Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

Chapter 248 I got stood up

The night passed quickly, and the next morning, after a hearty breakfast, all the Konoha ninjas gathered in the open space in front of the camp.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood on the high platform and unleashed a wave of Will of Fire to boost morale before leading the charge out of the camp.

All the Konoha ninjas rushed into the forest, leaping between the trees.

This method of running utilizes the elasticity of tree branches to convert impact into propulsion, saving a great deal of energy and making it the most efficient way to travel.

As the Konoha ninja army set off, the four major ninja villages also attached great importance to it. The Third Kazekage even personally arrived at Kikyoyama Castle. After all, the Third Hokage was here, and this was their battlefront territory, so they couldn't afford to let it collapse.

Of course, our own ninja army cannot suffer too many losses, lest it end up like Kirigakure, where the main force was almost completely wiped out, and even the Mizukage's disciple, who was the commander, died.

Iwagakure Village also dispatched an elite team to join Huangtu, primarily to protect him.

They had already lost the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Yukari, and four elites who accompanied him in the previous battle on the peninsula; they couldn't afford to suffer such heavy losses again this time.

Compared to the conservative Iwagakure, Tamura Hidden Village and his group, representing Kumogakure, were full of fighting spirit.

"What gave the Third Hokage the confidence to fight to the death? Could the rumored forbidden technique that can revive the dead be true?"

Hanzo, who had just arrived, still couldn't understand why Hiruzen Sarutobi was so confident in leading the team to a decisive battle so quickly; this approach was highly unusual.

He was invited by the Third Kazekage to assist in the battle, and it was a war mission with a very generous reward. In addition, the enemy was Konoha, so he came.

But I really can't understand Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions. The only thing I can think of right now is the news that circulated some time ago.

It is said that the Third Hokage possessed a forbidden technique to revive the dead for battle. It would be terrifying if those deceased ancestors were resurrected to fight.

Especially the First Hokage; if the First Hokage were to be resurrected, this Shinobi World War would have to end.

That was the supreme power that pacified the chaotic world, something that the current ninja world could not compare to.

"No matter what methods they use, we have enough manpower to deal with them. When the time comes, Hanzo-senpai can release the poison. Today, we must leave those Konoha ninja here."

Tamura Hao said arrogantly, but inwardly he was secretly laughing.

He knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi's confidence came from the Otsutsuki Relic, but the Otsutsuki Relic had already been crippled by them, and even if it was rescued by Hamura Otsutsuki, it would be difficult for it to recover its fighting strength in a short period of time.

Only Konoha can send out this time; no one else will come.

"I've been combining snake venom and salamander venom recently, and the results are quite good. It's perfect for use on Konoha."

Hanzo smiled, very confident in his poison.

Although he still hasn't been able to master true Sage Mode during this time, he has used Sage Art Seals to integrate chakra into the salamander's body, giving the salamander Sage Art powers and greatly increasing its strength.

At the same time, the salamander incorporates the venom of the white snake, greatly enhancing its toxicity.

"They're here!"

At this moment, Kushina Uzumaki, who had been sensing everything, spoke up, staring at the forest below Yamashiro with hatred in her eyes, her Sharingan with two tomoe appearing in them.

After such a long period of training, her Sharingan has finally improved to the second level, reaching two tomoe, and her perception has become more powerful and precise.

As Kushina Uzumaki finished speaking, Rasa turned to look at his teacher. After receiving a nod of approval from his teacher, he ordered the entire army to prepare for battle.

All the ninjas were on edge, their eyes fixed on the forest below the mountain city. Various war machines on the city walls were also put into operation, especially the large ballistae wrapped with a large number of explosive tags.

Not long after, a figure rushed out of the woods; it was Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Immediately afterwards, many more figures rushed out and looked up at the mountain town on the hilltop from the clearing in front of the woods.

Looking at the towering mountain city, everyone felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

The most difficult battles are the ones where you have to attack the enemy's strongholds, even if they have the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and can unleash a powerful attack like the Tailed Beast Ball.

However, there are also powerful individuals on their side who are skilled in spatial manipulation and can immediately transfer the Tailed Beast Ball away. If things go wrong, it might transfer to their heads, which would be fatal.

Therefore, this battle can only be fought by force, but the losses from a forceful attack would be too great, so we need to have someone destroy the city wall first.

