Chapter 163: Five-Tails Catches the Cicada, Pain is Behind
Chapter 163: Five-Tails Catches the Cicada, Pain is Behind
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"Takigakure's armaments and supplies are all provided by your Konoha, right?" Onoki questioned directly.
"Lord Tsuchikage, regarding this issue, Takigakure purchased them from our Konoha at market price. These are all normal commercial activities. Surely you can't mean that just because you are at war, we can't even do business anymore," Uchiha Douhuan said, shrugging.
"Takigakure bought ninja tools at market price?" Onoki narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. Given the way Takigakure had been extravagantly using exploding tags on the battlefield these past few days, now Uchiha Douhuan was telling him these ninja tools were purchased at market price? Who would believe that if it got out? With Takigakure's current rate of use, even their Land of Earth couldn't withstand such prolonged extravagance, let alone Takigakure.
"Yes, at most it's because of the large quantity that our village's ninja tool merchants gave an eighty percent discount," Uchiha Douhuan stated. "I swear in the name of all past Hokage, Konoha has absolutely not provided any substantive support to the Land of Waterfall. If Lord Tsuchikage doesn't believe it, you can send people to Konoha to inspect the contracts for Takigakure's ninja tool purchases."
Uchiha Douhuan had already spoken to this extent, so Onoki couldn't press further. Otherwise, if they really pushed Uchiha Douhuan too far and Konoha fully intervened, the outcome of this war would be uncertain.
"Since that's the case, I hope Lord Hokage will not forget the peace agreement between us," Onoki said.
"Of course, we also hope Lord Tsuchikage can remember the agreement between us. When the battle line pushes to Konoha's border, I hope your country's army can also remain calm," Uchiha Douhuan retorted.
After Uchiha Douhuan finished speaking, he hung up the video call.
According to his agreement with Chomei, although Uchiha Douhuan had begun teaching Fū the techniques to master Tailed Beast power, both had held something back at critical junctures, leaving Fū currently in a state where she seemed able to learn but found actual execution extremely difficult. And during this long learning process, Naruto, Sasuke, and the others also began to form a friendship with Fū. For Fū, she never expected that the friendship she yearned for in Takigakure Village but couldn't obtain would be so easily attainable in Konoha.
As the days passed one by one, Fū's initial desire to quickly master the Seven-Tails' power and then return to her village slowly began to瓦解 (wǎjiě - disintegrate/crumble).
And the rebranded mercenaries sent to the battlefield by Uchiha Douhuan, after arriving and familiarizing themselves with the environment, also achieved repeated remarkable successes. Upon first arriving on the battlefield, with Iwagakure having no intelligence on them, they relied on Shikaku's exquisite command and the Sarutobi Legion's refined joint Fire Style ninjutsu under Asuma's leadership to directly annihilate an Iwagakure squad. Furthermore, the survivor deliberately left by Shikaku revealed all the secrets in his brain under the Yamanaka clan's secret technique, and this intelligence was directly sent to Takigakure's command post through secret means.
Onoki flew into a rage upon learning of this. After all, the traces on the battlefield were all caused by Fire Style ninjutsu, and the entire ninja world knew very well which family possessed the strongest Fire Style.
However, facing Onoki's questioning, Uchiha Douhuan very frankly invited the other party to send people to visit the Uchiha clan compound to demonstrate their innocence.
"So, you mean, this batch of ninjas capable of using powerful combination Fire Style ninjutsu are not from your Konoha, correct?" Onoki nearly ground his teeth to pieces, but the facts were thus. In the intelligence he gathered, the opposing side, apart from Fire Style, hadn't displayed any other abilities, such as the Sharingan.
"Of course, didn't I already say? If you don't believe it, you can send people to visit our Uchiha clan compound anytime," Uchiha Douhuan said with a pleasant chuckle.
It could only be said that the private army cultivated by the Third Hokage back then was indeed secretive. Not many in the entire ninja world knew of the existence of this Sarutobi Legion. And in the current situation, as long as Uchiha Douhuan destroyed these people's ninja registration numbers, then these individuals would once again become unregistered persons in the ninja world.
"Then, did these large-scale Fire Style ninjas just appear out of thin air?" Onoki asked, suppressing his anger.
