Back in his tent on the Land of Hot Water battlefield, Tianyuan smiled.
He hadn't used the Flying Raijin Jutsu to appear before Kakuzu earlier; he had used the power of the Rinnegan.
"Indeed, the power of the Rinnegan has made me more proficient in space," Tianyuan murmured to himself.
Space was like two pieces of paper; the most important thing was how you got from one side to the other. The Flying Raijin Jutsu had overcome this well by using coordinates.
"My current method seems somewhat similar to instant transmission in the Dragon Ball world," Tianyuan mused, "but I feel that for close-range combat, the Flying Raijin Jutsu is still superior."
"Is my understanding of space still not deep enough?" Tianyuan softly questioned.
"Then let's try other powers." Tianyuan's figure vanished again, leaving only a clone behind while he went to a certain place.
He was experimenting with his powers.
While Tianyuan was experimenting with the power of his Rinnegan, in a certain place in the Land of Hot Water.
This was where Kumogakure was stationed, with many Cloud shinobi present.
Inside a tent in a certain camp.
Some high-ranking Cloud shinobi were in a meeting. Today was supposed to be a great victory, a great victory to crush Konoha.
But Tianyuan's arrival had turned everything into smoke, leaving them only to ponder what to do next.
"Regarding today's events, I believe everyone is aware," the Third Raikage said to the shinobi before him.
The shinobi before the Third Raikage were all high-ranking officials here, essentially the personnel leading the Cloud shinobi in battle.
Hearing the Third Raikage's words, these shinobi felt a little ashamed, because they knew they had failed this time.
"I don't blame anyone," the Third Raikage slowly said, "We didn't expect the enemy to be so terrifying. That Konoha genius, Tianyuan, not only possesses the Uchiha clan's ultimate power but now also has the First Hokage's Wood Style Kekkei Genkai."
"With the power of Wood Style, we had no choice but to temporarily avoid its edge," the Third Raikage continued, "Originally, we knew Tianyuan was on the battlefield against Iwagakure, and we were playing a timing game, but we didn't expect the Third Hokage to arrange for Tianyuan to come here."
"Perhaps the situation on the Iwa side is also nearly concluded," one Cloud shinobi remarked.
"Hmm, that's somewhat possible," the Third Raikage stroked his chin, "Next, we need to investigate the battles between the other two hidden villages and Konoha, to know their information as early as possible."
"Understood, Raikage-sama, then what should we do next?" one Cloud shinobi asked.
"The hope of defeating Konoha in a short time is now very slim," the Third Raikage stated, "Tianyuan's arrival means that other Konoha support troops have probably almost arrived on this battlefield."
The Third Raikage's guess was quite accurate; even if Tianyuan was powerful, the Third Raikage wouldn't expect Tianyuan to resolve a battle alone.
Therefore, the Third Hokage had arranged for Konoha ninja support, and Konoha's ninja had also arrived.
Currently, Konoha's strength had recovered.
Moreover, the presence of powerful ninja like Orochimaru and Tianyuan had given the Konoha ninja a sense of reassurance.
Any shadows of defeat had long since vanished.
In fact, upon learning that the powerful Wood Style was Tianyuan's power, the Konoha ninja had awakened from the shadows.
This was the sense of security that power brought.
"Next, our ninja must not concentrate together; they must fight Konoha in squad formations, to prevent being largely breached by Tianyuan," the Third Raikage instructed.
"Understood, Raikage-sama," the Cloud shinobi below all responded.
"Good, then you may be dismissed for now." The Third Raikage waved his hand.
"Yes, Raikage-sama." The Cloud shinobi left the room directly.
Only the Third Raikage remained in the room. His expression was one of deep unwillingness; just one step, one more step, and Kumogakure would have achieved victory.
But now, the situation had completely changed, and this battle with Konoha had fallen into a stalemate once again.
"There will always be a chance; now it's three hidden villages against you Konoha." The Third Raikage's eyes flashed with cold light.
Under such immense pressure, Konoha would collapse. The Third Raikage was very confident about this.
No matter how powerful Konoha was, it was currently facing an encirclement by three major hidden villages, and the strength of these three hidden villages was no less than Konoha's.
Later, the fighting in the Land of Hot Water also returned to a calm, an unusual calm.
Konoha and Kumogakure could be said to be at a stalemate here, with small-scale battles breaking out between the two hidden villages from time to time.
On this battlefield, with Tianyuan and Orochimaru overseeing it, Kumogakure's forces seemed to have retreated into a defensive posture.
Days passed by.
On the Iwagakure battlefield, within Konoha's encampment.
In one of the tents, this was where Konoha's leaders discussed matters.
"According to our investigation, Iwagakure has again dispatched over a thousand ninja from their village, intending to move away from this battlefield, pass through the Land of Grass, and enter the border of the Land of Fire," a Konoha ninja reported to Kurenai Yuhi and Hiashi Hyuga.
"Iwagakure has moved again." Kurenai Yuhi's expression changed slightly. Some time had passed since Tianyuan left this battlefield.
Iwagakure was also starting to stir.
After all, for them, this might be a very good opportunity.
"We don't have enough ninja here, so we need to do several things. First, send a letter to Konoha requesting reinforcements. Then, we need to see if we can slow down Iwagakure's current plan and destroy them," Hiashi Hyuga said.
"Then let's discuss it," Minato Namikaze suggested.
The ninja present discussed the matter and finally decided that the ninja here would first cut off Iwagakure's supply lines.
"First, we'll send people to deal with the ninja on the front lines. Minato, you and your squad will destroy the supply line, the Kannabi Bridge, can you do that?" Kurenai Yuhi asked Minato Namikaze.
"Don't worry, no problem," Minato Namikaze nodded.
"Good, then let's prepare to depart and intercept the Iwa ninja, as we just discussed."
The battle between Konoha and Iwagakure continued.
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