Thinking of this, everyone looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Hokage proposed the decisive battle and seemed very confident, clearly having other plans in mind. They were simply waiting for the Hokage to make his move.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also waiting, waiting for the appearance of the Otsutsuki Relic.

He certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to immediately charge into the city. He needed to let Otsutsuki Rei make his move first, using the enemy's power to destroy the mountain castle. Then, it would be much easier for them to attack.

He also believed that Otsutsuki Rei would definitely make a move, because the opponent's enemies included Kumogakure and the Third Raikage. This battle was a good opportunity to destroy the younger generation of Kumogakure and it was also very likely to lure the Third Raikage over.

If he were Otsutsuki Relic, he would never miss this opportunity.

But they waited for half a day, and as the sun was about to set, everyone looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in confusion again.

"What's going on?"

"What are you waiting for, Hokage?"

"Are you planning to wait until nightfall and launch a surprise attack under the cover of darkness?"

……

The crowd whispered amongst themselves, speculating about the Hokage's tactics and methods.

"Teacher, should we wait any longer?"

Jiraiya couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "The sun has already set halfway down; if we wait any longer, it will be dark."

"Wait a little longer!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said expressionlessly, though he was also puzzled, but he didn't think that Otsutsuki Rei would break his promise.

It's highly likely they're waiting for nightfall. The opponent also possesses a dojutsu similar to the Byakugan, giving them an advantage in the dark, just like the Hyuga ninja.

"What the hell?"

On the mountain castle wall, Yekura didn't understand Konoha's actions. Did they really intend to wait until nightfall to launch a surprise attack?

Rasa and the others gathered together to discuss the matter, but they still didn't understand Konoha's actions.

"They must be waiting for something, either someone or for it to get dark."

"Let's wait a bit longer. If Konoha still doesn't make a move, we'll test the waters, cut off their retreat, and force them to use their trump cards."

Tamura Hao, controlling his Thor clone, suggested that it was best to strike first.

"We should test the waters, but don't be rash and fall into their trap."

While the Third Hokage's strength was relatively average, he was a master of strategy, and his decision to lead his army directly in this attack clearly indicated he was confident of victory.

After discussing it with Chiyo beside him, the Third Kazekage finally nodded in agreement.

The group discussed the details of the probe attack in more detail, then dispersed again to observe the movements of the Konoha ninjas and quietly waited for the right opportunity.

"Is Scorpion not planning to come back?"

At this moment, Chiyo came to Tamura Hiroshi's side and started talking about her grandson.

She had previously read the letter Ye Cang sent back and confirmed that it was written by her grandson himself. The tone of the words was also unmistakable. Clearly, her grandson was doing well in Kumogakure and didn't want to come back.

"Scorpion still misses his deceased parents very much. He keeps using research to distract himself and numb himself. For him, Sunagakure is his home. Once he returns to Sunagakure, he can't stop missing his parents."

My opinion is to wait until Sasori grows up and matures before returning to Sunagakure.

Tamura Hao expressed his concern for Sasori, saying that as for letting Sasori return to Sunagakure, they could wait until Kumogakure unified the ninja world before letting Sasori come back to visit.

I just hope that Sunagakure won't become a ruin by then.

"What are you plotting against Scorpion?"

Chiyo couldn't understand the Hidden Cloud Village's actions. Although Sasori had received the true teachings of puppetry, puppetry was, in essence, just that. It was a specialty of their Land of Wind and Hidden Sand Village. The Hidden Cloud Village didn't have the conditions to mass-produce puppets, especially high-level ones.

What benefits would it bring to leave Sasori in Kumogakure?

As for leaking village secrets, although Scorpion is his grandson, he is too young to have access to village secrets, and he himself has never revealed them.

I really can't understand the intentions of the Hidden Cloud Village.

"I just feel a connection with Scorpion. It reminds me of my past self, and Scorpion will become a bond that maintains the friendship between our two villages in the future."

Tamura sighed, revealing a nostalgic expression, indicating that he is a person with a story.

As for Sasori, he is indeed very talented. After obtaining the technology from the Sky Ninja Village, he quickly upgraded his fighter jets and is now even researching Gundam... no, mecha.

If this trend continues, we will definitely be able to develop high-tech products similar to Mecha Naruto and Mecha Kurama in the future.

The Hidden Cloud Village wouldn't let go of such a rare talent.

