Chapter 17
**Sand Hidden Village Camp.**
Chiyo looked at the battle report in her hand with a worried expression. Her son and daughter-in-law had been killed by Kakashi Hatake, and she had no way to avenge them. For the sake of the village, she could only remain here to hold off the constant ambushes from the Konoha ninjas.
Thinking of her young grandson, Chiyo felt troubled; she didn't know how to break the bad news to him.
"Sigh… There's no point in dwelling on that now. We need to find a way to drive back this group of Konoha ninjas first."
Glancing outside at the figures passing by the tents, many of whom were children, Chiyo's heart was a tumult of emotions.
"More and more children are being forced onto the battlefield. If they all die out here, what's the point of winning? What meaning is there left, sigh…"
Earlier, Chiyo had asked the ninjas who had fought Konoha about their experiences. They said they hadn't seen any children among the enemy ranks.
"Reporting to Lady Chiyo, your brother Lord Eizō requests an audience."
"Let him in."
Moments later, Eizō entered, accompanied by a Sand ninja. The Sand ninja quietly left the tent, drawing the flaps closed behind him.
"Why aren't you assisting the Third Kazekage back in the village? Why have you come here?"
"Oh dear, my sister, you may not know this, but the front lines have been breached in the Land of Rivers. The Third Kazekage has gone to the front lines personally to oversee the situation."
Eizō smiled wryly, informing Chiyo of the Third Kazekage's departure to the River Country front.
"Everything in the village is now being handled entirely by the other members of the elder council."
At this critical juncture, the Third Kazekage had no time to bicker over power with his advisors. They had reached a tacit agreement to stabilize the current situation first.
"The defeat of Sunagakure is already a foregone conclusion. What we can do now is try to win a few glorious battles, hoping to force Konoha into unconditional peace negotiations."
"Fortunately, Iwagakure and Kumogakure have had recent conflicts. Otherwise, that old bandit Ōnoki would have taken advantage of our situation and raided us by now."
Chiyo listened quietly to Eizō's account, her expression fluctuating between dark and light, visibly troubled.
She had wanted to boldly declare that Sand Village wouldn't cease fighting Konoha until Kakashi was dead. But in the end, it was just her personal vendetta, and she couldn't let it jeopardize the village's future.
"Oh, right, sister, there's one more thing… The informant I placed in Konoha reports that the commander of the Konoha force in front of us isn't that Mito Gate Kōen."
Chiyo wasn't too surprised by this revelation. After multiple encounters, she had noticed discrepancies; the tactics of this Konoha ninja force were quite different from her memories of Mito Gate Kōen's command style.
"Hmm, I know. I noticed it long ago; I just don't know who the other party is."
"Actually, we're quite familiar with him. It's the Hokage's assistant from Konoha, Danzo Shimura."
Eizō didn't keep her in suspense and directly revealed the answer.
In Chiyo's mind, the image of a one-eyed, shadowy figure with a cane, his right side wrapped in bandages, appeared.
"Is he the rumored leader of the Root organization, Danzo Shimura, who recently established it?"
"Yep, sister, that's him—that Danzo."
However, knowing who the opponent was no longer mattered. Since they couldn't achieve victory, they could only preserve their remaining forces and wait for the next Ninja World War to arrive.
With this thought, Chiyo immediately called a Sand ninja and gave her orders.
"Go tell each team not to take the initiative in attacks for now; they need to shrink the defensive lines as much as possible. Also, remember this—tell them to protect the children in each team, especially those with Kekkei Genkai."
"Even if the whole team dies, we can't let those with Kekkei Genkai suffer any losses."
"Go on, hurry!"
"Ahem, um, Lady Chiyo…"
The summoned Sand ninja hesitated for a long time, unsure how to begin. Under Chiyo's curious gaze, he finally conveyed some bad news.
"According to the intelligence we just received, the team led by Jōnin Kiwami has been completely wiped out. The status of the Shakuton user, Yekura, is unknown."
"What?! Damn it, Konoha! Damn you, Danzo! I—ahhhhhh!"
...
In Konoha Village, Land of Fire.
Although the flames of war had not yet reached here, the number of pedestrians on the street was significantly fewer than usual.
The ninjas left behind in Konoha were diligently performing their duties, preparing to be dispatched to the front lines at any moment.
Only the children were relatively unaffected by the war; they could still go to and from school like usual, and occasionally enjoy some playtime.
Outside the ninja school, a group of children gathered, watching every student coming in and out of the school.
If a ninja from one of the major clans passed by, they would be surprised to find that these kids came from the well-known and prestigious families of Konoha.
Even during high-level meetings, it would be difficult to gather such a crowd.
"Hey, Mikoto, which blond guy are you talking about that's so handsome?"
Konan poked Uchiha Mikoto, who had been successfully brought back to the Root organization from the battlefield. Because they were of similar age, she had mingled with the still-training kids at Root.
Plus, with Uchiha Tsukuyomi currently managing Root and knowing they were brought in by Danzo, she had taken Mikoto, whom she was closer to in her family, out to play with them. (Uchiha Tsukuyomi: "So annoying, managing Root is too troublesome. I just want to go out to fight alongside Danzo like my sister, waah waah waah!")
Today, a group of kids gathered outside the ninja school because they had heard Uchiha Mikoto mention that she had discovered a super handsome blond boy at the school, which caused many boys in Root who had feelings for Konan to sound the alarm.
They were clamoring for Uchiha Mikoto to take them all to see that blond pretty boy.
Since Danzo was a time traveler, he only marked strong individuals or those who disobeyed orders with the "Root of Tongue Curse" seal.
Thus, the current Anbu was still relatively bright. Their daily routine involved training, and after finishing in the evenings, they were allowed to roam around Konoha as long as they returned by curfew without getting punished or beaten.