Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 469 Allied Forces Conference, A Chess Player Named Konoha

"cough……"

A Cloud Village Jonin coughed, breaking the silence.

He picked up a baton and began to describe the battle situation in a hoarse voice.

"...Currently, our western defense zone has been completely lost. The puppet army of the Third Kazekage, Retsumon, has cut off all our supplies to the rear. On the northern front, Onoki's demolition unit has advanced to this point, less than ten miles from our main camp..."

His voice grew softer and softer, each word like a stone striking the hearts of all the Cloud Village ninjas.

"...Our plan is to consolidate all forces, rely on strategic terrain for defense, delay the enemy as much as possible, and deplete their manpower..."

This is a standard, impeccable defensive strategy.

It is also a strategy of waiting to die, filled with despair and helplessness.

Tsuchishiro sighed softly and added, "Based on this, we can assemble an elite squad and attempt a surprise attack on Sunagakure from this position. The defenses along this line are relatively weak, and if successful, it will greatly boost our morale."

He pointed to an inconspicuous spot on the map, the only seemingly promising breakthrough he had found after analyzing it all night.

All the Cloud Village Jonin nodded subconsciously. This was the safest and most rational solution they could think of under the current circumstances.

"Ah~~~~"

Just then, a loud and lazy yawn rang out in the tent, completely out of place.

All eyes instantly focused on the pineapple-headed man who was leaning against the tent and looked like he was about to fall asleep.

Nara Shikaku.

Ai's temple throbbed violently, and his fists clenched so tightly under the table they cracked.

"The ninjas of Konoha,"

He forced out the words through clenched teeth, "Do you think our struggle for survival is ridiculous?"

Nara Shikaku seemed oblivious to the murderous intent in those words. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, slowly strolled over to the map, and held up a finger.

"No, it's not funny."

He trailed off, "I just think...it's too much trouble."

"Your plan is excellent."

He pointed to the supply line that Tsuchishiro was pointing to, "provided that you want the village to perish in a week, not tomorrow."

Tsuchishiro's single eye suddenly contracted, a glint of light flashing within it.

Please advise.

"Ahem, I wouldn't call it giving advice..."

Shikaku muttered something, but his finger traced a strange curve on the map. "The supply line you're trying to attack is fake. It's bait deliberately left out by that old fox Retsumon, just waiting for you to walk right into it. The real supply line goes through this long-abandoned smuggling route; our ninjas have already confirmed it."

His finger then jumped to the other side.

"And that old man Onoki, you think his demolition unit is running out of ammunition and supplies? Wrong. The Sunagakure people are continuously supplying him with explosive clay from the north. Look at this route, how cunning it is."

As soon as Shikaku spoke, Yamanaka Inoichi behind him would add a perfectly timed comment that the information had been confirmed or that the information matched.

Meanwhile, Choza Akimichi tore open a bag of potato chips and ate them with gusto, as if providing background music for the strategic analysis meeting.

Tsuchishiro's face went from solemn to surprised and suspicious, and finally turned ashen.

The intelligence capabilities the other side possesses are on a completely different scale.

What they saw was the entire battlefield, the huge undercurrent hidden beneath the surface.

Yunyin could only see the blood-red waves before him.

"This alliance was not a simple military cooperation from the very beginning."

Shikaku yawned and gave his final summary, "Their logistics, intelligence, and command are highly integrated. You're not fighting two villages; you're fighting a monster with two or three heads that works in perfect harmony. Every flaw you see is a carefully designed trap to wear you down."

Inside the tent, there was a deathly silence.

The Cloud Village ninjas felt as if they were being deprived of their breath.

They had always thought they were waging a tragic defensive war, only to find that they were merely bleeding in vain and dying ridiculously on a stage set up by the enemy.

Ai gritted his teeth; his pride and anger were crushed in the face of the cruel reality.

"so……"

Minato Namikaze's voice rang out again, gentle yet carrying a power that could penetrate everything.

He stepped forward and gently waved his large hand across the map, as if brushing away the marks that represented despair.

"Defense and attrition are what the enemy wants us to do."

"We don't play their games."

His hand drew an incredibly sharp and domineering straight line on the map!

"Lord Raikage, you have only one mission."

Minato's azure eyes gleamed with astonishing light. "From this moment on, gather all the ninjas capable of fighting and launch a full-scale attack on their main camp."

"What?!"

A Cloud Village Jonin cried out, "That's suicide!"

"Pour all your anger and all your strength into their defenses. Fight as if this is your last attack, and make Onoki and Retsumon believe that you have staked everything."

Minato spoke slowly, but every word was filled with undeniable decisiveness.

Ai suddenly stood up and slammed his fist on the table, the thick wooden table letting out a painful groan.

"You want us... to be bait?!"

"No."

Minato shook his head, his smile carrying a chilling sharpness.

"You are the anvil."

His finger, following the straight line that ran across the battlefield, jabbed hard at the other end of the map, at the location marked as the Allied Command Headquarters.

"And we are the hammers that come crashing down."

"When everyone's attention is drawn to you, my troops will set off from here."

"We will carve through the entire battlefield."

"Then the war will end."

The Cloud Village ninjas looked at that distance on the map, at the dense array of enemy outposts and fortifications, and felt their understanding of the world was completely overturned.

This... is not a tactic at all.

That's the wild fantasy of a madman!

"Impossible... Absolutely impossible..."

Tsuchishiro muttered to himself, his one eye fixed on the map, trying to find even the slightest bit of feasibility in the plan, but all he found was endless madness.

Minato Namikaze did not provide an explanation.

He just stood there, smiling.

That handsome face, that golden hair, that gentle demeanor—at this moment, all perfectly overlapped with the title that circulated in the ninja world, representing ultimate speed and death—the Yellow Flash.

Ai slowly sat back down.

All the anger and resentment vanished in that moment.

All that remains is a numbness enveloped by an immense sense of powerlessness.

He remembered his father's instructions, the expectant faces in the village, and his younger brother's seemingly carefree but actually deeply worried expression.

This insane plan...

They are their hope.