Chapter 451: Preparations Before War
"Teacher, large-scale ninja corps operations can only be entrusted to you."
Kenichi looked at Orochimaru and spoke seriously.
Every profession had its own specialization, and every field of knowledge had its own order. Kenichi knew very well that he was not a qualified war commander.
Directing battles in a game was one thing. Games could be saved and exited. But that would never work on a real battlefield.
The battlefield changed too quickly. Established plans might need to be altered at any moment, and that severely tested a commander's intuition and instinct for war.
Among the people Kenichi knew, only Orochimaru had experience commanding corps-level battles.
There was no one else.
Even Danzo was more skilled in intelligence work and assassination missions.
Now that Nagato was present, Kenichi naturally could not let Danzo continue remaining through Edo Tensei. He had already sent Danzo back to the Pure Land.
As for the other person with combat experience, Minato...
Ever since Kenichi killed Jiraiya, he had not contacted Minato again.
Minato had returned to the Pure Land after spending some time with Kushina and Naruto in the Land of Snow.
Now, Kenichi did not know how Minato would treat him if he used Edo Tensei to summon him again.
After all, Jiraiya had been Minato's most respected teacher. Even Naruto's name had been taken by Minato from Jiraiya's novel, which showed how deep the bond between master and disciple had been.
"No problem."
Orochimaru nodded and agreed.
If this were Konoha, Orochimaru would have questioned whether the Hokage had gone mad. Using a single village's ninja to fight against the allied forces of four villages? If that was not madness, then what was?
But this was the Land of Flame.
[TL: Land of Flame is the new name of the Land of Water]
Orochimaru had already witnessed the elite ninja under Kenichi's command.
Jonin who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
An ace force that would absolutely obey orders and would not retreat even if ninety percent of them became casualties.
Orochimaru had no idea how he was supposed to lose with such forces.
This was the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Some of the ninja had even mastered Susanoo.
For ordinary ninja, these people were simply a force capable of crushing them from another dimension. With sheer numbers, they could even overwhelm Kage-level opponents.
"The other members of the Akatsuki Organization will participate in the battle as a mercenary corps. They'll be used to deal with enemies on the front line and also serve as special operations squads."
Kenichi continued making arrangements.
"As long as the other Ninja Villages refuse a decisive battle with us and instead attack the Land of Flame, the special operations squads can carry out tactical strikes on their villages."
The four Ninja Villages were strong, but Kenichi and his allies were not incapable of resisting them.
Every named member of the Akatsuki Organization was a talent. Some even possessed the ability to destroy a small country by themselves.
Kakuzu and Kisame, in particular, could rival Kage-level combatants.
Although they were not full Kage, in the first battle, anyone who did not know their abilities would suffer greatly.
Nagato nodded.
He had already accepted this mission, and the bounty was very high. It was paid by Kenichi from the Daimyo's private treasury.
The entire Akatsuki Organization had no objections to this, though Tobi and Black Zetsu had not appeared during this period, so no one knew what they were doing.
Giving bounties had been Kenichi's idea.
He knew very well that Kakuzu was greedy for money. Although the Akatsuki Organization and the Land of Flame were essentially bound together now, doing work for money and doing work without money were two different things for Kakuzu.
If money was given, Kakuzu would work diligently.
If no money was given, Kakuzu might slack off.
In Kenichi's view, exchanging money for the service of a powerful ninja was extremely cost-effective.
Moreover, Kakuzu's special abilities meant that many ninja would definitely suffer losses when facing him without prior intelligence.
Perhaps he could eliminate some important figures in the allied ninja forces.
However, how to deal with Kakashi and Guy...
That was a problem.
Kakashi was very strong.
Kenichi had transplanted Sharingan genes into him. If Kakashi awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, he would become a very troublesome opponent.
But with Orochimaru present, the problem should not be too large.
The key was Guy.
The moment Kenichi thought of Guy, who had almost kicked out a major solution during the Shinobi World War, his scalp tingled.
At that time, Guy had opened the Eight Gates, making Six Paths Madara suffer greatly. Facing Guy's final move, Night Guy, Six Paths Madara had not even had the ability to escape.
