Snow had piled up thickly on the ground, and the animals had all hidden away in their warm dens.
This year, the villagers of Konoha faced a severe shortage of supplies. Large amounts of food, steel, and coal were prioritized for Konoha's war readiness storage centers, while corresponding demands in the civilian sector were suppressed to a minimum.
After about a month of preparation, logistics and material turnover were complete. Finally, the time had come for the large-scale mobilization of Konoha's Ninja.
"Sa! Ku! Ra! What the hell are you thinking!?" Two startled screams inside the Haruno Residence shook the snow off the roof.
In the living room, Mebuki firmly shielded Sato Sakura behind her, while Kizashi held a spatula and crossed a wok in front of him, blocking Sakura.
From a distance, it looked like they were the real family of three, and Sakura was some impostor trying to replace their daughter.
"You two, stop messing around. If this keeps up, we'll miss the assembly time!" Sakura waved her hands, trying to shoo them away, but the Haruno couple stood their ground, preferring death over submission.
"Sakura-chan, your fatheer doesn't remember raising you to have such terrible habits!" Kizashi used the wok to push against his daughter's arm, trying to push her out.
"Exactly, my granddaughter is only seven years old. What evil spirit possessed you to make you want to send her to the battlefield?" Mebuki's eyes widened as she fanned her wings like a mother hen protecting her chick, completely shielding Sato Sakura.
The two sang in harmony, acting like doting grandparents preventing parents from disciplining their child.
"Sato Sakura is much stronger than you think. She can protect herself on the battlefield. And if I don't take her, who's going to teach her Ninjutsu and Chakra Control?" Sakura exerted a little more force and pulled her daughter out of her parents' hands.
"Don't worry, Grandpa and Grandma. I am very strong!" The expressionless girl flexed her bicep for them.
Combined with her small, cute body and face, it not only made Kizashi and Mebuki melt even more but also intensified their accusations against Sakura.
"Devil!", "Monster!", "Inhuman!"....
Their resentment almost coalesced into a vengeful spirit, sticking out its tongue at Sakura and Sato Sakura.
"Alright, enough. This is my daughter! What's wrong with me teaching her myself?" Sakura pulled out a handful of salt and sprinkled it at the two hissing old folks.
Back! Back! Back!...
After driving them back, Sakura put her arm around Sato Sakura and lightly tapped her on the head. "I never noticed before. You're so dark inside, even though you're not even pink-haired!"
"Hehe~"
The expressionless girl leaned into Sakura's embrace, inhaling the scent of irises. Her glacier-like face gradually softened.
After dealing with the two big shots at home, Sakura took out a brand new forehead protector and put it on Sato Sakura.
Since the village was currently in a state of war, the standards for promoting Genin had been relaxed significantly, allowing Sato Sakura to become a registered Genin of the village without having to go through six years of Ninja Academy.
The short tie bound Sato Sakura's smooth silver hair, and she wore it in the same place as Sakura, making them look more like sisters than mother and daughter.
They left home, quickly passed through the main gate of Konoha, and followed the stream of Ninja towards the assembly point of the Ninja Army outside the village.
Inside the camp, their commander, Jiraiya, had changed into silver Ninja armor similar to the Anbu's. Under his previously empty sleeve was now an arm, and Sakura could hear the sound of internal bearings rubbing together as he moved.
After telling Sato Sakura to go to the Genin assembly point on her own, Sakura went up to greet Jiraiya, "Jiraiya-sensei! Now that you're the commander of the force, why not take the chance to have your right arm fixed?"
"Consider it a lesson to myself, to think thrice before acting." Jiraiya smiled bitterly, reaching out to touch his newly fitted prosthetic arm.
"I never thought I'd hear you say that." Sakura said with a double meaning, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.
The former Toad Sage Jiraiya had finally become more composed after the Pain incident, though his lecherous nature remained the same.
Rumor had it that the bookstores in the village had recently released new volumes of Icha-Icha Paradise.
Perhaps feeling uncomfortable being scrutinized by his disciple's gaze, Jiraiya coughed and changed the subject, "Speaking of which, you actually volunteered to bring your daughter to the battlefield. That surprised a lot of people!"
Although Sato Sakura had only recently arrived in Konoha, the various forces within the village should logically have kept their distance from her for a while.
But the key point was her appearance and the special status of her guarantor, Sakura. Surely the direct disciple of the Hokage, the Wood Release user, a guardian of the village, and one of the only three Kage-level fighters wouldn't do anything to harm the village, right?
So, many resourceful families and organizations had thought about making an early investment. But to their great surprise, Sakura had instead taken her daughter to the battlefield, killing many planned 'chance' encounters in the cradle.
"Heh heh, I'm an open-minded parent. If the child made a choice, I'll respect it." Sakura pursed her lips, her gaze shifting to the side where Sato Sakura was already surrounded by many Ninjas wearing flak jackets.
Seeing someone parent a child like this for the first time, Jiraiya clicked his tongue in wonder, "The battlefield is different from the village, after all. Fortunately, you're strong enough to protect her. Any other parent would want to hide their child as deep as possible."
Jiraiya's words reminded Sakura of how her own parents had protected Sato Sakura that morning, and she couldn't help but laugh softly, "Sato Sakura was born with the talent to become a strong person. If I always kept her constrained, that would be the real harm."
'Strong?'
'But in this treacherous and turbulent Ninja world, being strong alone isn't enough.'
'No matter how strong you are, how many divisions can you fight?'
Jiraiya stroked his chin and shook his head with an amused smile, secretly deciding to keep an eye on his disciple's daughter, so she wouldn't be ruined by her unreliable mother.
"Alright, the main force has almost assembled. Let's move out!"
Jiraiya gestured for Sakura to follow and led her towards where the Jonin were gathering nearby.
Then, a force of six thousand Ninja marched north from Konoha, passing through the Land of Rice Fields towards the battlefield of the Land of Water, where the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning were already engaged in war.
…
On the other side, in a secret base in the Land of Hot Water.
Yakushi Kabuto, wearing a long robe with red clouds on a black background, used Earth Release to dig open the ground and entered the base.
After entering a small cave, the space around him suddenly warped, and soon Uchiha Obito, wearing a mask, descended within.
"How are things in the Land of Water?"
From beneath the spiral mask came Obito's hoarse voice, like dry wood rubbing together, his trachea making dull sounds like a damaged bellows.
"Don't worry, I've already replaced Elder Genji with a White Zetsu. No one noticed the Sage Art I used."
Looking up, Kabuto no longer had the scaly appearance from when he had attacked Konoha with Pain.
His skin had turned completely grayish-white, thick eyeshadow had gathered around his eyes, and something under his cloak in his abdominal area was bulging and writhing.
Obito clicked his tongue at the sight, "Once Konoha intervenes in the battlefield, declare war on them immediately. Try to ally with Iwagakure and Kumogakure to wear down their fighting strength, understand?"
"Heh heh, I'm actually more looking forward to fighting Sasuke-kun!" Kabuto removed his hood, revealing dragon horns, a twisted smile on his lips, "Fellow practitioners of the Ryuchi Cave's Sage Arts!!!"
"As long as you complete the mission, I won't restrict whatever else you want to do."
"Then I'll be looking forward to it~"