Konoha is also very enthusiastic today

It's the eighth year of the Konoha calendar, late winter.

At this time of the year, the entire Ninja Continent, except for the extremely dry desert of the Land of Wind, is covered in snow. Looking around, you can see the vast white velvet covering the earth, withered flowers and leaves, and thousands of creatures have fallen into hibernation.

Crops cannot grow, and the cultivated land is covered with heavy snow. Since the Warring States Period, it should have been the agreed truce season, but at this time, the sky is filled with smoke and everyone is in danger.

Among all human activities that have been statistically analyzed, war is also among the top in its consumption of human hearts and human resources.

For the common people, they are always walking on the edge of danger, unable to sleep all day long, for fear that they will be involved in the flames of war and become one of the innocent souls who died.

For the generals who command the battlefield, they must maintain a tense state of nerves. They are burdened with thousands of lives of their men. They must think twice about every decision and have almost no time to rest. This is a huge drain on energy.

Even a ninja with excellent physical and mental qualities will feel a mountain of pressure.

It's hard to be tired.

In the land of earth, the Ninja Alliance divides military camps.

One hand opened the tent, and the visitor stooped and walked into the tent. His face no longer looked young, and the wrinkles at the end of his eyes were deepened by many days of hard work. There was a sense of silence spreading in the ravine. of burnout.

This appearance was in sharp contrast to the other person in the camp.

Seeing the young man who was concentrating on reviewing documents a few days ago, Tsuchikage couldn't help but feel emotional.

"It's true that heroes emerge from youth... We old people can't keep up with our energy, so we have to accept old age."

However, at the age of more than ten years old, he rose from a Jinchuriki who was embarrassed and suffered discrimination to become the second generation Mizukage of Kirigakure Village, and he was on an equal footing with him.In just a few words, he was amazed when he heard the news.

In this era, after all, it is still the world of young people.

The result of the Ninja Federation meeting was that he and the second generation Mizukage were allowed to lead the ninja army of the Territory Country. At first, the Tsuchikage was a little disgusted and unwilling, because the Earth Country was his own territory in his heart, but he wanted to let him Although others are involved and a person becomes a Mizukage at a young age, his ability is worthy of recognition, but will he become complacent and arrogant because of this, insisting on his own way and not listening to the opinions of others?

It is difficult to cooperate with such people.

Fortunately, when the Tsuchikage actually saw the Mizukage, he overturned all his previous assumptions.

He is neither arrogant nor impetuous, and he asks for advice with an open mind. He has achieved such achievements without any arrogance. Anyone who sees him will praise him for his excellent character.

Because of this, the two of them get along quite harmoniously.During the time he was stationed in the camp, there were few conflicts and frictions in the decisions he made. Mizukage would listen to his suggestions carefully, and he would also consider the other party's ideas.

Tsuchikage did not hide his figure when he entered the camp. When Zhiyan heard what he said, he suddenly laughed: "How could it be? I still have a lot to learn. My experience and experience are not as good as yours, seniors."

"You're just polite when you talk." Tsuchikage laughed a few times, but judging from his reaction, it was obvious that he was extremely impressed by these words.

"Alas, the jinchūriki boys in our village are not as good as you..." At this point, the Tsuchikage still felt a little regretful.

"How to say?"

When the topic of Jinchuuriki came up, Zhiyan's expression remained unchanged, but his hand that was flipping through the scrolls froze slightly.

Since their relationship was good, Tsuchikage had nothing to hide about this issue that was not a secret in the village. He sat next to Zhihiko and said in a casual manner: "The Jinchūriki of our Iwagakure Village is a person I am optimistic about." The boy. That boy is very talented, and the line of blood succession is also very rare. If nothing else happens, I plan to train him into the next generation of Tsuchikage like you..."

See what he heard?

Zhiyan raised his right hand and covered his lips weakly to block the ridicule he couldn't help but reveal.

Does Lord Tsuchikage know that the identity of "Jinchuuriki" - if nothing unexpected happens, basically directly cuts off the possibility of becoming a Kage?

Because of ignorant thoughts and short-sightedness, we have created a mob that can only express anger.

The awe of "mythical creatures" can easily turn into disgust, and they want to kill them quickly, because they are existences that will threaten their lives. Even if the Jinchuuriki does nothing, their existence is the original sin.

"Jinchūriki", this word directly reduced his reputation in the village to negative, personally created such an insurmountable obstacle for his promising disciple, and also said that he hoped that he could become a Tsuchikage one day?

Unaware of Zhiyan's fluctuating emotions, Tsuchikage continued to speak.

"I just don't know why. After that boy became a Jinchuuriki... maybe half a year later? When I went to visit him again, he became completely different from before. He was gloomy and irritable, and he didn't want to communicate well with others. Listen. The Anbu who monitored him said that he had some psychological problem? It's really..."

The Tsuchikage clicked his tongue in disappointment: "To become a Tsuchikage, strength and character are indispensable. If your mind is so fragile, I have to reconsider it. If that kid is half as good as you, Zhiyan, he won't be like this. .”

