Chapter 454: The Prelude to War
"Where's Mei?"
Kenichi looked at the four Kage who had subtly surrounded him and Nagato, then asked curiously.
The angle of their encirclement was rather interesting. They stood in front of him, but no one had positioned themselves on the dead silent land behind him.
Then again, the land affected by nuclear radiation always gave people an unsettling feeling. Normal people generally would not want to step into a place like that.
Kenichi naturally would not go there either.
He was not entirely sure what consequences nuclear radiation might have after coming to this world. What if it caused gene mutation and affected his plan to merge the Mangekyo Sharingan?
Would that not be an enormous loss?
The other three Kage subconsciously looked at Tsunade.
Everyone knew that Mei had joined Konoha, and her condition had been avenging the Land of Water. However, Mei was indeed not here now.
"..."
Tsunade did not answer Kenichi's question.
Mei's strength was not weak, but Tsunade had her own ideas regarding how to arrange her.
Her eyes remained fixed on Kenichi in front of her, though she could not help glancing at the people around her as well.
The Fourth Raikage, A.
But Killer Bee was nowhere to be seen.
Was he on the battlefield, or had the Raikage made other arrangements for him?
Then there was the Kazekage.
His strength was unknown. He had not made many moves, so Tsunade was not sure how strong he was. But since he could become a Kage, he should not be useless.
Finally, there was Onoki.
An old veteran.
A true powerhouse.
His Particle Style was extremely threatening.
Facing these opponents, even the Kazekage whose strength was unknown, Tsunade did not dare underestimate him.
She knew very well that any ninja capable of reaching the Kage level was no pushover. Underestimating them would only bring disaster upon herself.
Tsunade suddenly wondered whether Kenichi was simply too arrogant.
Two people actually dared to openly face four Kage.
One had to remember that this was only their visible strength. Secretly, no one knew what other trump cards these Kage possessed.
Tsunade herself would never dare do such a thing.
Perhaps only the First Hokage would have dared.
According to records, her grandfather's strength had been exceptionally terrifying, and even the Nine-Tails had been nothing more than a toy in his hands.
"Heavenly Demon, you are surrounded!"
Onoki narrowed his eyes.
He had once cooperated with the Heavenly Demon, but that did not matter.
The past was the past.
The present was the present.
Even Konoha could not use that matter to make trouble for him now.
There was a hint of anger in Onoki's voice.
He had lived for so long, yet he had rarely seen someone as arrogant as Kenichi.
Moreover, the other party had even threatened him, saying that if he did not come, Iwagakure would be attacked.
That had made Onoki's nose turn red with rage.
Kenichi smiled.
He slowly raised his hand and touched the face of his mask. Then he removed it.
Kenichi looked solemnly at the four Kage-level powerhouses in front of him, whose expressions had all become uncertain, and licked his lips.
"Surrounded? We're the ones who have surrounded you."
Kenichi dropped the mask in his hand.
Lightning patterns spread across the corners of his eyes.
Nagato, standing beside him, silently glanced at Kenichi.
Did this guy not feel even a little ashamed saying that?
Nagato inexplicably took one step to the side.
Even so, he silently summoned the other bodies of Pain.
In an instant, the Six Paths of Pain stood beside Kenichi.
"Summoning Jutsu? No, were they hidden ninja?"
Onoki was somewhat confused.
He looked at the six uniquely shaped opponents before him, and a trace of seriousness flashed through his eyes.
All of them had those peculiar eyes?
Could it be...
Onoki felt both surprised and uncertain.
He thought of certain things.
He thought of certain legendary figures in the Shinobi World.
The Sage of Six Paths.
"Why think so much?"
The Fourth Raikage, A, was completely wrapped in blue chakra.
"Amamiya Kenichi, I didn't expect you, a rogue ninja from Konoha, to be the Heavenly Demon!"
In the next instant, A vanished from everyone's sight.
His movement could no longer be tracked by the naked eye.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The Deva Path extended his hand, and repulsive force erupted again.
But this time, A stopped at the edge of the repulsive force.
He looked at the man in front of him with surprise.
The man's eyes were cold and emotionless, as though he were looking at a weakling.
That made A's expression turn extremely solemn.
