At the same time, on a hill dozens of kilometers away from Kikyō Mountain Fortress, an army of more than ten thousand shinobi had set up camp.
The forces were divided into three clearly separated camps—Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure—each relying on the others while also maintaining wary vigilance.
Inside a plain-looking tent at the top of the hill, the leaders of the three armies had gathered together for their own war council.
"It's not that I'm exaggerating," said the Fourth Raikage, A of Kumogakure. "But that Uchiha Ren is truly dangerous! His large-scale Fire Release techniques are extremely troublesome. If no one can restrain him, he will definitely cause us enormous losses."
A's body was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. His aura was weak, but his spirit remained sharp and energetic, his eyes blazing with determination.
After receiving joint treatment from medical shinobi of Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure, A had regained consciousness. Although his injuries had not fully healed and he still couldn't engage in high-intensity combat, he was at least able to participate in this meeting.
After several hours of discussion, the three-village alliance had already determined their basic battle strategy.
Their plan was simple:
The strongest shinobi among the allied forces would hold back Konoha's top fighters, while the remaining troops would swarm forward and overwhelm the Konoha defenders with sheer numbers.
Ten thousand against four thousand.
With such an overwhelming advantage, there was no need for elaborate strategies.
They could simply crush Konoha head-on.
However, when it came to the question of how to restrain Konoha's strongest fighters, disagreements had arisen among the three leaders.
The Fourth Raikage A, who had suffered greatly at Ren's hands, insisted that more forces should be assigned to deal with Uchiha Ren.
But Iwagakure and Sunagakure believed that the greatest threat was the Yellow Flash of Konoha—Namikaze Minato, whose fame had shaken the shinobi world during the Third Shinobi World War.
They argued that the allied forces should focus their main efforts on restraining Minato.
A grew visibly agitated as he continued.
"Even if Namikaze Minato is incredibly fast, he can only kill a few people at a time!"
"Our allied army has ten thousand shinobi!"
"Even if you lined up ten thousand pigs and let him slaughter them one by one, it would still take him three days and three nights!"
"So there's no need to waste too much energy worrying about him. As long as we break through Kikyō Mountain Fortress, we win!"
"But Uchiha Ren is different!"
"His Fire Release techniques can easily engulf dozens or even hundreds of people at once! Even an ordinary Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation requires an entire squad of Water Release users working together to neutralize it!"
"Ordinary shinobi simply cannot stop him!"
"If we don't restrain Uchiha Ren, the fate of Kumogakure's army will serve as a warning!"
A now feared Ren deeply—especially after learning that Ren had awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.
At the time, A had been leading over a hundred Kumogakure shinobi in an assault against Ren.
Then Ren activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Before A even understood what had happened, he had already been defeated.
Even now, he still couldn't figure out what Mangekyō ability Ren had used.
The mere existence of Uchiha Ren made A recall the ancient terror once inflicted upon the shinobi world by the legendary "Asura of the Shinobi World."
At this moment, Han, the Five-Tails jinchūriki of Iwagakure, spoke up.
"That Uchiha Ren's Fire Release is indeed terrifying."
"Our vanguard unit was wiped out in a single strike because we were caught off guard."
"But if we're talking about overall threat, I don't believe he surpasses Namikaze Minato."
"Don't forget—we also have powerful shinobi capable of large-scale destructive techniques."
"For example, the Tailed Beast Bomb used by jinchūriki far surpasses Ren's Fire Release in both power and area of effect."
"And the stronger Ren's Fire Release techniques become, the more chakra they consume."
"This is a war."
"With such continuous high-intensity combat, how long can Uchiha Ren possibly keep fighting?"
"After all, after he used that descending fire technique that destroyed our vanguard unit, he had practically lost the ability to resist."
"If Konoha's reinforcements hadn't arrived in time, Uchiha Ren might have already died by my hands."
Han had also fought Ren personally.
In his opinion, Ren had merely caught them off guard and was not nearly as terrifying as A described.
"That's because Ren had almost no chakra left at the time!" A argued.
"Don't forget—on the previous night, Uchiha Ren had already led a pursuit against our Kumogakure envoy delegation!"
"After completely wiping out our envoys and several hundred elite Kumogakure shinobi who came to reinforce them, he immediately rushed thousands of kilometers to Kikyō Mountain!"
"After that, he repelled an assault by two thousand Kumogakure troops before facing your Iwagakure vanguard!"
"Uchiha Ren may not have as much chakra as the Senju or Uzumaki clans, but he definitely doesn't have little either!"
A was both anxious and agitated.
He understood just how terrifying Ren was, which was why he desperately wanted everyone to take the threat seriously.
But the deeper reason was simple.
Among the allied forces:
Iwagakure had 5,000 troopsSunagakure had 4,000 troopsKumogakure had only just over 1,000
Not only that—
Kumogakure's Eight-Tails jinchūriki was currently captured by KonohaThe Two-Tails jinchūriki had already been killedAnd A himself was severely injured
In terms of both military strength and political influence, Kumogakure was the weakest faction within the alliance.
And when you lacked influence, you lacked the ability to guide the alliance's strategy.
That was the real reason why A was so desperate.
"Heh… Lord Raikage, you might be exaggerating a bit," said Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, with a faint smile.
"According to your explanation, Uchiha Ren is indeed dangerous."
"But to say he is more threatening than the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato—I simply cannot agree."
"Yes, Minato hasn't demonstrated any large-scale destructive ninjutsu so far."
"He can't eliminate large numbers of enemies at once."
"But if he decides to conduct targeted targeted assassinations , how many of our subordinates could actually stop him?"
"It may be difficult for a single person to slaughter ten thousand pigs or sheep."
"But if he selectively kills the leaders among those ten thousand, the rest will collapse without a fight."
"After all, Minato is not alone."
"Konoha still has thousands of shinobi fighting alongside him."
"So I maintain that our main focus must be on restricting Namikaze Minato's movements."
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