Chapter 222 The War Begins
"Uchiha Touko, does Konoha intend to wage a full-scale war against Kumogakure?" Seeing his two Jinchuriki suffer heavy losses in their first exchange, Kumogakure's commander, Hii, quickly stepped forward and asked. The massive Susanoo
sheathed its sword, and Uchiha Touko coldly replied, "By kidnapping Konoha's children within the Land of Fire, wasn't Kumogakure already prepared to go to war with Konoha?"
"You, the Hokage, have the right to declare a formal war between our two countries?" Hii said at this moment.
This wasn't wrong. Generally, between two countries, only the Daimyo could issue a formal declaration of war.
However, at this moment, in the Daimyo's palace within Konoha, Minamoto no Yuuki, who usually only allowed his teacher to decide on major matters, was now loudly proclaiming a war against the Land of Lightning!
A group of ministers tried to dissuade him, but Minamoto no Yuuki seemed determined to go to war, pounding his chair.
In the end, it was Miura Kazuo who suggested waiting for Uchiha Touko to return before making a decision, which finally persuaded the boy to stop.
The reason Minamoto no Yuuki reacted so strongly, contrary to his usual behavior, was mainly because the kidnapped person was Konohamaru.
Konohamaru was practically Minamoto no Yuuki's only friend of the same age, and their relationship was incredibly close. Over a year ago, this kid had a sudden, secret idea to bestow a title upon Konohamaru. It's safe to say that if Miura Kazuo hadn't reported this to Uchiha Touko, and if Uchiha Touko and Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't intervened, the Sarutobi clan would have had a nobleman in that generation, and a hereditary one at that.
It could be said that after Hiruzen Sarutobi gradually became marginalized in the village, Konohamaru's words carried more weight than his.
And the fact that Kumogakure dared to kidnap their Land of Fire's One-Rank King was infuriating to Minamoto no Yuuki.
…
Looking at the enigmatic smile on Uchiha Touko's face within the crystal atop Susanoo's head, Xi realized she might have misspoke. It seemed that for Konoha now, the Daimyo's declaration of war truly hinged on a single word from the man before her.
Given the current situation, Kumogakure was trapped, unable to advance or retreat.
If they fought, their Raikage was no match for Uchiha Touko; their two Jinchuriki were like toys before the opponent's perfect Susanoo
. If they retreated, Kumogakure would likely pay a heavy price to escape unscathed, and the initiative to fight or not was now entirely in the enemy's hands. "Konoha ninjas," Uchiha Touko's cold voice echoed across the battlefield from within the crystal atop Susanoo's head.
"At this moment, dark clouds are pressing in! The iron hooves of Kumogakure, driven by greed and arrogance, are shattering the borders of peace, issuing the most despicable challenge to everything we cherish—our homeland, our loved ones, the 'Will of Fire' passed down through generations!"
Uchiha Touko's voice suddenly rose, carrying the sharp edge unique to the Uchiha clan.
"Do they think Konoha will be weak after experiencing pain? Do they think the previous Shinobi World Wars have broken Konoha's backbone? They are sorely mistaken!"
"Look around you! Look behind you! Look at the gazes of the Hokage of each generation fixed on the village! The First Hokage created peace with unparalleled power, the Second Hokage laid the foundation with iron fist and wisdom, the Third Hokage protected the flame with compassion, the Fourth Hokage forged a protective wall with his life... and me!"
At this moment, everyone in Konoha could see the figure inside Susanoo, and see the five large gold-embossed characters "Fifth Hokage" fluttering on the divine robe that moved without wind.
"He is the Fifth Hokage, inheriting this will and power! He is the guardian who flows with the blood of the Uchiha and bears the name of Hokage! The Sharingan of the Uchiha can see through illusion, perceive the truth, and burn away all enemies who dare to invade! The Will of Fire of Konoha fears no storm; it only burns brighter in adversity!"
"The lightning of Kumogakure? Let them strike! But remember, the Will of Fire of Konoha is enough to incinerate mountains and boil seas! Their arrogance will be shattered before our will to defend our homeland! Their ambition will be completely...buried by the kunai in our hands and the flames in our hearts!" "
Today, we fight not for conquest, not for plunder! We fight to protect! We fight to protect the lights under the eaves, to protect the peaceful smiles of every child sleeping in the village, to protect this land of the Land of Fire that has borne all our laughter and tears!"
