Konoha 45, mid-July.

The war of ninjas has entered a fierce stage.

Among them, small countries such as the Rain Country, which serve as a buffer zone for the war between the big powers, are naturally the first to bear the brunt and become victims of the ninja war between the big powers.

Among them, the war in the Kingdom of Rain is the most intense and attracts attention.

Orochimaru, one of the Three Ninjas of Konoha, joined forces with Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, in order to eliminate the threat of Sunagakure in one fell swoop with a quick and decisive strategy.

However, the senior management of Sunagakure, headed by consultant Chiyo, saw the anxious mentality of Konoha and Amegakure, and believed that the situation had developed to this point. Although it was partly due to Sunagakure himself, it was not the time to hold the responsibility at this moment.

At that time, as long as the strategic goal of launching the war can be achieved, even if the achievement time is delayed by one to two years, it is completely worthwhile.

According to the rigorous analysis of Sunagakure's senior management, Konoha is allocating troops to three fronts, and it has to provide Amegakure with huge supplies in order to tie Amegakure to Konoha's chariot. Therefore, it seems that the situation is not conducive to Sunagakure.

direction, but as long as it continues to be delayed and Konoha is unable to afford Amegakure's material supplies, then the alliance between Konoha and Amegakure will definitely fall apart and return to the state at the beginning of the war.

Therefore, before that time comes, Sunagakure must maintain complete combat effectiveness, otherwise even if Konoha and Amegakure disband the alliance, Sunagakure will not be able to invade the Land of Fire.

When the battle situation on the front line was tense, Konoha, far away in the hinterland of the Fire Country, was not very peaceful either.

As the situation in the Land of Rain changes, Konoha has to bear an extremely heavy material burden every month.

However, Konoha cannot let go of Amegakure as an ally. Once they lose the support of Amegakure, Konoha in the Land of Rain will be crushed by Sunagakure's large army, and will be defeated like a mountain, and the consequences will be even more serious.

While the top management of Konoha was having a headache and distressed, a letter was sent from the direction of the capital of the Land of Fire, heading straight for Konoha.

The third generation Hokage Hiruzen received the letter one day later. The sender was the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, and the person responsible for delivering the letter was the ninja directly under the Daimyo's command.

Taking the daimyo's letter as a starting point, Hiruzen immediately dispatched ANBU to summon his advisors, Koharu and Mito Kaden, to hold an urgent high-level meeting.

"Hiruzhan, what's the matter with coming to us at this time?"

The two Konoha consultants who were responsible for purchasing supplies and other logistical work looked tired. Because of the supply issues, they had not slept a good day since the beginning of this year.

There are a lot of wrinkles on my face, and the dark circles under my eyes are also very serious.

When Hiruzen saw his two colleagues working like this, their bodies were much thinner, he couldn't help but feel guilty and a little regretful in his heart.

"Thank you for your hard work these days. I asked you to come here because of this letter."

Hiruzen handed the letter over and asked the two of them to take it and read its contents.

Soon, the two of them read the handwritten letter written by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, and frowned slightly, as if they found the content in the letter very difficult.

"The daimyo hopes that our side can end the war as soon as possible. What do you think?"

Hiruzen picked up the cigarette rod, took a puff, blew out a circle of smoke, and asked the two of them what they thought about the matter.

"To be honest, this is a bit unrealistic. Let's not talk about the problems of Sunagakure and Iwagakure. Kumogakure is also eyeing our side, so we have to allocate some troops to be wary of Kumogakure's movements. The village can no longer be crowded.

There are no decent support troops, and without the support troops to go to the Country of Rain, it would be difficult to decide the outcome in a short time, no matter how ideal it is."

Mitomon Yan tells the truth.

Basically all the ninjas that can be sent out in the village have been sent out.

There must be a certain number of ninjas left in Konoha headquarters to protect the safety of the village, otherwise a large-scale defection like the one two years ago will happen again, with disastrous consequences.

Konoha now has stricter control over people entering and exiting, and non-combatants are basically prohibited from entering and exiting the village.

Even foreign business travelers during the war had to undergo extremely strict scrutiny. Once no positive proof of identity could be produced, they would be deported directly, and in serious cases, they would be forced to be imprisoned.

"I think so too, but the daimyo hopes that we will end this war as soon as possible, especially on the Rain Country side, and we cannot delay it any longer."

Hiruzen said with a serious expression.

As the Hokage, he naturally understands the importance of the battlefield in the Land of Rain. It is precisely because he knows so well that he finds this matter very troublesome.

Sunagakure has gathered nearly 7,000 ninjas in the Land of Rain, and claims to have 10,000, which has seriously threatened the national defense of the Land of Fire. This is probably what the Daimyo is worried about.

In addition, the free funding provided to Amegakure may also dissatisfy the powerful people of the Fire Country headed by the Daimyo.

To be honest, Hiruzen didn't want to support Amegakure for free, but Amegakure couldn't afford any funds to purchase supplies, and Konoha couldn't afford to lack allies like Amegakure, so he could only support him for free.

Therefore, during this year, the situation in the Country of Rain was basically attrition. Hiruzen was prepared for a protracted war because the Country of Fire could afford it. However, it was only with the strong support of the Daimyo that he could follow Suna.

