They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 276 Naval Battle

On October 15, 1947, the Anti-Hidden Mist Alliance, spearheaded by the four major ninja villages of Konoha, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure, was officially established.

Because Hozuki Shingetsu usurped the title of Daimyo, the current anti-Kirigakure alliance is far more powerful than the anti-Konoha alliance during the Third Shinobi World War.

Almost every country in the ninja world with a daimyo responded to the call of the anti-Hidden Mist Alliance. The sheer number of participating countries and the wide scope of its influence made it a veritable anti-law alliance in the ninja world.

Even the ordinary anti-French coalitions are insufficient to describe the grandeur of this alliance. If a comparison is truly needed, one must look to the seventh anti-French coalition formed by European countries after Napoleon's escape from Elba.

The Anti-Kirigakure Alliance, with its large membership, enjoyed unparalleled influence for a time. Those unaware of the inner workings of the alliance largely accepted Kirigakure's defeat.

After all, even Konoha, which had maintained its title as the strongest ninja village for decades, was still defeated by the four great ninja villages in the Third Shinobi World War.

This time, the anti-Hidden Mist Alliance is far more powerful than before, and very few people think that Hidden Mist Village has any chance of winning.

The addition of "demigod" Hanzo the Salamander has further enhanced the League's prestige.

As a powerful figure who single-handedly elevated Amegakure, a second-rate ninja village, to a position that could rival Takigakure as the sixth greatest ninja village, Hanzo of the Salamander's prestige in the ninja world is self-evident.

As a result, the strong remain strong, and more and more people with various motives flocked into the alliance army, hoping to take a bite out of the village in the war against Kirigakure.

While these individuals amplified the alliance's influence, they also inevitably made the alliance's composition increasingly complex.

Without a doubt, Kirigakure must have relied on these people to infiltrate the alliance.

Ōnoki and the others ultimately welcomed this, as these people could at least serve to deplete Kirigakure's resources.

However, for reasons of secrecy, some highly classified plans, such as the "decapitation plan," would certainly not be told to these people.

Following initial training and coordination, on October 25th, the Anti-Kirigakure Alliance officially announced the start of a war against Kirigakure.

On paper, the Anti-Hidden Mist Alliance had about 100,000 ninjas, while the Hidden Mist Village only had 20,000 at most. This nearly five-to-one ratio filled everyone present, who had never truly witnessed Hozuki Shingetsu's strength, with confidence in victory.

Faced with this unprecedentedly powerful anti-Kirigakure alliance, Kirigakure's first task was to abolish all its forward military bases located on the outskirts of the Land of Water and gather all its personnel there.

After the Second Shinobi World War, the five great nations divided their spheres of influence. Hozuki Shingetsu used policies such as the Ocean Ninja Alliance and Kirigakure students to absorb the ninja villages of the small countries surrounding the Land of Water into Kirigakure's military system.

Normally, these small ninja villages scattered around the Land of Water serve as forward military bases for Kirigakure, primarily responsible for supplying Kirigakure ninjas stationed elsewhere and providing strategic support in critical moments.

However, in the face of such a massive military offensive, these forward bases scattered along the mainland coast were completely ineffective.

Deploying manpower here is utterly pointless, except for feeding the enemy kills.

Therefore, Hozuki Shingetsu simply withdrew the battle lines, surrendering all the coastal territories, including the Land of Whirlpools, and concentrated his efforts on setting up the main battlefield in the ocean and the mainland of the Land of Water.

Thus, the first war between the Anti-Hidden Mist Alliance and the Hidden Mist Village officially began on the ocean.

-

Whoosh!

The sound of the waves surging on and on will not change because of the changes in the ninja world.

The coastal waters, which were once bustling with ships day and night, have seen a precipitous drop in the number of passenger and cargo ships in recent days, with some merchant ships not even seen sailing on the waters for an entire night.

But today was different. A massive fleet, obscuring the sky, was seen sailing from the distant Ninja World continent, slowly heading towards the Land of Water.

Perhaps out of caution, perhaps to maintain formation, or perhaps to gather so many ships, resulting in some of the sailors being inexperienced, the massive fleet moved at an unusually slow speed.

However, this also meant that from a distance, the massive fleet looked like a mountain, charging towards the Land of Water with a powerful and imposing presence, albeit slowly but resolutely.

"Phew... I'm really not used to the ocean!"

