Tenzō froze for a moment, but immediately understood what the Hokage meant.
"Three kilometers to the southwest, there are roughly a thousand elite Kiri shinobi, with two line-holding army groups around them..."
"The aerial squad reports unusual activity along the distant coastline. There are extremely obvious chakra reactions. Kirigakure may have deployed a tailed beast..."
Tenzō spoke gravely.
When it came to top-tier combat power, Konoha had plenty of cards in its hand. Even compared against the other hidden villages combined, it wasn't particularly lacking.
But things were different at the rank-and-file level. Although Hiruzen had carried out sweeping reforms over the past several years, making Konoha's personnel noticeably superior to shinobi of equivalent rank from other villages, sheer numbers were still a problem.
Birth subsidies had been implemented to increase the population, but it took time for those new births to grow into an effective labor and military population.
Besides, Konoha's population had never been especially large among the Five Great Shinobi Villages to begin with.
So after its forces were divided into four, Konoha's wartime strategy centered primarily on defensive counterattacks.
They would use the terrain to occupy advantageous positions, then exploit their intelligence superiority to strike precisely at the enemy's weak points.
Rather than charging straight into the enemy's military formations.
In the shinobi world, even among high-end combatants, most shinobi had relatively weak defenses compared with their offensive capabilities.
So once they became trapped and surrounded, there was always the possibility that sheer numbers would grind them down until it became a matter of "trading pieces"...
Especially in war, where reinforcements could keep pouring in without end.
Even some Kage had to obey that logic.
But none of that applied to Hiruzen.
He was different.
He wasn't afraid of being overwhelmed by numbers.
Forget chūnin or special jōnin—even ordinary all-around jōnin couldn't shake the Hokage's defenses unless they possessed especially destructive ninjutsu.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Added-Weight Rock Technique, Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal, Kekkei Genkai threads, and neural reaction-speed training—
Five separate methods of tempering his body.
After accumulating day after day, the quantitative changes had already begun producing a qualitative transformation.
"You two are responsible for closing the encirclement. Don't follow me," Hiruzen said briefly.
The moment he finished speaking, smoke burst outward.
Enma, who had returned from special training at Mount Myōboku, appeared beside Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen..."
"At this point, I should just about be able to start keeping up with your level of strength."
Enma's body rapidly transformed, but unlike before, he did not take the form of a staff.
Instead, he transformed into a massive, pitch-black war halberd!
After Fukasaku and Shima confirmed that Hiruzen was the "Teacher of the Prophecy," the relationship between Mount Myōboku and Konoha deepened even further. Techniques normally reserved exclusively for internal training were provided to Enma without the slightest hesitation.
And it wasn't limited to Mount Myōboku's techniques.
The Three Sage Regions had passed down their legacies for a thousand years, while the Great Toad Sage had been an old acquaintance of the Sage of Six Paths and possessed countless connections stretching back through history. Their accumulated foundations ran extraordinarily deep.
Calling Mount Myōboku an enormous treasure vault wouldn't be much of an exaggeration.
It was simply that the Great Toad Sage understood the Sage of Six Paths' way of thinking...
That man held a rather peculiar attitude toward the shinobi world:
'You can help, but you shouldn't help too much. Ideally, you should barely interfere at all...'
That was why Mount Myōboku had taken a roundabout path, intervening through contracts and prophecies instead.
But after the Great Toad Sage heard Fukasaku and Shima recount Hiruzen's Nindō, the shrewd old toad immediately reached a conclusion.
They could provide Hiruzen with even greater support...
This man intended to grasp both bonds and power at the same time.
Compared with Asura and Indra, perhaps the Hokage was actually the most orthodox inheritor of the Sage of Six Paths' will...
If that was the case, then even if the Sage of Six Paths someday learned that Mount Myōboku had placed a heavy bet on Konoha and had rather openly interfered in the shinobi world, he probably wouldn't say anything about it.
What could they do?
Hadn't they simply seen a shadow of the man he had once been?
And so, although Enma had yet to fully master Sage Mode, with Mount Myōboku pouring resources into him, he had already further strengthened the monkey clan's ancestral Transformation Technique...
He could now transform into forms with greater killing power, while both his hardness and extensibility had improved significantly.
"All right, old friend."
Hiruzen took the Enma war halberd in hand and hefted its considerable weight.
