Before rushing over, Arata had already gathered some intelligence on Iwagakure and Sunagakure.
On the Land of Rain battlefield, these two nations had adopted a joint strategy focused on eliminating Konoha ninja, while trying not to provoke Amegakure unnecessarily. After all, although Amegakure's overall strength wasn't impressive, it possessed a figure acknowledged across the shinobi world as a "Demi-God" — Hanzō of the Salamander.
Under these circumstances, with both nations already at war against the giant that was Konoha, neither dared to antagonize this so-called Demi-God of the shinobi world.
Decades later, when Hanzō would be killed by the Six Paths of Pain, he might seem underwhelming in hindsight. But in this earlier era—before power scaling spiraled out of control—Hanzō's peak Kage-level strength was highly intimidating.
At this point in time, aside from a hidden Uchiha Madara and the suddenly rising monster that was Arata, perhaps only the Third Raikage could fight Hanzō head-on.
The Third Raikage was famous for his extraordinary physical durability and was unlikely to fear Hanzō's poison. His speed was also among the best in the shinobi world. Against someone like that, even Hanzō's tactical prowess and battlefield control wouldn't matter much.
Because of this, even at his peak, Hanzō mostly postured against Iwa and Suna and might even provoke them, but he rarely clashed with Kumogakure.
But now that Hanzō was being tied down by Konoha's three elite jōnin—Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru—shouldn't Chiyo and Ōnoki, who had previously suffered at Hanzō's hands, seize this chance to strike?
Arata found it suspicious.
Still, he wasn't omniscient. The Suna and Iwa headquarters were too far away for him to sense accurately. He could only investigate later.
With his cautious nature, Arata mentally noted the matter. He planned that even after rescuing Tsunade and the others, he would stay alert against Iwagakure and Sunagakure.
...
Iwagakure Camp — Dozens of Kilometers Away
At the border between Iwagakure and Amegakure, a military meeting was underway inside the main camp. More than a dozen high-ranking Iwa officials were present.
Seated at the head was the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales.
As a user of the Dust Style kekkei tōta and numerous secret Iwa techniques, combined with solid mid-Kage-level chakra reserves, he was the strongest person in the room.
His natural talent was actually a bit higher than Hiruzen's. At his age, reaching this level was impressive. Give him a few more decades and he could likely reach peak Kage level.
Besides him were three elite jōnin and two strangely dressed youths.
One wore bizarre red armor made entirely of metal. It looked extremely heavy, yet he moved without discomfort, suggesting remarkable physical ability.
Oddly, the armor had many holes in it. They didn't look like battle damage. Since armor was meant for protection, why would it have so many openings?
With the armor and a red kasa hat obscuring his appearance, his face was hard to read. But his youthful, wrinkle-free eyes revealed he was quite young.
Next to him stood a purple-haired boy, no more than seventeen or eighteen. His chakra, however, was astonishing—already at early Kage level. Unlike the others, he looked at Ōnoki with faint disdain in his eyes.
The rest were capable jōnin and tactically sharp minds. With such a lineup, the topic of discussion was clearly critical to the war.
Ōnoki suddenly spoke:
"Fujisaki, report the intelligence you gathered. We must settle on a strategy today."
All eyes turned to the ANBU kneeling in the center.
He was one of Iwagakure's finest ANBU. Fujisaki was a genuine elite jōnin, among the strongest in the village aside from its Kage-level fighters.
His usual mission—known to those present—was long-term infiltration in the Land of Fire, gathering the latest intelligence on Konoha.
Such missions sounded simple but were extremely dangerous. Exposure meant death at any time.
Every nation did this. Before reaching beyond-Kage power levels, wars were primarily information wars. Fighting blind meant you were already half defeated.
As the village of the strongest nation, Konoha was everyone's focus. Iwagakure had stationed many elite spies in the Land of Fire for years.
They had achieved considerable results. Much of their intelligence about this war came from Fujisaki. He had even secretly colluded with Hiruzen.
That was how he managed to operate so long without being discovered.
For example, much of the intel on the Hyūga and Uchiha during this war had been leaked by Hiruzen through Fujisaki.
Otherwise, even a joint effort by Iwa and Suna couldn't have suppressed the Land of Fire so effectively.
Just dealing with Konoha's major clans was a nightmare:
The Nara clan's shadow techniques
The Yamanaka clan's mind control
The Akimichi clan's expansion techniques
Each was a headache for other nations.
The Uchiha and Hyūga were especially troublesome. Many nations had sacrificed heavily and still found no good countermeasures.
Because of these great clans, Konoha still emerged as the victor of the First Shinobi War despite Tobirama Senju's death.
This time, thanks to Hiruzen's leaks, Iwagakure had successfully killed the Hyūga clan head — Hyūga Higurashi.
Given how much intelligence Fujisaki had provided, he was a prized asset in Iwagakure.
That was why everyone found it strange.
In the past, no matter how important the information, he usually reported by message.
So why had he personally left the Land of Fire and returned to the front lines to report in person this time?
Something about this was clearly unusual.