"That's hard to say," Uchiha Douhuan said meaningfully. "The ninja world is so vast; perhaps it's just some organization's ninjas wanting to help the weak? Just like the Akatsuki organization that has now appeared on the battlefield between you and the Land of Waterfall."
"Hehe, Lord Hokage truly knows how to joke," Onoki said through gritted teeth. He was certain this Fire Style ninja team was related to Konoha but just couldn't find any evidence.
"If there's nothing else, I'll hang up first. I still need to teach my disciple today," Uchiha Douhuan chuckled and hung up the call with Onoki.
As for this Sarutobi Legion team being caught by Iwagakure, Uchiha Douhuan believed that with Nara Shikaku's intelligence, this possibility was minuscule. After all, what Shikaku needed to do wasn't to lead this Sarutobi Legion team to win the war, but merely to act as a troublemaker on the battlefield. With such a huge information disparity, if Nara Shikaku still got exposed, he would truly be unworthy of his title as Konoha's strategist.
Under the influence of multiple factors, this war, which almost the entire ninja world believed Takigakure would be swiftly defeated by Iwagakure, unexpectedly fell into a state of stalemate.
Although Takigakure was constantly suppressed by Iwagakure's forces on the main battlefield, Takigakure was not entirely without the ability to fight back. With the help of the Akatsuki organization and the assistance of the Sarutobi Legion led by Nara Shikaku, Takigakure Village also planned several successful counterattacks. News of attacks on several small towns on the Land of Earth's border continuously came in.
In this war watched by the entire ninja world, Takigakure Village's tenacity was astonishing, but Iwagakure Village undoubtedly made a huge fool of itself.
As a powerful ninja village among the Five Great Nations, whose military strength ranked third and contended for second, both Onoki and the Land of Earth Daimyo, Uesugi Hidekoshi, had predicted before the war started that it would end within a week. Not just them, everyone in the entire ninja world, except Uchiha Douhuan, thought so. But Takigakure Village unexpectedly managed to hold back the Land of Earth.
As the war progressed, the ninja tools and supplies Iwata Sawaki purchased with the first loan were quickly depleted. But Takigakure Village now had no way out. So, after the loan was used up, Iwata Sawaki immediately rushed to Konoha to continue borrowing, this time mortgaging several more mines within the Land of Waterfall. Uchiha Douhuan naturally welcomed all comers.
Furthermore, although Takigakure withstood Iwagakure's offensive, it was not without cost. The casualty ratio between the two sides was simply not on the same level. Takigakure's Chuunin and Genin, although they quickly mastered the Lightning Release combination ninjutsu provided by Konoha through life-and-death struggles on the battlefield, the inherent disparity in ninja quality often meant they had to sacrifice several ninjas' lives to kill a single Iwagakure ninja.
And the current Iwata Sawaki had clearly become a gambler who had lost his senses. The entire Takigakure Village, no, every able-bodied male in the entire Land of Waterfall, as long as they could knead a bit of chakra, was drafted by Takigakure to fill the lines. These people, from children who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy to middle-aged men in their fifties, were all sent to the battlefield by Takigakure Village. After being taught some combination ninjutsu, they were directly pulled onto the front lines to resist Iwagakure's offensive.
This situation, even Konan, the Akatsuki member responsible for providing support, found somewhat unbearable. During one operational meeting, after hearing Iwata Sawaki was sending another batch of children who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy to the front lines, Konan couldn't help but speak out and question, "Mr. Iwata, forgive my bluntness, but if you continue like this, even if Takigakure wins this war, Takigakure will have no future to speak of."
"Lady Angel, I naturally know that," Iwata Sawaki smiled wryly. In just a few short months, the appearance of this Takigakure leader had undergone a radical change. His beard was stubbly, and his eyes were bloodshot; the refined image from before the war was long gone. He looked helplessly at Konan, then said, "But, if we lose this war, the Land of Waterfall itself will cease to exist. How then can we speak of a future?"
"Sigh, this is war," Konan, upon hearing this, could only sigh deeply, then said, "Our Akatsuki organization will do its utmost to help you win this war."
"Thank you for your help, Lady Angel," Iwata Sawaki said to Konan after slightly composing himself.
Konan pursed her lips, nodded, then walked out of the command post tent. Looking at the numb-eyed ninjas in the camp, Konan couldn't help but sigh deeply again, thinking to herself:
[It seems, truly, only Nagato's plan can bring lasting peace to the ninja world.]