Six Paths Madara had said that the surrounding space was distorted.
That meant that in that instant, Madara had been locked down by Night Guy's aura.
That kick was unavoidable.
In that situation, Kenichi was not even sure whether Obito's Kamui could be used.
It could only be said that Guy, who had trained for countless years, burned his life in that moment to deliver the most brilliant kick.
One side of Six Paths Madara's body had been shattered. If not for his special constitution, he would have died.
That was Six Paths Madara, a powerful figure who had nearly killed Naruto and Sasuke, yet he still could not withstand a few kicks from Guy.
If Guy's Night Guy were aimed at him, Kenichi truly could not think of a better way to deal with it.
Unless one mastered Six Paths Mode and became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, they might be able to withstand Guy's Night Guy.
Alternatively, one could use space-time ninjutsu to escape Guy's attack range while Night Guy was still being prepared.
But once Night Guy was unleashed and locked onto its target, it would probably be impossible to escape.
"Teacher, when dealing with those ninja, especially the Konoha ninja, try to be gentle."
In the end, Kenichi could only say this.
Although Guy was very strong, his situation when opening the Eight Gates was quite special.
Kenichi felt that unless it was truly a desperate situation, Guy probably would not open the Eight Gates to fight.
After all, opening the Eight Gates meant burning away one's life.
In the original war, there had been many critical moments during the Fourth Great Ninja War, but Guy did not open the Eight Gates until Six Paths Madara made everyone despair and nearly killed Naruto and Sasuke.
Only then did Guy step forward without hesitation.
Orochimaru glanced at Kenichi.
He did not think Kenichi was being indecisive.
Since Kenichi said this, there had to be some special reason, so Orochimaru still nodded.
"Leader, when the time comes, you and I may need to go together to deal with the four Kage."
Kenichi finally looked at Nagato.
Once the war began, everyone would have their own tasks, and Kenichi naturally could not remain idle.
He and Nagato would go confront the Kage of the four Ninja Villages.
Delaying or eliminating the top combat forces of those four Ninja Villages would affect the entire battlefield.
But saying it was easy.
Actually doing it would not be simple.
The Sage Art Lightning Release ninjutsu Kenichi had researched himself was powerful, but the preparation work took too long. Moreover, Tsunade had witnessed that ninjutsu and might be on guard against it, so using it would not be easy.
There was also the madman Raikage A.
And perhaps even Tailed Beasts might appear on the battlefield.
All of these were extremely troublesome.
"Teacher, I'm counting on you."
Kenichi sighed.
By now, the four Villages of the Shinobi World should have already begun moving.
At this moment, he could not sit idly and wait for them to arrive at his doorstep.
If he wanted to bring the flames of war to the Land of Fire, he needed to set out in advance, forcibly land in the Land of Fire, and then force them into a decisive battle with him there.
Otherwise, if the allied forces of those villages reached the vicinity of the Land of Flame, everything would be too late.
"Mhm."
Orochimaru stood up and hurried out.
He also knew that time was precious.
Fortunately, Kenichi had already mobilized the ninja forces of the Land of Flame. With simple arrangements and logistical preparations, they could depart for the Land of Fire.
Suddenly, only Kenichi and Nagato remained in the conference room.
"Have you made up your mind to go to war?"
Nagato looked at Kenichi, somewhat worried.
"I keep feeling that some people might be playing tricks behind the scenes."
Tobi and Black Zetsu had not shown themselves during this period.
Of course, their official explanation was that they had taken a mission and were outside carrying it out.
But who knew what they were really doing?
"We can't avoid going to war."
Kenichi sighed.
"I also want to delay for a while, but those bastards aren't giving me the chance."
He also wanted to buy time.
If nothing else, he wished he could at least finish his Mangekyo fusion research.
If he activated the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, then advancing to the Rinnegan would not be especially difficult.
Kenichi already had some ideas regarding how to advance to the Rinnegan.
The only thing holding him back now was how to fuse the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Nagato thought of the mission issued by the four Daimyo and nodded slightly.