Yin has the qualifications to fight for a long time in the Kingdom of Rain.

Once the daimyo makes supply adjustments to Konoha, Konoha can only passively change its decision.

"Indeed, the materials consumed in the Kingdom of Rain are more than twice that of the Kingdom of Grass. However, in this letter, the daimyo only gave us a three-month time limit. By the end of the year at the latest, the sand restrictions on the Kingdom of Rain must be lifted.

Hidden threat...Does this seem too hasty? You know, the threat from Iwagakure has not been eliminated yet."

Mito Menyan hesitated.

"Speaking of the country of drafting, Jiraiya brought me some good news a few days ago."

A happy smile appeared on Hiruzen's face.

"good news?"

Mito Katoyan and Koharu, who had gone to bed, didn't understand the good news Hiruzen said.

Hiruzen put down the cigarette rod in his hand, took out a scroll from the drawer, and asked the two people opposite to take it and read the contents on it.

"This is……"

Seeing the content on the scroll, Mito Kadoyan and his two men immediately had a look of surprise on their faces.

According to the news from Jiraiya, four days ago, Konoha Jounin Namikaze Minato destroyed Iwagakure's two supply points in the Land of Grass by himself, and annihilated more than 500 ninjas from Iwagakure. From the beginning of the mission

By the end, Jonin Namikaze Gate was unscathed.

The ninjas of Iwagakure feared it and called it the "yellow flash".

"It's really a terrible life."

Mito Menyan took a deep breath, the shock in his eyes still lingering.

Eliminate the supply point of Iwagakure, and annihilate more than 500 ninjas of Iwagakure alone without any injuries. No matter how you look at it, this record is enough to make people jaw-dropping.

Although a large part of the reason for this is due to the mystery of the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, being able to perfectly control this extremely difficult S-level space-time ninjutsu is enough to stand up to Minato's genius.

Otherwise, why since the death of their teacher, the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, no one in Konoha can master this flying thunder god technique?

"I didn't expect him to grow up so fast. I remember that he also had a close relationship with the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki."

It's time to go to bed, and the spring mood has something to say.

"Personal strength does not mean that he can be a good Hokage, and he is too young and may not have enough experience. I think Orochimaru is more suitable for the position of Hokage."

Mito Monohan shook his head, he knew what Koharu wanted to express.

For a kid who was just over twenty to become Hokage, Konoha White Fang was not that exaggerated back then.

He agreed with Minato's strength, but Naruto not only needed strength, but also how to adjust the balance between the various factions in the village so that the village could develop healthily. He didn't think that a young boy who had just turned twenty years old could take over the job of Naruto.

Do it well. It will be almost in another ten years.

"We'll talk about the Fourth Hokage later, but Minato can be included in the candidate list."

After careful consideration, Hiruzen decided to include Minato in the list of candidates for the Fourth Hokage.

He has excellent character, outstanding abilities, a clear background, a strong will to fire, and a friendly relationship with the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki. In addition, he has made several great achievements during the war, which is enough to list him as a candidate for the Fourth Hokage.

Mito Katobu and the other two had no objections, but they were only included in the candidate list of the Fourth Hokage. They did not directly elect this person to become the Fourth Hokage. After that, they would have to go through many selections to determine who the real Fourth Hokage was.

"Now that the crisis in the Land of Grass has been mostly resolved, I think Minato Namikaze can be transferred to the Land of Rain to deal with Sunagakure."

After returning to bed, Xiaochun put forward his own point of view.

Hiruzen did not agree immediately, but took out a map of the ninja world and pointed to the Earth Kingdom.

"The Country of Grass has indeed regained some advantages, but I'm worried that Minato's excessive performance will cause Onoki to assign Ayane Hinata, who has the Byakugan, to the battlefield of the Country of Grass again."

Hiruzen expressed his worries.

"..."

Silence and depression lingered in the Hokage's office.

"Hiruzen, do you think Minato is strong enough to deal with her?"

Mito Menyan is not very confident.

These days, if there is any defector ninja who is famous in the ninja world, it must be Konoha's S-class rebel ninja Hinata Ayane.

The rat, who originally could only move in secret, was able to prosper openly and openly on the battlefields of the five major nations. He was the only one of them.

It is said that on the battlefield between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, he single-handedly completely suppressed the fourth generation Raikage who had inherited the taijutsu from the previous three generations of Raikage, causing Kumogakure to have no peace.

This strength is inferior even to the Sannin of Konoha.

"I can't tell, I can only see how Minato performs. Minato, who has mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, has the advantage of being able to attack and retreat at any time, and no one can match him in terms of mobility. And Hyuga Ayane, through past battle intelligence collection,

It focuses more on physical skills and defense, and there is also the extremely troublesome Byakugan. Minato said that Hinata Ayane's nervous reflexes are slightly inferior to him, but the Byakugan can make up for the gap."

Hiruzen was also not sure whether the current Minato could deal with Hinata Ayane.

But to deal with ninjas of this level, only by using ninjas of the same level to contain them can losses be minimized.

Therefore, as long as a dangerous ninja like Hinata Ayane is restrained and prevented from running around, in Hiruzen's opinion, it is a great achievement.
To be continued...