"I, the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Touko, hereby declare: Where the flames of Konoha dance, the fire will never cease! And today, we are the flames that will burn away our enemies! I will stand with you! My Sharingan will illuminate the bravery of every warrior; my ninjutsu will pave the way to your victory!"
Uchiha Touko drew his Lightning Blade from his waist, its tip pointing directly towards Kumogakure, the cold light reflecting in his blood-red eyes, and unleashed a final, soul-shaking roar:
"Konoha ninja! Grip your weapons! Ignite your chakra! Let the enemy witness the true power of Konoha ninja! Today, some of you may die, but victory will surely belong to us!"
"For Konoha—"
As his voice fell, a deafening roar erupted across the battlefield: "For Konoha! Hokage-sama!"
The fighting spirit blazed like wildfire, instantly igniting the hearts of every Konoha ninja.
"What do we do? Is war about to break out?" Seeing this scene, an elite Jonin from Kumogakure beside Xi couldn't help but ask.
"We have no other choice now," Xi said with a wry smile. "Now, we can only hope that the chakra cannon can break through the Susanoo's defenses."
"But, Lord Xi, the chakra cannon hasn't been tested yet…" an elite Jonin from Kumogakure said hesitantly, "And if we go to war, our morale…"
The elite Jonin from Kumogakure didn't finish his sentence, but Xi turned to look at the situation in his own ranks. Facing the giant Susanoo that had defeated two of their Jinchuriki with a single blow, most of the Kumogakure's eyes flashed with fear, and the white ninja in their ranks seemed to be wavering.
In today's Kumogakure, where racial antagonism was becoming increasingly severe, these white ninjas felt that this conflict was entirely their incompetent black Raikage's doing, and they couldn't even defeat him. Now that war was about to break out, they, the white ninjas, were being asked to fight for them. Why should they?
As a white ninja himself, Xi had once been approached by these white ninjas in the village, who wanted to elect him as their leader. He knew all too well what these white ninjas were thinking.
However, the current situation seemed to leave them no room for hesitation. With the enemy clearly unwilling to let them go, Kumogakure had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the challenge.
For Uchiha Touko, starting a war with Kumogakure at this time wasn't a good option either. Judging by the current rate of development in the Land of Fire, their unification war would be a sprint in three years at most. Konoha would then complete the unification of the ninja world as quickly as possible, allowing the entire ninja world to preserve more manpower to deal with the potential alien crisis that might follow.
However, with Kumogakure openly provoking Konoha, Uchiha Toukoku naturally had no reason to let them off the hook. Firstly, the people of Konoha respected him as the Fifth Hokage not only because his strength was unparalleled, but also because they believed he could protect the village. Now that Kumogakure had extended its reach into their village, kidnapping the former Hokage's grandson, if he couldn't make Kumogakure pay, it would be a huge blow to his reputation in the village.
"All troops, attack!" Uchiha Toukoku's cold voice echoed across the battlefield. He drew his Susanoo's long sword, pointing it directly at the enemy. The next moment, the Konoha ninja behind him, led by Kakashi, charged towards Kumogakure's lines.
At that moment, a figure wielding a long staff swiftly appeared, overtaking Kakashi and arriving beside Uchiha Toukoku's Susanoo. After several leaps, he landed on the Susanoo's shoulder.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, turned to look at Touko Uchiha within the crystal above Susanoo's head and asked, "Touko, do you need me to create thunderclouds for your technique?"
After confirming his grandson's safety, Hiruzen's previous worry had been replaced by immense anger. He was, after all, a legendary ninja hero; when he rose to fame in the ninja world, A hadn't even been born yet. Now, this person dared to kidnap his grandson! Did they really think the Professor of Ninjutsu had no temper?
Therefore, Hiruzen wanted to vent his anger with a fierce battle.
"Hehe, then I'll trouble you, Third Hokage," Touko Uchiha said with a smile. "After all, I also want to witness the power of the Professor of Ninjutsu's Five Elements Ninjutsu."