Faced with such a high bounty, it could only be said that very few people could resist the temptation. It was only natural for the four Ninja Villages to launch a joint attack.
"This time, the Bounty Station also has specific bounties. There are rewards for killing ninja from the Land of Flame."
Nagato remembered the missions at the Bounty Station and spoke to Kenichi with a faint smile.
Kenichi frowned slightly.
The Bounty Station was merely an intermediary.
This mission was probably also issued by the four Daimyo. They likely felt that relying on the four Ninja Villages alone was not enough, so they wanted to strike him from every direction.
He had not expected the Daimyo's reactions to be so intense.
"Hmph. Just a bunch of lackeys."
Kenichi shook his head.
The Bounty Station had its value.
Bounty ninja relied on it to get rich.
Although there were indeed some capable ninja among the bounty hunters, the strongest among them was undoubtedly Kakuzu.
Without Kakuzu and without the support of the Akatsuki Organization's ninja, they might not even be able to handle a jonin.
Asuma had been alive all this time, and those useless people had never made a move.
Those people probably only dared to kill genin and chunin.
If they appeared on the battlefield, it would be suicide.
Both Kenichi and the Allied Forces would be hostile toward those people.
The Allied Forces would be hostile because they could not be sure whether those people were truly bounty ninja or spies sent by Kenichi.
The people at the Bounty Station were all money-grubbing types.
If Kenichi offered a higher price, they would not hesitate to betray their current employer in an instant.
The Daimyo must have known that, but they still issued the bounties just to annoy him.
If he had not considered the fact that the Bounty Station was not very profitable, Kenichi would have already planned to destroy it first.
"I will do my best to help you."
Nagato looked at Kenichi seriously.
During this period, he had traveled around the Land of Flame.
The people here lived very happily.
The policies and taxes set by Kenichi were very well developed, making life easier for the people. Some families could even afford to eat meat.
This surprised Nagato.
It also made him appreciate Kenichi more.
This person truly had a plan.
Nagato had experienced a wandering life, so he naturally knew that ordinary commoner families were often lucky if they had any leftover food.
But now, under Kenichi's rule, the people here were all living happily. Although they were not yet wealthy, the future had already changed.
Moreover, the governors appointed by Kenichi were all very diligent and did not accept bribes.
Nagato naturally saw how Kenichi controlled them, but Nagato had no objection to this.
In the Land of Rain, Nagato had also witnessed the luxurious lives of some governors. Even in a very poor small village, the governor's family possessed many gold guns.
Nagato had furiously killed many people, but it had been useless.
It felt like he could never kill them all.
But Kenichi used those strange insects to turn them into honest and benevolent governors.
Nagato admired this greatly.
"Mhm."
Kenichi stood up.
His teacher was almost ready to depart, and they could not stop either.
Kenichi needed to ensure that when Orochimaru and the others began fighting, he and Nagato could take on the four Kage.
This was not a simple task.
He also had to ensure that the other three Ninja Villages understood his intention to force a decisive battle in the Land of Fire.
He had to threaten them.
Otherwise, if they received no news and went straight to the Land of Flame, would that not be awkward?
So Kenichi still had many things to do.
As for Obito and Black Zetsu, although those two were also very troublesome, as long as they did not show themselves, Kenichi could not do anything about them for the time being.
He could only temporarily ignore them and figure out how to deal with them when they eventually appeared.
"But gifts still need to be given."
Kenichi rubbed his hands together.
Obito's other eye was still with him, and he planned to send Obito a small gift to remind him of the fear of being dominated.
Although that bastard might have Izanagi, a small gift was still necessary.
Previously, Kenichi had been too busy to do this.
But now that war was imminent, Kenichi was certain that Obito would come out to cause trouble for him. So Kenichi also planned to give him a surprise.
"An atomic bomb is too wasteful. Let's make a fusion thermobaric bomb instead."
Kenichi recalled his old profession.
However, this time, for the sake of war preparations, Kenichi also planned to make more.
Although the allied ninja forces would surely be wary, it was still a means of attack.
It was just that time was not very abundant.
Fortunately, with Shadow Clones, Kenichi could make things faster.
.....
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