Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

The news of the village's surprise attack quickly reached the front lines. Huang Tu was furious after reading it, but he managed to hold back and then summoned everyone to a meeting to discuss the matter.

"Damn Konoha!"

After seeing this, the hot-tempered Iron Man Boulder smashed the table in front of him with a punch, wishing he could rush over there and start a massacre.

"It has been confirmed that Tamura Hiroshi has arrived in our war zone, and we will definitely see him on the battlefield soon."

"Senior Zi, he might become your rival. Are you confident?"

Huang Tu looked at Zi, who valued Tamura Hao highly, as he was essentially a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast.

"Based on the information from Sunagakure and the methods he displayed during his raid on our village, I cannot break through his defenses on the battlefield in a short time."

However, it is certain that he is the one who lured me out of the village and ambushed me with explosive tags. He also has the ability to condense a Tailed Beast Ball, at most it is slower and smaller. He is a very dangerous person.

I suggest sending Boiling Point over; the Five-Tails within him should be quite willing to deal with Konoha and that Tamura Hao, and reclaim the stolen power.

Zi offered his advice. He and Fei were contemporaries and became Jinchuriki of Tailed Beasts around the same time. He sealed the Four-Tails, while Fei sealed the Five-Tails, but Fei was always a bit weaker than the others.

However, under the stimulation of a life-or-death crisis, he has now entered a state of complete tailed beast transformation. His ability to utilize the power of the Five-Tails will definitely be greatly enhanced, just like he did back then. He will definitely be able to show strength beyond the limit when he sends Boil over this time, or even complete tailed beast transformation again.

"Bring Boil over here."

Huang Tu pondered the plan. It was risky because the village still needed the tailed beast jinchūriki to assist his father in guarding against the Hidden Cloud Village, especially the Third Raikage's surprise attack.

Last time, they suffered heavy losses, and even the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Bori, was almost severely injured and killed by the Third Raikage's Hell Spear.

Although my father's Dust Release was powerful, the Third Raikage was too fast, and a strong person had to hold him off head-on. That's why the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, who was more skilled in taijutsu, was left in the village to assist my father.

"I agree with Murasaki's suggestion. The advice given by Sunagakure is very clear: during the negotiations, they will hold back the strong members of Konoha on that front, especially Tsunade who has the ability to fly quickly."

Once the peace talks over there end, Tsunade will inevitably be transferred here, and it's even possible that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio will also be transferred. At that point, none of us will be able to fight Tsunade in the air, and we'll probably have to bring the Tsuchikage, which will make things even more complicated.

Explosion Release Hunter agreed with Purple's suggestion, but he had more to think about.

Right now, it's just that Tamura Hao, who stole the power of the Tailed Beasts, has arrived. He's a pseudo-Jinchūriki. After that, it'll be Tsunade.

That's a powerful being capable of fighting against the fully-formed Seven-Tails, and it even severed the Seven-Tails' horns. It also possesses incredibly fast flight capabilities, making it extremely troublesome.

At this stage, only the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure can rival him in the air; no one else can keep up with that speed.

"After that, I wrote a letter requesting that Fei be transferred over, and, just to be on the safe side, I also transferred Han over."

Huang Tu finally agreed that they were racing against time and had to defeat the Konoha ninja forces here and penetrate into the Land of Fire before Sunagakure and Konoha completed their peace talks.

Otherwise, once the Konoha powerhouses from the Land of Rivers front arrive, they will have a difficult time fighting.

However, just to be on the safe side, we should bring Fei's son along.

Boil's talent and strength are inferior to Zi's, and he has always been a step behind in developing the power of the Five-Tails. Last time, he was almost seriously injured by the Third Raikage when they surrounded and attacked him. This time, he must be prepared.

If Boil suffers severe injuries that are difficult to treat, then transfer the Five-Tailed Beast into Han's body.

After all, Konoha has a record of killing the One-Tailed Jinchuriki, and it happened in the desert.

It's important to know that the One-Tailed Jinchuriki was nearly perfect, capable of autonomously entering a fully transformed tailed beast state, making him extremely powerful.

Yet even such a powerful figure was killed by a strongman from Konoha, and even the One-Tailed Beast was killed.

This time, they even broke off one of the Five-Tails' horns, making it something to be wary of.

