We've spotted Onoki."
"Fall back," Hizashi ordered calmly. "We're still too far from the main force to engage."
These were veteran jonin, seasoned enough to know the futility of facing Dust Release head-on. Onoki's power was on another level entirely, to linger was to throw their lives away. Besides, this terrain gave them no advantage.
The Iwa ninja gave chase, but Hizashi's reconnaissance teams were just as swift, maintaining a safe distance as they fell back. Seeing he couldn't close the gap, Onoki eventually slowed the pursuit, wary of walking into a Konoha ambush. In a war like this, ambushes were fatal, and he had no intention of losing ninja to a careless mistake. He also had the two jinchuriki to consider. Though they hadn't yet been deployed, Iwa's ultimate weapons were on the field.
--**--**
Behind Hizashi's retreating squad, Takeshi landed silently beside them.
"Meow, you ran into Onoki?" he asked. Seeing the reconnaissance teams in full retreat told him everything he needed to know.
Hizashi nodded grimly. "He was furious. We couldn't risk engaging."
He saw no shame in it. A reconnaissance unit's mission was scouting, not assassination. Intelligence came first, combat was a distant second.
"Takeshi..." Minato began, noticing the black cat was already tensing up, ready to move.
Takeshi turned his head. "Meow. I'll go on ahead and scout. You guys can take your time."
"Be careful," Rin said, her voice laced with worry.
Still, with the Flying Thunder God at his disposal, Takeshi's safety was the least of their concerns. If the rest of them went with him, they would only slow him down.
The black cat gave a slight nod, then shot off into the jungle with a whoosh, disappearing from sight.
It was still afternoon, the sky bright overhead. A black coat stood out starkly in the forest, so as soon as he was deep enough in the woods, Takeshi used a transformation jutsu to change his fur to a color that blended with the foliage. His clothes, a product of the system, could be changed with a thought.
After putting some distance between himself and the Konoha scouts, he caught sight of Iwagakure's advance party. They were all elites, even the weakest among them wore a standard flak jacket. In terms of sheer numbers, Iwa's forces were nearly on par with Konoha's.
Takeshi watched them for a moment before moving to circle around their flank, hoping for a clearer view. But just as he did, Onoki's sharp gaze snapped in his direction.
'A sensory ninja? What a pain,' he thought. 'A sneak attack is going to be difficult.'
Sunagakure had already paid the price for underestimating him. While Rasa wouldn't have told Onoki everything, he would have certainly issued a warning. It was only natural that Iwa would be prepared. Takeshi had never expected to replicate the strategy he'd used to capture Chiyo. Against Iwagakure, a direct confrontation seemed unavoidable.
'This is going to be tough.'
But Earth Release was the ultimate defense. While Lightning Release was its natural counter, Konoha's lightning specialists weren't particularly strong, and once a shinobi reached a certain level of power, elemental advantages mattered less and less. If they didn't, the war against the Kumo wouldn't have ended in such a stalemate.
'This is going to be tough.'
Takeshi was getting a taste of what the history books described: Konoha could only secure victory through flanking maneuvers and surprise attacks. The Iwa ninja were a hard nut to crack, their defensive formations far superior to Suna's.
Still, he didn't retreat. With the Flying Thunder God, his own safety wasn't a major concern. By slowly probing their perimeter, he could at least draw their attention. It might not accomplish much, but annoying the enemy was always a worthwhile endeavor.
"Tsuchikage-sama, the cat is still approaching," a sensory ninja reported.
Concealing one's aura and form could fool most shinobi, but a skilled sensor's abilities bypassed such tricks. Iwagakure didn't have many powerful sensors, but they had enough.
"Don't worry about it," Onoki said, subtly shifting his position to better face the direction the cat was coming from. "I'll keep an eye on him."
If the cat attacked, he would be ready. The other Iwa ninja began to prepare as well, digging trenches and setting traps. They were settling in for a battle of attrition, playing to their strengths. They had an arsenal of defensive jutsu, not to mention Explosion Release.
Realizing he'd been spotted, Takeshi dropped the transformation and stopped wasting chakra. He began darting through the trees openly.
