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

Chapter 217 The Three Shadows' Countermeasures

It's past midnight, and Onoki, who should have been asleep long ago, is still working.

The return of a large number of personnel required his organization, the allocation of a large amount of supplies required his signature, and he also had to go outside the village to appease the defeated ninja army and try to catch some spies.

Naturally, nothing was found.

After a long day of work, Onoki felt sore back, dizzy and lightheaded. But thinking that military intelligence might arrive at any time, he decided not to go home. Instead, he set up a cot he bought from the Land of Fire in his office to prepare for the night.

Just as he lay down, Onoki heard a series of loud footsteps, followed by a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Onoki sighed, turned on the light, and then saw an ANBU member walk in with a worried look on his face.

"Emergency situation!"

Onoki's heart leaped into his throat: "Speak!"

"Reports from the southern border outpost indicate that a large explosion was heard at the front line at 9:30 AM, lasting for an hour before ending. No further reports have been received from frontline ninjas. It appears there was a firefight with Konoha ninjas. The outcome of the battle for our forces..."

"What happened to our army?" Onoki roared, his eyes bloodshot.

"Our entire army has been wiped out!" the secret service officer said in a trembling voice.

Onoki's vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Lord Tsuchikage? Lord Tsuchikage? Come quick, medical ninja!"

After a long while, Onoki slowly woke up, then turned his head around and soon saw the ANBU member.

"Any new information?" Ohnoki asked.

The ANBU member shook his head: "There are members of the Hyuga clan among the Konoha ninja, so our ninjas dare not get too close, but indeed, no one has reported any news."

Ohnoki's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, could finally settle down.

When battles occur at the front, regardless of victory or defeat, intelligence should be relayed to the rear. If the ninja responsible for relaying intelligence dies, the intelligence should be passed to the rear outpost, where it will be relayed by ninjas.

There is no intelligence at the front lines, and no intelligence at the watchtowers. What does this mean?

This means that not only did the person responsible for transmitting intelligence at the front line die, but no one else was able to escape afterward.

What is this if not a complete annihilation?!

However, this is no ordinary unit; the Explosion Release unit is among them!

Kakashi only had three hundred men, how did he manage that?

Onoki stood up with a troubled expression.

"Lord Tsuchikage, you are not feeling well, you should rest more!" the medical ninja advised.

Onoki said irritably, "How can I rest at a time like this? Help me up!"

Helpless, the medical ninja could only help Onoki to his feet and bring him to the front of the map.

Looking at the huge map of the Land of Earth above, which used to be a map of the ninja world, Onoki often surveyed it, strategizing how to first conquer the Land of Fire and then other countries, ultimately unifying the world.

He is old and has no successor; if possible, he only wants to end all wars in his generation.

But now?

The question is no longer whether we can unify the world, but whether we can preserve Iwagakure!

The eastern front was breached, resulting in the loss of 1,400 men.

In the Battle of Amber, 3600 were captured and over 1,000 died in battle.

With the southern front breached, another 1,200 men were wiped out, including the elite Explosion Release unit from Iwagakure.

In the three wars, Iwagakure suffered a total loss of 7200 people!

The intelligence from Ning's organization was very accurate. The total number of ninjas in Iwagakure is only 1.5. This loss of nearly half of them is quite alarming.

Moreover, they are not ordinary half-nin; those who can guard the border are basically elites, either Jonin or Chunin.

Those who went to the front lines with his son were all among the village's best ninjas, not to mention the loss of an entire Explosion Release unit!

Therefore, the troop loss was half, but the actual loss was nearly two-thirds!

Although Iwagakure is already recalling ninjas and the lost manpower can be replenished quickly, the quantity can be replenished, but the quality cannot!

"Could it be that our Iwagakure village is about to end in my hands?" Onoki asked, his expression filled with fear as he felt his body.

Although in the original story he lived until the Fourth Shinobi World War, which is at least twenty years away from now, and if we include Boruto, he even lived to be 94 years old!

He's only 59 now, he still has 35 years to go!

But that's because Iwagakure has always had a smooth and successful history.

Although the attack on Konoha was thwarted, it wasn't a major loss.

Although he has a disappointing grandson, he is fortunate to have a talented granddaughter.

With everything going well and his family living in harmony, of course he lived a long life.