Only someone with his strength could handle something like this. In anyone else's hands, even swinging it would probably be difficult...
With war upon them, any additional strength was welcome. Hiruzen would remember the help Mount Myōboku had given him.
Then—
Hiruzen's figure flashed, charging toward the direction Tenzō had indicated as though he had teleported!
Through the Byakugan, he looked like a streak of black light!
"Everyone, spread out the battle line! Prepare to encircle the invading Kiri shinobi!" Tenzō ordered decisively.
It was an order that ran contrary to conventional military doctrine.
After all, using barely a thousand troops to encircle the vanguard of Kirigakure's nearly full-scale deployment was obviously turning the natural order completely on its head.
Unlike the other hidden villages, which had only dispatched portions of their forces, the Third Mizukage had issued an order bordering on full mobilization.
He needed to prevent the already restless Kiri shinobi from getting ideas they shouldn't have and setting his rear ablaze.
They were basically going all-in.
To the southwest, within Kirigakure's battle formation.
The elite Kiri shinobi wore cruel smiles as they rapidly marched toward Konoha.
Because of Kirigakure's unique geographical position, even though the Land of Fire's coastline was defended by aerospace cruisers, aerial patrol squads, and other forces, the Kiri shinobi had still managed to land quickly after deploying in full force.
This was different from the geopolitical situation on the continent, where smaller countries could serve as buffer zones.
Their initial success also made some of the Kiri shinobi feel that perhaps the Third Mizukage had been right...
Was Konoha actually somewhat weak?
Some of the more rational shinobi understood that this was merely a temporary local advantage created by geography combined with their completely unconventional full-scale deployment, but none of them dared discuss it aloud.
Because the Third Mizukage was present, and many Kiri shinobi had already been mentally twisted by the oppressive environment of the Bloody Mist, warped to the point that they wanted to use frenzied slaughter in war as a way to vent themselves.
"What good is having superior equipment?"
"Konoha absorbed the Sky Village's technology, all those things that fly and sail through the sea, but the moment they ran into the blades of our Bloody Mist, didn't they still have to retreat in a hurry?"
"Genji-sama truly saw farther than the rest of us. He saw through Konoha's false strength. Their insides are probably already a complete mess, and those aerial squads and cruisers are just putting on a show while harassing us..."
One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Kushimaru Kuriarare of the so-called Heartless Pair, licked the Longsword: Nuibari in his hand. Beneath his mask, his expression twisted.
"I really want to string all these little Konoha lambs together!"
"I can't wait..."
What Kushimaru did not know was that Konoha's aerial patrol squads and cruisers had been ordered by Hiruzen to avoid direct combat.
Compared with delaying Kirigakure's advance for a short while, obtaining intelligence on them was far more important.
Using an integrated sea-and-air system merely to hold the line would have been far too wasteful.
Of course, the most important reason was that Hiruzen could handle anything that slipped through.
"Yeah. When you're killing shinobi from your own village, you still have to hold back a little..."
The other member of the Heartless Pair, Jinpachi Munashi, bared a mouthful of sinister pointed teeth.
"Normally, I never get to kill to my heart's content!"
Biwa Jūzō frowned beside them.
He thought all these people had gone insane!
It was normal for shinobi to make their living through battle, but what the Heartless Pair enjoyed clearly wasn't battle.
It was brutality.
"By the way, that brat Nakamaro isn't here?"
Jinpachi narrowed his eyes.
"He could even sacrifice those Kaguya clansmen who wanted to rebel, and he's usually so eager to suck up to the Third Mizukage. Yet when there's such an easy chance to grab benefits, he doesn't show up?"
Kushimaru chuckled.
"Isn't that normal? Nakamaro is from the Kaguya Clan. You know how they are..."
"From what I know, because our entire army deployed and the logistics side became relatively thin, Nakamaro volunteered to take his men and handle transportation."
"He said they'd stay on the second line afterward as a supervision unit, fulfill the Internal Affairs Department's responsibilities, and await the Mizukage's orders."
Jinpachi burst out laughing.
"Right, right! With the brains of the Kaguya Clan, how could they possibly tell which kinds of military merit are easy to grab? Just figuring out that they shouldn't oppose the Mizukage already counts as enlightenment for them!"
"If Nakamaro actually understood that Kirigakure has never cared about that soft stuff and only cares about the heads in your hands, wouldn't that mean he's destined to become Mizukage someday?"
