Chapter 184: Kumogakure Becomes the Top Lackey, Wood Release... Advent of a World of Trees

"All genin and chunin, leave the Land of Rain immediately. The upcoming battle is not something you can participate in. Even staying here could put your lives at risk.

Yamanaka clan, use your clan's secret techniques to notify the other units and have them evacuate the Land of Rain as well. Only all-purpose jonin and combat personnel should remain in the Land of Rain. If possible, help evacuate the civilians within the Land of Rain. The upcoming battle will likely affect the entire country."

"Yes, Lord Yagyu!"

Watching the Ten-Tails, whose massive tails were like mountain ridges tearing through the earth, and whose roars were like thunderous explosions, Yagyu, who had returned to the Konoha camp using the Flying Thunder God Technique, immediately bypassed Tsunade to issue the highest command.

Hearing this, the Konoha ninja quickly complied.

Whether they were civilians or clan leaders, genin or elite jonin, everyone obeyed Yagyu without question.

At this moment, Yagyu's reputation was akin to Naruto's in the original story after defeating the Six Paths of Pain—transforming from a despised demon fox into a hero of Konoha, reaching its peak in an instant.

Of course, Yagyu's reputation had already been at its peak before this. In Konoha, he was second only to one, standing above tens of thousands.

After all, the Hokage was the symbol of Konoha, the village's treasure, and everyone had thought Yagyu hadn't yet grown to the level of the First Hokage.

But now, Yagyu's reputation had surpassed Tsunade's, becoming a figure who, even before officially becoming the Sixth Hokage, stood above the Hokage.

Because they had witnessed the birth of the new era's God of Shinobi.

That Thousand-Armed Kannon was the best proof!

The clan leaders, who knew about the Wood Human and the Complete Body — Susanoo from their family histories, never imagined that above these legendary techniques, there existed a technique like the Thousand-Armed Kannon.

Compared to the Uchiha clan's Susanoo, this was true divine power.

The Konoha ninja who had witnessed the power of the Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands — Top Transformation had no doubt about Yagyu's words.

If divine power clashed with divine power, even if they were far from the battlefield, as long as they were still in the Land of Rain, their lives could be in danger.

After all, the tremors from the Thousand-Armed Kannon's bombardment had affected the entire Land of Rain.

And that was just one divine power.

Now, the monster in the distance, though far away, gave them a sense of pressure similar to the Thousand-Armed Kannon.

Without a doubt, the upcoming battle was not something they could participate in at their level.

Thus, the genin and chunin quickly packed up and evacuated, heading toward the border with Body Flicker Techniques.

At the same time, the Yamanaka clan used their secret techniques to contact their clansmen sent to other camps, relaying Yagyu's warnings and instructions to the remaining Kage and Mifune.

Like the Konoha ninja, the five great villages and the Land of Iron, having witnessed the Thousand-Armed Kannon's power that affected an entire nation, deeply believed Yagyu's words.

The Kage and Mifune immediately ordered all ninja who were not at least special jonin—more accurately, all non-combat personnel, whether genin or jonin—to evacuate the Land of Rain.

Among them, the village with the most evacuees was naturally Iwagakure.

Among the reanimated army, there were many powerful deceased, including the Third Raikage, who stood at the pinnacle of the Kage.

However, the Third Raikage, despite being at the pinnacle of the Kage, had the fewest kills.

The most terrifying record belonged to the Second Tsuchikage, whose single-target and area-of-effect damage reached the peak of the Kage level.

Although Iwagakure was the first to abandon the fight, choosing to flee when outmatched, they suffered the second-highest casualties after Kumogakure.

Ōnoki, who in peacetime would rather spend money hiring the Akatsuki than risk his own people on high-level missions, was heartbroken to see so many Iwa ninja die, especially at the hands of the Second Tsuchikage, whom he respected the most.

Now, looking at the Ten-Tails, which likely held the secrets of the tailed beasts, Ōnoki, a seasoned veteran, sensed the stench of death and conspiracy. There was no way he would let the surviving Iwa ninja go to their deaths.

