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

Chapter 220 The Raikage is also reading.

While Onoki was carrying the book up the mountain, Minato and his group had just returned to their camp after completing a reconnaissance mission around the city.

"Iwagakure is surrounded by mountains, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. It's no exaggeration to say that it's a formidable stronghold!" The results of this reconnaissance left several high-ranking officials quite impressed.

These people had only heard about Iwagakure before; this was their first time conducting an on-site investigation!

"The mountains surrounding Iwagakure vary in height, with the highest point reaching 576 meters and the lowest point still reaching 395 meters. There are only about forty such high points in total. Iwagakure only needs to station two hundred people to guard them, and they can inflict huge casualties on our army!" Hyuga Hizashi said.

He is Hiashi Hyuga's younger brother and the head of a branch family, so he should theoretically be a staunch supporter of the main family.

But compared to Ning Yuan, who had abolished the clan system, separated the family, and removed the "caged bird" label, his older brother was nothing.

Ning Yuan saved not only him, but also his future children, descendants, and generations to come!

Having removed the Caged Bird Seal and received the main family's inheritance, Hyuga Hizashi not only greatly improved his strength but also became much more confident.

With his cooperation, the clan chief of Kurama first drew the mountains surrounding Iwagakure, and then asked an earth-style ninja to create a model of Iwagakure on a sand table.

Looking at the barren cliffs with hardly any trees, even the weaker ninjas were already feeling a headache coming on.

"Why just now?" someone asked.

It was about why they didn't take the opportunity to capture Onoki.

"Onoki can indeed be taken down instantly, and the benefits of taking him down are numerous!" Nara Shikaku said. "Onoki is not only the strongest ninja in Iwagakure, but also the only one who can fly. If we can take Onoki down, we can gain air superiority and transfer our troops into Iwagakure via air transport. And without a super strong ninja, Iwagakure will lose its threat to our main force!"

"But Onoki isn't like Hiruzen Sarutobi. He holds considerable prestige in Iwagakure. If we kill Onoki without a declaration of war, it could easily incite public anger in Iwagakure, which would be very detrimental to our takeover of the village!"

Minato Namikaze nodded: "In war, the best strategy is to subdue the enemy without fighting; the next best is to disrupt their alliances; the next best is to attack their army; the worst is to besiege their cities. War is the last resort. If possible, I would prefer that Iwagakure return to peace!"

"Will he surrender?" Rasa from Sunagakure asked, puzzled. "We haven't taken Iwagakure yet; we have nothing to threaten him with!"

"Let's give it a try!" Minato Namikaze said calmly. "Even if the peace talks fail, we can just capture Onoki again!"

This is the confidence that comes with strength; Minato is confident that everything in Iwagakure is under his control.

If all else fails, I can ask for help. There are plenty of experts in Ning's organization who haven't been mobilized yet!

Moreover, Minato was quite confident that Iwagakure would choose to surrender, because the organization had specifically studied this matter.

The reason for this is thanks to Hashirama Senju's design of the concept of ninja villages and the legacy left by ninja clans.

In other words, the relationship between the ninja village and the daimyo is not one of superior and subordinate, but rather an employment relationship where the village pays for the work and the daimyo provides the labor.

Ninjas were not soldiers brainwashed by militarism; there was no such thing as fighting to the death or surrendering.

The reason why no one surrendered in previous wars was that ninjas could read memories from other people's brains, and the fate of ninjas who surrendered after being defeated would be extremely tragic.

Rather than being defeated and having one's memories read, it's better to fight to the death on the battlefield.

But what's the situation now?

Although Iwagakure was not surrounded, it was not far off. Given the speed of the Guining Army, even if Iwagakure left the village via other routes, the Guining Army would quickly catch up.

Once in the wild, without the protection of the mountains, how could the Iwagakure ninjas be a match for the Guining Army?

If they can't get out, it means that Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) can't support the daimyo.

Then the Daimyo of the Land of Earth will inevitably be captured by Ning's organization.

With his name gone, the employment relationship was naturally terminated.

Now that Iwagakure has no master, why not change to another one?

The only uncertainty in this matter lies with Onoki. If he is greedy for power and unwilling to give it up, he may fight the Ning organization to the death.

So Shuimen presented the "Ning Organization Popular Education Manual," which, while popularizing education among the masses, also flexed its muscles to those who were unfamiliar with the Ning Organization.

The above clearly tells you that our Ning organization is no ordinary organization. We have now completely controlled two major countries and several smaller countries, and we have almost taken over the entire landmass.

Our dreams are grand, and our will is unwavering; there is absolutely no possibility of change.

If Onoki had any sense at all, he wouldn't have made the decision to fight the Ning organization to the death.

Is Onoki a brainless person?

Minato didn't know that when people are in dire straits, the choices they make are often incomprehensible.

So he could only wait for the outcome.

After a while, White Zetsu, who had infiltrated Iwagakure, sent word.

The printing plants on both sides of Iwagakure Village were requisitioned by the Tsuchikage to begin printing a book called "Ning Organization Propaganda and Education Manual".

Minato smiled slightly, finally putting his mind at ease.

The matter is settled!

While Onoki was printing books, Midai Ai was also busy.

The Hidden Cloud Village is known for its swift and decisive actions. The moment they received news of the Gui Ning Army's deployment on the border, they began assembling their troops. That very night, two thousand elite soldiers and three thousand chunin and genin were assembled. The Third Hokage, A, and Killer Bee led the elite troops on a night-time expedition, while the Fourth Hokage, A, and Yugito followed behind with the reserve troops and logistical supplies.

