— — — — — —
Although Kakashi and the others had taken part in several missions on the battlefield before, they'd never really been in any high-level fights.
This was their chance.
Even though Renzo had already said that Uchiha Madara was most likely dead and Black Zetsu had already found a new pawn to replace Obito, but Minato still wasn't at ease.
That's why he hadn't been assigning them many missions lately—just to be cautious.
So now, he figured he might as well send Uchiha Renzo along to test Black Zetsu's next move.
At the very least, with Renzo's power, everyone's safety was pretty much guaranteed.
...
"No problem! We'll head out right away," Renzo nodded. "Honestly, this whole situation is kind of tied to me. It's only fair that I help bring it to a proper end."
"But wait, isn't it weird that Iwa didn't react at all this time? That's not like Onoki at all."
Whenever there was a chance to take advantage of something, that old man was always the first one to jump in.
"You don't need to put it like that, Renzo," Minato said with a smile, shaking his head. "What's going on with Kumo has nothing to do with you. And all the problems Konoha's facing right now—we're all in this together. And haven't things been improving lately?"
"I should be thanking you, really, for all the advice you've given me. Konoha has definitely become more lively and full of energy lately."
Minato paused for a moment, then continued, "As for Iwa, they're making moves too. But thanks to the explosion that destroyed Kannabi Bridge, their response has been a little slower."
"For now, they're mostly sending out small units to harass us."
"I've already sent Orochimaru to reinforce our forces on the Iwa front."
"And just this morning, I got intel back from our spy network in Kumo: the Third Raikage has led several thousand ninja to launch a surprise attack on the Land of Earth!"
Minato couldn't help but chuckle as he said it.
He honestly had no idea what the Third Raikage was thinking.
Attacking the Land of Earth at this moment would definitely force Onoki to pull his troops away from the Konoha front lines. Maybe the Raikage thought their rear was weak and now was the perfect opportunity?
Whatever the reason, it worked out in Konoha's favor.
"Oh?" Renzo raised an eyebrow when he heard that. "So it really did happen, huh? I haven't been paying much attention to that stuff lately."
He raised his left hand and gave an order to Red Queen: "Red Queen, can you track the Third Raikage and movements in the Land of Earth right now?"
"Yes, Master!" Red Queen replied immediately.
A holographic projection appeared in front of Renzo.
It showed live footage from the border of the Land of Earth, focusing on a key city.
Sure enough, the Third Raikage was leading a massive force of Kumo ninja and absolutely wrecking everything in their path.
To be fair, the Third Raikage wasn't wrong. Right now, the rear of the Land of Earth really was left wide open.
Onoki had heard that Konoha was in chaos—Third Hokage stepping down, Danzo executed—and thought this was the perfect chance.
So, he mobilized most of Iwa's elite shinobi to the front lines. He even brought both of their Jinchūriki with him.
So yeah, the back was really undefended.
Even Onoki had no idea the Third Raikage—crazy as he was—would use this moment to attack the Land of Earth instead of the Land of Fire.
After all, the Land of Earth didn't have the wealth and resources that Konoha or the Land of Fire did.
And anyone with half a brain could tell: Konoha was in a transitional period. With leadership changes and Danzo's execution, it looked like they were at their weakest.
If you didn't strike now, when would you?
Ōnoki had everything figured out—except for one thing: the Third Raikage didn't think like a normal person.
---
"Hah! Looks like the Land of Earth is in for a world of pain this time."
"Poor Ōnoki~!!"
"So far, at least twelve cities have fallen to Kumo's attack. Tons of shinobi have died, and civilians are being displaced by the thousands!"
"And the real kicker? That damn Raikage even raided their supply bunkers!"
"Those bunkers were loaded with money and all kinds of resources!"
Thanks to the surveillance satellites, Renzo and the others were seeing it all play out in real time.
"Oi!"
"What the heck is this thing?" Obito stared at the holographic screen in front of him, completely stunned. "You're telling me we're watching a live feed… from the Land of Earth?"
Kakashi looked equally shocked. "This is the first I'm hearing about it. So the comm bands and Red Queen can do this too? Renzo, you didn't tell us about this feature."
