Naruto Online: Hyuga Branch Family? Let's go all out!

Chapter 172 War Begins

Yahiko immediately replied, stating that he would attend the Rain Country Peace Conference on Hanzo's orders.

Upon receiving the letter, Hanzo immediately shared it with Danzo.

"This child is really naive!" Danzo sneered.

Hanzo hesitated, however: "From the contents of the letter, I can see that he has a burning love for the Land of Rain. Perhaps there really is a possibility for peaceful coexistence between me and the Akatsuki!"

"You're still hesitating at a time like this?" Danzo said irritably. "Besides, he may love the Land of Rain, but does he love Amegakure? Once you're dead, they'll have grown up, and without checks and balances, they'll inevitably implement the Akatsuki's system throughout the country. Then there will only be the Akatsuki, and no more Amegakure!"

People like Danzo, who grew up in the environment of the ninja village, had deep feelings for the village.

Even if some people's love for the village is distorted, they really do love it.

Hanzo was also that kind of person; he became somewhat unsettled upon hearing that Amegakure might disappear.

"I'm not hesitating, I'm perfectly clear-headed!" Shaking his head, Hanzo said coldly, "Those who don't serve me are ultimately just enemies!"

"Good that you understand!" Danzo nodded, then said, "Judging from the time on the letter, they set off yesterday morning. They should have arrived yesterday!"

The Land of Rain is a small country; it only takes a few hours to travel from one side to the other.

According to Danzo's investigation, the three leaders of Akatsuki all possessed the strength of Jonin and could even move faster.

But it didn't even last a day.

What do you mean, standing someone up?

"Lord Hanzo!" A ninja strode in.

"What is it?" Hanzo looked up.

"Akatsuki, the Akatsuki organization," the ninja stammered.

"The Akatsuki have arrived?" Hanzo was taken aback, then immediately stood up. "Let's go, let's go see the younger generation of the Land of Rain!"

"No, no." The ninja stammered, unable to utter a coherent sentence.

"What exactly happened? As a ninja, can't you even stay calm?" Hanzo asked sharply.

Although he was old, his power was still considerable. The ninja trembled for a moment, then immediately calmed down.

"The Akatsuki members did come, but not three!"

"Thirty people? They must have brought the leader's guard!" Hanzo said.

"Neither, nor."

"Three hundred?" Hanzo frowned. "Three hundred is a bit too much!"

"No, it's not three hundred!"

Hanzo raised his hand immediately: "If you utter another word, I'll chop you down!"

"It's three thousand!!" the ninja hurriedly exclaimed.

"What?" Hanzo was taken aback. If I remember correctly, the Akatsuki only had three thousand ninjas!

They're all here?

What does this mean?

"You're not mistaken?" Hanzo asked, frowning.

"They're right outside the city, lined up in a square formation, easy to count!" the ninja said. "They also asked to enter the city, but the guards stopped them."

"Good job stopping them!" Hanzo breathed a sigh of relief. How could he possibly let three thousand organized ninjas into the city?

If they were to storm the Amegakure headquarters, who could stop them!

"Assemble the troops!" Hanzo immediately ordered, then looked at Danzo: "And your men too!"

"My men are ready at any time!" Danzo frowned. "They can come with you!"

As a master of cunning and ruthlessness in the Naruto world, Danzo already sensed that something was amiss.

The best approach would actually be to lure the three Akatsuki leaders in, kill them, and then lead the troops to divide and incorporate the Akatsuki's three thousand ninjas.

But to everyone's surprise, the entire Akatsuki organization came.

Now, it's Amegakure that's suffering.

You're the one who invited us to this meeting. We're here, so why didn't you open the door?

So, I'll open the door, and you can have your meeting properly and then leave?

Don't be ridiculous. Once we're in the city, we'll have no trouble finding a reason to start a war.

The soldier was lost, he was insulted, some people discriminated against him because he was a country bumpkin, and locals looked down on outsiders.

Seeing that Hanzo had already left, Danzo hurriedly followed.

Behind him were two men who appeared to be guards, seemingly unremarkable, but in reality, one was Sarutobi Shinnosuke and the other was Hyuga Shinka.

Hyuga Shinka is a genius that Danzo poached from the Hyuga clan. He is only 18 years old, but he has already mastered Gentle Fist and Rotation, making him a solid elite Jonin.