What exactly was this person's ability?
Seeing A make a move, the other Kage immediately acted as well.
Although the Kazekage and Onoki were surprised that the Heavenly Demon was actually Kenichi, an S-rank rogue ninja from Konoha, the other party was now standing against them.
No matter what, they had to take him down first.
As for the fact that Kenichi was the Heavenly Demon, the Kage of the three Ninja Villages had already decided to settle accounts with Konoha later.
When that time came, they would certainly take a bite out of Konoha.
"Amamiya Kenichi!"
Seeing that Kenichi was no longer disguising himself, Tsunade directly lunged toward him.
Akimichi Choza followed at once.
Asuma, his eyes bloodshot, charged toward Kenichi from a distance.
At this moment, the Six Paths of Pain also moved to confront the three Kage respectively, while Tsunade, Choza, and Asuma faced Kenichi.
At this very moment, the war was officially unleashed.
"Lady Tsunade, you alone aren't enough."
Lightning leaped in Kenichi's hand.
—-
"The war has begun."
Orochimaru stood on Manda with his arms crossed, watching the ninja below. His eyes narrowed slightly.
After landing in the Land of Fire, Orochimaru had begun gathering intelligence.
Kenichi had entrusted him with the command of large-scale army operations, and Orochimaru intended to perform seriously.
After all, he could not betray his disciple's trust, could he?
Orochimaru was also very clear about the most important point of this war.
They had to prevent the Allied Shinobi Forces from attacking the Land of Flame's homeland.
This was the strategic requirement Kenichi had set.
In other words, the war could happen anywhere, but it absolutely could not happen in the Land of Flame.
That was the most fundamental condition.
So Orochimaru now needed to know where the main forces of the other three Ninja Villages were.
He also needed to know where they planned to go.
Were they going to continue advancing, or wait in place?
All of this needed to be controlled by Orochimaru.
"Hehehe, this is truly interesting. I didn't expect the Akatsuki Organization to accept a war commission like this."
Kakuzu stood nearby and let out an excited laugh.
The money this time was considerable.
Although it could not compare to the mission jointly issued by the Daimyo, overall, it was still rather good.
"Don't forget the mission assigned by the Akatsuki Organization."
Kisame held Samehada and let out a sinister laugh.
He did not particularly enjoy working with Kakuzu, but there was no choice.
Kakuzu did not have many teammates, and his teammates always died quickly because they lacked sufficient strength.
So the Akatsuki Organization had still made him Kakuzu's teammate.
"Of course I won't forget."
Kakuzu's eyes were shaped like money.
Of course he remembered those missions.
As long as those missions were completed, he would receive even more rewards.
Those were all money.
Orochimaru glanced at the excited Akatsuki Organization members below.
Unlike the ninja his student had assigned to him, these Akatsuki Organization members were very lively.
So lively that Orochimaru found them somewhat annoying.
"Alright, I'll now assign the mission arrangements for this operation."
Orochimaru spoke.
The Akatsuki Organization members exchanged glances.
Then Sasori and Deidara were the first to walk over, followed by everyone else.
After all, Orochimaru was the official commander-in-chief of the war.
Merits and similar calculations were all handled by Orochimaru.
Even Kakuzu, after learning that how much money he would receive was related to Orochimaru, did not go against Orochimaru's wishes at all.
On the contrary, he was very excited and asked Orochimaru to arrange those special missions for him.
"It is still uncertain whether the Tailed Beasts have come out with the Allied Shinobi Forces. If they have, we will deal with them then."
Orochimaru spoke calmly.
This war was very different.
It was difficult to say whether the Allied Shinobi Forces would use the Tailed Beasts, but Orochimaru felt that the possibility was very high.
After all, their goal was to destroy the Land of Flame.
There was no war machine more suitable than a Tailed Beast.
Soon, several ninja assigned to gather intelligence opened their eyes.
They had obtained the necessary information through their Shadow Clones.
The main forces of three of the four Ninja Villages had been found, excluding Sunagakure.
"Where are the Sunagakure ninja squads?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
He looked at the map in his hand. It was a detailed map of the Land of Fire, along with a map of the Land of Wind, though the latter contained less information.