Of course, they also had a backup plan for Zi's side, just in case.

Fortunately, the tailed beasts harbor deep hatred for being captured and sold by the First Hokage, and are very proactive in fighting against Konoha. For a long time, the Four-Tails has performed very steadily on the front lines and has never gone berserk.

It's likely that the Five-Tails is in the same boat, especially since its power was stolen this time. The Five-Tails must want to reclaim that power.

They continued discussing the next battle, and afterwards, Huang Tu immediately wrote a letter back. In Iwagakure, the furious Onoki agreed after a moment's thought.

Although they still needed to be wary of the Third Raikage, he didn't think the Third Raikage would come again. Last time, they almost trapped him to death, so he certainly wouldn't take the risk so easily again.

Moreover, with me here, even if the Third Raikage came, he wouldn't be able to break through the village's defenses. At most, he wouldn't be able to surround and kill them, but he could still drive them away.

The battlefield in the Land of Grass is now the key point. They have already spent too much time there, and with the defenses from the Sand Village, they must break through their defenses before the two sides complete their peace talks.

Taking the risk is worthwhile.

Tamura Hao was unaware of the schemes being plotted against by Iwagakure. At the moment, he was completely absorbed in eating and drinking to quickly refine his chakra and store it in the Yin Seal. He had even upgraded the Yin Seal.

The strength and size of the Yin Seal depend on the cultivation of Yin and Yang attributes. The stronger the Yin and Yang attributes, the larger and stronger the Yin Seal space will be, and the more chakra it can store.

Tamura Hao's previous Yang attribute was at the Jonin level. Even though he possessed both Yin and Yang attributes, the Yin seal he created was far inferior to Tsunade's.

Now that Yang Release has broken through to the Kage level, it is natural to use it to rebuild and upgrade the Yin Seal. At the same time, the Yang Release chakra that has been refined is also at the Kage level, which is much stronger than the chakra that was refined before, and it will be more efficient to use.

If he were to fully store the current Yin Seal, he was confident that he could be a true man for three minutes, maintaining the superimposed state of Tailed Beast power for more than three minutes.

Of course, in addition to that, he was also familiar with the Five-Tails' power, mainly the application of Boil Release, which was a key point of his fusion technique.

"Xiao Hao, the steel frame you requested has been completed."

Just as they were getting to know each other, Minato Namikaze's voice rang out from outside the door.

"It's finished so quickly?"

Tamura Hiroshi stepped out of the room, surprised by the speed at which they had arrived.

He wanted a high-strength alloy frame, not ordinary steel.

"Actually, it's not difficult. A lot of ninja tools have been lost in the war so far. All the broken ninja tools have been collected and stored, and will be brought back to the village to be melted down and reforged later."

"With the help of Kuro, I traversed the battlefronts of the Land of Hot Springs and the Eastern Front, bringing back all the damaged ninja tools they had accumulated there. Combined with what you brought from Kikyo Mountain Fortress and what we have here, it's just enough."

Minato Namikaze spoke as he led the way.

He had witnessed Xiao Hao's state of stacked Tailed Beast powers before, and he knew very well the combat power of that state, which was especially suitable for fighting against Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.

So when Tamura Hao proposed to build a steel frame as the foundation for the fused state, he took action and made a special trip to the Land of Hot Springs and the Eastern Front to retrieve the damaged ninja tools they had stored, which he melted down and cast into a fifty-meter-tall steel frame.

Fortunately, the materials of their Konoha ninja tools are similar, so there will be no material confusion that would reduce their strength after fusion.

This is also to facilitate remelting and remanufacturing, so the cast steel skeleton has stable material and high strength.

The two quickly arrived at the construction site, where Jiraiya was also present.

"Xiao Haozi, come and take a look at this skeleton and see if it's okay."

Jiraiya excitedly greeted them, saying that he had personally melted and cast this alloy frame using fire-style techniques, and even used toad oil to increase the flame temperature.

Tamura Hiroshi stepped forward and forcefully scratched the steel frame with a fine kunai, only to find that there were only shallow marks.

"Because it is cast rather than forged, it is less tough, but its strength is not bad. After applying a barrier spell, its hardness will be further enhanced."