At first, Onoki was on high alert. But as time passed, he realized the cat seemed to be just... toying with them.
'Damn it.'
The probing wasn't entirely useless, however. Through observation, Onoki got a rough sense of the cat's speed. It was astonishing. An enemy like this was a headache. His Dust Release was devastating, but its casting time was slow. Hitting a speed-focused opponent was nearly impossible, unless they were foolish enough to stand still and pose after an attack. Based on what he was seeing, the chances of that were zero.
Even so, Onoki wasn't afraid. With his Lightened and Weighted Boulder Jutsu, he was confident he could keep the cat and Minato from ever getting close to his main force. In the end, the war would be decided by the strength of their armies. In that regard, Onoki refused to believe Iwa was at a disadvantage. If he lacked that much confidence, he never would have declared war on Konoha in the first place.
"Tsuchikage-sama, let me deal with him," a shinobi in red armor volunteered.
"Han, it may look like he's alone, but Konoha has Minato Namikaze, another user of the Flying Thunder God," Onoki explained. "If they wanted to, they could form a two or even three-man assault team in an instant."
The power of a tailed beast was immense, but one of their opponents had mastered Sage Art, Ice Release, and the Flying Thunder God, while the other was blindingly fast and knew a variety of sealing jutsu. Sending a jinchuriki out rashly would be a foolish move.
Of course, letting the cat continue to harass them wasn't an option either.
"Tsuchikage-sama, what about me?" another shinobi stepped forward. It was Gari of the Explosion Corps, a wielder of Explosion Release. He was powerful, but Onoki doubted his jutsu could ever connect with the cat. He shook his head.
After a moment's thought, it seemed he had no choice but to handle it himself.
'Do we really have so few speed specialists?' Onoki wondered with a sigh. "Let's see what he's planning first."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the cat opened its mouth wide.
*FWOOSH!*
A massive pillar of water shot out, crackling faintly with lightning as it tore through the air with incredible speed. The Iwa ninja instantly formed hand seals, and one after another, thick earth walls rose from the ground.
*BOOM!*
The first wall shattered on impact, but the water pillar kept going, blasting through five layers of defense before its momentum finally gave out.
"It's not just Water Release," the sensory ninja analyzed. "There's wind and lightning chakra mixed in."
A simple water jutsu could never have that kind of destructive power. This wasn't Tobirama Senju's high-pressure water style.
Gari, who had been silently protesting Onoki's decision, was now speechless. His Kekkei Genkai was for close-quarters combat, he was at a severe disadvantage against an enemy with so many long-range techniques.
But what one man couldn't do, Iwagakure could. Their trump card was the Explosion Corps.
"Explosion Corps, forward!"
At the command, the specialists got to work. Explosive tags, clay bombs, and summoned creatures began to fly slowly through the air toward Takeshi's position.
Seeing the swarm of explosives, Takeshi had no intention of facing them head-on. He left a shadow clone in his place and used the Flying Thunder God to warp back to safety.
As for the clone...
'Explosion Release?' Clone thought. 'I have that too.'
He launched himself forward in a suicidal charge toward the Iwa camp. His speed was incredible, the tags and bombs couldn't touch it. Onoki frowned. There was something strange about this clone. He seemed to be conserving chakra, deliberately closing the distance.
'An elemental clone that can self-destruct?' The thought put Onoki on guard. He landed on the ground and discreetly began forming hand seals. He had his own ways of dealing with speed-type shinobi. "Earth Release: Weighted Boulder Jutsu!"
The sudden weight caused the clone to falter for just a moment, but that was all the time the Iwa ninja needed to unleash a barrage of jutsu. As the clone dodged, its form began to shift.
'Something's wrong!'
"Watch out! That's Explosion Release!" Gari shouted, his senses screaming danger.
But it was too late. They could only throw up defensive jutsu, but given the scale of the impending blast, ordinary defenses wouldn't be enough.
Onoki made a split-second decision and clapped his hands together. A translucent cube shot from his palms.
The clone, lacking the main body's ability to use Sage Mode or the Eight Gates, couldn't adapt to the sudden gravity. his only option was to detonate early.