If not for fear of being labeled a traitor, facing post-war liquidation, or missing out on the spoils of victory, Ōnoki might have even considered withdrawing Iwagakure entirely and returning to the Land of Earth.

Even so, Ōnoki did not leave all the combat personnel and elites behind, only taking a portion with him as he headed toward Konoha's direction.

Looking at the Thousand-Armed Kannon, which seemed like the highest peak in the world, Ōnoki realized that Yagyu had become a figure like Hashirama.

The key to victory in this war lay with him.

Temporarily aligning with Konoha was the wisest move.

With the new era's God of Shinobi and Konoha shielding them, they could minimize casualties, and if they won, they might avoid liquidation afterward.

Thinking this, Ōnoki felt a pang of regret.

If he had known Yagyu was this powerful, he wouldn't have been so arrogant during the Five Kage Summit.

He should have fully sided with Konoha and formed a shinobi alliance, which would have prevented such heavy losses.

The other great villages shared similar thoughts.

Especially Kumogakure!

After losing the Fourth Raikage and Killer B, the A-B combo, and Darui's death in the war, the highest-ranking figures in Kumogakure were now Samui, who was on the front lines, and Mabui, a support-type ninja.

Samui was a jonin of Kumogakure, one of Killer B's sword technique disciples, and deeply trusted by the Fourth Raikage.

If Darui were still alive, he would have been the natural choice for the next Raikage.

But there were no ifs. Kumogakure, as the only village to have angered Yagyu and the key target of his determination to cripple the great villages, had been the primary target since the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War.

The Third Raikage was tasked with holding off the A-B combo, while the reanimated army and elite reanimated squads were responsible for slaughtering Kumogakure's elites.

Darui, the Raikage candidate, was naturally the first target of the reanimated army.

Despite his strength, he only sustained severe injuries by the time Nagato entered the battlefield.

But after Nagato's arrival, this jonin, the second in Kumogakure after the Third Raikage to master Black Lightning, met his end.

Not only Darui, but even C, who in the original story served as the Fourth Raikage's bodyguard alongside Darui, skilled in sensing, genjutsu, and medical ninjutsu—a versatile jonin—also died on the battlefield.

To be precise, Kumogakure's versatile jonin and other renowned jonin were all systematically killed by the reanimated elite squads controlled by Hundred Faces.

Now, the surviving jonin were all special jonin, far inferior to Samui in both strength and reputation.

Samui was now the strongest in the Kumogakure forces.

If she survived the war, Kumogakure would have its first female Raikage.

And all of this was thanks to Yagyu.

Samui, who had been saved by Yagyu twice, now trusted him more than anyone in her own village.

In fact, she had become dependent on Yagyu.

Thus, upon receiving Yagyu's warning and instructions, Samui immediately ordered the weaker Kumogakure ninja to leave the Land of Rain, while she led the rested Kumogakure forces toward the Konoha troops.

The Kumogakure ninja who had witnessed the Thousand-Armed Kannon up close were already in awe of Yagyu's power.

If Yagyu sought to unify the ninja world after the war, it was clear that the first village to align with Konoha would not be Sunagakure, their ally, but Kumogakure, which had been reduced to a handful of elite jonin.

Kirigakure and Sunagakure also issued orders, leading their elite forces toward the Konoha troops.

Without needing to say more, the Kage, Mei Terumī and Gaara, realized that the final battle was upon them.

Defeating this monster and the Akatsuki would ensure peace in the ninja world. Even if the pattern were truly broken, having Yagyu, the new era's God of Shinobi, rule would be far better than being ruled by a terrorist organization of rogue ninja.

Thus, under the night sky, twelve streams of people moved in different directions.

Six of them headed toward the borders of the Land of Rain with Body Flicker Techniques, while the other six moved toward the center of the Land of Rain, where the Ten-Tails, roaring at the sky with its chakra surging, was stimulating its body to evolve further.

Whoosh———— Boom!!

Before the other great villages and the Land of Iron's samurai forces could join the Konoha troops.

The Konoha elite troops, running toward the Ten-Tails, suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound.