Logistics and battlefield supervision were absolutely critical to warfare.
But those were what could be called soft military achievements, similar to the way Orochimaru and Hiruko contributed to Konoha through scientific research.
If a village's Kage and overall atmosphere were relatively open-minded and progressive, such contributions naturally wouldn't be forgotten.
But in the Bloody Mist, no one bothered counting such things.
The most primitive measure—the number of kills—was what truly mattered.
So in the eyes of those two, Nakamaro had thrown away an excellent opportunity to advance, all because he was single-mindedly thinking about what was best for Kirigakure.
It was a little too naive.
Kushimaru nodded.
"Good thing that kid's stupid. Seriously, if someone from the Kaguya Clan became Mizukage..."
Both members of the Heartless Pair shuddered.
If one of those lunatics truly went off the deep end, wouldn't they end up even crazier than the Third Mizukage?
Still, they both knew that was impossible.
Kirigakure might respect strength above all else, but before someone could reach the point where they were strong enough to compete for the Mizukage position through single combat, they still needed enough brains to survive and grow properly.
The Kaguya Clan's reputation in Kirigakure was simply that ironclad.
So much so that over the past two years, even when someone had suspected Nakamaro's loyalty and reported to the Third Mizukage that Nakamaro might be outwardly obedient while secretly acting against him, even privately building a hidden faction centered around himself, no one had taken it seriously.
The Kaguya Clan?
Capable of something like that?
Don't make people laugh...
If someone had said the group was centered around Terumī Mei or the Yuki Clan, the Third Mizukage might at least have been interested enough to look into it.
"After this campaign, all seven of us Ninja Swordsmen are going to rack up plenty of military merit. We need to stick together..."
"We can't let a junior like Nakamaro climb over our heads. Internal Affairs Department? Hmph..."
Suikazan Fuguki joined the conversation as well.
"Don't worry. I pulled a few strings. Nakamaro and those little brothers of his were all pushed to the rear..."
"They're probably still in the village right now. If not, they're somewhere out at sea sorting supplies!"
Jinin Akebino, wielder of the Bluntsword: Kabutowari, said this with confidence.
Jūzō frowned deeply, recalling something Nakamaro had told him, whether intentionally or not.
'Don't push too far ahead.'
Jūzō and Nakamaro weren't comrades, but Nakamaro did have a faint measure of goodwill toward this member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen who still retained the conscience of a normal person.
He had given him that small warning, though he hadn't said much more.
'Something feels wrong...'
Jūzō narrowed his eyes.
'Forget it. I don't want to serve as an attack dog for someone as brutal as the Third Mizukage anyway. I'll hang back for now.'
With that, Jūzō quietly fell back without drawing attention, grabbed Zabuza by the arm, and silently slipped toward the rear flank of the formation.
After the "Demon" incident, the relationship between the two of them had become something akin to sensei and disciple.
And at that very moment—
The Kiri shinobi suddenly looked up.
The sky seemed to have caught fire as enormous fireballs, like falling meteors, came crashing down one after another!
Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique!
"Enemy attack!" a Kiri jōnin roared sharply. "Anyone who can use Water Release, get up here!"
In an instant, the Kiri shinobi displayed at least the basic organizational discipline expected of a great hidden village, as one Water Release specialist after another lined up shoulder to shoulder.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
The thick walls of water collided with the Dragon Flame Release Song, sending steam billowing across the sky!
The resulting shockwaves also whipped up violent gusts, causing many Kiri shinobi to instinctively raise their arms against the wind.
"What a violent Fire Release..." Jūzō's pupils contracted as a sense of unease surged through him. He clamped down hard on Zabuza's arm and growled in a low voice: "Listen to me, damn it. Be smart about this. We're going to slowly pull back first!"
"Whoever this Konoha shinobi is, he's definitely no ordinary opponent. You don't want to throw your life away for the Third Mizukage for no reason either, do you?"
Amid the chaos of the battlefield, Jūzō stopped pretending and said what he truly thought.
The young Zabuza silently nodded.
Sensei and disciple simultaneously assumed fighting stances, yet their entire bodies were gradually sliding backward.
"They stopped it..."
Fuguki narrowed his eyes.
"Who came? Fire Release at this level..."
But before he could analyze anything further—
At that moment.
