While the other ninja villages were laughing, Iwagakure had no choice but to cry.
Onoki was even more furious. Iwagakure had actually suffered such a blunder under his leadership.
Onoki knew very well that he had to defeat the Hidden Bird Village quickly. Otherwise, Iwagakure would truly become a laughingstock.
They had taken the initiative to start a war with a small ninja village, yet they had failed to win. It was simply too embarrassing.
If they could not quickly take down the Hidden Bird Village, they would truly become the shame of the Five Great Ninja Villages. The initial defeat could still be attributed to underestimating the enemy, but if they still could not quickly take it down afterward, that would truly be humiliating.
"Tsuchikage-sama, how about I go instead? There's no need for you, the Tsuchikage, to personally deal with a small ninja village." Kitsuchi volunteered, preparing to defeat the Hidden Bird Village in Onoki's place and relieve some of his father's pressure.
Onoki glanced at Kitsuchi. One of the current problems of Iwagakure was that it lacked successors. There had been no ninja capable of carrying the banner like the Legendary Sannin or Minato Namikaze. His son Kitsuchi could only barely be considered one.
"How about letting Kitsuchi go? With his strength, the Hidden Bird Village won't be able to stir up any trouble." Some of the elders in the meeting room also spoke up.
After all, Onoki was already this old. What if something happened to him?
"You stay behind in Iwagakure in case something unexpected happens." Onoki said directly to Kitsuchi.
Although Kitsuchi's strength was indeed decent, Onoki was not reassured and still intended to personally take action and suppress the Hidden Bird Village with overwhelming force.
"Does anyone else object?" Onoki sat on the high chair and looked around. No one spoke against him again.
Because they all knew that Onoki had already made up his mind, and there was no point in opposing him. In Iwagakure, Onoki had absolute authority.
Onoki had been in the position of Tsuchikage for several decades. Normally, everyone could pool their ideas and discuss or oppose Onoki, and that was fine. At critical moments, however, whatever Onoki said went.
After the meeting ended, Onoki mobilized 1,000 Iwagakure shinobi and quickly set off toward the Hidden Bird Village.
According to the reports from those who had returned, the reason Iwagakure had lost the previous battle was that they had suffered a crushing defeat among their high-end combatants, rather than because of their low- and mid-level shinobi. Therefore, Onoki did not bring more shinobi.
Under the Iwagakure forces' rapid march, the ninja force led by Onoki soon reached the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Birds.
He wanted to catch the Land of Birds off guard.
However, this war did not proceed as smoothly as Onoki had imagined.
Since the opponent was not one of the Five Great Ninja Villages with deep reserves of power, but merely a small ninja village, Onoki did not make many plans and directly led the Iwagakure forces straight into the country.
Konan was also very cooperative, without any fancy tricks. She directly led a large number of shinobi to confront Onoki head-on.
As the two armies faced each other, Onoki instantly saw many shinobi wearing Hidden Rain Village uniforms among the Bird shinobi.
"The Hidden Rain Village shinobi are also joining this war? Is the Hidden Rain Village declaring war on Iwagakure?" Onoki stood before all the Iwagakure shinobi and questioned them in a deep voice. His powerful aura made the Bird and Rain shinobi afraid to act rashly.
The sudden involvement of the Hidden Rain Village was beyond his expectations.
The war had only just begun, yet Rain was already daring to risk being crushed by Iwagakure afterward just to help the Bird shinobi.
"So what if we are?" A cold voice came from above. Large amounts of paper fluttered down from the sky, eventually gathering together and transforming into a person.
"Today, the Hidden Rain Village is declaring war on Iwagakure." Konan did not give Onoki, an elder of the previous generation, even the slightest bit of respect.
As a victim of the Shinobi World Wars, Konan had absolutely no favorable impression of these so-called Kage.
"Young people don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. Let me teach you today how to respect your seniors." Onoki directly used the Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly into the air. Immediately afterward, a large amount of rock covered his right arm. He swung his rock fist toward Konan.
Konan calmly activated the Dance of the Shikigami, once again turning her body into paper and dodging Onoki's attack.
At the same time, she turned many pieces of paper into spears and sent them stabbing toward Onoki.
Onoki's expression did not change when he saw the incoming paper spears. He suddenly swung his rocky right arm and blocked all the paper spears.
"Wind Release: Wind Disaster!" Suddenly, a fierce wind sphere shot out from the ninja forces confronting each other below and attacked Onoki.
"Tsuchikage-sama, watch out!" The Iwagakure shinobi who were confronting the enemy hurriedly shouted upon seeing this.
But Onoki had been able to roam the shinobi world for so long for a reason. He did not rely on having a thick skull. With the intelligence about the previous defeat and knowledge that the Hidden Bird Village had two powerful individuals, he had always been wary of the other person's attack.
Therefore, the instant Kakuzu attacked, Onoki controlled his body and rapidly ascended into the sky, dodging Kakuzu's dishonorable sneak attack.
"As expected of the Third Tsuchikage. You actually dodged that." Kakuzu walked out.
