Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 303 The Support Force for Konoha (Village Annihilation)

How high was the reputation of the Fifth Hokage, Natsume?

In fact, he could have removed Yamanaka Inoichi's position, or even himself, without presenting any evidence.

Xia Zuo intentionally upheld the system he had established by presenting sufficient evidence before allowing Yamanaka Inoichi to resign on his own.

He expressed his determination to uphold the system and punished the first unlucky guy who caused the explosion, so he could successfully tighten the reins on the 14 most core Jonin of Konoha Village.

But there was one exception among the 15 ministers.

Nara Shikaku, who complains all day about how boring things are, wants to retire, and is the laziest, is actually the most diligent among the ministers, and his work in the General Staff is almost perfect.

Xia Zuo was naturally very pleased with this result, which is why he specially arranged for him to receive Ma Ji today.

Only when Nara Shikaku is not present can Natsumi avoid deliberately avoiding him as the sole exception when scolding others, and can also prevent others from becoming jealous of Shikaku because they are scolded.

After cursing everyone, Xia Zuo backed down and gave up on setting off with the support troops.

So the support units remained the third and seventh squads, but the auxiliary units received an epic buff.

In addition to Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy, the two Jonin leading the team, an Ino-Shika-Cho squad was mobilized for support, Torune Aburame was mobilized to enhance reconnaissance capabilities, and Jiraiya was also provided as off-field support.

This made Jiraiya extremely happy. He had been confined to Konoha Village by the Fifth Hokage for four whole years and had not left the village.

Jiraiya's happiness stemmed not only from being able to leave Konoha and have fun, but also from the fact that his departure meant his confinement had been completely lifted.

Jiraiya was able to re-establish contact with Mount Myōboku.

This is of course because Xia Zuo's confidence has soared to unprecedented levels, and he no longer cares about the Great Toad Sage.

He absorbed the energy of 100,000 combat power and also obtained the five elements spiritual power of the five needle pine nuts.

Supported by such immense power, Xia Zuo's Byakugan and his entire skeletal structure underwent fundamental changes, and the forcibly generated Rinnegan between his eyebrows was also rapidly maturing.

Xia Zuo's situation is somewhat similar to that of Kaguya Otsutsuki, as a powerful external force merged with him, forcibly elevating his level of existence.

The difference lies in the fact that Kaguya Otsutsuki obtained a stronger chakra fruit, which was perfectly compatible with the Otsutsuki clan itself, allowing her to advance to the Bloodline Limit without any risk.

However, the combined power of 100,000 combat strength and the five elements spiritual energy that Xia Zuo obtained was not that strong, and both of these forces conflicted with the chakra system, requiring him to spend a lot of time slowly digesting them.

However, the two consecutive enhancements pushed Xia Zuo to the limit of the ninja world, forcing him to control the power with his will in order to avoid being devoured by it.

This is a huge problem, but it also means that Xia Zuo has reached a certain level of invincibility in the ninja world.

Even if he's not absolutely invincible, it doesn't stop Xia Zuo from being carefree.

From now on, he will instead try his best to attract the power of the ninja world and drag them all into the Fourth Shinobi World War, turning the entire ninja world into a mess.

After the war ends, the ninja world will be clean and peaceful, and we can rest assured that we can rely on the ninja world, look up at the stars, and hunt among the stars with the Otsutsuki clan.

A few hours later, Maki and Temari met the support forces from Konoha Village and were taken aback by their powerful presence.

Among them are six Chunin from Konoha, all of whom are well-known members of the Konoha 12.

Six Konoha Jonin, led by Kakashi Hatake, including the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

Finally, there's Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha.

Maki couldn't help but swallow hard, asking, "This is too strong—"

He almost blurted out: "Is your goal, Konoha, to conquer our Sunagakure?"

Kakashi Hatake sighed and said, "Well, you should be grateful. If we hadn't mobilized so many people, our Fifth Hokage would have been going to die with us."

Maki immediately shut his mouth.

He requested help and brought back seven Konoha Jonin. Some Sunagakure ninjas might think he was exaggerating, while others thought he had excellent diplomatic skills.

If the reinforcements he summoned were the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, the ninjas of Sunagakure would surely kill him and trample him underfoot, ensuring he would never rise again.

There's no reason to treat the biggest and most terrifying enemy as reinforcements.

Those two Kage-level ninjas who breached Sunagakure were, in essence, simply using their ability to fly to catch Sunagakure off guard.