Minato Namikaze explained that in order to create this steel skeleton, they specially invited an old blacksmith to supervise the process and also conducted a preliminary selection of the ninja tools.

"The barrier spell is key. The temperature that will explode will be astonishing. We can't let this skeleton melt."

Tamura Hao placed great importance on barrier techniques. The alloy-forged skeleton alone could not withstand that level of explosion; it had to be reinforced with barrier techniques to isolate the high temperature to a certain extent.

In addition, he will use Earth Release ninjutsu and the power of the Three-Tails to further strengthen the steel frame, especially the joints.

"They've already started setting it up, but the effect won't last very long after it's activated."

Jiraiya replied that he truly valued this, and it was the key to the upcoming battle.

According to Nara Shikaku's analysis, the Iwagakure ninja army will definitely fight with all their might, and may even send the Five-Tails Jinchuriki or the Third Tsuchikage to join the battle.

The next battle is crucial. If they can hold out until the peace talks with Sunagakure are completed, Tsunade and the others can be dispatched, and then they can try to launch a counterattack.

"I really want to see the power of the Uchiha clan."

Looking at the steel skeleton, Minato Namikaze thought of Susanoo, which Xiao Hao had mentioned earlier.

The design of this steel frame was inspired by the Susanoo of the Uchiha clan. Moreover, according to Xiao Hao, the legendary Susanoo created by Madara Uchiha was over 100 meters tall, even taller than the Nine-Tails standing upright.

Compared to that, the current steel framework, which is only fifty meters high, is far inferior.

"That power, though formidable, comes at a price."

Jiraiya sighed. He had witnessed the Uchiha's glory during the last Shinobi World War, with a total of five pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan displayed on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, the price of that power was too high, and they even started killing each other, which was the key to the Uchiha's crushing defeat in that battle.

In comparison, Xiao Hao's method is much better. It only consumes chakra, and the Yin Seal can be used to store it in advance, so there is no need to overdraw the body. It is the most perfect application of power.

"How's the steam chamber coming along?"

Tamura Hiroshi inquired about another component, which was also a key element in the upcoming battle.

Boil Release possesses immense explosive power, which he needs to leverage to enhance its strength and speed. Only by increasing its power can he unleash its formidable combat capabilities.

"It's in production. Your requirements are much higher; it requires forging and the materials are quite complicated. But it should be ready by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Jiraiya replied that he had listened to the child's idea and agreed with it, so he came to supervise the construction himself and even used fire-style techniques to help melt the metal.

After exchanging ideas for a while and offering some suggestions for improvement, Tamura Hao went back to continue his feasting and drinking, maximizing the fusion of life force to refine Yang Release chakra.

The next battle will be crucial, as there will likely be two Jinchuriki from Tailed Beasts joining the fight, and we must stop them.

If possible, it would be best to kill one of them.

In addition, he also set his sights on the Steel Warrior, who also possessed Steel Release and was a Kage-level powerhouse, making him even more valuable than the Steel Release Jonin he had captured last time.

I'm sure Teacher Feiyang will really like that gift.

At the same time, Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group, far away in Konoha, had already obtained a detailed battle report on the raid on Iwagakure, which they obtained through spies planted in Iwagakure.

"Hiruzen, we can't let that kid grow any longer."

After reading the intelligence, Koharu Utatane was the first to get restless. She was already plotting against the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, but such a monstrous talent had appeared among them.

Using the power of a single Tailed Beast is already astonishing, but now they can even combine the powers of four Tailed Beasts.

Moreover, they had no idea that the other party had obtained the power of the Three-Tails and the Four-Tails. If it weren't for this sudden outburst, they would still be completely in the dark.

Furthermore, the opponent has now obtained the power of the Five-Tails, which will inevitably make them even stronger.

In the last great battle in the Land of Hot Springs, Tsunade severed the Seven-Tails' horn, so needless to say, she had already obtained the Seven-Tails' power.

If it were to gain the power of the Six-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails, it's unimaginable how powerful it would become.

"I estimate that he may have already obtained the power of all the tailed beasts, if Orochimaru has already made contact with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio."

Mitokado took off his glasses and wiped them, his brow furrowed into a knot.

He had previously received intelligence that Orochimaru had sealed some of the Six-Tails Jinchuriki's chakra when they fought on the battlefield.