Moreover, his white eyes can see 3 kilometers away.

Whether it's reconnaissance or protection, he is top-notch.

A moment later, the three of them arrived at the walls of Amegakure and saw Hanzo seemingly arguing with someone.

Listening closely, one could hear someone shouting outside the wall: "All the problems in Amegakure now are because of you. You were warlike and didn't know when to stop. You were arrogant and launched a war against a major power. And when you started fighting, you didn't know to fight only one country. You declared war on three countries at the same time. After the defeat, instead of boosting the morale of the people, you just watched the ninjas cause chaos everywhere."

"Hanzo, I respect everything you've done for the Land of Rain, but that doesn't mean we'll blindly follow you. Peace in the Land of Rain is simple: you step down, and I'll take your place!"

"Good heavens!" Danzo was stunned. After a short while, he was surprised to find that what the person below said made a lot of sense!

Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and even the legendary Sannin of that era, including Sakumo Hatake, still cannot understand how Hanzo dared to declare war on three major nations at the same time!

Was it parasitized by some old lady?

Upon reaching the city wall and looking down, Danzo was astonished to see a young man with short orange hair, wearing a blue uniform with half a sun painted on his body.

The sound just now came from his mouth.

"This is Yahiko!" Danzo was seeing the Akatsuki leader for the first time.

He had no personal grudges against the Akatsuki; it was simply a clash of ideologies, plus he wanted to create chaos within the Land of Rain—that was all.

But upon seeing Yahiko, this ideological disagreement quickly turned into a personal grudge.

Because of Yahiko's image, he's become radiant!

And there's a strange sense of familiarity about it!

If you just change the hair color from orange to brown, wouldn't this look just like Rope Tree?

That smile, those eyes, that simple-minded look on his face—it's exactly the same!

This person is like a mirror; just looking at him, Danzo felt as if he were seeing the most despicable part of his own heart.

Not only Nawaki, but Danzo could also see the shadow of the First Hokage in him!

But how could that be? A mere Akatsuki leader...

Kill him! He must be killed!

Danzo's hands trembled, and an inexplicable fear welled up from within, instantly soaking his back.

He killed so many Senju, including the grandsons of the First and Second Hokage. Isn't he afraid at all?

How is that possible!

I have nightmares every night when I try to sleep!

There have always been plenty of first and second generation heroes seeking revenge against him!

I used to only encounter them in my dreams, but now I've actually met them in real life! This is unacceptable!

"Nawaki must die, the Senju clan must perish, and the Uzumaki clan too. I did all this for Konoha, I did nothing wrong!" Danzo murmured, then turned his head: "What's the situation now?"

A Konoha ninja who arrived early said, "Hanzo only allowed the three leaders of Akatsuki to enter the city, but the three leaders of Akatsuki said that they have a democratic system and everyone has the right to participate in discussions. They said that the three of them cannot represent Akatsuki, so they all want to enter the city. Hanzo refused to allow it. At first, it was just a dispute, but after a few words, they started arguing."

"Foolish!" Danzo sternly cut off Hanzo's cursing. "They've clearly figured out the problem. What are you still cursing for? Immediately mobilize your troops and start the war!"

"Sigh!" Hanzo sighed. He was originally satisfied with the Akatsuki organization, but after the argument, he was even more satisfied.

This child is not only idealistic, resourceful, and has leadership skills, but also quite good at arguing.

Unlike me, I can't say anything clever even when someone tries to talk me out of it, and when I'm ganged up on by three people, all I can do is retort with the title of one of the Three Legendary Sannin.

Unfortunately, due to differing ideologies, we are ultimately enemies.

Although Hanzo was defeated, he never felt that there was anything wrong with his ideology, after all, he was defeated by a group attack.

Since he had never seen the Akatsuki organization in this form, he naturally had a preconceived notion that the Akatsuki was no longer viable.

The biggest point of contention, of course, is that the Akatsuki only wanted world peace, while Hanzo's ideal was to make the Land of Rain one of the five great nations.

"The war has begun!" Hanzo waved his hand, summoning his guards, and issued a series of orders.

The ninjas in Amegakure were quickly mobilized, with frontline troops, support troops, reserves, and logistics troops all operating smoothly.

