Chapter 352

The towering earth walls blocked the incoming jutsu but also obscured visibility for both sides.

As the walls crumbled, both sides launched simultaneous attacks, hoping to catch the other off guard.

The result was a massive collision of projectiles, shuriken and kunai clashing midair, creating a deafening symphony of metallic clangs.

The majority of the projectiles fell harmlessly to the ground after colliding. Only a few managed to pierce through and reach the opposing side, but these were easily deflected by defensive measures.

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

The World Alliance shinobi unleashed a powerful Water Release jutsu, forming enormous waves like a tsunami that surged toward Konoha's shinobi.

Faced with such an overwhelming Water Release, shinobi typically had three methods of response.

The first was to dodge, though with the size of the wave, evading was nearly impossible.

The second was to counter it with an equally powerful jutsu, creating a massive wave of their own to cancel it out.

The third was to use Earth Release, as Earth Release was strong against Water Release. A series of massive earth walls could easily block the surging tides.

The Konoha shinobi opted for the third approach.

Several of them formed hand seals, and enormous earth walls rose from the ground.

However, as if anticipating this move, the World Alliance shinobi had prepared a counter-strategy.

Taking advantage of the obscured visibility caused by their Water Release jutsu, they simultaneously launched an Earth Release: Earth Core Movement.

Their earlier Earth moving spears had been blocked, but it had also destroyed the previous earth walls erected by Konoha.

This time, their objective was clear, to destroy Konoha's newly raised defenses.

The earth walls surged upward, but almost immediately began to collapse.

The tidal waves pressed forward, relentless and devastating.

Seeing the defense fail, Konoha's Sage Shinobi took action again.

"Sage Art: Water Release, Great Waterfall Technique!"

Once more, they used Sage Art to form immense waves of their own.

Although only a few Sage Shinobi used the jutsu, the waves they created were just as powerful as the enemy's.

The two waves collided, crashing into each other and gradually dissipating.

The water slowly fell, spreading outward in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, a small lake had formed on the battlefield.

Water pooled beneath the feet of many shinobi.

"Those Konoha shinobi... they're no ordinary ninja," the Third Kazekage muttered gravely as he observed the battlefield.

They had been watching closely and had noticed the Sage Shinobi among Konoha's ranks.

"Their jutsu... it's far too powerful. It reminds me of Hui from thirteen years ago. His jutsu was just as terrifying," said the Third Raikage.

He remembered vividly how, during the battle at Moonfall mountain, Kumo's nearly 10,000 shinobi had been stopped in their tracks by Hui, who used large-scale techniques that weaponized the very terrain.

Those massive jutsu had left an indelible mark on the Third Raikage's memory.

"That technique... it's called Sage Art."

A village leader from a small village suddenly spoke up.

He recognized the jutsu, as it had been recorded in his village's archives.

"In our village records, Sage Art amplifies ninjutsu and physical abilities by infusing natural energy into chakra.

"Those who can use Sage Art must master a technique known as Sage Mode, a skill said to exist only in the three Great Summoning Realms.

"It seems that Konoha has made large-scale summoning contracts with these realms.

"This means we may soon have to deal with a significant number of summoned beasts."

The leader spoke calmly, sharing the knowledge from his village's archives.

"That's nothing to fear. We have even more summoning beasts on our side. If they use summons, we'll summon ours as well," Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, declared confidently.

To him, ordinary shinobi, even those who had mastered Sage Mode, posed no threat, even with their summoned creatures.

There was only one person he truly feared.

Hui.

The one man who had yet to make a move.

In the last ninja war, it wasn't so much that they had lost to Konoha as a village, it was more accurate to say they had been defeated by Hui alone.

This was a man who could change the course of an entire war by himself.

His power was simply overwhelming.

And now, thirteen years later, who knew how much stronger he had become?

And there was also that technique, the one with a ten-kilometer attack range!

Thus, until Hui made his move, no matter how the battle progressed or how much Konoha's forces suffered, the outcome of the war could not be determined.

"Let them keep wearing each other down. At the end of the day, ordinary shinobi won't make a real difference in this war.

"Ultimately, this war is just a fight between us and Hui.

"If we can defeat him, we win.

"But if we can't... everything else is meaningless."

Onoki spoke solemnly. From the very beginning, he had understood what the true battle of this war was.

On the battlefield, the clash of ninjutsu continued in full force.

Techniques flew back and forth, fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind intertwining in dazzling displays of destruction, leaving spectators awestruck.

To the Daimyōs watching from afar, this war had already shattered their perception of what ninja were capable of.

They had never taken shinobi seriously before.

After all, shinobi numbers were limited, a large village might have 10,000 shinobi at most.

Meanwhile, the Daimyōs commanded armies tens of times that size.

In their minds, no matter how powerful an individual shinobi was, they would always be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

But now, after witnessing this shinobi war firsthand, the Daimyōs realized the bitter truth, if their armies ever fought against these shinobi, they would be utterly annihilated.

Their hearts sank.

The shinobi, with their overwhelming power, seemed to be under the control of their wealth, but in reality, they had never truly been controlled.

If that immense power ever became unified under one person, it could sweep across the entire world unchecked.

If they couldn't find a way to completely control this power, then the world couldn't afford to have so many shinobi.

Wave after wave of ninjutsu collisions drained chakra at an alarming rate.

The World Alliance had the advantage in numbers, even though their quality varied, they had enough manpower to rotate their forces.

Konoha's advantage lay in the quality of their shinobi.

The weakest in Konoha's army were chūnin-level, and they could produce ninjutsu equal to or even superior to their opponents with fewer numbers.

Thus, the war was deadlocked.

Of course, this was also because the elite shinobi had yet to join the fight, and the battle hadn't entered close combat yet.

Once the elite shinobi entered the fray, the situation would undoubtedly change.

However, both sides' elites were waiting, for the perfect moment to make their move.

The clash of ninjutsu continued, though the intensity gradually decreased.

After such an extended exchange of large-scale techniques, chakra was beginning to run low on both sides.

Everyone knew they had to conserve chakra for the close-quarters combat that would inevitably follow.

Only a fool would exhaust all their chakra in a long-range battle without holding anything back.

Hui observed the battlefield with keen interest, his expression calm and relaxed.

Konoha's shinobi had grown remarkably.

The only thing they still lacked was battle experience.

But that was fine, they would gain it in time.

"Third Hokage-sama, the ninjutsu exchange seems to be ending. Should we engage in close combat now?"

An elite shinobi approached and asked Hui for instructions.

The question made Hui hesitate internally.

During the ninjutsu clashes, he could act as a final line of defense, ensuring no one on Konoha's side died.

But close-quarters combat was different. He wouldn't be able to monitor and protect every single shinobi on the battlefield.

If they engaged in close combat, there would inevitably be casualties.

So... should he make his move now?

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