A dark-skinned cloud ninja let out a long sigh as he looked out at the sea, leaned against the deck railing, looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, and uttered a sigh.

Although all four nations are located near the ocean, not everyone is adapted to the conditions at sea. Even among the Jonin, there have been many cases of seasickness in the past few days.

Clearly, this Yunren was a seasickness sufferer.

"Yamazo, cheer up! Kirigakure will definitely not sit idly by. With their naval warfare technology and the Land of Water's pitiful strategic depth, they will definitely fight us at sea."

An older Cloud Ninja lay on the deck, his hands clasped behind his head, lazily reminding his teammates.

The Allied Forces also have many capable individuals. The Hidden Mist Village's deliberate withdrawal from its coastal strongholds on the mainland easily led people to guess that the Hidden Mist Village intended to fight the Allied Forces at sea.

"Strictly speaking, our ships are in the center of the fleet. Even if an attack is launched, the Mist Ninja wouldn't attack us first, right? Don't worry, with those cannon fodder on the periphery probing, we're perfectly safe here."

The fleet, from the outermost to the innermost, consisted of mercenary ninjas, ninjas from small ninja villages, and ninjas from the four major ninja villages.

If Kirigakure were to attack, they would inevitably follow this order, which explains why the Cloud Ninja appeared so relaxed.

Ugh!

Just as the two were talking, a large patch of fog suddenly appeared on the distant sea.

The fog appeared so quickly and covered such a vast area that the massive fleet had no time to turn before it was completely enveloped by the fog.

"Be careful, this is definitely a trick from Kirigakure!"

The strange fog instantly caught the attention of the ninjas on the fleet. However, when it came to naval warfare, Kirigakure was their ancestor. Even though they discovered the clues, they still couldn't defend against Kirigakure's offensive.

"...The ship...the cabin is taking on water!"

First, there's the classic water ninja ship-drilling operation, where the Mist Ninja, hidden beneath the hull, wield sharp blades and chisel holes in the bottom of the ships, causing many to sink at a visible speed.

Although the ninjas present could stand on the water using chakra, this was not a long-term solution.

On this boundless ocean, even ninjas will only end up with their chakra exhausted and their bodies buried in the sea.

Moreover, even without falling into the water, the Mist Ninja have never been afraid of anyone when it comes to fighting on the ocean.

Following the battle of the Water Ghosts' ship-splitting, the Fog-Hidden Ironclad Warships, hidden in the thick fog, launched a long-range salvo bombardment.

Having experienced the Industrial Revolution, Kirigakure's artillery technology has also made great strides.

These cannons might not be very effective against agile ninjas, but they are quite effective against large, difficult-to-maneuver fleets.

Under the long-range attacks of the ironclad warships, many of the allied warships sank immediately, and the ninjas on board fell into the ocean one by one, like dumplings being dropped into boiling water.

It's fortunate that the commander of the allied forces didn't have a "flash of inspiration" and instead used iron chains to secure the ships.

Otherwise, in this era where only Kirigakure possessed ironclad warships, Hozuki Shingetsu could have easily emulated his predecessors and created a firestorm at Red Cliff.

However, the allied forces were numerous, and after the initial chaos, they quickly restored their organization, rallied their morale, and spontaneously launched a counterattack based on the top-ranking ninjas in various regions.

Although the Mist Ninja were all top-notch naval fighters, they couldn't withstand the sheer number of opponents. After a brief initial advantage, they quickly fell into a disadvantageous position.

"Heh, I thought the Mist Ninja's naval combat skills were so formidable, but it seems they're nothing special..."

Just as one man stood at the bow of the boat, looking down on the Mist Ninja's performance not far away, he suddenly felt a dark cloud rising above his head. He looked up and saw a giant turtle slowly emerging from the water, its eyes, as tall as a person, staring intently at him.

Before he could react, he saw the turtle open its mouth wide, a red light flashing from it, which quickly expanded into a Tailed Beast Ball several meters in diameter, shooting towards him.

boom!

The Three-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball directly destroyed several nearby ships, and its momentum didn't diminish. The Tailed Beast Ball pierced through the ships and struck the ocean, creating a huge splash and causing waves.

hold head high!

Upon seeing this, the Three-Tails roared excitedly.

Although the Three-Tailed Isobu is known as the most Zen-like of the nine tailed beasts, it is still a tailed beast after all, and it will inevitably reveal some of its true nature when it is engaged in life-and-death battles.