*BOOM!*
A blinding explosion ripped through the forest. But before the flames could even spread, the cube of Dust Release expanded, annihilating the clone and the explosion he carried in a silent flash of light.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Jutsu."
Onoki quietly wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. The power of that self-destruction had been immense. If it had gone off in their ranks, it would have torn their formation apart. The consequences would have been unimaginable.
'Damn ninja cat,' he thought. 'You really can't be underestimated. I almost fell for it.'
--**--**
While the Iwa forces marveled at Takeshi's power, the Konoha shinobi were equally stunned by Onoki's Dust Release.
"What an incredible ability," Obito breathed, his Sharingan having been completely unable to analyze it.
"It annihilated the entire explosion," Minato said, his expression grave. "Takeshi's clone had no chance to resist. If that hits a person, it's an instant kill."
He explained, "It's a Kekkei Tota, a jutsu created by the Second Tsuchikage. It combines three different chakra natures. Against an opponent like Onoki, numbers are meaningless. Only shinobi fast enough to evade his jutsu can even join the fight."
"Meow," Takeshi said, crunching on some cat food. "I think I could take him with you or Kura backing me up. The problem is his army. We need to find a way to separate him from his formation."
After that brief exchange, he felt Onoki wasn't as unbeatable as he'd imagined. He had even learnt the Lightened Boulder Jutsu himself. With a fast partner, victory was possible. The real challenge was luring him out. Onoki's combat experience was vast, he wouldn't fall for simple traps, and he would never willingly leave the protection of his forces. In a full-scale war, no Kage fought alone.
"We'll have to engage them directly," Minato concluded, unable to devise a better plan. They would let the armies clash and see what opportunities arose.
Before long, the forces of Konoha and Iwagakure collided.
Ninjutsu, explosive tags, and kunai filled the air. In a contest of pure firepower, Konoha was at a disadvantage, and it wasn't long before they started taking casualties. But just then, a giant slug appeared behind their lines and split into countless smaller versions that attached themselves to the wounded.
Tsunade.
Onoki's eyes narrowed as he spotted her position from the sky. She was far back, well out of sight of the battlefield. By relying on the slugs for healing, she didn't need to be on the front lines herself.
With Tsunade on the field, the dynamic shifted. The Konoha ninja were now nearly impossible to kill. As long as a wound wasn't instantly fatal, the slugs would have them back on their feet in moments. Iwagakure held the advantage in long-range firepower, but with Tsunade's support, Konoha was nearly invincible in a battle of attrition.
'This can't continue.'
Onoki used his Lightened Boulder Jutsu to rise higher, getting a better view of Konoha's formation. Tsunade was heavily protected deep in the rear. He couldn't make out individuals from this distance, but he was certain members of the Hyuga clan were among her guards. A stealthy approach was impossible.
'Isn't she a little too far back, though?' Onoki wondered. 'Is it really because of her fear of blood?'
An idea began to form, and he decided to test his theory.
The Konoha forces couldn't see what he was planning, but when Takeshi saw Onoki take to the sky, he knew Tsunade's "bait" was working. Onoki probably wouldn't act personally, but he would likely divert some of his forces to target her.
That was enough. Any division of their power would lessen the pressure on the front lines. As for Tsunade's safety... Takeshi wasn't worried in the slightest. If Onoki himself didn't make a move, who in Iwa's army could possibly take down one of the Legendary Sannin? That title wasn't just a gift from Hanzo, it was a reputation forged in the fires of war.
"Prepare to attack," Takeshi said, exchanging a look with Minato.
A moment later, Minato relayed the order.
Konoha couldn't compete with the Iwa Explosion Corps at a distance. Their true strength lay in close-quarters combat. The Hyuga, the Uchiha, the Nara, the Aburame, all of their signature abilities required them to close the gap.
"Meow!"
With a sharp shout, the black cat shot out from his hiding place, his chakra fully restored. A group of elite Konoha shinobi followed close behind him.
Onoki's expression grew solemn as he watched them charge. The real battle was about to begin.
===============
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