In a short while, he slowly opened his eyes, but they were full of confusion.
"This person is not from Amegakure."
Everyone present was a bit confused. He was clearly wearing Amegakure's uniform and headband, yet he wasn't an Amegakure ninja?
"Are you certain, Yamanaka Clan Head?"
Yamanaka Inoru nodded. "Of course, I'm very certain. Based on his memories, he is a ninja from the Land of Grass."
Upon hearing this, Torifu frowned. It was exactly as he had thought: Hanzō had allied with other countries.
A Chunin asked, puzzled, "If he's from Kusagakure, why is he wearing Amegakure's clothes?"
Tobirama walked over and looked at the body. "It's possible that Amegakure and Kusagakure have allied. The leader of Kusagakure might be worried that Hanzō's strength isn't enough, which could implicate their village, so they're using this tactic."
"This way, if Hanzō wins, Kusagakure will naturally get a share of the benefits. If he fails, Kusagakure won't have to bear any responsibility."
After hearing Tobirama's words, the ninja all had angry looks on their faces. "They're dreaming! They secretly support Hanzō and think they can get away without any consequences? There's no such thing!"
Torifu waved his hand, signaling for everyone to calm down. "For now, our main target is Amegakure. As for Kusagakure, we don't have the time to deal with them, but our cooperation with them can be terminated."
In recent years, Kusagakure had gained many benefits from trading with Konoha, but they had secretly colluded with Hanzō behind their backs. By cutting off their cooperation, their leader would surely understand what that meant. If they dared to stir up any more trouble, their end would be very ugly.
"We will rest here for the night. Send a few agile ninja to scout Amegakure's position. We will wipe them out in one go tomorrow!"
As soon as Torifu's order was given, someone volunteered.
"Hokage-sama, I'll go. I work in intelligence back in the village."
Torifu looked in the direction of the voice. It was a member of the Hyuga clan.
"Good. The Byakugan can make this mission very easy, but to be safe, pick a few teammates to go with you."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
Following the order, the Hyuga ninja chose a few teammates. They were all people he usually went on missions with, so they had good rapport. With Torifu's approval, they entered the forest to scout Amegakure's situation.
Meanwhile, Konoha's army had set up a temporary camp. The logistics ninja began to distribute food pills to the others. The taste wasn't great, but they were sufficient for replenishing stamina.
Hashirama, Tobirama, and the other squad leaders gathered around Torifu. While eating their food pills, they discussed the next course of action. Torifu, who hated food pills the most, also began to chew on them. After all, this wasn't a mission; during a war, the Hokage should share the hardships with his ninja.
"We don't know how many ninja Kusagakure sent to Amegakure, and we're also unsure if other small countries have privately contacted Hanzō, so the number of enemies is unknown. We had better proceed with caution."
Hashirama was absolutely right, and Torifu had the same idea. He wouldn't act rashly until he had confirmed the enemy's true strength.
Torifu then spoke. "Amegakure has a secret medicine that can directly elevate a Jonin to Kage-level. The number is unknown, but Hanzō will not be stingy with it when it comes to fighting us."
"So your battles might be a bit tough. It's highly likely that one of you will have to fight multiple people, but their strength is much weaker than that of a normal Kage-level ninja, so the pressure won't be too great."
About an hour later, the ninja who had gone to gather intelligence returned. From their clothing, it was clear no conflict had taken place. Everyone returned unharmed, which put Torifu at ease.
"Quickly, what information did you get?"
The Hyuga ninja took a breath. "Amegakure's ninja are located only a few hundred meters from the border. They have also sent some ninja to sneak into the Land of Fire from various directions, and we dealt with a few of them."
Everyone nodded upon hearing this. "That's good news. Is there anything else?"
"Yes, Hashirama-sama. We observed that the number of Amegakure's army is roughly between five and seven thousand people. The quality of their troops varies, as we saw several ninja of the Genin rank among them."
"The main tent also had about twenty ninja whose strength exceeded that of a Jonin. We suspect they are Kage-level."
Twenty-plus Kage-level opponents was a number within Torifu's expectations. It was not a large number, and the clan leaders of Konoha would be more than enough to deal with them. Last time, it only took them half an hour to easily defeat thirteen of them, so this time it would just take a little longer.
However, they couldn't be too careless. No one knew if the ninja they encountered last time were the strongest or just a test. If all of them were as strong as the leader from last time, it would be a bit tricky.
"You did a good job. Go to logistics and get a food pill to replenish your energy. We will rest here for the night."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
After the three intelligence ninja left, Torifu and the others started talking again.
"We will confront them head-on tomorrow. The Kage-level ninja we meet might be the same as the ones we saw that night, or they might be even stronger."
"But I believe you can all handle it. As long as there are no major mistakes, hold them off for a while, and I will come to assist you once I'm done."
Hiruzen nodded at this. "Don't worry, Hokage-sama. We are all seasoned veterans who became Kage-level through our own hard work. The power they gained through twisted means can't possibly be a match for us!"
Everyone present shared the same sentiment as Hiruzen, feeling very confident in their own strength.
This was a good thing, and Torifu didn't say anything more about it. He just needed to deal with his own opponents as quickly as possible and then go help the others.
"Hokage-sama, what should we do after we defeat this group of enemies?"
Hearing the ninja's question, Torifu shook his head and smiled. "Completely defeating them is impossible. They know we have more people, so they will only fight and retreat, slowly wearing us down."
"Otherwise, they would have charged in to fight us to the death long ago. There's no way they would have been this calm."
The ninja scratched his head after hearing this. "Is that so?"
Facing Konoha's ten-thousand-strong army and so many Kage-level ninja, Amegakure would never fight to the death. They would definitely use the terrain to their advantage, constantly harassing and feigning attacks. They would continuously drain Konoha's energy, so that by the time the final battle arrived, Torifu and the others would be completely exhausted, and their strength would have significantly decreased. This would give Hanzō a chance to succeed.
However, Torifu wouldn't let him have his way so easily.