Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

Chapter 223 Excavation of the River Channel

"Watergate!"

Jiraiya once again unleashed his chakra to restore the Lava Giant, and then called out to his disciple.

That's the only option we can use.

After a moment's hesitation, Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave, and then quickly raised his hands to condense a Tailed Beast Ball in the distance.

As the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki and with the Nine-Tails' support, he can naturally condense a Tailed Beast Ball.

This was something I only recently mastered. Although it can only be condensed when the Yin Seal Chakra is unleashed and the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode is activated, it is still enough to be a trump card.

After a few seconds, a small Tailed Beast Ball, three meters in diameter, condensed and took shape. Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God Technique to bring it back, threw kunai at the giant Susanoo, and charged forward with the Tailed Beast Ball.

Although this Tailed Beast Ball was not large, it was enough to blow up Susanoo.

It exploded instantly before it even made contact, and the user used the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge.

"boom!"

A burst of intense light erupted, and the violent impact caused Susanoo to stagger.

At the same time, Jiraiya controlled the Lava Giant to pounce on it.

Hikaru Uchiha, inside Susanoo, frowned slightly, looking at Tamura Hao while controlling Susanoo to resist the lava giant.

She now needs to protect Thor's clone from the lightning attack and cannot use the Flying Thunder God technique, otherwise the connection with the cloud lightning will be severed, and reconnecting will take a considerable amount of time.

Tamura Hao controlled his Thor clone to take out a whistle and blow it, the sharp and piercing sound spreading out.

The group of Yoruichi and his companions, who were fighting nearby, immediately abandoned their opponents and returned to Susanoo. At the same time, the Raijin clone drew lightning from the thunderclouds and quickly gathered it, finally transforming it into a lightning dragon that shot down and struck Jiraiya and the Lava Giant.

Struck by such a violent and massive amount of lightning, the lava giant's upper body instantly exploded.

If Minato Namikaze hadn't sensed something was wrong and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take Jiraiya away immediately, he probably would have been killed by that attack.

"Konoha ninja, I advise you to leave, otherwise such surprise attacks will happen frequently in the future."

Controlling his Thunder God clone, Uchiha Hikaru then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take Susanoo and the others away.

With the Ten-Tails supplying chakra through the Eight Thousand Spears, the Flying Thunder God Technique can be used however one pleases.

Of course, this couldn't be shown. After teleporting away, Uchiha Hikaru, pale-faced, clung to someone's back, holding their neck tightly with both arms to prevent being thrown off.

But Tamura Hao wouldn't tolerate such a bad habit. He used brute force to pry open those slender arms and then carried them on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"You stingy person!"

Uchiha Hikaru, whose posture had been forcibly changed, made a sarcastic remark, but did not move, letting someone carry him along like that.

Leaving aside Tamura and the others who returned, Jiraiya and the others on the other side looked at the chaotic camp and the corpses and wounded everywhere, and felt extremely annoyed and hateful.

How many casualties were there?

Sitting on a rock, Jiraiya asked about the casualties with a somber expression.

They had been on guard against a sudden attack by the four-village coalition and had guessed that the enemy might use the Flying Thunder God Technique, but they did not expect that the enemy would also have the means to summon such a large-scale thunderbolt. This was the key to their defeat today.

The barrage of lightning prevented them from utilizing their numerical advantage, which led to their heavy losses.

"Two thousand people have been confirmed dead, all of them Chunin. Their injuries are not very serious, and they will recover after a period of rest."

Mitarashi Shishou paused for a moment before giving a rough estimate, stating that the exact number was still being tallied and that the priority at present was treating the wounded.

"After treating the injuries briefly, we retreated to a place without clouds to set up camp."

Looking up at the gloomy sky, Jiraiya knew he couldn't stay here any longer.

That kind of attack method with thunderous strikes was too unstoppable. Even if they built underground fortifications, it might not be effective. Coupled with the Tailed Beast Balls they launched, there was really no way to resist it.

They must retreat, otherwise they will suffer heavy losses if the enemy launches another surprise attack.

"I'll arrange it!"

Mitarashi Shishou nodded and quickly left to carry out the task.

"What did you find this time?"

Suddenly, Jiraiya noticed his disciple leading Nara Shikaku quickly towards him, and his heart sank.

Have we discovered anything bad yet?

"Lord Jiraiya, there must be a reason why they took such a long detour to land from the west. Today's surprise attack seems to be forcing us to retreat. There must be something wrong with this. We must intensify our investigation."