"Don't let him go down the path of becoming a human puppet, that path is of little use to your Hidden Cloud Village."

After looking at the boy suspiciously for a while, Chiyo could only offer one piece of advice.

The human puppets themselves are not a big secret, not to mention that they have already deployed human puppets on a large scale on the battlefield. For example, the human puppets made from the corpses of the elite Sarutobi Shimura sent by Kumogakure were lost in the wars, and must have been secretly taken away by some people.

The secrets of human puppets are also difficult to keep secret. High-grade chakra cores are difficult to make, but low-grade chakra cores are easy to make.

However, this puppet is still only suitable for the Sunagakure system. The daily maintenance alone requires a lot of medicine, many of which are special products of Sunagakure. Other ninja villages would not be able to use it.

In particular, nowadays all the major ninja villages are increasing their research on the path of bloodline ninja limb transplantation. Their Sunagakure village has also conducted research and has achieved some results, which can allow ordinary ninjas to obtain a certain degree of bloodline power.

This is far more valuable than puppet technology, and the Hidden Cloud Village must also be conducting research in this area.

"We will keep a close eye on Little Scorpion."

Tamura Hiroshi solemnly replied that he would naturally not let Sasori follow the artistic path depicted in the original work; being a normal scientist would be just fine.

Chiyo didn't say anything more and turned to go into the city to oversee logistics.

After waiting for a while, until the bright moonlight shone down, and seeing that Konoha still hadn't made any new moves, the four-village alliance decided to launch a probe.

Tamura Hao pretended to use a huge amount of chakra to open a spatial gate, which led directly to a location a thousand meters behind the Konoha ninja army, and the assault team quickly passed through.

"Hanzo-senpai!"

Tamura Hao gestured to Hanzo first, and Hanzo understood, immediately raising his hand to form a hand seal and perform a summoning technique.

"Bang!"

A large cloud of mist burst open, revealing a colossal creature—the Salamander, the summoning beast upon which Hanzo made his name.

Compared to what I saw in Amegakure last time, the salamander is now much larger, no smaller than the Manda from before. It has an additional layer of pale snake scales on its body, and its whole body looks more like a snake.

This is the result of Hanzo integrating his own Sage Art Seal power into the salamander's body, along with the addition of snake venom.

After passing through, the salamander opened its mouth wide, spewing poison gas as it ran quickly, using the gas to create a barrier.

Nowadays, poison gas can not only enter the body through respiration, but also penetrate through the skin. At most, the effect is a little weaker, but it is still enough to kill a Chunin instantly, and it would be very troublesome for a Jonin if he gets infected.

Such a surprise attack was immediately reported by the Konoha Ninja Army's sensory ninjas, and everyone's hearts sank.

"Does he want us to fight the Four Villages Alliance first, so as to draw out their trump card? Or does he want to wait until the Third Raikage appears before making his move?"

A thought flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, and he realized that trouble was brewing.

Judging from the scale of the numbers involved, this must be a test by the four-village allied forces. Once they find out what's going on, they will launch a large-scale attack, which will be very dangerous.

Most importantly, where is the Otsutsuki Relic?

Will they act as agreed this time?

"teacher."

Jiraiya asked again, his face showing urgency.

Everyone else looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, waiting for the Hokage to give an order.

To fight or to retreat?

"Take care of them first, and make sure your retreat is clear. Minato, keep a close eye on that Uchiha Hikari. Don't let her have a chance to lead those people to retreat. At least keep everyone occupied."

After a moment's thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to fight.

Although the Great Tsutsuki Relic had its own calculations, they now had no way out.

If they were to retreat in disgrace and return to their camp now, not only would their prestige be severely damaged, but they would also find it difficult to deal with the four-village coalition, making the overall battle situation even more difficult to control.

Once the samurai legions of the four great nations enter the Land of Fire and begin to divide it up, then it will all be over.

We cannot retreat from this battle; we must fight it.

He also believed that Otsutsuki Shari would certainly not miss this opportunity.

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's order, the group decisively charged towards the rear.

Whether we fight or retreat, our escape route must be guaranteed; it must not be cut off by the enemy.

Jiraiya, being the most proactive, took the lead, entering Sage Mode and creating a lava giant that charged forward in a savage attack.

A ninjutsu creation of this size requires no skill or technique; just charge straight at it.

Although his Lava Giant didn't have the ability to absorb chakra like Wood Release, the high temperature of the lava was still terrifying.

