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Hyuga Hiashi, "Although the Hyuga clan's ninjas focus on the southeastern front, other fronts cannot be left behind. You've worked hard."
"This is what our clan should do." Hinata Hiashi said, and at the same time glanced at Uchiha Fugaku secretly.
Uchiha Fugaku had a cold face and said nothing. He felt that Hinata Hiashi was provoking him.
In a large-scale war, white eyes are just like radar, and the functionality of the investigation is directly maximized, which has a great impact on the battle situation.
On the other hand, the Uchiha clan, apart from its excellent attributes in attacking strongholds, is indeed not as visible as the Hyuga clan in large-scale wars.
It can be said that if a ninja from a ninja brigade were asked to choose between Hyuga and Uchiha ninjas, they would definitely choose Hyuga's Byakugan rather than Uchiha's Sharingan.
The reason is simple. On the ever-changing battlefield, detecting the enemy's movements is far more important than personal strength.
No matter how strong they are, once they are surrounded, the only result that awaits them is death.
But then, Uchiha Fugaku snorted disdainfully.
The Sharingan is indeed not as auxiliary as the Byakugan, but in the ninja world, strength is everything. A ninja from the Uchiha clan can definitely surround an entire ninja army by himself!
As if he had seen through the secret confrontation between Hyuga Hiashi and Uchiha Fugaku, Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned in pain.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen did not intervene in the dispute between the two clans, but looked around the scene again.
"This is how the four lines of defense are arranged. Although the troops on each line of defense are insufficient due to their dispersion, I believe you can keep the invaders out of the country!"
"But there is another hidden danger that I must emphasize, and that is the problem of the village's internal defense."
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed, "In the previous two wars, each country sent elite ninja troops to attack Konoha, and they almost succeeded twice, so we have to be on guard, but there is nothing we can do..."
"After all, we are facing a collective siege from the four major countries, and our internal defenses are bound to be empty. Therefore, you who have no border combat missions will definitely bear the same burden as them. It may even be more dangerous!"
At this point, everyone present fell silent. Konoha's military strength was almost exhausted at this point. Even though the arrangements were detailed and all situations had been anticipated, people still felt deeply powerless.
"But I must say that since we survived the first two times, there is no reason for us to fail this time!" Sarutobi Hiruzen clenched his fists, "Everyone, the will of fire is with us, and it's time for us to practice the will of fire!"
After that roar, most of the people present were energized and their fighting spirit instantly rose.
Seeing that people were willing to help, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, then waved his hand to signal everyone to carry out the tasks he had assigned.
……
At the Hatake residence, Hatake Akira and Kakashi were making final preparations before going to the battlefield.
And at this moment, there was a knock on the door.
"red?"
Hatake Akira, who went to open the door, was stunned for a moment, and then his mood suddenly became bad, "You were also sent to the battlefield?"
"Our recently graduated Genin have yet to be sent to battle."
Yuhi Kurenai shook her head, then took out a small cloth bag from her ninja tool bag and stuffed it into Hatake Akira's arms without saying a word.
"This is……"
"This is the medical kit I prepared for you. I hope it can help you." Yuhi Kurenai explained the function of the small cloth bag, then walked around Hatake Akira and came to Kakashi's side, "Kakashi, you have one too."
Kakashi looked deeply at Kurenai Yuhi and did not reach out to take it.
"Kakashi, take it."
"Thank you, Red."
Hearing Hatake Akira's reminder, Kakashi reached out to take the medical kit handed over by Kurenai Yuhi and thanked him in a complicated tone.
"Then I'm leaving." Yuhi Kurenai turned and left, "Be sure to be safe, Ming, Kakashi!"
When she reached the door, Xihi Kurenai couldn't hold back her tears, and she threw herself into Hatake Akira's arms and hugged him tightly.
"Don't be brave, don't stray too far from the team, don't work too hard... In short, you have to remember that I... will wait for you in the village!"
Hatake Akira reached out and patted Yuhi Kurenai's trembling back, "Don't worry, Kurenai, you know my strength, I will be safe."
"Well, just be careful."
Farewells similar to that of Hatake Akira and Yuhi Kurenai were played out all over Konoha Village, with parents advising their children, wives advising their husbands, and even ninja couples encouraging each other.
But every one of them knew that no matter how good the instructions were, they could not withstand the knife of war...