From five different directions around Kirigakure's battle formation, five enormous combination techniques, each at least as powerful as the previous Fire Release, came blasting toward them from separate angles!
Combination Ninjutsu...
Lightning-Water Dragon Bullet, Fire-Earth Lava Bullet, Wind-Fire Dragon Bullet, Fire-Lightning Explosive Bullet, Water-Earth Swamp Bullet!
A water dragon infused with Lightning Release, enormous chunks of rock heated into molten magma, raging flames intensified by wind, explosions formed from lightning and fire intertwining, and a mass of mud with tremendous adhesive power...
Driven to maximum output by the full force of Hiruzen's chakra, the five combination barrages hurtled straight toward the very center of Kirigakure's elite battle formation with their greatest possible power!
The mist created by the collision between the Dragon Flame Release Song and the Water Formation Wall hadn't even fully dispersed when another round of lethal attacks came roaring in.
Some Kirigakure jōnin managed to react and hurriedly cast defensive Water Release ninjutsu, but this Combination Five Release Great Combo Technique wasn't something ordinary elemental techniques could deal with...
This wasn't a matter of numbers.
Take the Lightning-Water Dragon Bullet, for example. Dealing with it required a large-scale Earth Release technique. Trying to block it with Water Release would only cause the defender to electrocute themselves instead.
In a single instant, five terrifying combination techniques came from five directions, each requiring a completely different response.
Kirigakure's defensive formation effectively crashed on the spot.
They could only counterattack on instinct.
Some used Water Release.
Some resorted to Earth Release they weren't proficient in.
Others could only raise their kunai horizontally, eyes bulging as they screamed things like "Bastard!" and "Damn it!" as though shouting loudly enough could force the attacks back...
But it was destined to be useless.
Some of Kirigakure's defenses managed to slow the attacks slightly, while others instead made the combination barrage even more devastating.
The five combination techniques slammed into Kirigakure's battle formation in rapid succession.
The white mist that had yet to fully disperse was instantly torn to shreds by the violent chakra storm!
The first to detonate was the Fire-Lightning Explosive Bullet.
Lightning and fire intertwined, transforming into exploding meteors of flame and electricity that filled the sky. Flames wrapped in lightning erupted through the formation, instantly clearing out an empty zone within their ranks.
The Kiri shinobi at the front didn't even have time to scream before the violent lightning and fire tore their bodies apart, the blast waves hurling them through the air in every direction.
Immediately afterward came the roar of the Lightning-Water Dragon Bullet.
The water dragon, wreathed in arcs of lightning, smashed headfirst into the crowd before exploding into a vast curtain of electrified water.
The Water Release that had originally been used for defense became a death warrant in that instant. Lightning Release spread through the flowing water into every possible opening, causing dozens of Kiri shinobi within the formation to stiffen all at once.
The Wind-Fire Dragon Bullet rode the shockwave from the explosions and instantly erupted a second time.
The wind fed the flames.
The flames borrowed the wind's force.
The already violent fire dragon exploded into a sea of flames that swept across everything, consuming the paralyzed Kiri shinobi and turning them into fuel.
The Fire-Earth Lava Bullet came crashing down with crushing force and shattered violently in the very center of the battle formation.
Molten chunks of magma scattered outward like a meteor shower, each carrying enough heat to burn straight through anything it touched. Wherever one struck, flesh and bone alike were instantly melted through, leaving behind charred black holes.
The Water-Earth Swamp Bullet, which fell last, became a prison of despair.
The viscous, corrosive mud exploded outward and instantly spread into a swamp dozens of meters wide, its tremendous adhesive force greedily swallowing everything in its path.
The Kiri shinobi whose legs had been trapped in the mud could only try to endure the impact of the other four combination barrages head-on...
But there was no way they could withstand it.
In the span of a single breath, Kirigakure's once orderly elite battle formation had completely collapsed.
A sea of fire, curtains of lightning, swampland, magma, and high-pressure water currents intertwined across the battlefield, interacting with one another as though each were feeding the others the vitality they needed to continue wreaking havoc...
The Kiri shinobi who had somehow survived curled up on the ground and stared at the scene before them.
The cruel, triumphant smiles they had worn moments earlier had vanished without a trace.
All that remained was fear and despair that seemed to seep into their very bones.
The scene looked like a natural disaster had descended upon them!
There was no reason to it, no warning, and no ability to fight back...
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