"Your opponent is still Minato Namikaze, I'll handle Jiraiya."

Seeing the approaching lava giant, Tamura Hao said something to Uchiha Hikaru, and then quickly created the Muten Buddha statue, with two large long swords appearing in his hands.

Unfortunately, his physical condition has not yet fully recovered, making it difficult for him to fight personally. He can only temporarily switch to being a Gundam pilot.

Because it is a pure form of energy, coupled with the levitation ability obtained from the Snake Immortal of Dragon Cave, the Wutian Buddha statue moves very fast.

This also allowed Tamura Hiroshi to demonstrate amazing flexibility in manipulating the Muten Buddha statue, which helped him to excel in his swordsmanship.

He took a step forward and charged forward. Just as he was about to collide with the lava giant, he leaned his body and ran close to the ground, slashing at the lava giant's legs with his twin swords.

The lava giant's massive legs were instantly severed by the twin blades, but Jiraiya was prepared. New lava calves quickly extended from the knees, continuing to support the lava giant's momentum. Then, with a sudden stop, he turned around and raised his hand to block the incoming twin blades.

The two colossal beings clashed in battle, with Jiraiya relying on his immense Sage Chakra to fight relentlessly without holding back.

The others also faced their respective opponents. Yekura went to Orochimaru first. They were not only old rivals, but Yekura also harbored a murderous intent towards Orochimaru.

It has been confirmed that Shimura Danzo and Orochimaru used their Sunagakure ninjas for experiments, and countless compatriots have died tragically at their hands.

This beast must pay for his blood debt!

Orochimaru sensed Pakura's killing intent, but didn't take it to heart.

There are countless people who want to kill him; one more won't make a difference.

Moreover, he can only slack off better when facing this woman, mainly because he is familiar enough with her methods and can deal with them better.

Everyone else was engaged in fierce combat, except for Hiruzen Sarutobi and Thor, who was wielding Thor's hammer. The two remained at a distance, staring at each other.

As the commanders of two teams, they naturally wouldn't act rashly.

Of course, the main reason why the Thor clone doesn't take the initiative to attack is that Hiruzen Sarutobi is too far away. Currently, Tamura Hiroshi can perfectly control the Thor clone to fight within 150 meters. Once it exceeds this distance, the control will rapidly decrease.

Even if he could seal a shadow clone in advance to remotely control it, the shadow clone's abilities would still be far inferior to his own, and he wouldn't be able to unleash the full power of Thor's clone.

Therefore, this standoff is better, and Tamura Hao does not want to resolve these people immediately. The stalemate will help the Third Kazekage and others to observe and make decisions.

Once Hiruzen Sarutobi sees through Hiruzen's confidence, he will inevitably lead his army into battle, which will result in a chaotic melee and uncontrollable casualties.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was unaware of what the person opposite him was thinking, and he grew increasingly anxious.

The battle has already begun, but the Otsutsuki Relic, on which he had placed great hopes, has still not appeared. Could it be that he didn't come?

Thinking of this, his old face instantly darkened; he had actually been stood up.

Thinking about it carefully, it's not impossible. After all, everything before was just my own speculation, and I didn't have a way to contact the Otsutsuki Relic. We couldn't communicate before, so who knows if the other party has come?

"Was he injured in the fierce battle with Hiashi Hyuga, or is he continuing his pursuit of Hiashi Hyuga?"

With his mind racing, Hiruzen Sarutobi grew increasingly agitated.

If the Otsutsuki relic doesn't arrive, we'll be in real trouble.

Moreover, they have already clashed with those people, and the main force of the four villages' allied forces on the mountain city behind them could come down at any time to encircle and kill them. The situation is extremely critical, and if they are not careful, all the people they brought with them will be wiped out.

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became, but Hiruzen Sarutobi did not show it. On the surface, he still appeared very calm, as if he had everything under control.

"Should I use the Impure World Reincarnation technique here?"

He pondered how to break the deadlock. If the Otsutsuki Relic didn't come, he could only use the Impure World Reincarnation technique to defeat these people, or even severely damage or destroy the four-village alliance.

However, once the Impure World Reincarnation is used, it will bring a series of problems, and the future situation will be even more difficult.

However, if we don't use it, we'll be in a tough spot right now, and if the people we brought with us are wiped out, our future situation will be even more difficult.

(End of this chapter)