Uchiha Yuan and Kakashi both turned serious upon hearing Minato's words.
"Minato-sensei, how is the village arranging our forces?" Kakashi asked.
"Hokage-sama plans to have me and my teacher lead the squad to Kikyo Mountain. Orochimaru-sama will also be temporarily reassigned. Yuan, you and several powerful members of the Uchiha clan will likely go as well," Minato replied.
Yuan furrowed his brows—this lineup didn't seem enough.
Because in his memory, the Battle of Kikyo Mountain wasn't just initiated by Sunagakure; it was a joint assault by both Suna and Iwagakure.
Suna had the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, as well as seasoned veterans like Chiyo and Ebizō actively involved in the war.
On the Iwa side, Ōnoki, despite recent losses to the Cloud ninja, should still be capable of fighting. His son, Kitsuchi, was no slouch either.
Not to mention that Suna possessed the One-Tails Jinchūriki, and Iwa had the Five-Tails Jinchūriki—both of whom were battlefield powerhouses. The gap in top-tier combatants was clear.
Minato, as if sensing Yuan's concern, smiled and said, "Don't worry, Yuan. We have our trump cards too."
Since Minato had said that, Yuan simply nodded and didn't ask further.
"Minato-sensei, this should be our final battle with the Sand, right?" Kakashi asked.
"Most likely. No matter win or lose, Suna won't have the strength to initiate another large-scale battle. However, I suspect our enemy won't just be the Sand."
"Not just the Sand? There are others?"
"Yes, Iwagakure may also get involved. We'll need updated intel to confirm."
Konoha's intelligence network was still top-notch. Soon, the ANBU confirmed the situation at Kikyo Mountain.
The next day, the Uchiha clan received an order from the Third Hokage. Uchiha Fugaku would lead the team personally, accompanied by Uchiha Chizan, Uchiha Yuan, and Uchiha Yashiro, along with more than a hundred other Uchiha ninja.
The other clans and regular shinobi were similarly mobilized under the Third Hokage's orders. The Konoha forces gathered once again, setting out toward Kikyo Mountain.
Meanwhile, at Kikyo Mountain, Ōnoki and Rasa had been waiting for Konoha's arrival. They were confident in their ability to overpower Konoha.
Ōnoki and Rasa glanced behind them at a cloaked figure. With this person, their chances of victory had increased significantly.
In truth, Ōnoki had been planning this operation for a long time.
Previously, at the battlefield in the Land of Frost, after Iwa ninja cornered and killed the Third Raikage, they suffered a ferocious counterattack from Kumo.
That battle resulted in Iwa's army being decimated—of over ten thousand ninja, fewer than 30% survived. Ōnoki and Han, the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, were both seriously injured.
Fortunately, A had just assumed the role of the Fourth Raikage. And with Kumo Village devastated, morale was low. In order to stabilize the situation, A chose not to continue pursuing Iwa.
Ōnoki and the remaining Iwa forces thus narrowly escaped.
Still, he harbored deep hatred toward Kumo, but Iwa no longer had the strength to continue fighting them.
Now, the best choice for Iwa was to take advantage of the tail-end of the war and seize as many resources as possible.
Among the Five Great Nations, the Land of Fire was undeniably the wealthiest.
After much thought, Ōnoki decided to ally with Suna to strike Konoha.
Given the current situation, if things continued this way, Konoha would emerge as the biggest victor of the war.
Kumo had already withdrawn—its village destroyed and its Third Raikage dead.
Kiri had always been opportunistic, only leaving troops in the Land of Bears to guard against a Konoha sneak attack. Their main force had already pulled back—they clearly had no intention to continue.
Ōnoki could not tolerate the thought of Konoha emerging as the ultimate victor.
And Suna, despite being battered, remained on the battlefield. They had initiated the war after the disappearance of the Third Kazekage and used it as their justification.
Regardless of how unfavorable the current situation was, Suna could not simply surrender—doing so would be an admission that the war was unjust. The morale of their village would collapse.
Iwa and Suna had their own grudges, but under these circumstances, Ōnoki had to put aside his pride and approach Rasa.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. There are no permanent enemies, only eternal interests.
By this stage of the war, Konoha had clearly gained the upper hand. If left unchecked, it would be the final winner—and that would make Suna's position even more difficult.
Rasa understood this perfectly. So when Ōnoki proposed a ceasefire and alliance, Rasa readily agreed.
Once Rasa accepted, the two sides quickly began drafting their joint operation plans.
However, as mentioned earlier, even with an alliance, full trust was impossible.
Just days earlier, they had been killing each other. A sudden ceasefire and alliance would naturally breed suspicion.
Even Rasa remained wary of Ōnoki—until Ōnoki revealed Iwa's greatest trump card. Only then did Rasa relax.
Thus, the Iwa-Suna alliance was officially formed. After finalizing their plans, Rasa and Ōnoki began calming and explaining matters to their respective ninja.
To ensure their shinobi could focus entirely on fighting Konoha, they agreed to select Kikyo Mountain as the battleground.
Once the Konoha army arrived at Kikyo Mountain, Jiraiya immediately dispatched Hyūga and Aburame clan shinobi to monitor the enemy's movements.
Though the fighting hadn't yet begun, tension already permeated the air.
On the Iwa-Suna side, Ōnoki was making final arrangements. Compared to Rasa, Ōnoki had far more war experience, so most strategies centered on his decisions.
"Rasa, let's begin. Proceed according to plan," said Ōnoki.
"Alright. We must win this war," Rasa replied firmly.
With Ōnoki's command, the joint Iwa-Suna forces began advancing—marching toward Konoha's encampment in full force.
On Konoha's side, the Aburame ninja quickly detected the movement and relayed the intel to Jiraiya.
But Konoha's camp had already been prepared.
At Jiraiya's command, Konoha's shinobi charged out to meet the enemy—and so the Battle of Kikyo Mountain began.
(To Be Continued...)