Furthermore, they possessed absolutely accurate intelligence, which allowed them to suppress the Fifth Kazekage from the very beginning and perfectly crack the secret technique of Magnet Release.

Furthermore, they were able to accurately grasp the Kazekage's mindset, taking advantage of his protective instincts towards the villagers to launch a psychological attack, which enabled them to defeat the Kazekage in a short period of time.

If they do not have absolute air superiority, and if their battle drags on, the Sand Village ninja will completely overwhelm them.

But when the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, arrived in Sunagakure, what could the Sunagakure ninja do besides submit?

This man calmly and decisively defeated Sunagakure in front of the Fourth Kazekage, Chiyo, and Ebizo, facing an attack by thousands of Sunagakure ninja.

The Fifth Hokage not only demolished the gates of Sunagakure, but also tore down all the buildings in the village, and finally transformed this desert city into a primeval forest forever.

To this day, the villagers of Sunagakure live in all sorts of treehouses.

As long as these withered, towering trees stand, no Sand Village ninja would dare to lay a hand on the Fifth Hokage; they wouldn't even dare to think about it.

But the ninja spirit of Sunagakure needs to be vented.

In the end, Maki, who had invited the Fifth Hokage, became the target of everyone's venting and needlessly lost his life.

Fortunately, this terrible situation did not occur.

Maki thanked Kakashi Hatake repeatedly before preparing to return to Sunagakure with reinforcements.

But Jiraiya stopped Maki, saying, "There's no need to run. We're already half a squadron in total. We can't speed up at all. It will take us at least two days to get to Sunagakure."

"In recent years, Konoha Village has not only built roads, but also produced a lot of good things. We can take a propeller-driven airship to Sunagakure Village."

Maki, Temari, the Konoha Chunin, and most of the Konoha Jonin looked at each other in bewilderment. They didn't know what the propeller-driven spaceship that Jiraiya mentioned was, but they could guess that it was a vehicle that could carry people in flight.

It can fly!

No one objected to Jiraiya's suggestion, so the 15 ninjas followed Jiraiya to Konoha New Village, located above the Hokage Rock, which was also the area with the highest density of high-rise buildings.

On the top floor of a building, they saw a winged spaceship with a huge propeller at its tail, which was actually a super-high bypass ratio ducted propeller.

With the help of amazing ninjutsu and sealing techniques, the weight of the aircraft can be greatly reduced, its sturdiness can be broken through the sky, and the thrust of the propeller can be defied the heavens.

Based on these fundamental conditions, which were completely different from those of his previous life, Xia Zuo was astonished to discover that at speeds below 400 kilometers per hour, the ship-shaped structure was actually the optimal flight structure.

With its wide hull and enormous thrust, once the ship can overcome the drag problem and take flight, everything else is an advantage.

First, the ship's shape is exceptionally spacious, carrying more cargo than any aerodynamically designed, slender aircraft.

Secondly, the ship's shape itself has a huge horizontal projection area, which can provide huge lift and greatly reduce the area of ​​the wings.

Finally, the ship-shaped structure offers greater defensive capabilities and has enormous potential for improvement.

Since this is the reality of the ninja world, Xia Zuo has no choice but to accept it.

Riding on the enormous flying ship, they roared into the sky, all the ninjas standing excitedly at the bow, fully experiencing the thrill of flight.

Moreover, ninjas who were used to flying high were extremely adaptable to flying ships, and none of them experienced seasickness.

The support troops successfully crossed the desert and arrived at Sunagakure Village in just 10 hours.

Upon seeing the appearance of Sunagakure, Maki was amazed by the smooth return journey, but suddenly an indescribable fear welled up from the bottom of his heart.

Yes, the return trip went very smoothly this time.

If it were a ship full of Konoha ninja, it would probably go just as smoothly.

So, there's no reason why it would be so difficult for 100 flying ships filled with Konoha ninja to reach Sunagakure.

Maki looked at the spacious deck of the spaceship, and then thought about the three-story structure inside the cabin. If this ship were fully packed, it could hold at least 300 ninjas.

Machi now knew where his fears came from.

A spaceship that isn't fully loaded sends a support force, but if it's fully loaded with Konoha ninja, it sends a force to wipe out the village.

The vast desert that was originally able to isolate the Konoha ninja and protect the Sunagakure village was completely unable to stop the flying ship.