"You actually ambushed Tsuchikage-sama!" An Iwagakure shinobi could not help but attack Kakuzu.
But Kakuzu's movements were faster. His wrist suddenly separated from his arm, revealing numerous thin black tentacles hidden inside his arm.
Whoosh!
The tentacles rapidly pierced through the Iwagakure shinobi's heart, then quickly returned inside Kakuzu's arm.
"Too weak. A heart like this isn't qualified to become one of my hearts." Kakuzu reattached his hand and said indifferently.
"Bounty hunter Kakuzu…" Onoki narrowed his eyes slightly, recognizing Kakuzu.
Among the bounty hunters who hunted wanted shinobi for money, Kakuzu was one of the more famous ones, because quite a few renowned shinobi who were not weak had died at his hands.
"A guy like you is actually willing to work for a ninja village?" Onoki waved his hand, signaling the Iwagakure forces to retreat slightly. He was going to get serious now.
"Can't be helped. They're paying too much." Large amounts of black threads surged from Kakuzu's back, while masks with red mouths and blue mouths appeared on both of his shoulders.
"Fire Release: Head Mincing Grisel!"
"Wind Release: Wind Disaster!"
Kakuzu's chakra erupted. First, the red-mouthed mask spewed out a sea of flames, immediately followed by the blue-mouthed mask releasing a high-pressure wind sphere. With the wind feeding the flames, the range of the sea of fire rapidly expanded, seemingly about to engulf all the Iwagakure shinobi.
"Parlor tricks." Onoki rapidly formed hand seals, and a huge earthen wall instantly rose up and blocked the sea of flames.
At this moment, a large amount of paper suddenly scattered toward Onoki.
Onoki was not very concerned at first, but he suddenly sensed danger and controlled the earth to transform into a huge stone hand that enveloped him.
Rumble!!!
The seemingly harmless pieces of paper suddenly exploded. Hundreds of pieces of paper exploded simultaneously, and the enormous roar caused some of the shinobi present to suffer ringing ears. The shockwave from the explosion even flattened the surrounding trees.
When the white smoke dispersed, it revealed the battered and tattered giant stone hand, with Onoki standing inside seemingly unharmed.
"As expected, a Kage is difficult to deal with." Konan frowned slightly, feeling that things were troublesome.
Kakuzu beside her felt somewhat heartbroken when he saw Konan's attack. Did she think Explosive Tags were free? Blowing up so many at once cost hundreds of thousands of ryo. That was all money he had painstakingly earned!
"Don't you have any other methods? Then let me let you taste my ninjutsu as well." Onoki rapidly rose into the air, brought his hands together, and then slowly pulled them apart. A transparent cone took shape between Onoki's palms.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
The transparent cone rapidly expanded and elongated, shooting toward Kakuzu.
The numerous thin black tentacles behind Kakuzu combined together, forming two enormous tentacles that continuously pulled Kakuzu backward. At the same time, the masks on both sides of Kakuzu's body moved to his right arm, while a new mask also emerged on his arm.
The Wind, Fire, and Lightning masks all unleashed their power at once. Powerful chakra erupted, and the three forces combined, finally transforming into a chakra beam that collided with Onoki's Dust Release.
Rumble!!!
A huge explosion erupted. Under the advance of the Dust Release, the chakra beam continuously collapsed and dissipated into the air.
"You think a combination ninjutsu made from only three nature transformations can contend with my Dust Release? How naive." Onoki snorted coldly and increased his power again. Instantly, Kakuzu's chakra beam was extinguished by Onoki's Dust Release.
Although both consisted of three types of chakra power, Dust Release, which fused three nature transformations together, was far stronger than a combination ninjutsu that merely combined three nature transformation techniques.
At the critical moment, Kakuzu performed a lazy donkey roll and avoided being directly erased by the Dust Release, but because his right arm was grazed, two masks disappeared directly.
"That's dangerous. I can't be hit by his Dust Release. Otherwise, all my hearts will probably be destroyed instantly." Kakuzu's expression became solemn. Onoki was somewhat of a counter to him.
Because of the Earth Grudge Fear, Kakuzu was a man with five lives and was extremely difficult to kill.
But if he was enveloped by Onoki's Dust Release, his five lives would be instantly wiped out, causing him to die on the spot.
"Tsuchikage-sama!" Onoki gaining the upper hand while fighting two opponents greatly boosted Iwagakure's morale. The shinobi could not help cheering and applauding their leader.
"Attack!" After realizing that she and Kakuzu could not defeat Onoki even by joining forces, Konan ordered the ninja forces below to attack.
The Bird shinobi and Rain shinobi forces immediately launched an attack upon hearing Konan's order.
"Let them know the consequences of angering the Weight of the Earth." Onoki, floating in the sky, also ordered the Iwagakure shinobi to attack.
Although the enemy's shinobi seemed to be more numerous, Onoki had full confidence in his Iwagakure forces.
However, his confidence quickly turned into confusion because he saw that his own Iwagakure forces had actually fallen into a disadvantage.