"Then you'd better watch closely." Hiruzen released Enma's summoning and then his hands moved swiftly up and down.
"Shadow Clone Technique!" Another Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared on Uchiha Touko's left shoulder after a burst of smoke. Then, both Hiruzen's main body and the shadow clone formed complex hand seals.
"Combined Ninjutsu: Storm Flame Dragon!"
"Combined Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!"
Both ninjutsu required over 80 hand seals, but Hiruzen completed them in three seconds. A
flame dragon enveloped in a raging wind and a water dragon crackling with lightning surged from the shoulder of Susanoo, charging towards the Cloud Village's lines.
The advantages of wind fueling fire and water guiding lightning were on full display. Before the two armies clashed, the Cloud Village's ranks suffered heavy losses under the attack of these two combined ninjutsu.
Simultaneously, massive amounts of steam rose and slowly gathered in the air.
"Not good! Stop him!" Seeing this, Xi was horrified. Uchiha Touko, who had earned his formidable reputation in the Hidden Mist battlefield during the Third Shinobi World War with his Lightning Release: Kirin, had long been considered the strongest Lightning Release technique. The Hidden Cloud Village, never one to be outdone, had naturally gathered considerable information about this jutsu.
Therefore, they understood what the slowly gathering steam meant.
"Steam of this scale, once it forms a thundercloud..." Xi's face was extremely grim. Under the threat of Lightning Release: Kirin, the losses inflicted on their army by these two combined ninjutsu were insignificant.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, worthy of his former title as the "Professor of Ninjutsu," had only seen his ninjutsu mastery grow stronger with age, though the years had perhaps diminished his agility.
"We must stop him." At this moment, Yugito, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, who had been slashed back to her original form by Uchiha Touko and suffered serious injuries, came to Xi's side with an extremely solemn expression after receiving brief treatment from a medical ninja. "Otherwise, if that technique really takes shape, probably less than one in ten of our army will survive."
"You Kumogakure have provoked an enemy you can't afford to offend." Inside the sealed space, Commander Matata sighed and said.
To be honest, even from that brief exchange, Commander Matata knew she was no match for Uchiha Touko. The last time she felt so powerless was when Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were hunting down the Tailed Beasts all over the world. When facing that Wood Release Buddha, she was just as helpless as she was this time.
"I'm sorry, Commander Matata." Yugito took a deep breath, "But we must stop him."
"Alright." Commander Matata nodded and had Yugito enter her Tailed Beast form.
At this moment, Gyuki and Killer Bee also recovered their strength, and the two tailed beasts roared as they charged towards Uchiha Touko's Susanoo once more.
"Touko?" Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was maintaining his combined ninjutsu, frowned slightly as he watched the two tailed beasts charging towards him.
Uchiha Touko, however, chuckled and said, "Third Hokage, you continue. They won't have a chance to affect you."
Touko's gaze sharpened, and after sending Hiruzen Sarutobi atop a high stone pillar, his Susanoo rubbed its wrists and strode towards the two tailed beasts.
Facing the approaching Susanoo, Matatabi launched the first attack. Like the swiftest ghost, it flashed behind him and instantly darted out from Touko's left side. Its massive body displayed incredible flexibility, and two giant tails composed of pure, dark blue flames coiled like serpents around the Susanoo's leg joints and waist. The dark blue flames sizzled and burned, attempting to dismantle the Susanoo's chakra defense.
Uchiha Touko smiled slightly. The Susanoo's massive body didn't lose its balance despite the Two-Tails' entanglement; instead, it took a sudden step to the right, causing the ground to collapse. Simultaneously, the Susanoo's left hand, wielding the Futsu-no-Mitama, didn't swing; instead, the tip pointed downwards like a giant stake, piercing the flame cat tail wrapped around its left leg with a piercing shriek!
"Roar—!" Yuriki let out a sharp, painful roar.
The lightning-wrapped Futsu-no-Mitama precisely pierced the root of the flame tail. The lightning and the eerie blue flames clashed and exploded violently, forcefully severing the tail, and the binding force instantly loosened.
...
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