The geographical advantage that Sunagakure relied on for its survival was gone forever.

Not only Sunagakure, but also the Ten Thousand Mountains and continuous fortresses of Iwagakure, the towering peaks and deep valleys and thunderstorms of Kumogakure, and the vast seas of Kirigakure, all became meaningless under the wings of the spaceship.

Realizing that he wasn't the only one suffering misfortune, Maki suddenly felt less upset. He sighed softly and left from the bow of the ship.

The flying ships from Konoha Village weren't there to attack Sunagakure Village, at least not this time.

Therefore, Maki needs to jump down first and communicate with the Sand Village ninja to avoid being attacked by them during the descent and suffering unnecessary losses.

Chiyo's face turned extremely ugly the moment she saw the flying ship.

Unlike Maki, she was standing on the ground and had to look up to observe the spaceship, which was an unfriendly angle.

Moreover, looking up at the spaceship itself creates a sense of self-deprecation, and coupled with the spaceship's enormous size, Chiyo felt a great threat.

The Sand Village ninja standing next to Chiyo looked even worse.

Many of the Sand Village ninjas participated in the battle a few days ago and witnessed Deidara using his flying advantage to bully them, defeat the Fifth Kazekage, and kidnap him.

Now that they saw an even larger aircraft, they were naturally filled with hostility.

Even after Maki jumped down and told the Sand Village ninjas that this was Konoha's reinforcements, the Sand Village ninjas' expressions did not improve.

No, their faces were so black they could drip ink.

Naruto Uzumaki looked at the faces of these Sand Village ninjas and revealed a bright smile without any restraint.

Naruto's smile, like Minato's, possessed the warmth of sunlight, warming the hearts of the Sand Village ninja and making them feel less bad.

When Jiraiya saw this scene, he immediately thought of Minato Namikaze. His nose suddenly stung, and tears almost welled up in his eyes.

"Minato, did you see that?"

"Your child has grown up and looks exactly like you. He is like a little sun, bringing warmth to those around him."

"What a pity. If only I had known about Naruto's ordeal sooner and returned to Konoha to take him as my student."

Jiraiya muttered to himself, feeling regret for the first time for not taking Naruto as his apprentice.

For some reason, he suddenly had a feeling that he had missed something very important, which made him very anxious.

On the withered tree trunk unnoticed by anyone, a golden figure quietly appeared. He used his lip-reading ability to see Jiraiya's words.

He shook his head slightly and said, "Jiraiya-sensei, I see Naruto."

Xia Zuo has prejudices against both Jiraiya and Kakashi Hatake.

He firmly believed that these two people were destined for misfortune, and that no matter who he tried to protect, he would make a huge mistake, resulting in the death or maiming of those close to him.

So he found Naruto a powerful bodyguard, and his biological father, Minato Namikaze, was not so unlucky.

As long as he wasn't sabotaged by his own people and deliberately transferred away, Minato Namikaze's protection team never had any problems.

Upon receiving Xia Zuo's notification, Minato arrived at Konoha Village immediately.

Minato Namikaze listened to the information shared by Shaza and fully understood the potential dangers. Only then did he take Shaza's Thor Mark card and sneak onto the spaceship ahead of time.

Just as the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, had predicted, Minato Namikaze's teacher, Jiraiya, excitedly led the Sand Village ninjas and Konoha support troops onto the spaceship.

Minato Namikaze is a resurrected Impure World Reincarnation body. He has no life characteristics and, once he controls his chakra fluctuations, even Jiraiya cannot detect his presence.

So he followed the support team all the way to Sunagakure Village.

Minato Namikaze disembarked faster than Maki. Before the sword he had dropped even hit the ground, he appeared beside it using the Flying Thunder God Technique without making a sound.

Then, he took out a metal card from his ninja tool bag and carefully inserted it into the dry trunk of the tree, marking the Fifth Hokage, Natsume.

After finishing, Minato said rather embarrassedly, "I'm really sorry, this was the Fifth Hokage's request. Don't blame me if you're ever startled by his sudden arrival in the future."

After saying that, Minato Namikaze grinned.

Minato greatly admired the Fifth Hokage's meticulous thinking and tireless planning, and felt deeply inferior to him.

If I had such abilities and habits, I would never have let myself fall into such a predicament back then, and I certainly wouldn't have let Kushina die innocently.

Minato Namikaze sighed regretfully and quietly disappeared into the shadows.