After Hidan established shrines in every major city and town in the Land of Hot Water, he handed the remaining smaller towns over to the newly recruited believers and rushed nonstop into the Land of Fire.
Inside a large courtyard in Toga Port, Hidan rubbed the throat he had just cut open and stood up wearily.
"If it weren't for the pleasure of sacrifice keeping me going, I really wouldn't want to keep doing this pure pack-mule labor."
Sensing the speed at which his wound was healing, Hidan said:
"The Church of the Three Calamities has sacrificed over a thousand souls in total now, right? As long as the wound doesn't lose more than a thousand drops of blood, it can visibly heal within two seconds.
A thousand drops of blood is roughly fifty milliliters.
My immortal body is getting stronger and stronger."
While Hidan was performing sacrifices in Toga Port, far away in the Land of Earth, Yako's eyes suddenly changed.
His chakra reserves had reached three times beyond the Kage level.
Yako was in a good mood as he led his forces onward toward the capital of the Land of Earth.
After arriving outside the capital, Yako circled around to the north and raised his hand toward the castle behind the walls.
"Stop!"
The Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Rōshi, arrived with Body Flicker Technique, bringing over a hundred Stone ninja with him.
Yako stared at Rōshi like a beast studying its prey, considering where to start.
The Four-Tails, Son Gokū, possessed Lava Release, a Kekkei Genkai formed by fusing Fire Release and Earth Release.
If Yako wanted to perfect Kekkei Tōta—or go even further and develop a power beyond Kekkei Tōta—he needed more precise control over every chakra nature.
He had already obtained sand manipulation from the One-Tail. Tailed beasts were extremely skilled at controlling chakra, and he could not let the Four-Tails go either.
Yako had made a plan for himself.
The Shinobi World Collection Plan.
He would collect every important ninjutsu, forbidden technique, and tailed beast ability in the shinobi world, learning every secret of chakra.
Perhaps once his full collection plan was complete, his chakra control would reach a level unprecedented in history.
But this month, he had already died to Ōnoki for the sake of Dust Release.
The Four-Tails, Rōshi, or any other tailed beast would have to wait until next month.
"Konoha's fox! What are you trying to do?"
Seeing Rōshi's agitated yet cautious expression, Yako slowly said:
"Despicable anti-Konoha alliance. You actually tried to create chaos by assassinating the Fire Daimyo and disrupting the offensive rhythm of Konoha's forces.
What am I trying to do?
Naturally, I've come for equal retaliation.
The Daimyo of the Land of Earth can die too."
Rōshi quickly said, "We never targeted the Fire Daimyo! The Earth Daimyo would never allow us to do such a thing! This is slander!"
"Whether it's slander or not, I no longer have the heart to tell the difference," Yako said.
"The Fire Daimyo is dead. The Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water is dead. Do you know how guilty Konoha feels?
I'm practically dying of guilt. As the ANBU Commander, I failed to protect the Fire Daimyo. So now, the Earth Daimyo can die too.
Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Rōshi saw Konoha's fox clap his hands together, and crooked tree trunks burst from the ground beneath his feet.
The moment he saw Wood Release, Rōshi's scalp went numb.
Part of the reason was that he had no good way to deal with Wood Release.
The other part was that the Four-Tails, Son Gokū, feared Wood Release.
Back then, Hashirama Senju had nearly beaten Son Gokū to death, then used a wooden dragon to lock around his throat like a circus monkey on a leash.
Like a stress response, Rōshi released the seal, allowing Son Gokū to emerge as quickly as possible.
However, within the maple Wood Release, several dragon roars rang out.
When Son Gokū appeared, three wooden dragons also burst from the gaps between the tree trunks, charging straight toward the Four-Tails.
The wooden dragons bit into Son Gokū's shoulder and arm, dragging him backward and to the side.
Yako moved forward, standing atop a mass of sand as he flew above the castle.
Inside the castle, twelve Guardian Ninja stood beside the Earth Daimyo. Around them were over a thousand samurai raised by the Daimyo.
All of them raised their weapons toward the sky, guarding against Konoha's enemy.
They soon felt the same despair as Kitsuchi.
White light appeared in the hand of Konoha's ninja.
That was a Dust Release barrier.
Iwagakure's most important secret technique—the Kekkei Tōta that towered over the shinobi world and was known as the strongest offensive power—had actually been learned by Konoha's ANBU Commander.
The light of the Dust Release barrier illuminated Yako's mask.
Yako thought to himself that using Dust Release against the Earth Daimyo felt exactly right.
"Dust Release: Boundary Dismantling Jutsu!"
The cubic Dust Release barrier suddenly expanded, becoming a terrifying barrier several hundred meters across.
Everything that touched the barrier instantly turned to dust.
The castle's thick walls, majestic towers, barbican, and horse-face walls—things built to defend against commoner uprisings—were reduced to dust.
The samurai behind the walls were also pulverized by Dust Release.
Several seconds later, the space before Yako suddenly opened up.
He slowly drifted forward until he was overlooking the Earth Daimyo and the Stone Guardian Ninja.
The Earth Daimyo wanted to say that the Fire Daimyo family and nobles would never let him get away with this.
But the words would not come out.
The Fire Daimyo had already been killed, and the Fire castle had been destroyed too.
The Daimyo of the Five Great Nations had always maintained a tacit understanding of advancing and retreating together. He had never imagined the Third Shinobi World War would become this brutal—so brutal that even Daimyo had become tools in the ninja villages' attacks against one another.
He did not know whether Ōnoki had plotted to kill the Fire Daimyo.
Ōnoki truly deserved death.
He had caused Konoha Village to retaliate without restraint.
The Earth Daimyo forced himself not to look back and to the side.
He was already certain to die. He was only nineteen years old and had no children.
The castle would be destroyed. His younger brother had already taken the seals and other symbols of authority away from the castle to seek refuge.
It seemed the position of Daimyo would have to pass to his younger brother.
Konoha's fox did not use Dust Release a second time.
With his strength, it should not be because he had run out of power.
He seemed to be waiting for something.
After more than ten seconds, an ANBU squad arrived nearby.
The Daimyo stared in terror as he saw that the person carried on the shoulder of a Konoha ANBU was none other than his younger brother.
Blossom Deer threw the Daimyo's younger brother, along with the seals and other items, toward the Daimyo.
Beneath the eaves of the great hall, sunlight shone across the Daimyo's face, yet he felt no warmth.
A dense powerlessness filled his heart.
Before ninja, he was nothing.
Konoha's fox stretched out his hand, and a second Dust Release barrier appeared before his palm.
The Stone Guardian Ninja shouted to encourage themselves, leaping into the air toward that demon-like Konoha fox.
Even if they died, they would die while carrying out their mission to protect the Daimyo.
They would die before the Daimyo.
Heaven and earth had no mercy.
Konoha's fox would not pity anyone. He was like a cold machine, carrying out his will.
Unlike the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, Konoha's fox accepted no negotiation and no compromise.
The Four-Tails, Son Gokū, who had just broken free from the three wooden dragons, saw the Dust Release barrier swallow the castle's core district.
Without thinking, he turned and fled.
Too terrifying.
Powerful ninja were far too terrifying.
Son Gokū only wanted to return to the volcanic region in northern Land of Earth, hide among the volcanoes, and never come out again.