"Right now, Konoha's army is on the move. Their defense line is shifting from loose to tight. Every day we delay, Jiraiya can reinforce that line further, and Konoha's follow-up reinforcements and supplies will flow more smoothly to the front."
She raised her head and looked directly at Rasa. "Strike while they are not yet firmly established! This is our only chance to seize the initiative, and also the plan with the least potential losses. Hesitation will only cause the Village Hidden in the Sand's people to shed more blood later against an even stronger defense line!"
The office fell silent, with only the wailing of the wind and the sand brushing past the buildings outside.
Ebizo looked at his sister, then at Rasa, whose expression kept shifting, and finally nodded slowly, tacitly agreeing with Chiyo's judgment.
Conventional diplomatic pressure and strategic deception had already lost their meaning in the face of Konoha's abnormal, direct military actions.
Rasa stared at the map. After a moment of silence, he suddenly raised his head: "Transmit my command!"
"All combat units are to assemble at their designated assault positions at full speed according to operation plan one!"
"Logistics and support departments are to activate wartime emergency regulations. All supplies are to be distributed to the front lines with the highest priority!
"The intelligence department is to fully monitor Konoha troop movements, especially the position and deployment details of Jiraiya's main force. Report every two hours!"
"In three days, at dawn!"
"The Village Hidden in the Sand will launch a full-scale assault on the southwestern border defense line of the Land of Fire!"
…
Three days later, an even more explosive piece of news swept across the Shinobi World like a tsunami, completely tearing apart the last fragile illusion of peace.
The Village Hidden in the Sand, under the leadership of the newly appointed fourth Kazekage, Rasa, brazenly tore up the Wind and Fire non-aggression treaty and launched a surprise attack on the borders of the Land of Fire, formally declaring war on Konoha!
The reason for the declaration was extremely sharp and hostile.
In the name of the Village Hidden in the Sand, the fourth Kazekage placed full blame for the disappearance and death of the third Kazekage on Konoha.
He asserted with certainty that Konoha had used despicable and shameless means to secretly ambush and assassinate the third Kazekage.
The mastermind behind this shocking conspiracy was directly pointed at Konoha's supreme leader, the third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and it was claimed to have been personally planned and executed by the infamous Darkness of the Shinobi, Danzo Shimura.
The announcement further claimed that Konoha's prior high-profile declaration of entering a wartime state, along with dispatching Jiraiya to station troops at the border, was merely a deceptive facade under the guise of exercises and defense, the true purpose being final troop assembly and pre-war preparations for this long-planned act of aggression.
This accusation instantly pushed Konoha into the eye of the storm, causing an uproar throughout the Shinobi World.
Konoha's response was equally blunt, directly stating that the third Kazekage had died at the hands of his own people through a despicable murder, and that the culprit was Sasori, the grandson of the Village Hidden in the Sand's advisor, Elder Chiyo.
This genius puppet master, under the command of Chiyo and Ebizo, had secretly ambushed and killed the third Kazekage and then turned his corpse into a forbidden human puppet.
This human puppet, made from the third Kazekage's body, was kept as a twisted trophy, secretly placed in Chiyo's residence, where she observed and handled it day and night to satisfy her distorted psyche.
These shocking, even vicious accusations enraged the Village Hidden in the Sand, and official statements were issued one after another, condemning Konoha for shameless slander, for desecrating the previous Kazekage, and for harboring unforgivable intent.
The frontline attacks became even more frenzied and reckless.
However, war ultimately depends on strength.
Although the Konoha southwestern army led by Jiraiya had its deployment time severely compressed and had not fully established an ideal depth defense line, with many fortifications still under rushed construction and some reinforcements and supplies still en route, the Village Hidden in the Sand was likewise forced into action prematurely, with many planned tactical coordinations and logistical nodes not reaching optimal condition.
The battle situation, contrary to many expectations, quickly fell into a tug-of-war and stalemate.
The Village Hidden in the Sand failed to tear through Konoha's defenses immediately and achieve a lightning speed breakthrough, while Konoha, though unable to easily repel the invading forces, managed to stabilize its position.
As a result, the Village Hidden in the Sand had to continuously dispatch reinforcements from the rear. At the same time, Jiraiya kept sending lists marked in red, requesting that supplies and reinforcement be sent to the southwestern front.
At the same time as flames of war rose along the southwestern front, within Konoha, another even larger army was completing its final assembly.
Eight thousand elite ninja stood in silence on the designated departure square, fully equipped, their gazes calm as they looked toward the figure on the platform.
Orochimaru.
After slowly scanning the crowd, he did not give any pre-battle speech, merely announcing the marching order and discipline.
Then, under the command of this most enigmatic of the three Sannin, the massive force of eight thousand ninjas departed Konoha, their blades aimed directly toward the northeast of the Land of Fire.
Konoha had already, according to the worst-case scenario predicted in Shinichi's report, while responding to the Village Hidden in the Sand's fierce assault in the southwest, simultaneously shifted its vigilance and defensive focus to the northeast.
The shadow of fighting on two fronts had shifted from an analytical prediction to concrete troop movements and heavily fortified borders.
On Konoha, ninjas moved swiftly across the streets, their expressions grave. The logistics and equipment departments worked day and night without rest.
In the hospitals, medical staff busily organized instruments and medicines, while ordinary villagers wore expressions of worry and unease, hurrying home and shutting their doors.
Shinichi Higashino stood by his window, watching the rapidly changing scene outside, listening to the distant assembly calls and hurried footsteps, his gaze deep.
He knew that the Third Shinobi World War had, from this moment, officially begun.
...
In late December, the weather had become piercingly cold.
Three days after the war between the Village Hidden in the Sand and Konoha broke out.
Inside Konoha Hospital, medical staff could be seen from time to time hurrying through the corridors with medical supplies in their arms. The atmosphere was tense yet orderly, already fully resembling a wartime scene.
In the temporary wartime command room on the third floor of the hospital, Tsunade was frowning as she reviewed the final list of medical and logistics personnel to be dispatched to support the southwestern front.
The Village Hidden in the Sand had Chiyo, a master of poison. Her toxins and puppets could cause massive casualties and sustained threats to Konoha on the battlefield. As one of the top Medical Ninjas in Konoha, and even the entire Shinobi World, Tsunade bore tremendous responsibility.
As the person directly appointed by the Hokage to oversee logistics and medical services on the southwestern battlefield, she would, according to the established plan, lead the people on the list to the front line early tomorrow morning. Her task was not only to coordinate battlefield medical care, but also to crack Chiyo's poison and establish an effective detoxification and treatment system.
She flipped through the list in her hand, page after page, then suddenly stopped.