"Damn right!"
No one knew when Asuma picked up smoking, but there he was, cigarette hanging from his lips, eyes wide as he stared at the screen. "This thing's way better than any intel system we've got!"
Minato could only smile awkwardly as he turned to Renzo. "You never told me the Red Queen and these communicator wristbands could do all this."
"If I'd known earlier, we wouldn't have needed to send out so many intel agents. And the information flow would've been way faster too!"
After all, sending spies into other villages was one of the riskiest assignments—some of the highest casualty rates came from intel work.
Every year, a huge number of Konoha's intel ninjas ended up dead in the field.
"That's because I never gave you access," Renzo shrugged. "You weren't Hokage before, Minato-nii-san!"
"And as for recently… I kinda forgot."
He chuckled and raised his hands in a 'my bad' gesture. "I'll give you access now—but just for this function, alright?"
"Oh, and just a heads up, due to certain restrictions, there might be times or places where surveillance won't work. Ask Red Queen for details."
As he spoke, Renzo gave Red Queen the order to unlock permissions for the group.
The "special restrictions" he mentioned, of course, referred to the fact that their satellite still had to avoid scanning the moon.
After all, there were still members of the Ōtsutsuki clan (Trash version)—descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hamura—living up there.
If they spotted the satellite, they might just blow it out of the sky.
"Now that I think about it," Renzo mused to himself, "maybe it's time I visit the moon in another world, wipe out the Ōtsutsuki clan there, and snatch that massive Tenseigan while I'm at it."
He was definitely interested in the Tenseigan.
Not to mention, the Byakugan itself had some pretty solid abilities. If he could somehow merge those strengths into his Sharingan, he'd absolutely go for it.
— — —
"That will help us greatly. Thanks, Renzo," Minato said quickly.
"No need to be so formal," Renzo waved him off. "If that's everything, we'll head out now."
"Take care," Minato said.
"Let's go!"
Without further delay, Renzo set off with Kurenai, Asuma, and Kakashi, heading out of the Konoha gates toward the battlefield against Kumo.
— — —
Meanwhile, at the Kumo battlefront...
"Jiraiya-ossan, seriously? You got yourself hurt fighting Ay? If I hadn't jumped in when I did, you might've died right there!"
A clone of Renzo was healing Jiraiya while joking with him.
"You little punk!" Jiraiya laughed and cursed. "I'm not that weak, alright? That damn Eight-Tails Jinchūriki ambushed me—that's why I took a hit! Otherwise, you think they could scratch the great Toad Sage? Not a chance!"
"Yeah, keep talking," the clone scoffed. "Ay is the son of the Third Raikage, basically the confirmed Fourth Raikage. He's no pushover—you might not even be a match for him in your normal state."
"And the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki? Don't even start. That guy's a perfect Jinchūriki, and he wasn't even fighting at full power yet. If he had gone all out, today's outcome would've looked way worse."
Honestly, compared to Konoha, Kumo did a better job at raising talent.
Especially when it came to choosing successors.
Whether it was Ay, the future Fourth Raikage, or the future Fifth Raikage, Darui, neither one was weak.
More importantly, Kumo didn't suppress geniuses—they trained them personally under the Raikage.
Unlike Konoha, where political backstabbing and scheming were the norm.
"This is all your fault, brat," Jiraiya grumbled. "You were hiding in the shadows the whole time. You knew how strong they were and you still sat there watching the show?"
"Oi, oi, oi!"
Renzo's clone raised his hands. "I am just a clone, you know! My main job was to protect the Uchiha—those guys were practically sacrificed by the Third and Danzo! They even defeated Kiri and ended up like this."
"As a Uchiha myself, of course I had to protect them first! I don't have that much chakra, you know."
Gotta prioritize.
"Cut the crap," Jiraiya said, rolling his eyes while gritting his teeth from the pain. "You think I don't know you? Don't you know Flying Thunder God?"
"If you really wanted to help me, just have your main body teleport in. Your clone could've stayed here to protect the Uchiha."
"Don't think I didn't see through YOU— you just wanted to watch me get wrecked. Hmph!"
.
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