Hiruzen The Professor!

Black Zetsu was lavishly praising Obito. "To think of selling Konoha's intelligence to Kumo, what a brilliant idea. That way, if they start fighting each other, they won't have time to deal with us."

"It was just a little trick," Obito said. "Let the Raikage probe Konoha a bit. Lately, Konoha has become too unfamiliar."

Recently, Black Zetsu had been unable to track down any trace of Itachi in the shinobi world. This was extremely unusual for him. He wondered, could Itachi really be dead?

No, it couldn't be that simple. For both Itachi and Kisame to fall in Konoha, something must be seriously wrong. He immediately went to discuss it with Obito.

Could someone as dangerous as Itachi really have died in just a minor skirmish with Konoha? Was Konoha hiding power too great to measure, or was there something deeper going on?

Whatever the case, Obito felt uneasy. He immediately set his mind in motion and came up with a vicious plan: sell the intel on the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki to Kumo. There was no way they could resist making a move on Naruto.

A jinchūriki who hasn't fully matured + is currently outside of Konoha + has exceptional talent and may even have mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, putting all those together, once the Raikage verified the information, he immediately decided to personally lead a surprise attack.

As long as it succeeded, even triggering a war would be acceptable. If the world descended into chaos because of this, it would be the perfect environment for schemers like them to stir things up. Obito, at this moment, truly was born for evil.

"But what if the Nine-Tails actually dies?" Black Zetsu pointed out the plan's only flaw, unable to stop himself from asking.

If the Nine-Tails jinchūriki were really killed by the Raikage... who knew how long it would take for the beast to revive? What would happen to Pain's nuclear deterrent plan? What about your Eye of the Moon plan? What about my plan to split the moon and save Mother?

Obito waved his hand confidently and said, "The Nine-Tails won't die that easily."

Black Zetsu, who knew him all too well, immediately spoke up, "You never even considered what to do if the Nine-Tails dies, did you?"

Obito's face darkened, but with the mask on, he couldn't see it.

Obito chuckled coldly and replied in a deep voice, "Doesn't matter. Everything is within my plan. This time, I'll participate in the battle myself."

"What are you planning to do?" Sensing there was more to it, Black Zetsu pressed further.

"Whoever starts losing, I'll help them."

As long as Konoha and Kumo fought, that was all he wanted. That was his true goal. After all, once war broke out, no matter what cards Konoha had hidden, they wouldn't stay hidden for long.

Black Zetsu looked deeply at Obito and said seriously, "You've truly grown wiser."

At the same time, he thought to himself: Even an idiot will grow eventually… I need to be more cautious and keep this fool appeased.

Truthfully, Obito hadn't thought that far ahead. His planning had always been like this, scattershot and impulsive, doing whatever came to mind. Often driven by sudden whims, like with the Uchiha incident, his core reason for getting involved was simply that he had nothing better to do.

Truly worthy of being officially certified as "Mr. Casual."

---

Meanwhile, Deidara and Sasori were on their way to capture the One-Tail. If all went well, they'd head straight to the Three-Tails' location next.

Kakuzu and Hidan were headed to capture the Two-Tails. If successful, they'd move on to the Seven-Tails in Taki.

And as for Pain, he and Konan had just arrived at the secluded hideout of the Four-Tails. Though he was a Kage-level powerhouse, in the face of the Rinnegan, he stood no chance. The same fate would soon befall the Five- and Six-Tails.

The shinobi world, peaceful for many years, was on the brink of chaos.

---

In a small forest, rapid footsteps echoed through it. This location was already close to Jiraiya's team. The squad led by Kakashi had unexpectedly run into a fully staffed squad of elite Kumo ninjas. A fierce battle broke out almost instantly.

With the element of surprise on their side and the advantage of numbers and home territory, the Konoha ninjas naturally emerged victorious.

The final enemy's chest was pierced by a high-speed Chidori. In war, there was no room for mercy. As for intelligence, a Yamanaka ninja in the squad would naturally extract what they needed from the enemy's mind.

"Thank you, Obito."

After the battle, Kakashi deactivated his Sharingan, pulled his forehead protector down to cover his left eye, and, visibly fatigued, opened his gear pouch and swallowed a Military Rations Pills.

Most of the bodies on the ground were those of Kumo ninjas, but Konoha's ANBU had also suffered casualties. The ANBU were tending to their wounded, helping them stabilize, while a few quietly collected the bodies of the dead.

Despite outnumbering the enemy, Konoha had still suffered losses. These Kumo ninjas had definitely been elite among elites.

Meanwhile, from the minds of the fallen Kumo ninjas, it was confirmed, the Raikage had truly come in person.

An ANBU stepped forward and reported in a low voice, "Captain Kakashi, we lost several comrades in this battle. Here is the list…"

Kakashi nodded wordlessly, his face expressionless. He calmly issued orders to get the team back into operational condition, with a cold command to resume movement in fifteen minutes. At the same time, he quietly memorized each and every name.

He knew that after this mission, more names would be added to the Memorial Stone.

Even in this short skirmish, someone close to him had been killed, Hayate, the guy who was always coughing, a classmate from his Academy days.

"It looks like war is inevitable," he said to Yamato and Guy.

Guy nodded solemnly, remaining silent. Upon seeing Hayate's name, his fists clenched.

Yamato, keeping his composure, asked, "What should we do next?"

At that moment, Kakashi's gaze sharpened. He had fully switched from peacetime mentality to wartime commander. As a leader, he had to put aside emotion, weigh familiar lives on the scale of tactics, and adapt his thinking accordingly.

…Though he had mentally prepared himself, it wasn't until the first casualties appeared that the memories of war truly awakened within him. Now that battle was unavoidable, they had to achieve the best possible outcome.

"Split into two teams," he ordered calmly. "Yamato and I will lead a squad to clean up the Kumo forces in the rear and block the Raikage's retreat route. Guy, you'll lead another ANBU team to support Jiraiya's squad. In the end, we will regroup and kill the Raikage inside the Land of Fire."

Hayate's death must not be in vain.

Yamato and Guy exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously. "Understood."

As Guy turned to leave, he couldn't help but speak, "Kakashi, be careful."

With that, the three of them each led their respective teams and set off.