Now, with three pieces of bad news in one day, the attack from Konoha Village has forced him to work non-stop. With this kind of schedule and mentality, can he still live for that long?

At least he doesn't think so himself.

"If I live, I can still use Dust Release to hold off Minato's attack, but what if I die?" Onoki couldn't help but feel a sense of panic when he thought about the ages of those geniuses in Konoha.

Not to mention that the Sannin are only 34 years old this year and have a long prime ahead of them, the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze is only 19 years old this year!

Even below Minato Namikaze, there was a genius ninja named Kakashi who became a Jonin at the age of 9!

Konoha has produced geniuses generation after generation, but what about our Iwagakure?

The next generation had no geniuses at all, and although the generation after that had Deidara, compared to Kakashi, he seemed just so-so.

After I leave, how can Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) compete with Konoha (Hidden Leaf Village)?

"Has the ninja who contacted Kumogakure returned with the message?" Onoki asked.

The ANBU member shook his head: "Based on the route, he shouldn't have reached the Land of Lightning yet!"

Onoki sighed. He knew that these things couldn't be rushed. It would take at least three days to travel from Iwagakure to Kumogakure.

However, in just three days, Konoha's army will likely be at the city gates!

What's the point of contacting them then?

Onoki was upset, and the people of Kumogakure weren't much happier either.

The Third Raikage, A, had only just received the news.

"What? You're saying that three armies flying the Guining Army flag wiped out Takigakure, the Land of Iron, and the Land of Frost, and then came after our Kumogakure?"

It's not fair to blame Kumogakure for being behind in intelligence. In recent years, Kumogakure's attention has been entirely focused on Iwagakure. A large number of elite intelligence ninjas have been sent to Iwagakure as spies, so intelligence on other countries has naturally fallen behind.

Moreover, the Guining Army's operation was not only kept completely secret, but also had White Zetsu blocking the news along the way.

Ordinary people have no means of transmitting messages. Ninjas not registered with the Ning organization die as soon as they get close. The Gui Ning Army destroyed three kingdoms in just one day, so the speed at which the Hidden Cloud Village received the news was naturally very slow.

"That's not all!" The information was delivered by the Third Raikage's son, the Fourth Raikage. Since the Fourth Raikage would also inherit the name A in the future, they could be referred to as the Third A and the Fourth A.

The Fourth Hokage, A, said with a grim expression, "Iwagakure has also been attacked. Leading the troops is the Yellow Flash of Konoha, the 19-year-old Minato Namikaze. Iwagakure has already suffered two defeats, and the third is estimated to begin tomorrow, and the battlefield will be under Iwagakure's control!"

"Hiss!" The Third Hokage A gasped, looking at the map and asking, "What about Sunagakure? What's the situation there? How could they allow Minato Namikaze to pass through? Weren't they fighting a war before?"

"The intelligence blockade over there is very severe, preventing our people from getting close. However, it seems that Sunagakure and Konoha have reached a peace agreement?" the Fourth Hokage, A, said. "As for the content of the peace talks, it's possible that they will form an allied army to attack the Land of Earth, and then divide the land equally?"

Third Generation Ai nodded. This guess was very likely. Otherwise, why would the two villages, which were fighting so well, suddenly stop fighting?

There must be even greater benefits involved!

However, Iwagakure is not to be trifled with. If it were so easy to defeat, wouldn't Kumogakure have already done so?

"What's this Guining Army thing all about?" Second Generation Ai asked.

"I don't know," the Third Generation Ai said in silence. "I've never heard of such an army before, and no one knows the leader of the Guining Army."

"What kind of Tom, Dick, and Harry dares to attack our Land of Lightning!" The Third Hokage, A, slammed his fist on the table in anger. "Assemble the troops! We'll wipe out the Guining Army first, then head straight south. Since Konoha has attacked Iwagakure, their defenses must be weak. This is our perfect opportunity!"

Fourth-generation Ai nodded in agreement; he thought so too.

I've never even heard of that Guining Army; I imagine their fighting strength isn't that great.

As for destroying Takigakure and the Land of Iron?

This proves nothing. These two countries exist not because they are strong, but because the major powers are too lazy to fight.

If you want to fight, you can easily take it down.

As for the claim that the Guining Army had a large number of men, numbering 60,000?

Having a large number of people might be useful to ordinary ninja villages, but it's completely useless to the Hidden Cloud Village.