It now seems that they might be trying to use it as a bargaining chip to gain the support of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

As for the Nine-Tails' power, it's not just Konoha that possesses it. He saw it in Kumogakure back then, and Orochimaru seems to have also researched that forbidden technique. If he succeeds, he can also obtain the Nine-Tails' power.

In addition, Orochimaru also carried out the mission of assassinating the previous Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, so it's possible that he might have also taken some of the Eight-Tails' power for research.

If these are used for a trade, then the Ino-Shika-Cho trio will possess the power of the nine tailed beasts, and the child's strength will be truly unimaginable.

"Let's see what Torifu and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio's attitude is. If they really disregard the overall situation of the village and support Orochimaru with Danzo, then for the sake of the village's stability, we will have no choice but to abandon them."

Hiruzen Sarutobi also realized the child's terrifying potential. Although he had only stolen a little bit of the power of each of the nine tailed beasts, the cumulative effect was terrifying and had exceeded his control.

Most importantly, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio might side with Orochimaru, and if they were to support Orochimaru, many of my plans would be ruined.

For the sake of the village's stability, he had to make a choice.

Leaving aside Hiruzen Sarutobi's decision, Danzo Shimura on the other side also obtained information about the battle in Iwagakure, and even earlier, because he was an intelligence agent and had even placed a capable person in Iwagakure.

"The teacher is getting restless."

Orochimaru glanced at the information handed to him by Danzo Shimura, and a mocking smile crept onto his lips.

The stronger the talent and ability the child displayed, the less tolerant the teacher became.

Konoha has long been unable to tolerate geniuses and strong individuals, unless they have already formed a faction.

After all, even a top expert like White Fang was forced to his death. It wasn't as simple as the rumors suggested back then. Moreover, someone like White Fang couldn't possibly be unable to withstand a little bit of gossip. His suicide was more about protecting his children and family. It was a helpless, indignant, and desperate choice.

There are too many similar stories: Nawaki, who died tragically right under her nose; Kato Dan, who died in battle not far from Tsunade; and even the destruction of the Senju clan. All of these illustrate the problems within the village.

He even felt that the Uchiha clan wouldn't last long and must be on those elimination lists. At least, the Dark Ninja in front of him really wanted to destroy the Uchiha clan and seize their Sharingan.

"The more Hiruzen and the others do, the more they will provoke Torifu and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Although Torifu is a calm person, he can become very scary if he is pushed to the limit."

Danzo Shimura also smiled mockingly. He and Torifu Akimichi were teammates and knew Akimichi's personality best. Akimichi was usually cheerful and easy to get along with, but when he got angry, he became terrifying. No one could stop his will, and he would no longer consider the consequences. He would only charge towards the enemy he had identified.

He really hoped that Hiruzen and Torifu could become adversaries, even if Torifu couldn't defeat Hiruzen's side, he could at least severely injure them.

This would also allow me to find leverage over others, making my subsequent plans much simpler.

"The teacher will probably take that step. He's already tricked Senju, so he won't feel guilty about tricking Ino-Shika-Cho as well."

Orochimaru's smile deepened. Some things are simply a matter of zero tries or countless tries. Once you've done it the first time, the second time will be much easier, then the third, the fourth...

"You seem to be really looking forward to Hiruzen attacking you?"

Danzo Shimura was suspicious, feeling that something was off about this collaborator.

"There are some bonds I've always wanted to sever; they've become my shackles, making me very uncomfortable."

Orochimaru did not deny that the reason he was going all out to compete for the Hokage position this time was not only to fulfill his ridiculous childhood dream, but more importantly, to force and entice his teacher to personally sever the bond between them.

Only in this way can one gain true freedom and do whatever one wants without any constraints.

After squinting with his one eye for a while, Shimura Danzo brought up another matter.

When will the Sharingan and Wood Release transplantation plan begin?

He desperately needs power right now. He can't fight Hiruzen on his own. Only by surpassing Hiruzen in strength can he truly compete for the Hokage position.

"We've found a good material. It can support any foreign organ, including the Sharingan and Hashirama's cells. However, it's still too young. It will take a few more years before it becomes the opportunity for you to obtain the Sharingan and Wood Release power."

Orochimaru thought of that special material and was fairly satisfied with it. (End of Chapter)