Chapter 463: A New Way of War, a Baptism of Ammunition!
"The power of Mangekyo ninja is far greater than I imagined."
Orochimaru stood atop the tree canopy, gazing at the battlefield ahead.
The mighty Five-Tails had actually been defeated in a battle of this intensity.
In previous wars, such a thing would have been unimaginable.
One had to remember that this was a Tailed Beast, and not a weak one among them. Normally, dealing with a Tailed Beast was incredibly difficult.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato, had died on the night the Nine-Tails rampaged through the village.
Although Orochimaru knew some of what had happened back then, Minato had not truly died by the Nine-Tails' hand. His death was more like a responsibility, a forced sacrifice to prevent Konoha from suffering even greater casualties. There were also other hidden reasons behind it.
However, the Fourth Hokage's death was indeed somewhat related to the Nine-Tails.
But even though the Five-Tails was also a Tailed Beast, it could now only be trapped here, unable to move.
"Oh? Shikaku? And Inoichi?"
Orochimaru saw two old acquaintances.
A slight smile appeared on his face.
Since Shikaku and Inoichi had arrived, it meant the combat plan here had succeeded.
Orochimaru also saw Darui.
He had also come to this battlefield, but Killer Bee was nowhere to be seen.
"It's a bit of a pity. If Killer Bee had also come..."
Orochimaru licked his lips.
He had not truly expected Killer Bee to show up. However, being able to concentrate the attention of Konoha and Kumogakure's ninja here was already enough.
But then Orochimaru noticed someone else.
Kumogakure's other Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii.
She had actually followed Darui to the battlefield.
Orochimaru raised his eyebrows.
If that was the case, then it meant that among Kumogakure's allied ninja forces, only the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer Bee, was likely still present.
"Begin the operation," Orochimaru said softly.
On the other side of the battlefield, inside the quiet forest, a blonde girl spat out a snake from her mouth, then revealed a joyful smile.
"Alright. We can begin the operation now."
Orochimaru's Shadow Clone looked ahead.
There was a forest before them.
They stood at the edge of that forest, while deep within the trees ahead were the vigilant Kumogakure ninja troops.
Orochimaru had still placed his strategic target on the Kumogakure ninja.
There were many considerations behind this.
On one hand, the main force of Sunagakure's ninja was still nowhere to be found.
On the other hand, Kenichi had told him to try not to be too harsh on Konoha's ninja.
Although Orochimaru did not know why, he had sensed the seriousness in his student's words at the time. Because of that, Orochimaru chose not to be ruthless toward Konoha.
Otherwise...
A hint of coldness flashed through Orochimaru's eyes.
He had once thought of completely destroying Konoha to strike at the Third Hokage.
But after hearing his disciple's remarks about how exhausting and unrewarding being Hokage was, Orochimaru felt that his student's words seemed to make sense, so he gradually let go of that obsession.
However, if given the chance, Orochimaru would rather deal with Konoha's ninja.
After all, he was far too familiar with Konoha's ninja.
He knew exactly what they would do and how they would act.
"Commander, should we launch the attack now?"
A Land of Flame ninja ran over and asked softly.
"Yes. Launch a saturation attack on the target now. Fire all ammunition."
Orochimaru nodded.
Kumogakure was a large Ninja Village, and the number of ninja they had was considerable.
Moreover, according to the intelligence transmitted from his main body, Darui of Kumogakure had already led a team away, but Killer Bee had not been seen.
Killer Bee was very likely still with the Kumogakure ninja troops.
The best way to deal with a monster like the Eight-Tails was direct firepower saturation.
At the same time, this would also allow Orochimaru to see how effective his student's carefully prepared tactical squad really was.
"Understood."
The ninja nodded, then ran off.
After a while, a group of ninja came over while pushing strange contraptions, while one or two hot air balloons ascended into the sky.
Orochimaru watched with curiosity.
"What are they doing?"
Kisame looked at the scene before him, somewhat confused.
He had originally planned to go with Deidara to search for Sunagakure's ninja, but Deidara was more agile when it came to searching for ninja, so Kisame followed Orochimaru's Shadow Clone here instead.
However, looking at the blonde Orochimaru beside him, Kisame's expression was still a little strange.
He had never expected Orochimaru, one of the Sannin renowned throughout the Shinobi World, to look like this.
Indeed, rumors in the Shinobi World could not always be trusted.
Kisame rubbed his nose.
"A new... way of war."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, watching the scene before him.
He had long heard about his student's attack methods.
When his student went out to explore, he earned the title of Heavenly Demon.
Now, Orochimaru seemed to be able to understand the method of war Kenichi had spoken of.
Orochimaru still remembered his student's confident tone and proud demeanor when he spoke of this new way of war.
It had left a deep impression on him.
"Load ammunition!"
The jonin began directing the battle.
All the ninja collectively started loading ammunition.
Rocket launchers were loaded with special ammunition, and the ninja in the hot air balloons set off with combined thermobaric bombs.
For this war, Kenichi had handed his specially made tactical squad to Orochimaru, asking him to find a suitable place for them to perform.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and watched curiously.
As he observed, he recorded his insights and the data he gathered.
"Target at eleven o'clock. Wind speed correction..."
The jonin continuously observed and recited data.
Orochimaru waited patiently.
Kisame was somewhat confused, but he said nothing.
He knew that when it was his turn to act, he would enter the battle without hesitation.
After speaking, the jonin paused, seemingly waiting for something.
Then, after twelve seconds, the jonin waved his hand.
"Fire!"
As his words fell, the rocket launchers began firing in a volley.
Countless projectiles shot out from the launchers, rising into the air with flames and smoke as they flew toward the predetermined location.