Having fought against the three great powers for several years, Hanzo still possessed considerable abilities.

Moreover, knowing that there might be a major battle with the Akatsuki, these things had already been prepared.

It's just that it's started operating now.

Some ninjas who were just there for the meeting were also incorporated into Hanzo's army. These people were really stupid and didn't bring any troops with them. They came alone or with a few guards.

If you don't recruit them, who will?

Looking at the standard solution given by Yahiko outside the city now, these people regretted their actions. If they had arrived a few days later, they could have copied it!

But now, it's too late to say anything!

The Akatsuki did not attempt to attack the city, nor did they declare war, because they needed Amegakure to be the first to attack.

Some things may seem unimportant, but they are actually very important, relating to the foundation of a nation, its legal system, and the hearts and minds of its people.

The ninjas moved with incredible speed; within half an hour, a member of the guard team reported that everything was ready.

"A total of 9600 people!" Hanzo was somewhat surprised when he saw the number on the paper, because when he launched the Second World War, the number of ninjas in Amegakure was only 7000.

There are currently 9600, and if we add the 3000 from outside, the Land of Rain has a total of 12600 ninjas.

It's important to know that this isn't all; many organization leaders came alone, without any troops!

If all of these are included, the number of ninjas in Amegakure might exceed 15,000!

This is outrageous. After being besieged by three kingdoms, suffering a major defeat, and then engaging in two years of civil war, the number of ninjas in Amegakure actually increased instead of decreased.

Hanzo felt like he had grasped something, but upon closer inspection, he couldn't think of anything at all.

In reality, this is the result of knowledge no longer being blocked and ninjutsu entering the world of ordinary people.

Various organizations are recruiting ninjas to strengthen their forces, but the number of ninjas is limited. As a last resort, these organizations will try to train civilians and teach them chakra refining techniques.

Although there weren't many people who could cultivate chakra, a large number of talented individuals were still selected when the training program expanded nationwide.

If no one interferes with this process, the Land of Rain might be teeming with ninjas, and after round after round of wars, the strongest organization would eventually emerge.

Because ninjutsu has been completely decentralized, the Land of Rain, ruled by this organization, has become a unique ninja nation in the ninja world.

It's not a country with a unified system like a ninja village state, but a country composed of ninjas.

Unfortunately, the sudden emergence of the Akatsuki organization interrupted this natural evolution. Pain dominated the world, and Konan's various fundraising efforts led to a double shortage of funds and resources for Amegakure.

Evolution, naturally, stagnated.

The story of Naruto is about a group of geniuses, and it's very exciting to watch.

However, these geniuses also objectively hindered the iterative evolution of the ninja world's civilization.

Hanzo didn't think that far ahead; he was just looking at the numbers on the document, filled with excitement.

The ambitions that had been dormant due to the defeat slowly resurfaced.

Back then, I only had 7,000 men, so I couldn't defeat your three kingdoms. But now my strength has doubled, so how can I still not defeat you?

I will lead the Land of Rain to greatness once again!

But before greatness.

Outside the city, the Akatsuki members were dressed uniformly, lined up in a square formation, and held up half-day blue flags with stars, resembling a blue lake.

Tranquil and profound, it seemed to contain boundless power.

Hanzo raised his hands and formed a hand seal: "Summoning Jutsu: Salamander!"

Bang!

As the smoke cleared, a giant salamander, nearly fifty meters long, suddenly appeared across the city wall.

Hanzo stood atop the salamander's head, and together they leaped down from the castle. As they did so, he raised his hand and shouted, "Let the battle begin!"

Danzo and Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who was standing next to him, exchanged a glance and rushed down the castle tower together.

To prove that he had made a great contribution, he naturally needed plenty of spoils.

Where do the spoils come from?

It must be on the enemy, of course.

As for the unease he had just felt, Danzo had already put it out of his mind!

The salamander was so big and could release poison; back then, only the three legendary ninjas could fight it by summoning the summoning beasts of the three sacred lands.

What does your organization have? Nothing!

When facing a salamander, it's naturally a real headache.

But now, they're teammates!

Danzo felt an overwhelming sense of security!

I don't play when things are going badly, but now that we're winning, who can't just pick up kills for free!

Go go go go go!

(End of this chapter)