Originally, Konan wasn't very optimistic about Nagato's plan to collect Tailed Beasts and then deter the major powers. The reason she had always stood behind Nagato was more due to Yahiko's dying wish and the feelings of mutual support developed over so many years. But after experiencing this period of war, Konan's mentality also began to change slightly.
"Senior Shikaku, are we taking action today?" Inside a certain cave in the Land of Waterfall, Asuma lit a cigarette, then looked towards Shikaku and asked.
"Not for now," Shikaku replied to Asuma, while gazing intently at the map before him, his mind constantly simulating the war's progression.
"We've been waiting here for several days already; our bodies are about to rust," Asuma said, stretching lazily.
"Our recent actions have been a bit too high-profile. Iwagakure's side seems to have reached its limit of tolerance for us. During this period, they've dispatched several elite Jounin squads to search for us. We can only temporarily lie low and avoid the brunt of it."
"But, if we continue to hide, the Land of Waterfall might not be able to withstand their offensive," Asuma said.
In this team, apart from the fifteenth generation Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the others had received missions to aid the Land of Waterfall in resisting Iwagakure's attack. So, Asuma's anxiety wasn't without reason. After all, before departing, he had already discussed with Kurenai that the two would get married after the war ended.
"Young Clan Head, please listen to Staff Officer Nara's orders," a Sarutobi clan elite Jounin in the team spoke up.
This person's name was Sarutobi Yukiya. He previously held the position of captain among this batch of Sarutobi clan private soldiers. After the Sarutobi clan cooperated with Uchiha Douhuan to register their identities, he went to serve in the Anbu.
Upon receiving this mission, the Third Hokage had specially summoned him. Besides instructing him to protect Young Clan Head Asuma, Sarutobi Hiruzen also specifically tasked Sarutobi Yukiya with trying his best to repair the relationship between their Sarutobi clan and the Ino-Shika-Cho three clans during this mission. Returning to how things were before was out of the question, but at least they shouldn't completely sever all ties of kindness and righteousness.
Therefore, for this Land of Waterfall operation, their Sarutobi Legion could be said to have completely lowered their posture, fully obeying Nara Shikaku's command. Even when several clan members were sacrificed in battle, no one expressed any objection towards Nara Shikaku.
"Alright," Asuma could only nod upon hearing this, continuing to stay cooped up in the cave smoking.
"Asuma! Put out the cigarette!" Suddenly, Yamanaka Inoichi, who was sensing the environment outside the cave, abruptly turned his head and shouted.
Startled by this sudden shout, the cigarette in Asuma's hand fell directly to the ground. Subsequently, without even bothering to pick it up, he stepped on the cigarette to extinguish it, then quickly asked, "What happened?"
"I sense a massive chakra approaching us! It's highly likely Iwagakure's Jinchuriki!" Yamanaka Inoichi said with a grave expression.
"Jinchuriki?" Hearing this, Nara Shikaku's face also showed a grave expression. Never mind that the small team he currently commanded had no problem wiping out a small country, when facing a Tailed Beast, they were no different from ants.
"Everyone, hide well!" Nara Shikaku ordered in a low voice.
Inside the cave, everyone held their breath.
However, not far from their hiding place, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Han, was rushing at full speed towards the rear of Takigakure Village. The mission he received was to directly destroy Takigakure's rear. This prolonged war had clearly exhausted Onoki's patience; he planned to directly dispatch the Jinchuriki to launch a fatal strike on Takigakure from behind.
However, as Han advanced at full speed, six figures clad in red cloud robes suddenly blocked his path.
"Get out of the way!" Seeing this, Han roared, unleashing the power of the Five-Tails Mu King's Boil Release. Steam erupted from his body, and Han's strength was amplified several times in a short period. He wanted to eliminate the people blocking his path at the fastest speed.
However, directly in front of Han, an orange-haired youth with black rods piercing his face, facing the charging Han, merely slowly raised his right hand.
"It is time for you great nations to experience pain," the orange-haired youth slowly spoke. "Shinra Tensei!"
A massive repulsive force appeared out of thin air. Han, charging at high speed, was caught off guard and sent flying by this immense force, only managing to regain his balance with difficulty mid-air.
After landing, Han took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, "Who are you?"
(End of Chapter)
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