Death will accompany them every moment from now on.
Chapter 114 An extremely dangerous mission.
Three days later, the ninja troops led by Jiraiya arrived at the front line.
However, when setting up the defense line, Jiraiya did not station the troops at the border of the Land of Fire, but instead advanced about 30 kilometers into the territory of the Land of Hot Springs.
This is the sorrow of small countries. Their land always becomes the battleground for big countries, and they are the ones who suffer the greatest losses in war.
But all these were not within Jiraiya's consideration. As the commander of the northeastern defense force of the Fire Country, he had to be responsible for his own troops and even more so for the Fire Country.
According to intelligence from three days ago, the number of ninja troops sent by the Hidden Cloud Village, a violent organization in the Land of Lightning, to the Land of Hot Springs was over 5000.
You have to know that the ninja army led by Jiraiya had only about 1300 people at most, and they had almost no chance of winning when they confronted the ninja army of the Hidden Cloud Village head-on.
Therefore, Jiraiya must leave enough defensive depth so that he can attack when advancing and defend when retreating, which will allow him to be more flexible when retreating or making detours.
After arriving at the front line, the ninja troops had no time to rest and immediately built defensive fortifications according to Jiraiya's orders.
At the same time, Jiraiya sent out nearly 100 elite scout teams to go deep into the heart of the Land of Hot Springs to collect all the information about the large ninja force of the Hidden Cloud Village.
In less than half a day, one of the scout teams sent back the first intelligence.
After getting the information, Jiraiya's already pessimistic mentality became even worse.
The Daimyo of Hot Spring Country was captured by the Hidden Cloud Village and was already on his way to the Land of Lightning.
Jiraiya was keenly aware that if this matter was not stopped, once the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Springs was escorted to the Land of Lightning, that would be the time when the Land of Lightning would have no worries and would march its troops directly towards Konoha!
Regardless of whether it is a big country or a small country, the ninja village is only its military agency. Although it has great autonomy and relatively free economic sources, in name, the ninja village still belongs to the leadership of the daimyo.
In other words, once the Daimyo of Hot Spring Country is escorted back to the Land of Lightning, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning will definitely force him to sign a series of treaties.
It goes without saying that the content of the treaty is to force the ninjas of Yugakure Village to stop resisting, and even join the ninja team of Kumogakure Village at some point to jointly attack the Land of Fire.
Once the daimyo of the Land of Hot Springs signs these treaties that are beneficial to the Land of Lightning, the Land of Hot Springs will completely become a springboard for the Land of Lightning to attack Konoha, and all kinds of war materials in the Land of Hot Springs will also be used by the Land of Lightning.
Then Jiraiya's troops, who are already at a disadvantage in military strength, will be in a more critical situation.
"Someone, call Minato Namikaze, Akira Hatake, Kakashi, and Hyuga Hizashi over here."
After thinking about it, Jiraiya made a decision. He planned to send these four people to carry out the mission of rescuing the Daimyo of Yunokuni.
Soon, Minato Namikaze, Akira Hatake and four others arrived at Jiraiya's tent.
"Jiraiya-sensei."
"Master."
"Master Jiraiya." X2
The four of them greeted each other, and through the question marks on each of them, it was easy to tell how close they were to each other.
"You are here." Jiraiya handed the information in his hand to Minato Namikaze, "This is the latest information from the scout team. Please share it with each other and tell us what you think of this information."
Minato Namikaze hesitated for a moment, but still reached out to take the information handed over by Jiraiya. However, as soon as he looked at the information, Minato Namikaze's shoulders couldn't help but tremble.
After reading the information, Minato Namikaze did not say anything, but handed the information to Hyuga Hizashi who was standing beside him.
"This……"
Hinata Hizashi's reaction was a little big. He blurted out something that sounded a little shocked and then said no more. He then handed the information back to Hatake Akira.
Akira Hatake took the information and leaned slightly towards Kakashi, motioning for the two brothers to look at it together.
Trouble!
The moment Hatake Akira saw the information, his heart sank.
From now on, if anyone says that the people of the Land of Lightning are all brainless warriors, Hatake Akira will be angry with them!
Capturing the king first is undoubtedly a crucial move. As long as the Kingdom of Hot Spring is dealt with, the Kingdom of Lightning will have a smooth path to attack Konoha without any obstacles.
"Tell me about it."