Only I can make Konoha Village great again.

The morning sun shone on Cloud Hidden Village.

The ninja village, which had been reduced to ruins, now appears to have regained some of its vitality.

Konoha ninjas began driving away the Cloud Village prisoners to clear the ruins and search for valuable supplies.

Orochimaru stood on high ground, looking at everything before him, and couldn't help but sigh, "Kumakushi Village is recognized as the second strongest ninja village after Konoha Village, and yet we've conquered it just like that."

Having just woken up, Shan Zhongchu laughed upon hearing his teacher's感慨 (gǎnkǎi, deep sigh/reflection), saying, "Teacher, you agreed to the plan when it started, so why are you feeling this way?"

Orochimaru said, "Hehehehe, I never imagined that it would actually succeed."

"Yesterday, Kumogakure was still the biggest threat to Konoha, even trying to force Hyuga Hizashi to his death."

"Today, Kumogakure has become a ruin, a spoil of war for Orochimaru."

The ninth day of the mountain said, "The world is unpredictable; the large intestine wraps the small intestine."

Orochimaru: "..."

His rare artistic temperament crumbled instantly. For the first time in his life, Orochimaru lost control of his emotions and complained, "What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

Shan Zhongchu waved his hand: "Ah, no need to worry about these details."

"I'm so excited! This battle will be the most legendary battle of the Third Shinobi World War, and it will be forever remembered by the shinobi world."

"However, Orochimaru-sensei, we cannot relax yet."

"We have occupied the physical body of Kumogakure, but the Kumogakure that controls the Land of Lightning has not been destroyed."

"At least tens of thousands of Cloud Village ninja are still alive. They are stationed throughout the Land of Lightning and guard the borders of the Land of Earth and the Land of Water."

"And with the Cloud Village ninjas still pursuing them, the Fourth Raikage won't let this go easily."

Orochimaru asked, "Are you confident you can handle them?"

Yamazaku nodded confidently and said, "Of course!"

With his wisdom and omniscience on the battlefield, Orochimaru's formidable fighting power, and the elite of the four thousand Konoha ninja, the upcoming challenges will be a piece of cake.

There are even ready-made assignments to copy, and four of them at that.

News of the fall of Kumogakure spread quickly, reaching all parts of the Land of Lightning that same day. A day later, the news reached the Land of Earth and the Land of Water, and two days later, it reached the Land of Wind.

Orochimaru personally delivered the message to Konoha Village, but he instructed his old subordinates to keep it a secret for the time being, only informing the Hyuga, Uchiha, and the Ino-Shika-Cho-Mushi clans.

For no other reason than that Yamanaka Chuji was going to cause trouble in Konoha Village, and as his teacher, he had to lend a hand.

Everyone who received the news was incredulous, thinking they had heard a joke.

Only after repeated confirmation did they accept it in shock.

The most unacceptable are of course the Cloud Village ninjas.

Those Cloud Village ninjas stationed throughout the Land of Lightning and on guard against Iwagakure and Kirigakure were instantly thrown into a state of bewilderment, then torn between rage and panic.

Upon learning the news, the Fourth Raikage's rage instantly consumed his reason.

Despite chasing him all the way from the Land of Fire, and being constantly tormented by Yamanaka Hatsukyu's tricks, he couldn't catch up with the Konoha ninjas no matter what he did, so he was mentally prepared that the village might not be able to withstand it.

But when the devastating news actually arrived, he still couldn't accept it.

The Raikage briefly controlled his chakra with black silk, and countless arcs of electricity erupted from his body, tearing apart the ground beneath his feet and even injuring Killer Bee.

A knew very well that Kumogakure was the foundation of the Land of Lightning and the home of all Kumogakure ninja.

The complete fall of Kumogakure to Konoha is a fatal blow to the Land of Lightning. He must reclaim the village as soon as possible, otherwise Kumogakure will fall apart and become the first of the five great ninja villages to be destroyed.

For the sake of Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage ordered the abandonment of the border, gathered all the Kumogakure ninja, and recaptured the village, tearing Orochimaru and Yamanaka Hatsugu to pieces.

When the Fourth Raikage's order arrived, the Cloud Village ninja abandoned their defenses without hesitation and frantically retreated towards the Cloud Village.

The number of Cloud Village ninjas who withdrew from the borders of the Land of Earth and the Land of Water, along with those stationed in various locations, reached as many as 12,000.

The Fourth Raikage personally led a force of 5,000 pursuers, while the Moon Country's vengeful Moon Ninja also numbered 5,000.

The four ninja armies converged, forming a terrifying army of 23,000 people.

In particular, most of the Cloud Village ninjas were veterans of countless battles, and their anger and lightning chakra intertwined, filling the air with a sense of unease.

After deducting the casualties from the capture of Kumogakure, the Konoha army led by Orochimaru and Yamanaka Hatsukyu only had 3,500 ninjas actually capable of fighting.

With the difference in troop strength between the two sides reaching six times, the Fourth Raikage could no longer tolerate it and instead aggressively surrounded Kumogakure from three directions.

Ai personally led the main force of the Cloud Village and the Moon Ninja army to advance from south to north. To the west were the Cloud Village's Earth Country defense forces, and to the east were the Cloud Village's Water Country defense forces.

He intended to use his overwhelming numerical superiority to crush Orochimaru's Konoha army with overwhelming force.

The disparity in troop strength between the two sides was too great, and everyone thought it was a hopeless situation.

Many Konoha ninjas privately discussed, not regretting following Orochimaru and Yamanaka Hatsugu in launching this surprise attack, but speculating on how Yamanaka Hatsugu would break the deadlock, or even how he would turn the tables and kill the Cloud Village army.

The continuous victories endowed this Konoha army with the temperament of a strongman. Konoha ninjas could face any enemy without changing their expressions and discuss how to win.

Even though it is attached to the Nine in the Mountain, rather than to themselves, it is still very precious.

For Yamanaka Hatsukyu, being relied upon is a good thing; this group of Konoha ninjas is his and Orochimaru's strongest base.

Compared to Orochimaru's former subordinates, these Konoha ninjas who talked about how to defeat six times their number of enemies were ruthless characters who absolutely trusted their master and disciple.

With just a word from Orochimaru and Yamanaka Hatsukyu, they would dare to draw their knives against the Third Hokage!

Because in their hearts, the mountain had planted a belief: following him would surely lead to victory.

"How do we fight?"

Orochimaru's voice rang out. His voice wasn't loud, but it was clearly heard by the four thousand Konoha ninja, attracting everyone's attention.

All the discussion stopped, and all eyes were focused on Shan Zhong Chu Jiu.

There was no fear in Yamanaka Chujiu's eyes, but rather an excitement, as if the more difficult the battle, the more it aroused his interest.

He declared, "Although the enemy outnumbers us, victory will surely belong to Konoha!"

Upon hearing Yamanaka Hatsukyu's declaration of victory, the Konoha ninjas immediately cheered loudly.

That's how much they believed it.

Yamanaka Chuji began his analysis: "The Cloud Village ninjas are powerful, and the Moon Village ninjas are ruthless, but they all have one fatal weakness—speed!"

"The Cloud Village ninjas are eager to reclaim the Cloud Village, and the Moon Village ninjas are eager to seek revenge against us, which makes them restless and each has their own agenda."

"The Cloud Village ninjas generally look down on the Moon Village ninjas, and the Moon Village ninjas also harbor resentment towards the Cloud Village ninjas because of the destruction of the Moon Village."

"They only joined forces because they felt they couldn't defeat us; they were forced to because of the overwhelming pressure of the four thousand Konoha ninja!"