They were terrifyingly strong.
Hanzo of the Salamander, Fourth Raikage A, and Third Tsuchikage Onoki formed a lethal triangle, pinning Minato Namikaze and his team in the center. Their intent was clear: trap the Konoha leadership within the combined kill-zone of three Tailed Beasts.
However, Minato remained unnervingly calm. "This works out," he mused inwardly. "If they are all here, it means the Allied Shinobi Force has effectively lost its command center."
With no Tailed Beasts or Kages to anchor the enemy's rear, as long as Tsunade maintained a steady hand on the main front, victory was only a matter of time. Minato had already calculated the strategic calculus: Konoha possessed superior individual quality and logistical endurance.
Meanwhile, the Cloud and Stone had gambled everything on this decapitation strike. Originally, they were supposed to have four Tailed Beasts, but with the Two-Tails captured by Hiruko, the "certainty" of their victory had already begun to fray.
Hanzo and Onoki exchanged a glance, their brows furrowing. They knew this "advantageous" positioning was too easy. The fact that the Konoha elite had walked right into the trap without hesitation suggested a hidden variable.
Hanzo, estimating that the Tailed Beast Bombs would take a moment to fully charge, decided to seize the initiative and shatter Konoha's composure. He drew a deep breath and roared through his respirator: "Minato Namikaze! Prepare to die!!"
Minato didn't flinch. Instead, he signaled his team to close ranks while his hands blurred into a series of complex seals. Simultaneously, the perceptive Hiruko—watching through his clone—triggered his own sequence.
In a flash of light, thirty-six small saplings erupted from the ground around Minato. Beside each sapling stood an enemy ninja, their eyes glazed over by genjutsu, their bodies already being fed upon by parasitic roots.
"Release!" Minato shouted.
The thirty-six saplings, suddenly infused with a surge of specialized chakra, became voracious. They began to frantically drain the blood of the hypnotized sacrifices.
Gurgle! Gurgle!
At a rate visible to the naked eye, the saplings swelled. Within moments, they had transformed into towering, ancient giants, their dense foliage blotting out the sun. These gargantuan trees spread outward like a tidal wave of timber, creating a living fortress that shielded Minato's core group.
At that exact moment, the Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Eight-Tails unleashed their Tailed Beast Bombs. The spheres of compressed destruction tore through the air with apocalyptic force.
Light and heat washed over the battlefield, blinding everyone. But because the bombs detonated against the massive wood structures rather than the shinobi themselves, the impact was absorbed. Even so, the chakra cost of maintaining such a defense was astronomical. Surviving the first volley was only the beginning; they still had to face the ensuing pursuit.
As the smoke cleared, the Fourth Raikage and Onoki stood frozen in shock. It was as if they had seen a ghost.
"That... that's the First Hokage's Deep Forest Emergence!"
"Impossible!" Onoki shrieked, his voice cracking. "How could the First return?!"
"Heh, nothing is impossible," Orochimaru chuckled, his tongue flicking across his lips as he gazed greedily at the writhing wood. "Hiruko... to think he has grown to this level. No wonder Minato was confident enough to lead us into this trap."
Around them, the trees began to move with a predatory intelligence. Each branch and vine acted like a wooden dragon, whistling through the air to lash out at the Tailed Beasts.
The Eight-Tails, Gyuki, struggled as the vines coiled around its massive, bull-like frame. Despite its abysmal chakra reserves, it found itself being sapped.
Seeing the "Wood Style" that had once suppressed them during the era of Hashirama Senju, the Four and Five-Tails were struck by a primal terror. The fear was etched into their very souls. As the vines tightened, draining their energy in massive torrents, the Eight-Tails let out a roar of frustrated rage, unable to snap the bindings immediately.
The other beasts rushed to help. To a Tailed Beast, Wood Style was their natural predator—a lethal counter that turned the tide of the battle into a desperate struggle for survival. The forest became a purgatory of gods and monsters, as hills were leveled and ancient trees were shattered like glass.
Suddenly, Onoki's hands clapped together. A transparent, glowing cube materialized between his palms, rapidly expanding into a long beam of light.
"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
Minato had already warned them. The team scattered instantly as the beam swept across the field like a hot knife through butter, disintegrating the Wood Style constructs into nothingness.
Amidst the chaos, Minato blurred, appearing directly in front of the Fourth Raikage. A confident smile touched his lips. "A, it's been a while. Let's see how much you've improved!"
On the other side, Jiraiya and the Third Hokage became living artillery. With their teammates providing cover, they unleashed a storm of high-level ninjutsu.
"Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bomb!" Jiraiya's massive wave of scorching oil turned the area into an inferno.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was no less impressive. Holding the Adamantine Staff, he roared, "Ninja Art: Five Element Combo Jutsu!" Five massive spheres of fire, water, lightning, earth, and wind collided in the air, creating a multi-layered explosion that rocked the barrier like a nuclear strike.
The Konoha side even had Anbu units successfully delivering logistics and supplies through the chaos. The stalemate was set.
The enemy had hoped to decapitate the Leaf's leadership and end the war. They never expected Hiruko's "technological" recreation of the First Hokage's power to derail their plans so thoroughly.
As the heat rose and the stalemate dragged on, the strategic reality shifted. While the Third and Fourth Hokages were occupied, Konoha still had Tsunade—the ultimate "Lucky Charm" and pillar of stability—back at camp. Her presence ensured high morale and medical perfection.
In contrast, the Cloud and Stone were leaderless. Without their Kages, the army was a scattered mess. Worse yet, Danzo—that "Old Silver Coin"—was lurking in the shadows, picking off their remaining commanders with his elite Root squads.
In a world where the "Shadow" is the soul of the village, their absence was fatal. The vice-commanders were panicking, unable to handle the pressure. The Cloud and Stone's strategy was sound in theory: win quickly or die. They knew their logistics couldn't handle a long war.
They had bet everything on four Tailed Beasts.
But fortune had not been kind.
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