Nara Shikaku spoke rapidly, sharing his guesses. Although they were just guesses, he was very confident that there was a big problem involved.

"Can you determine what their conspiracy is?"

It's best to ascertain the other party's plans; otherwise, there's no way to defend against or counter them.

"There is too little information to analyze; we will probably only know once they reveal themselves."

Nara Shikaku was helpless; this was beyond his knowledge, and he couldn't figure out what the other party wanted to do no matter how hard he racked his brains.

"Minato, just a little longer."

Jiraiya remained serious about this, looking at his disciple.

If Kirigakure truly harbors a conspiracy here, they will undoubtedly take precautions. Sending others would only be suicide. Only Minato, who has mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, can move freely between the two locations.

"Um!"

Minato Namikaze accepted the order and quickly left.

"Lu Jiu, you are very talented, but your age limits your growth. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Seeing the boy's eyes bloodshot again, Jiraiya offered a word of comfort.

"I'll think about it some more."

Nodding, Nara Shikaku left, clutching the map he had been holding.

He knew the secret was hidden in the map, but he couldn't figure out what it was for the time being.

After resting for a while, Jiraiya got up and went to find Sakumo Hatake.

"Sakumo-senpai, can that Thunder God's ninjutsu that summons lightning be broken?"

The thunder was so exaggerated; both the countless lightning strikes in the first half and the final lightning dragon were extremely terrifying.

This was the first time Thor had used such a tactic since the start of the war.

White Fang was the strongest Lightning Release ninja in Konoha, so he should be able to understand that kind of technique better.

Sakumo Hatake pondered for a moment and replied, "The principle is very simple: it involves integrating lightning-attribute chakra into thunderclouds, thereby resonating with the lightning within the thunderclouds and ultimately drawing it down."

Theoretically speaking, as long as another type of chakra is injected into the thundercloud, suppressing the opponent's chakra, this ninjutsu can be disrupted.

But this requires an extremely large amount of chakra, and one must cultivate lightning-attribute nature transformation to its limit, even transforming into that special black and gold lightning release.

He knew the principle behind this ninjutsu, but he couldn't crack it, and even if he did, it wouldn't be of any use.

In terms of using Lightning Release, the Hidden Cloud Village is the strongest in the ninja world.

His strongest skill is swordsmanship, followed by lightning release, which is somewhat inferior to others.

Lightning Release himself only cultivated the nature transformation to its limit, but did not break through the limit to transform into the Third Raikage, that boy, or the black and golden lightning like the Raikage.

Even changes in nature are unavoidable, let alone chakra covering such a vast area of ​​thunderclouds.

"Thor, it really is Thor!"

Jiraiya scratched his head in frustration, only now understanding the true meaning of the name "Thunder God." Such an existence was truly like a god, no wonder the Third Raikage took him as his disciple.

Seeing that there was no way to break through, the Konoha ninja army could only retreat more than 300 kilometers away from the rainy and cloudy area before they could breathe a sigh of relief and quickly set up camp to rest.

After the Konoha ninja army retreated and established a camp, the four-village allied forces officially began the river excavation work.

These days, the three thousand rock ninjas, who have been fattened up and are now strong, are divided into ten teams of three hundred people each. They take turns cutting through the soil and rocks using the underground river as a base, forming huge hollow spheres that fall onto the underground river. With the help of the impact and buoyancy of the water flow in the river, the hollow stone spheres are propelled to roll quickly into the sea.

Three thousand ninja soldiers worked in shifts, digging 24 hours a day without interruption. The speed was astonishing. In just one day, they dug out a ten-kilometer-long river channel, which was also an astonishing 300 meters wide.

"At this rate, it should be completed in three or four months."

Looking at the ten-kilometer-long river channel that had been excavated, Yagura Karatachi was very excited.

Once this river channel is successfully excavated, they can use it as a foundation to build a defensive line, withstand the attacks from Konoha and the Land of Fire, and completely occupy this area.

This is his achievement, and no one can say anything if he succeeds as the Mizukage in the future.

We could even launch a war to conquer those island nations in the rear seas. The teacher is getting old and his energy is not enough to support such a grand war, so it is natural for him to do it himself.

With so many achievements, he is sure to become the greatest Mizukage of all time.

Of course, he was not complacent and knew very well that the foundation for all of this was to defeat and even destroy Konoha.

Otherwise, the presence of Konoha would inevitably interfere with their conquest of the southern seas.