In Orochimaru's Mangekyo vision, he could clearly see the shape and color of those projectiles, and even the way flames sprayed from their tails.
This made Orochimaru somewhat excited.
This attack method was indeed unprecedented.
At least a hundred of those strange rockets had been launched in a single volley.
And it was not over yet.
As the first round of ammunition was fired, ninja carrying more ammunition came over to reload.
With the extraordinary physiques of ninja, the reloading process became incredibly fast.
In less than five seconds, all the ammunition had been reloaded.
"Fire!"
The second round of rockets flew with trails of flame toward the location of Kumogakure's ninja.
At the same time, other rocket launchers in other directions continuously fired toward the target of this attack.
Under Orochimaru's command, the ninja controlled by parasites launched attacks from all directions almost simultaneously.
Countless rockets swayed with fire in the air, carrying destruction and death as they disappeared from Orochimaru's sight.
"...We are a full ten kilometers away from Kumogakure's ninja."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
For this war, Kenichi had specifically told him about how rockets should be used.
Their range could be extended very far.
But they could not be too close, because firing them from too close would be disadvantageous.
Orochimaru had listened.
And now, it seemed his disciple had been right.
He only wondered about the attack power of these weapons.
These rockets were still firing continuously, and Orochimaru also knew that there were two Shinigami wandering in the sky.
He wondered whether Kumogakure's ninja could withstand this attack.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
In Kumogakure's main camp, because they feared Kenichi's previous attack method, the ninja here were generally spaced farther apart.
However, at this moment, sharp cries echoed throughout the entire camp.
Countless ninja frantically gathered together, then began casting defensive ninjutsu, while strange objects rapidly fell toward them from the sky.
Continuous explosions instantly tore through the sky.
Kumogakure's ninja constantly used ninjutsu, but often, just as they blocked an attack from the front, another attack came from behind.
Then more came from the sides.
"Yo, what kind of ninjutsu is this?"
Killer Bee looked at the rockets coming from all directions.
He had never seen this kind of attack method before, but he knew he could not just stand by and watch.
If he continued doing nothing, most of Kumogakure's ninja might be lost here.
But the coverage of the attack was too vast.
Although Killer Bee's taijutsu was excellent and his speed was very fast, blocking so many attacks was not easy.
So Killer Bee contacted the Eight-Tails inside him without hesitation and instantly transformed into a Tailed Beast, using Gyuki's massive body and tails to block the attacks of these things.
"Roar! These things are so annoying!"
Gyuki roared irritably.
These attacks were not particularly painful, but they were incredibly annoying.
They exploded when caught by hand.
They exploded when wrapped up by a tail.
They exploded at the slightest disturbance.
"Be careful. I keep feeling..."
Killer Bee was somewhat worried.
This attack method had appeared after Darui took some ninja to support Iwagakure.
Could it be that the true target of this attack was Kumogakure?
The attacks simply would not stop.
Strange weapons kept flying in from all directions, bombarding Kumogakure's ninja encampment and making even Gyuki somewhat overwhelmed.
But just as Gyuki was busy clearing away these weapons, a strong sense of unease suddenly surged in its heart.
Gyuki looked around in astonishment.
But it did not see a single enemy.
Then this unease was...
In the next second, Gyuki caught a faint sound of air being torn apart.
It suddenly looked up.
At the same time, two familiar objects, each carrying two people, enlarged in its pupils.
"This is..."
Gyuki instinctively tried to swat those two things away.
But before it could act, the two people above them dissipated.
At the same time, the casing of the thermobaric bomb suddenly expanded, and the high temperature scorched Gyuki's body, making it wail.
Two thermobaric bombs.
And they were mixed with chakra.
Even Gyuki appeared to be in agony when facing such an attack.
To protect Kumogakure's ninja, it even had to use its body and tentacles to shield them.
And those strange weapons continued bombarding Kumogakure's encampment.
The ninja, who were already busy dealing with those weapons, were caught off guard by the high-temperature thermobaric bombs, which also carried Lightning Release power and ambushed them from behind.
In an instant, more than half of the ninja were killed or wounded.
Only a small portion of ninja barely survived because of Gyuki's protection.
The high temperature and explosions continued, seemingly endless.
Such an attack was too much even for Gyuki to bear.
It roared ceaselessly, bellowing in anger, but only scorching heat and pain filled its mouth.
Countless rockets bombarded Gyuki's body, literally blasting away a layer of its flesh.
And this attack still continued.
"Fire! Fire!"
The Land of Flame ninja was still directing the firing.
He had already asked for confirmation, and the commander had said to fire all ammunition.
So the rocket launchers would not stop.
However, such an attack could not last too long, because the ammunition was being consumed too quickly.
Orochimaru looked at the distant mushroom cloud and black smoke, licking his lips.
Kumogakure's ninja had now suffered a devastating blow.
Facing an attack of this level, how many people could survive?
But he thought his main body should have already noticed Darui and his team retreating, right?
If so, the plan could proceed to the next step.
"Kisame, once the mushroom cloud dissipates, enter the battlefield. Your objective is to observe the Eight-Tails' survival. If he is still alive, kill him if you have the chance. If he is already dead, retreat."
Orochimaru issued the next combat mission.
Kisame revealed a bright smile.
"Finally, it's my turn to act? A Tailed Beast. This is truly interesting!"
Kisame was somewhat excited.
He took his weapon, Samehada, and rushed into the forest.
The bombardment continued.
All the ammunition Kenichi had previously produced was expended in this combat mission, even though the target was only Kumogakure.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
Now, only the final question remained.
Where had the vanished Sunagakure ninja gone?
.....
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