Onoki took a closer look and saw that many of the Bird and Rain shinobi were equipped with the latest scientific ninja tools from the Chakra Technology Company. This was pure pay-to-win power.
An Iwagakure shinobi holding a kunai quickly charged toward a Rain shinobi. The Rain shinobi then pulled a chakra pistol from his ninja tool pouch, infused it with chakra, and fired a beam of light that pierced through the Iwagakure shinobi's body.
"Sir, times have changed." The Rain shinobi smiled smugly.
Onoki's face immediately darkened. He knew a little about the Chakra Technology Company's products. Iwagakure was also researching chakra technology, and had even purchased products from the Chakra Technology Company. However, because they were expensive, they had not bought many.
He had not expected to see so many Chakra Technology Company products being used by the forces of a small ninja village.
Onoki did not believe that these small ninja villages could be this wealthy. There had to be a major problem behind this.
However, Onoki had no time to carefully think about the problem at this moment. The Iwagakure forces falling into a disadvantage directly resulted in large numbers of shinobi surrounding Onoki, making things difficult for Onoki, who had originally been easily suppressing Konan and Kakuzu.
Two fists could not defeat four hands. Under the dense barrage of ninjutsu from large numbers of shinobi, even a powerful Kage like Onoki became somewhat exhausted dealing with it. He did not possess the physique of the Third Raikage and could not withstand so many ninjutsu head-on.
More importantly, Konan and Kakuzu were not simple characters either. Even within the Akatsuki Organization, the strength of the two ranked among the stronger members.
"Dust Release: Particle Style: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!" Onoki hardened his heart and released his strongest ninjutsu.
Particle Style: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique was an upgraded version of the Detachment of the Primitive World Technique. Not only was its range and power greater, but it also possessed a continuous effect, making it extremely powerful.
However, Particle Style: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique also had a weakness, or rather, all powerful ninjutsu had this weakness: they consumed too much chakra.
A huge transparent cube appeared on the battlefield. All the shinobi enveloped within the cube disappeared, and even a large section of the ground was left empty, as if it had been erased by a giant eraser.
"Whew, whew." Onoki took two breaths, his long white beard trembling with each breath. Releasing such a powerful ninjutsu was not friendly to an elderly man like him at all.
And how could Kakuzu and Konan let such a good opportunity pass? They took advantage of the moment and launched attacks against Onoki.
However, Onoki had only taken two breaths. It was not that he had become incapable of fighting, and Konan and Kakuzu still could not gain any advantage.
With Onoki's powerful attack clearing the battlefield, Iwagakure's situation improved considerably, but they still could not directly suppress the enemy as Onoki had initially imagined.
In the end, the war was temporarily brought to a halt when Konan and Kakuzu retreated.
The war was not over. Konan and Kakuzu had not surrendered, and Onoki had no intention of abandoning the attack.
"Tsuchikage-sama, shall we pursue them?" an Iwagakure Jonin asked Onoki.
"No. Let's rest properly and attack again late at night." Onoki shook his head and said.
At this moment, he was glad that he had been cautious. If he had sent Kitsuchi, it would probably have been another crushing defeat.
Although Kitsuchi's strength was decent, facing the combined attacks of Konan and Kakuzu would certainly result in his death. Furthermore, the Iwagakure forces were no match for the more numerous and better-equipped Bird shinobi forces. There would have been no hope of victory at all.
Thinking of this, Onoki sighed, his entire face wrinkling together as if he had aged considerably.
He was already sixty-eight years old, which was considered advanced age among shinobi. He did not know how much longer he could protect Iwagakure. The current state of Iwagakure truly worried him.
If he had not been here during this incident, the consequences for Iwagakure would have been unimaginable.
Although Iwagakure had been the one to initiate the attack on the Hidden Bird Village, everything the Hidden Bird Village had displayed proved that it was not simple. The rapid support from the Hidden Rain Village, the latest scientific ninja tools from the Chakra Technology Company…
If his guess was correct, then this might no longer be an issue involving just a few ninja villages. It might be a storm powerful enough to sweep across the entire shinobi world.
"I hope my guess is wrong." Onoki's mood was somewhat heavy.
Just as good fortune did not come, bad news arrived. Just as Onoki was deeply contemplating this incident, bad news arrived.
"Tsuchikage-sama, something terrible has happened! The Land of Earth has been invaded by the Hidden Light Village and Hidden Grass Village. Our Iwagakure forces have suffered a crushing defeat."
"What?" Onoki could not help standing up and glaring at the intelligence officer. He had just finished fighting a battle, and his home had already been robbed?
The intelligence officer quickly repeated the report.
"What about Kitsuchi? What about the village elders?" Onoki asked with a frown.
"Kitsuchi-sama led the Iwagakure forces to intercept the invaders at the border, but the invaders were simply too powerful. Kitsuchi-sama was defeated." The intelligence officer replied.
Onoki's body trembled slightly, and he almost fell.
"Everyone retreat! Return to defend the country! Go back and protect our homeland." Onoki clenched his fists and shouted his order.