"Didn't they lure Might Guy out of the Death Gate before?"

Tongkusa no Erin walked up to Tamura Hao and asked, paying more attention to Might Guy. After learning that Might Guy had been dispatched to this front, he knew that the other party was their biggest threat.

"no."

Tamura Hao shook his head slightly. He had seen Might Guy being persuaded and stopped by Nara Shikaku earlier, but he did not interfere or provoke him.

At that time, Might Guy was indeed not suited to open the Death Gate for a desperate battle.

They all knew very well that the four-village alliance was merely a cooperation based on interests and would inevitably turn into enemies in the end.

Not to mention that the Hidden Cloud Village also has plans for unification, and what they most want to see is Konoha and the other three great ninja villages mutually weakened, rather than simply destroying Konoha.

Might Guy is one of Konoha's biggest trump cards; it would be a shame for him to die without any purpose.

"The real test is just beginning."

Turning his head to look north, Tongkusa Nori knew that Konoha would soon send people to attack.

Neither Konoha nor the Daimyo of the Land of Fire would tolerate the loss of this peninsula, nor would they allow the third line of defense to fall out of control.

Once Kirigakure takes control of this peninsula, the nature of this Shinobi World War will completely change, turning into a war of annihilation against Konoha and the Land of Fire.

The power that Konoha will unleash next will be terrifying, and they must withstand it, otherwise their strategy here will be difficult to continue.

"Is everything arranged at the entrance to the secret passage?"

Tamura Hiroshi asked, "That waterway is of utmost importance and cannot be lost."

"We have ninjas from the Hoshigaki clan in charge, and we've dug hundreds of waterway entrances around here. As long as there's one more, the water flow won't stop."

Tongcao Yeren replied that they had made perfect arrangements in this regard.

The Hoshigaki clan's ninjas have a unique physical structure that allows them to survive in water for extended periods; no one can rival them underwater.

Not to mention, the Hoshigaki family also has a spiritual contract with the sharks, which allows them to summon a large number of sharks, ensuring absolute safety.

After exchanging words for a while, Tongkusano Erito walked over to Yagura and whispered his story.

"I don't like this kind of weather."

Yekura walked over with an umbrella. It was drizzling and the air humidity was very high, which was affecting her performance with her Scorching Release.

Moreover, the rain here is mostly heavy, which has a greater impact.

"Konoha definitely won't choose to attack during a thunderstorm, so it won't affect your performance."

Tamura Hiro squeezed under the young lady's umbrella, thinking that Yekura's worries were unnecessary.

After the baptism of the Thunderous Purgatory last time, Konoha would have to be out of their minds to come here for a final battle during a thunderstorm.

"But the humidity here is just too high."

Yekura still couldn't adapt.

"Once the river channel here is successfully excavated, we will land in the Land of Wind and then head north. We, the Hidden Cloud Village, will be there to support you, but the Hidden Stone Ninja Army will only be passing through."

You can write to the Third Kazekage and request that the Three Thousand Rock Hidden Ninja Army remain in the Land of Rivers to modify the river channels, diverting most of the river water to your Land of Wind. Even if you can't significantly alter the Land of Wind, it would be enough to create countless oases.

Tamura Hao revealed something and hoped that Sunagakure could help transform the Land of Wind in advance so that they could better carry out subsequent work after unifying the ninja world in the future.

Otherwise, we'll have to start from scratch, which is a huge waste of time.

"Is this what you wanted to tell Luo Sha?"

Ye Cang was taken aback for a moment, then realized what was happening.

This is indeed a good thing. Their Sunagakure village did divert some rivers from the Land of Rivers to the Land of Wind, but they were only able to modify a small portion of them.

The current idea is simply to transform the area near the land of rivers into an oasis.

However, if this group of Iwagakure ninja were present, it wouldn't be impossible to divert the entire river course of the Land of Rivers, which would create ten or even a hundred times more oases.

In terms of Earth Release ninjutsu, especially the large-scale application of Earth Release, Iwagakure is the strongest in the ninja world, and Sunagakure is far inferior.

"This is Lord Tsuchidai's suggestion. Since Rasa-kun isn't here, I guess I'll have to trouble you, Yokura-neechan."

"It's too early to think about these things. Let's wait until this battle is over."

Yekura understood that this proposal had to be implemented, but the most urgent task now was to win the upcoming war, and Konoha would not make them wait too long.

The thinking here is correct. After receiving the intelligence, Konoha and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire were so anxious that they issued orders to come and start a war immediately, sparing no effort to destroy the river dredging plan of the four villages' alliance.