"..."

The young man still kept looking down at the scroll. The bangs hanging down from his forehead covered his eyes. Half of his face was hidden in shadow, and his expression became even more obscure.

His tone was calm: "Yeah."

After that, Zhiyan calmly took out an envelope from under several volumes of documents and moved it in front of Tsuchikage: "Besides that, let's take a look at the business first."

Tsuchikage's attention was diverted in an instant. He saw a few lines of black writing on the letter paper at a glance, and asked aloud: "This is it?"

"It's a letter sent from the Kingdom of Thunder, asking for help." Zhi Yan spoke concisely.

"Ask for help..."

This word immediately brought back bad memories for Tsuchikage.

It's hard to imagine that the two major ninja armies of the Ninja Alliance suffered two major defeats in succession and faced off against the Hidden Leaf Village. This miserable defeat was the end.

Even though their Earth Country Ninja Army did not directly participate in the battle, just from the information passed back, one can glimpse the mind-numbing one-sided scene between the lines, and the comparison of combat power could not be more intuitive.

They are all still worried about how to deal with the Hidden Leaf Village if it is Earth Kingdom's turn.

As a result, the Kingdom of Thunder simply sent a letter saying that they couldn't hold on any longer, asking for support and at least opening up a new material transportation route. Their food and grass reserves were almost at the bottom.

The Tsuchikage stared at the thin piece of paper with an uncertain expression.

"Is the frontline already so severe?"

"We definitely cannot sit idly by and ignore their critical situation." Zhiyan said seriously, "After all, we both belong to the Ninja Alliance, and we are already grasshoppers on the same rope."

"You're right." Tsuchikage held his forehead with a headache, "I just didn't expect it to be so soon..."

"As soon as possible, we may not be able to sleep tonight." Zhiyan said calmly, as if he had expected it.

Tsuchikage glanced at him: "You seem to have a calm mind."

"Our enemy is Konoha. If the whole battle goes smoothly, I will wonder if there is a conspiracy. The current situation... can only be said to be expected. With their strength, it is not difficult to do this." Yan gave a flawless answer.

Tsuchikage also said it casually, without thinking too much. All his mind was occupied by the "new transportation route".

“Can’t the previous one be used?”

"To be on the safe side, it's better not to use it. Because Konoha Hidden Village is very likely to be prepared in advance. If we are all wiped out by then..."

"Oh, it's Konoha again." The Tsuchikage sighed.

Tsuchikage was very tired, but he didn't dare to move his hands slowly.

He took out the map of the continent that was almost torn by them, lowered his head and studied the new route.

On the way from the Kingdom of Earth to the Kingdom of Thunder, we have to pass through the Ninja Alliance Headquarters to replenish supplies.

It would have been easier to have the garrison of the Ninja Alliance Headquarters transport them directly, but unfortunately, the nobles were more and more afraid of death and refused to let go no matter what. They would rather let the Ninja Army of the Earth Country come all the way around than let their The last line of defense moved out.

It's hard for ninjas.

But they were used to it, and they didn't feel any resentment at this time.

For a new route, concealment is naturally the primary factor. The more remote the better. It doesn't matter if the journey is difficult. The physical fitness of a ninja is not something that can only be done for a living.

This trip lasted all afternoon and all night. With no room for procrastination and an urgent need to catch up, they spent a lot of energy to divide the three routes. They discussed them in detail the next day, comparing the pros and cons with each other, and their mouths were dry from the discussion. , finally finalized the final route.

"Just go this way."

The Tsuchikage let out a tired breath and drew a long, thin line on the map with a charcoal pencil.

Zhiyan had no objection. After these two days of hard work, he was very tired. The tiredness on his face didn't even need to be disguised: "Okay. Then I'll give the order."

Immediately Zhiyan stood up, opened the curtain and walked out.

Unlike the two Kage, the Ninja Army was very energetic. When they saw Zhiyan coming out, they all greeted him actively.

Compared with the other two major ninja armies, the Kingdom of Wind and the Kingdom of Thunder, which have been swept by the flames of war and have experienced irreversible defeats, the mentality of the Ninja Army of the Earth Kingdom can be said to be the best.

Because they haven't been beaten up by the society of Konoha Hidden Village yet.

Zhiyan nodded to them, and several subordinates ran to him. Zhiyan briefly explained a few words and asked them to prepare early. Within half a day, the entire army was ready to march to the Kingdom of Wind.

Naturally, subordinates would not ask more questions without knowing it. After receiving the task, they carried it out without saying a word.

The original relaxed atmosphere in the camp was gone, but within 10 minutes, everyone became visibly nervous, and figures running could be seen everywhere.

Zhiyan looked at it for a while, then turned and returned to his tent.

At this time, the Tsuchikage had already left, presumably going back to prepare.

Zhiyan tightened the curtains and carefully sensed his surroundings. After confirming that there were no other people's chakra fluctuations, he walked to the desk, spread out another piece of paper, and wrote quickly on it.

[Yours sincerely, Konoha-sama:

There are already plans for new transportation routes...]