Chapter 228: – Trouble

The morning of the third day.

Newly promoted Jonin Yuzhibo Dongshilang was about to head out at this time.

This time, after returning to Leaf Village and resting for two days, he had to leave the village again and return to the harsh battlefield.

"Yuzhibo Dongshilang! The Hokage is looking for you!"

Having just locked the door and stepped outside, a figure wearing a mask and a large cloak suddenly appeared before Dong Shilang.

"I understand!"

When the message arrived, this Hokage-affiliated shadow unit said nothing more and vanished right before Dong Shilang.

"Tsk!"

"I just became a Jonin, and already something's come up."

Although he complained, Dong Shilang walked toward the Hokage Office.

There's no helping it—as long as he wants to stay in Leaf Village, he can't ignore the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, what do you need from me?"

After arriving at the Hokage Office and waiting a while, Dong Shilang saw the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, again.

At this time, the Third Hokage was in his early fifties, still in his prime, full of energy—not like the kindly old man with wrinkles he later became.

"You're on the front lines, so you must know the situation between Leaf Village and the Land of Earth better than I do—what's your take?"

When Dong Shilang approached, the Third Hokage didn't directly say why he had summoned him.

Instead, he asked Dong Shilang for his opinion on the front lines.

【Opinion! He doesn't have a damn opinion!】

He was nothing but cannon fodder in Leaf's eyes; after those high‑ups threw him onto the battlefield, all he did was fight all day.

Who has time to ponder all that nonsense?

"The situation isn't good—especially after the Cloud ninja joined the war, the front lines have become increasingly dire!"

Under the Third Hokage's gaze, even if he had no ideas he had to come up with something, so he just spouted platitudes.

Although it was empty talk, the fact remained true.

At this point, Leaf Village could be described as being in dire peril.

As for the Rock ninja, I won't go into it—Dayumu once saw that even the Sand ninja could be driven back to Platycodon City, and believing the Rock ninja were far stronger than the Sand ninja, he led the Rock ninja in an attack on Leaf Village.

He hadn't expected that, with Leaf Village's further mobilization and the efforts of various ninja clans, Leaf managed to repel the Rock ninja's fierce assault despite being surrounded by enemies.

At this point, the Cloud ninja's involvement could be called the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Moreover, the Land of Water to the east was also stirring, eager to seize a piece of Leaf Village for itself.

All of this.

All of this left him weary from rising early and staying up late, and he began to feel powerless.

"Yes! The front lines are becoming increasingly strained, so we have no choice but to try special means to end the war."

While saying this, he also produced a scroll.

"This mission…"

Just unrolling the scroll and glancing at it, Dong Shilang's expression turned grave.

He never imagined that his first assignment after becoming a Jonin would be a mission concerning the Godless Bridge.

In the ninja world, although sealing scrolls exist, their effect in a war of tens of thousands is not that great.

Small‑scale use is fine, but when numbers reach the scale of a Ninja World War, their importance diminishes—supplies and weapons still rely on logistics.

Fortunately, his mission is not to destroy the Godless Bridge outright, but to pin down the Rock ninja for this task.

"To end the war as soon as possible, it's not just you—the entire Leaf ninja force on the Grass Country front will be fully deployed to create conditions for the mission's success."

For this strike on the Rock ninja's logistics node, Leaf Village is pulling out all the stops in hopes of cutting off their supply line in one blow.

This would force Dayumu to bow his head and admit the Rock ninja's defeat.

"Yes! I will surely complete this mission and contribute my strength to peace!"

"To better fulfill the role of containment, I want you and your team to go deep into the Land of Earth, sabotage their logistics, assassinate their key personnel—anything that can draw large numbers of Rock ninja is fair game!"

Seeing Dong Shilang's response, the Third Hokage didn't elaborate further but stated his demands for Dong Shilang and the unit he leads.

【Just knew it wouldn't be that simple!】

If it were only about holding back a few Rock ninja, this mission wouldn't be all that difficult for them.

Because the mission's demands are too vague!

He also never expected that the Third Hokage would have him lead his team deep into the Land of Earth to wreak havoc.

That would raise the mission's difficulty considerably—if they messed up, they could all perish in the Land of Earth.

But this mission is obviously not something he can refuse!

"If that's the case, I hope to receive some support from the village!"

Since refusal is impossible, Dong Shilang didn't dwell on it but presented his own request, hoping for some assistance from the village.

Otherwise, he truly lacked confidence that he could bring his comrades out of the Land of Earth safely.

Moreover, he believed that as long as his request was reasonable, the other side wouldn't turn it down.

"What do you want? Speak up……"

The Third Hokage merely raised an eyebrow, voiced his doubt, and said he wouldn't refuse a request that would benefit this mission.

The premise is that the other party's request must be reasonable.

At this point, for Leaf Village, nothing is more important than this mission.

"I hope……"

Seeing that the Third Hokage had softened, Dong Shilang hesitated no longer, stated his request outright, and believed the other side would agree to it.

Is that so?...

Upon hearing Dong Shilang's request, the Third Generation merely furrowed their brow, then agreed.

The other party's request was very reasonable and also helpful for this mission. Although the cost was a bit high, it was worth it.

But Dong Shilang! I hope you can understand the importance of this mission, the current situation of the village—you probably know a little about it...

It seemed they were afraid Dong Shilang would take things and not exert effort, so before Dong Shilang took his leave, the Third Generation reminded them once, reiterating the importance of this mission.

From the other party's past mission records, one can see that they are sometimes very 'flexible'!

Completed missions always have those little 'flaws'; if it weren't because the other party is a member of the Uchiha clan, it would really be too obvious to get away with, and they wouldn't let it slide so easily.

On Tuan Zang's side, they were very dissatisfied.

Please rest assured! Ending the war is also the wish of the Uchiha clan!