Earth Country

I reached home and Tsunade was waiting for me to have lunch with me. I entered the house and we had lunch. Then I started speaking "Mom, Uncle Hiruzen told me that the battle in the rock village is getting hard and Orochimaru is losing. So I was thinking of going there and lending him a hand". Tsunade stared at me and let out a sigh and spoke "I can't hold you back. You have grown, but let me accompany you this time. I also want to see you fight". I nodded and said "Then get ready mom. We'll leave tomorrow."

I then went to the Hokage's office and entered. I then asked him "Uncle Hiruzen, mom insisted that she also accompanies me tomorrow. It's fine right?" Hiruzen became happy and said "Sure. Why not. It will boost morale of our troops and I can rest assured having three Kage level shinobi in the battlefield". I nodded and went out. As I was walking through the village, I saw Might Dai there. As soon as I saw him, I remembered that he will die soon facing the 7 ninja swordsman and opening the eight gate. I approached him and spoke "Yo Might Dai san, how are you doing?" Dai smiled seeing me and replied "If it isn't Ryu. You have become famous already." I smiled and handed him a special Kunai and said "Dai san, you recognised me as your brother even if I am younger than you. This Kunai is a gift from me. When you are in trouble and have no choice but to open the eighth gate, remember my words and use the kunai. No matter what the odds." Dai smiled and nodded saying "I'll remember it Ryu. Thanks". I then waved my hand and returned home.

The next morning, me and mother got ready and she said "Let's go. I'm ready". I nodded and grabbed her hand and we disappeared with a yellow flash. In a matter of seconds, we arrived at the Konoha's camp in the earth country. Many of the Ninjas in the camp were injured. My mother and I immediately started assisting the medical team. After that was done, we finally went to Orochimaru's tent.

Upon our arrival, we found Orochimaru teaching Anko Mitarashi. Orochimaru was her Sensei, and she learned all her Snake Ninjutsu from him; She respected him greatly. After that, Orochimaru defected, and planted a cursed seal on Anko. As the product of his experiments and his only living disciple, Orochimaru wanted to take take her along, but she refused. She did want to go with him; she had no resentment against Orochimaru. But she had to make a choice between her village and her Sensei. "Ryu kun, Tsunade, I wasn't expecting you!" Orochimaru seemed surprised to see Us.

"Hey! Uncle Orochi" I greeted him. Tsunade just nodded. "You're Ryu Senju? What are you doing here?" Anko was always impressed by the two geniuses, Ryu and Kakashi. "It's Anko! I heard that Uncle Orochi took you as his apprentice, not bad!" I greeted my old classmate. "Ryu kun, since Sarutobi Sensei sent you here, do you have a way to deal with the Explosion Release? Or are you here to treat the injured Ninjas?" Asked Orochimaru. "I'm here for both!" I answered

Orochimaru's eyes got bright. The Rock's Explosion Squad was a big concern for Konoha. He's always wanted to deal with them, and didn't expect that Ryu would be the one with the solution. "Ryu kun, would you tell me about your method?" Asked Orochimaru. "Of course!" As he finished his words, I entered the Lightning Chakra mode, and then formed a Rasengan in my hand, then proceeded to injecting it with Lightning Chakra, rendering it into a lightning sphere.

Orochimaru felt the power of the Lightning Sphere, and became really excited. Such a level of lightning Ninjutsu should deal with the Explosion Release with ease. "Ryu kun, you really gave me a big surprise!" Said Orochimaru. "Orochimaru san, you're flattering me. I also have a mass attack lightning jutsu that I want to try out. So Now, I will be dealing with the Rock Ninja's as soon as possible.." I said. Orochimaru nodded and proceeded to explain the sitsituation to us.

Their battle style was mainly revolving around initiating with the Explosion Squad, and then followed by the rest of the Ninjas using Earth Release to create favorable conditions for the following Taijutsu based fighting. Konoha's Ninjas had no edge over the Rock Ninjas. Their defences were strong, and most of their Ninjas were proficient with Earth Release. On the other hand, the Nature Release that Konoha Ninjas were most proficient with was Fire Release, and that wasn't particularly efficient against their defences.

If the only problem was this, that wouldn't make Konoha get in such a disadvantage on its own. The hardest thing for Konoha's Ninja's to face was the Explosion Squad's initiation. As expected from Orochimaru, his pre-battle mobilization speech wasn't that impassioned. Still, it had the power to reach Konoha's Ninjas hearts. Looking at the over 5000 Konoha Ninjas' reaction, a fanatical expression rose on my face, and I saw a glimpse of the charming effect of Orochimaru's words.

After the speech, Konoha's Ninjas set off, and the Rock Ninja's also noticed their movement. The 3rd Tsuchikage led his own army to resist Konoha's attack. The two sides met upon a hill, with Konoha occupying the higher terrain. I used Sage mode to locate the explosion squad. After a minute, I was able to locate the explosion squad. I then said to Orochimaru "Uncle Orochi, You take care of the trooos and the Tsuchikage. I'll deal with the explosion squad and come back to assist you. I then marked Orochimaru and turned to the direction I sensed the explosion squad.

"Orochimaru, you dare to come?! Aren't you afraid that we would kill more of your men?" Said Ohnoki. Facing Onoki's provocation, Orochimaru licked his lips in his signature way, and the revealed his wicked smile. "Disgusting! [Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu]!"Ohnoki attacked."[Summoning: Triple Rashomon]" Faced with his enemy's attack, Orochimaru didn't wasn't flustered and went straight for defense. The power of Onoki's attack was so devastating that it took out two of the Rashomons.

The Rock Ninja's saw that their Kage went straight into action, and they went in to engage the enemy as well. The 1st to appear was the Explosion squad, the one that caused Konoha many losses in lives "Well? Aren't you going to rescue your men?" During their 1st few battles, Orochimaru definitely protected his men. This time however, he showed no signs of being willing to move in. This was abnormal, making Onoki feel puzzled and worried.