"Are they going to dig a river that's over 600 kilometers long and 300 meters wide?"

At the front-line camp, everyone who heard the news was stunned. They really didn't expect such an incredible operation; it was truly earth-shattering.

"A river 300 meters wide would be enough to form an absolute barrier, more than doubling the combat power of the Hidden Mist ninja. Once that river is dug, we will have no chance of breaking through it."

Nara Shikaku, his eyes bloodshot, smiled bitterly. He finally understood what Kirigakure was planning. It was far more insane and daring than he had imagined; it could be described as a revolutionary strategy and tactic.

At most, they would build defensive fortifications and form a battle line based on their geographical advantages, but the Hidden Mist Village would directly dig a river at least 600 kilometers long and more than 300 meters wide.

Given the characteristics of the Hidden Mist Village ninjas, they were capable of establishing an impregnable defensive line along that river.

This is tantamount to splitting that territory in two; I really don't understand how Kirigakure came up with this idea.

"This isn't like Kirigakure's style. Could it be Kumogakure's doing again?"

Kurenai Yuhi felt that this might be related to the Raikage of Kumogakure, and it was even possible that the Raikage had this idea back in the war in the Land of Whirlpools.

He held such extraordinary wisdom in awe, for only such figures could conceive of such imaginative tactics and even strategies.

"The orders from the village and the daimyo prefecture should be on their way. In any case, we must go into battle."

Mitarashi Shishou sighed, knowing that this battle would be very dangerous, and it was hard to say how many of them would survive.

But they had no choice but to fight, otherwise they would have no way to fight in the future.

"Let's pick a better day to start the war."

Jiraiya sighed, "Now we have no choice but to fight."

Even if we have to sacrifice all of them, we can't let Kirigakure's plan succeed. Otherwise, the nature of this Shinobi World War will completely change into the destruction and annexation of the Land of Fire, and then everything will be over.

"The initiative is now entirely in the hands of the four-village coalition. They have the advantage of terrain and weather, and they also have the advantage in numbers and strength. They will not be easy to defeat."

Moonlight Xuanfeng, who had always had a low profile, held his long sword and wasn't optimistic about this battle.

He wasn't afraid of dying; he just wanted to win.

His child was about to be born, and he wanted to go back alive to reunite with his wife and son.

Of course, if there's no other way, then one can only die on the battlefield.

"We have no choice but to launch a direct attack. We can't come up with a better tactic in a short time. The Hidden Mist Village has been planning for so long, they must have already considered all the possibilities."

Not to mention that this strategy was most likely devised by the Raikage of Kumogakure, so we shouldn't even think about winning tactically or strategically; a direct attack is the best option.

Mitarashi Shishou suggested a direct attack, not believing that anyone could devise a strategy or tactic to counter the Raikage's advisor Tsuchida's plan; that was unrealistic.

"Use all available medical supplies to help the wounded recover as quickly as possible."

Jiraiya agreed with this view, believing that a strong attack was the best approach, and it had to be fast.

After discussing the matter further, the group dispersed, with Genpu and Sakumo walking together as they left.

"If I die in battle, please take my sword back to my children."

Moonlight and Mysterious Wind were relatively pessimistic. They believed that this battle was destined to be extremely fierce, and even if they won, it would be a Pyrrhic victory.

Although he was a Kage-level powerhouse, he was still very likely to perish in a war of that level, let alone when they were at a disadvantage.

"Forget about my sword; it was made in the village, and Kakashi already has his own sword."

Sakumo Hatake was also relatively pessimistic and prepared to die.

Why did it turn out like this?

After walking for a while, Moonlight Genfeng couldn't help but ask, not understanding how the Ninja World War had turned out this way.

Sakumo Hatake remained silent on this matter. He knew some of the reasons behind it and understood that many of the problems lay in the internal conflicts and struggles within the village.

These things are too sensitive to be said or discussed, otherwise there will only be endless trouble, and it may even affect his wife, children and family.

Sometimes he even thought that developing his career in the Hidden Cloud Village might not be a bad idea.

At least according to the information we have, the Hidden Cloud Village has truly abolished the ninja clan system, resulting in far fewer internal conflicts and struggles. Furthermore, since the rebellion during the First Shinobi World War, the Hidden Cloud Village has had the fewest rogue ninjas.

This is enough to prove that the atmosphere inside Kumogakure is far worse than that in Konoha.

(End of this chapter)