However, its joy was short-lived. Before it could even fire a few Tailed Beast Balls, a giant cat paw appeared out of thin air and slammed Isobu's head off-center.

"Tailed Beasts against Tailed Beasts, isn't that fair?"

Yugito, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki of Kumogakure, stood atop the ship's flagpole, looking at Isobu's enormous body, and spoke softly.

"It's fair for tailed beasts to tailed beasts, but it's not fair for the three-tailed beast's jinchūriki to be compared to the two-tailed beast's jinchūriki, little girl."

The main commander of this attack, Yagura Karatachi, appeared on the head of Isobu, holding a short staff and looking at Yugito with a smile on his doll-like face.

boom!

Before Yugito could even speak, a faint blue light flashed across the distant horizon, followed by a thick beam of chakra that streaked across the sky and struck the Two-Tailed Cat Demon with tremendous force, sending it crashing into the sea.

"How does the Chakra Cannon taste? If it weren't for the consideration of rapid firing, just one shot would be enough to send you to meet the Sage of Six Paths."

Yagura Karatachi directed Isobu to press their advantage and try to annihilate Nekomata here.

"Rasengan!"

Before he could even move, he felt a chill pass over his head. With no other option, Yagura could only raise his coral staff and rely on the weapon's hardness to dodge the attack.

"The Yellow Flash, the Fifth Hokage..."

After a few leaps and bounds created some distance, Yagura Karatachi looked at Minato Namikaze, who had appeared on the battlefield, with a rare expression of caution.

Before coming, Hozuki Shingetsu repeatedly warned him to be extremely careful of Namikaze Minato's space-time ninjutsu and not to give him the chance to plant the Flying Thunder God mark on his body.

So, with a thought in mind, Yagura immediately drew a circle with his coral staff and performed a secret technique.

"Water Release: Water Mirror Technique!"

Suddenly, a figure that looked exactly like Minato Namikaze appeared from the rippling water mirror and became entangled with Minato.

The battle on the sea was raging fiercely, and strange noises could be heard from the sky at the same time.

Kirigakure naturally did not forget the flying devices they had obtained from the Sky Village. With the support of the Sky Fortress, this "sky carrier," hundreds of small black dots scattered down from the sky, recklessly bombarding the fleet on the sea with explosive tags they carried with them.

Above them were flying ninja squads, and in the middle came long-range fire support from Tailed Beast Balls and chakra cannons. On the seabed were Mist Ninjas who were constantly piercing through ships and were skilled in naval warfare. For a time, a strange phenomenon appeared on the sea surface: the Mist Ninjas were overwhelming the Allied Forces.

"Huh? What happened? Ōnoki and none of the top ninja from the four great ninja villages have shown up, except for Minato Namikaze and the Two-Tails Jinchūriki?"

At this moment, Yagura Karatachi did not feel excited; on the contrary, he felt only deep unease.

As ordered by Hozuki Shingetsu, his purpose for this trip was simply to intimidate and delay the enemy.

This unit must withdraw as soon as it sees a skilled opponent appear.

However, with the war having progressed to this point, apart from Minato Namikaze and Yukito, there has been no sign of any of the high-ranking officials from the four major ninja villages. This is undoubtedly a very abnormal phenomenon.

and many more!

"Minato Namikaze... space-time ninjutsu?"

Just as Yagura Karatachi realized something, a ninja dog suddenly appeared next to Minato Namikaze.

Amidst the barking of the ninja dogs, Minato Namikaze seemed to hear something. He glanced at Yagura Karatachi with a smile, then clasped his hands together and vanished from the spot using a space-time ninjutsu.

"A diversionary tactic? No, it's a feint to the east while attacking in the west!"

"The allied forces deliberately assembled such a large fleet with such fanfare, just to provoke us into gathering our best fighters for a naval battle! In reality, their elite forces aren't here!"

With so many experts, where else could they be but here?

Although he didn't know what method they would use to cross the ocean, Yagura Karatachi felt a chill run down his spine whenever he thought about so many skilled fighters escaping the surveillance of Kirigakure.

Just as a chill ran through Yagura's back, on the outskirts of the Land of Water, less than thirty kilometers from the capital, an island covered in primeval forest was forging ahead with the help of a giant tortoise.

The top fighters from the four major ninja villages—Onoki, the Fourth Raikage, Rasa, and Jiraiya—are all here!

(End of this chapter)