But judging from the map alone, if the Sunagakure ninja troops did not want to waste too much time by boat, they would have to pass through the Land of Fire.
Or did they plan to travel by air?
Impossible.
No one else knew about the Land of Flame's active attack this time, and it was impossible for them to know.
The spies in the Land of Flame basically could not get out, and their intelligence transmission efficiency was extremely low.
It would be very difficult for the surrounding countries to learn of this immediately, so Sunagakure was unlikely to know that the Land of Flame had chosen to attack proactively.
Moreover, although Kenichi had already taken Nagato to deal with the four Kage, the enemy should not immediately deduce that the Land of Flame had little defensive power remaining.
So where were the Sunagakure ninja?
Orochimaru was somewhat puzzled.
He knew that the Sunagakure ninja were quite capable.
They liked using poison, and puppeteers were their unique specialty.
Other Ninja Villages were not without puppeteers, but none had developed puppetry to the same extent as Sunagakure.
Sunagakure's puppeteers were very famous.
Where could such a ninja force, whose location was unknown, be hiding?
"First, keep an eye on the locations of the other three Ninja Villages' forces. Then try to find the Sunagakure ninja. I need to confirm their location."
Orochimaru's tone was firm.
He had to know Sunagakure's position before he could make targeted arrangements for the next step.
"Leave it to me."
Deidara stepped forward.
Orochimaru glanced at Deidara.
He knew this person.
Deidara had a good relationship with his student and seemed to be his student's admirer.
Orochimaru was not interested in Deidara's abilities, nor in what Deidara intended to do.
Since Deidara was confident, he would let Deidara take on this mission.
If Deidara succeeded, Orochimaru could earn more money.
Kakuzu was not very interested.
He yawned.
Finding people was not within his scope of business. He was willing to do it when he had nothing else to do, but right now, he preferred to conserve his stamina and chakra so he could earn big money later.
In the next second, Deidara flew up on his clay bird and began searching for traces of the Sunagakure ninja force.
Orochimaru drew three circles on the map, marking the locations of Konoha, the Hidden Cloud Village, and Iwagakure's ninja troops.
The direction of these ninja forces was very clear.
The Land of Flame.
But what about Sunagakure's ninja?
What exactly were those people planning?
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
He found himself somewhat confused, unable to understand what Sunagakure was doing.
—-
"Kenichi and the others have left."
Obito stood inside the cave, looking at Madara in front of him.
Madara was modifying Edo Tensei.
According to Madara, Edo Tensei was far too low-level. There were so many flaws that it could be improved in countless places.
"And then?"
Madara's voice was calm as he lowered his head and fiddled with something.
The rejuvenated Madara loved his current self.
Although this was not yet his complete self, Madara was very satisfied with his young body.
Feeling old had been terrible.
"Do we need to..."
Obito narrowed his eyes, testing him.
Black Zetsu was not there.
He had gone out to gather intelligence.
Now, only Obito and Madara remained in the cave.
Obito touched his chest. The heart that should have died long ago was still beating.
He knew there was a cursed seal on his heart.
"No need. I have no interest in a mere Land of Water."
Madara rejected it without hesitation.
He completely disregarded the Land of Water.
Otherwise, with his strength, he could have occupied a country and become a Kage himself back then.
But he had not done so.
The Shinobi World had no future.
If the Shinobi World was to be given a future, the Eye of the Moon Plan was the ultimate solution.
Obito licked his lips.
He could hear the disdain in Madara's voice.
Madara completely disregarded the Land of Water.
One had to remember that this was one of the great nations.
But considering Madara's strength, Obito felt that this seemed perfectly normal.
"Madara-sama, do you need your weapon?"
Obito pursed his lips and asked.
He was referring to the Uchiha Clan's war fan, Madara's most effective weapon.
Madara paused, then told him to retrieve it.
Obito turned and left.
He was going to find that base and retrieve the Uchiha war fan from within it.
After Obito left, Madara sat alone in the cave, researching Edo Tensei.
He knew Obito had his own little schemes.
He also knew from Black Zetsu that Rin had been revived.
But Madara did not care.
He was not bothered.
Would a heavyweight boxing champion care about a baby?
Madara naturally would not care about Obito's little schemes either.
.....
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