Before they could turn to see where the sound was coming from, they saw a dark figure, clear under the moonlight, crash like a boulder in front of them, creating a loud explosion and sending up a cloud of dust and debris.

"Everyone, be careful! The enemy's chakra is extremely powerful!"

"Gulp... Such chakra, could it be another famous powerhouse from the past?"

"Such... such evil yin chakra. The enemy is likely a genjutsu-type ninja. Everyone, disrupt your chakra flow every few seconds. Don't fall for the enemy's genjutsu."

"..."

Before the figure in the dust could emerge, or even become visible, the Konoha elite troops heard the warnings from their sensory ninja.

The Hyuga clan members had already activated their Byakugan, terrified by the chakra within the figure in the dust.

If the Hyuga's Byakugan could only see chakra and meridians and not other things, these people would have been scared to the point of collapsing.

Even so, many with strong sensory abilities were swallowing hard, their voices trembling.

But before they could feel fear, their attention was drawn to the figure standing at the front of the elite troops.

Looking at Yagyu, with his silver hair flowing like a waterfall and dressed in a black robe, all the Konoha ninja felt a sense of security, their hearts filled with reassurance.

As long as Yagyu was here, even if the enemy was the leader of the Akatsuki or the Asura of the Ninja World from the past, they wouldn't be afraid.

As if hearing their thoughts, the figure finally emerged from the dust, and as the wind blew the dust away, he appeared before the Konoha elite troops.

Looking at the figure clad in the red armor common during the Warring States Period, his body covered in cracks, Tsunade, standing beside Yagyu, widened her eyes and called out the figure's name.

This caused an uproar among the troops.

"Nani? He... he's Uchiha Madara?!"

"That's right, it's Uchiha Madara from the history books. I've even been to the Valley of the End and seen his statue!"

"Damn Akatsuki! Not only did they reanimate the First Hokage, but they also brought back Uchiha Madara, who died years ago and whose body went missing!"

"Don't be afraid, we have Lord Yagyu. Even Uchiha Madara is no match for him!"

"..."

Unlike in the original story, where Tobi, posing as Uchiha Madara, appeared at the Five Kage Summit and announced the Eye of the Moon Plan, starting the Fourth Great Ninja War and making the shinobi alliance feel immense pressure facing the real Uchiha Madara, here the greatest enemy of the five great villages and the Land of Iron was the Akatsuki leader with the Rinnegan.

Since Yagyu wasn't even sure if Nagato was dead, everyone still believed the Ten-Tails was the Akatsuki leader's creation.

And on Konoha's side, they had already faced the First Hokage.

For this Asura of the Ninja World, who had never been a match for the God of Shinobi in life, the awe was far less than in the original story.

Even the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage, along with the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and the last Uchiha, had been defeated by Lord Yagyu. What was one Uchiha Madara?

But just as the Konoha ninja began to relax, their expressions changed again, their eyes filled with horror as if they had seen something unbelievable.

Uchiha Madara, who had emerged from the dust, activated his three-tomoe Sharingan and surveyed the four figures at the front of the Konoha elite troops.

These four were Yagyu, Tsunade, Naruto, and Sasuke.

Through his Sharingan, Uchiha Madara saw that Yagyu and Naruto had astonishing chakra, Tsunade was slightly behind them, and Sasuke was last.

With just a few glances, Uchiha Madara recognized them.

He had seen Tsunade as a child and grown up, having only truly died during the Third Great Ninja War. She was Hashirama's granddaughter.

Naruto's whisker marks revealed his identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.

When Uchiha Madara saw Sasuke, his eyes momentarily glazed over, almost mistaking him for Uchiha Izuna.

Excluding these three, the one who had inherited Hashirama's Wood Release Kekkei Genkai was obvious.

"There aren't many people, but this number is enough..."

Coming back to his senses, Uchiha Madara looked at the Konoha elite troops before him and suddenly smirked, muttering to himself, "Perfect for testing that technique."

Clap—

Without greeting Yagyu or the others, Uchiha Madara brought his hands together and called out the name of a technique that made the Konoha ninja's expressions change drastically: "Wood Release..."

"Advent of a World of Trees!"