"True."
Mikami Yuu nodded.
Kakashi's previous position had been assistant instructor for Team Minato. But after this Chūnin Exam ended, all three members of Team Minato had been promoted to chūnin, and Yuu had even become a special jōnin. In theory, they no longer needed an assistant instructor, so Kakashi had probably been assigned to other missions by the village.
Still, considering Kakashi's standoffish personality and his bond with Obito, he would most likely return to Team Minato and act together with them later.
After that,
Asuma finished thinking and humbly asked Yuu some questions about ninjutsu training.
Namashi Raidō also took the chance to cut in and ask a few things about swordsmanship.
Speaking of which, this person was actually also a ninja who specialized in swordsmanship.
In the original story, like Shiranui Genma, he became a special jōnin. He commonly used a black-bladed tachi and had served as a guard for both Namikaze Minato and Sarutobi Hiruzen, then sent both Hokage off one after another. Later, during the Immortal Duo mission, he also sent Asuma off…
Mm. It was reasonable to suspect that this guy's fate was somewhat unlucky for his masters. Whoever he guarded died. Maybe even the time Tsunade was beaten to near death by Pain's Six Paths had something to do with him…
At this moment, probably because Namashi Raidō was still young, his swordsmanship had not yet fully taken shape. What he practiced was also the same Konoha-style Swordsmanship as Yūhi Shinku, so he could not help Yuu farm the Hatake Swordsmanship mission.
Facing their questions, Yuu did not hide anything and answered based on his experience.
However, much of his strength came from the galgame system. Even if others spent the same amount of time and effort, they probably would not reach his level. Whether those experiences would be useful to Asuma and the others was impossible to predict.
In any case, they were probably not very useful to Obito, because he barely listened.
As they were chatting,
Yuu's ears suddenly twitched. He turned his head and looked toward the woods at the edge of the training ground.
There,
a figure wearing an animal mask and Anbu attire quietly appeared, looking toward them.
"Special Jōnin Mikami Yuu. Lord Third summons you. Please proceed to the Hokage Building as soon as possible to discuss reinforcements for the southwestern battlefield."
"Hm?"
Yuu raised an eyebrow.
Beside him, Obito and the others perked up one after another.
"Huh, is it finally our turn to go to the battlefield?"
"That came fast."
Asuma and Namashi Raidō spoke quietly.
Ever since passing the Chūnin Exam, they had already sensed that this day would come. They simply had not known when. Now that it had arrived, they actually felt a little relieved.
"Haha, it's finally here! And it's our old opponents, Sunagakure… This time, I'm a chūnin. I'll definitely show them the power of the Uchiha! I'll make them suffer a crushing defeat!"
Compared with Asuma's team of three, Obito counted as a "veteran" of battle. He immediately jumped up, clenched his fist hard, and the bit of frustration from earlier was replaced by excitement. His face was full of impatience.
Only Rin looked worried, but she said nothing.
The Anbu did not give any further explanation. After passing on the order and confirming that Yuu had heard it, he left in a hurry. His figure soon vanished into the shadows of the trees, as if he had never appeared at all.
"…It's getting late today. All of you should go back and rest properly. Check your equipment while you're at it, especially your ninja tools and medicine. We'll probably be leaving very soon. When the time comes, there won't be time to do these things."
Yuu looked back at the people beside him and said.
"Alright."
Asuma and the others nodded and prepared to leave.
Yuu also took a deep breath and headed toward the Hokage Building.
…
A short while later,
Yuu saw Sarutobi Hiruzen inside the Hokage's office, along with several familiar faces.
"…Lord Orochimaru?"
"Yuu, it's been a while."
Orochimaru turned back and saw Yuu, smiling faintly. Paired with that pale face, it looked somewhat unsettling.
"…"
Yuu thought to himself that it hadn't actually been that long. It had only been a week. During the final round of the Chūnin Exam, he had even helped Orochimaru out at the Konoha Research Institute. At that time, Orochimaru had not spoken to him in such a polite tone.
But there was no need to mention that in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen. Presumably, Orochimaru did not want to make a big deal of it either.
As for the other two people present,
they were Kakashi, whom Rin had just mentioned earlier,
and the guiding jōnin of Asuma's team, Nara Shikaku.
The former looked as if he had just returned from another mission, travel-worn and dusty. He merely glanced at Yuu and stood silently to the side. The latter nodded to Yuu as a greeting.
"Everyone is here?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe. Only after exhaling a ring of smoke did he slowly speak. "Then let's begin."
Begin?
What did that mean?
Yuu raised an eyebrow. Before he could ask, Orochimaru beside him said,
"Yuu-kun, Kakashi-kun, you were called here this time to discuss the southwestern battlefield."
"Sarutobi-sensei, Shikaku-san, and I have already discussed it. The current state of the ninja world is very unfavorable for Konoha. Once Sunagakure and Kumogakure complete their encirclement and force Konoha into fighting on two fronts, we may be able to hold for a short time, but in the long run, it will place enormous pressure on our logistics.
"If another ninja village takes advantage of the situation at that time, even relatively weaker villages like Kusagakure and Amegakure would put Konoha into a considerable crisis."
"So before the worst-case scenario occurs, we must create a breakthrough. And the best choice for that breakthrough is Sunagakure, which has been locked in battle with Konoha for more than half a year."
"…"
Orochimaru spoke calmly in his signature hoarse voice.
Everyone present was smart. Yuu, in particular, had already been mentally prepared, so he quickly understood the meaning.
To put it simply,
in order to avoid falling into the quagmire of two-front warfare, Konoha intended to "break one fist before a hundred fists arrived." On the surface, Jiraiya would continue commanding the southwestern battlefield, but in secret, Orochimaru would also be sent there. With two Kage-level fighters working together and exploiting the intelligence gap, they would try to crush Sunagakure in one decisive blow.
If things went smoothly, within one or two months, they could directly end the war with Sunagakure and force them to sign a surrender agreement. No matter what happened afterward, they would win this round first.
If things did not go smoothly, they still had to eliminate as much of Sunagakure's active forces as possible, destroy their war potential, and prevent them from forming an effective threat to Konoha in the short term. That would create conditions for Konoha to deal with the more troublesome Kumogakure, and even other ninja villages afterward.
Under these circumstances,
the reason Yuu had been called here was obvious.
~~~
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