At six o'clock the next morning, the Third A encountered a ninja who had come from the front lines to deliver a message.

Upon learning that the Guining Army had not attacked but instead set up camp on the spot, the Third Generation Ai relaxed somewhat and then ordered everyone to rest on the spot before continuing their advance two hours later.

As a result, the Cloud Village troops, who were supposed to arrive at the front line at noon, were delayed until 2 p.m.

Such a slow march is practically a crime in war. If the Guining Army were to take the opportunity to attack the frontline ninjas, the Third Hokage, A, didn't know how they would be able to defend themselves.

But the Guining Army did not launch an attack.

As a result, the third generation of Ai unconsciously developed a certain contempt for the Guining Army.

What's the use of having a lot of people? If you encounter a leader who has no ability and can't even seize a battle opportunity, how will you win the war!

At 2 PM, the third-generation Ai arrived at the front-line fortress.

The border fortresses of Kumogakure are different from those of Iwagakure. Iwagakure's opponent is Sunagakure. Sunagakure ninjas are weak in attacking strongholds and usually focus their attacks on Konoha. Therefore, although Iwagakure's border fortresses are well-maintained, they are of average quality and have been in disrepair for many years.

However, the fortresses on the border of Kumogakure were built to deal with Konoha, so their quality is different.

Not only is the fortress entirely constructed from incredibly hard thunderstone, forged from the constant thunderstorms within the Land of Lightning, but the Land of Lightning also spends a significant amount of resources annually to maintain the border fortress.

This fortress stretches for four kilometers between two valleys, resembling a man-made blue dragon. Therefore, this fortress, officially named Stone Valley, also has another name: Blue Dragon of the Heavenly Barrier.

The Hidden Cloud Village maintains a troop presence of 3,000 ninjas along its border year-round. These ninjas are not only used for defense, but also occasionally raid Konoha or other countries, perhaps even stealing a genius.

On the mountaintops on both sides of the fortress, the village of Iwagakure had also deployed personnel.

Although the mountains on both sides of the fortress are extremely steep, it is not impossible for ninjas to climb them if they really want to. Therefore, the Hidden Cloud Village built a separate fortress on each mountain, and each fortress was staffed with five hundred people.

There are a total of 1,000 people on the mountain, 3,000 people in the fortress, plus 2,000 elite troops personally led by the Third Generation Ai. At this time, the number of Cloud Hidden troops in this fortress complex has reached more than 6,000!

If we include the reserve forces, the total strength of the Hidden Cloud Village is nine thousand!

This number is not alarming; it's minuscule compared to the massive battles on Earth that involve hundreds of thousands or even millions of participants.

But these are nine thousand superpowered individuals, each capable of controlling the elements!

This is a bit scary!

Even so, the Guining Army trio remained completely calm, while it was the Third Raikage, A, who was panicked.

"Sixty thousand ninjas, are you sure? You didn't misread it?" Ai looked angrily at his own sensory ninjas.

"There are 60,000 people! Even if I'm mistaken, there are so many tents filled with them, and they're all arranged very neatly. I could count them myself!" the sensory ninja said, feeling aggrieved.

"How is this possible!" Hearing this terrifying number, even the Third Raikage, A, felt a chill run down his spine.

But what puzzled him even more was where these 60,000 people came from?

Even if you combine the four ninja villages of Konoha, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure, you still couldn't muster 60,000 ninjas!

Not to mention, I also received news that there are two other Guining Army forces, one of which attacked Iwagakure and the other is in the Land of Hot Springs!

If the other two units also have this many people, wouldn't that mean that the Guining Army has 18 ninjas under its command?

"Has the other side sent anyone over to communicate?" Raikage asked.

Border guard commander-in-chief Sakyi shook his head: "No!"

"Nothing?" Raikage asked, puzzled. Without exchanging a word, he asked, "Why did you send so many people here?"

Whether it's fighting, making peace, or even extortion, someone should be sent to speak with them!

"If he won't send anyone, then we'll send someone over!" The Third Hokage, A, spoke up, just as he was deciding who to send, when his sensory ninja reported, "Lord Raikage, they've sent someone!"

"Huh?" The group turned their heads in unison, and sure enough, a person was jogging towards them from the opposite tent.

The third-generation Ai frowned and turned to look at Sakyi.

Sakai immediately raised his hand and swore, "There can't be any spies on our border!"

The third-generation Ai didn't say anything, but no one from the other side had come to communicate with him for a whole day and night before, and the people from the other side came as soon as he arrived.

If they're not spies, then the other side's reconnaissance capabilities are just too strong.

So they're from the Hyuga clan? What an enviable bloodline!

"Should we..." Sakyi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Raikage wasn't going to pursue the matter, and then asked.

As he spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture.

Third-generation Ai shook his head: "Send someone to ask him what he wants to say. We need to know why they came here!"

So a ninja ran down from the fortress.

Not long after, he returned carrying a book.

"Lord Raikage, this was given to you by the commander of the Guining Army on the other side. He said that after reading this book, you will understand why he came!"

"We've already checked it. There's no poison, illusion, or seal in the book. It's just an ordinary book."

"Oh?" Third Generation Ai frowned. Why can't you just say it directly? Why do you make me read a book?

Looking at this book, which was three fingers thick and quite large, Third Generation Ai instinctively felt some resistance.

But after thinking about it, he accepted it anyway.

Although he had never read Sun Tzu's Art of War and did not know that knowing the enemy and knowing yourself leads to victory in every battle.

But it's never a bad thing to learn more about your opponent.

(End of this chapter)