Not to mention that most of the Lightning Release techniques are area-of-effect attacks, when the Third and Fourth Hokage A activated their Lightning Armor, many people could only get a tickle.

As for contacting Iwagakure and then cooperating?

The Third Hokage A had no such idea. "Our Hidden Cloud Village is so strong, why should we cooperate with others?"

Besides, since Iwagakure and Konoha are already at war, it doesn't really matter whether they unite or not.

Even if they unite, won't they still be fighting their own battles?

Both Iwagakure and Kumogakure are ready for battle, while Kirigakure...

They didn't take it seriously at all; they're still pushing the Blood Mist policy here.

Although Madara is dead and the Fourth Mizukage has not yet taken office, the Hidden Mist policy was originally initiated during the Third Mizukage's reign, and it was only continued by the Fourth Mizukage.

As for why the Blood Mist policy was implemented?

It's very simple. The situation in Kirigakure is similar to that in Konoha; both villages have countless ninja clans within them.

The situation in Konoha is a little better. Everyone gives the Hokage face and will come to meetings to discuss matters, barely cooperating with the work.

The Mizukage of Kirigakure had absolutely no face in front of the ninja clans.

They're the kind of people who'll give you face by calling you "Water Shadow," but won't give you face by letting you die.

There were too many disobedient ninja clans, so much so that the Mizukage had no prestige whatsoever. His orders were not carried out and policies could not be implemented. To make matters worse, these ninja clans were nowhere to be found when it came to doing the work, but when it came to reaping the benefits, they all ran away faster than anyone else.

Looking at the history of the ninja world, we find that Kirigakure is a strange country. Despite being isolated overseas, it loves to fight.

Moreover, it was a very strange battle.

Attacking Konoha is understandable, given the proximity, but why attack Sunagakure?

You have to take a huge detour just to get there, and even if you conquer Sunagakure, you won't be able to occupy it. What's the point?

The same logic applies to attacking Iwagakure. You'll have to take a huge detour just to get there. Even if you conquer Iwagakure, what good will it do? You can't actually occupy it!

The Hidden Mist Village attacking the Hidden Sand Village is like a small village attacking Saudi Arabia—incomprehensible and unimaginable.

However, if we consider the unique political situation of Kirigakure, their perplexing actions become understandable.

Every war waged against foreign powers was because the Mizukage of Kirigakure wanted to expand his power and enhance his prestige.

By launching a war, one can mobilize ninjas from various clans and turn them into one's own ninjas.

Secondly, they could use various means to intercept a portion of the funds allocated to them by the powerful.

Thirdly, it can deplete the strength of various ninja clans. This depletion is not only on the battlefield, but also off the battlefield. Because of the enmity formed on the battlefield, ninja clan members are more likely to be attacked by ninjas from other villages.

As for ordinary ninjas, they have neither distinctive appearances nor distinctive ninjutsu, so no one would remember them at all.

There's also a fourth. If the war is won, wouldn't the Water Shadow's prestige soar to new heights?

If we take advantage of the situation to carry out some reforms in the village, there will be far fewer people who oppose it!

Because Kirigakure is neighbors with Konoha and Kumogakure, Kirigakure is well aware of the strength of these two neighbors. Therefore, the Mizukage, wanting to increase his prestige, would rather not go to war with these two villages.

The Second Mizukage chose Iwagakure, believing it to be an easy target.

As a result, the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage perished together.

The Third Mizukage, after much deliberation, decided that the Hidden Stone Village (Iwagakure) was not to be trifled with.

While he was scheming internally and supporting newcomers, he also ordered the forging of seven ninja swords to cultivate his own private force. At the same time, he quietly started preparing supplies, waiting for the right moment to launch an attack on Sunagakure.

As for the Land of Hot Springs being invaded by Konoha?

This is indeed a serious problem, but the Third Mizukage is probably secretly laughing to himself when he thinks about how many bathhouses in the Land of Hot Springs are owned by the Hidden Mist Village ninja clans.

As for counterattacking Yugakure, don't be ridiculous. Konoha is such a powerful village. Taking the initiative to attack would be suicide!

He had his reasons for opposing military intervention.

Konoha's actions threaten not only Kirigakure, but also Kumogakure!

Let the Hidden Cloud Village go first and hold the line. We'll wait until they've done enough damage before coming out to pick up the spoils. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

(End of this chapter)