Shhh!
Over a thousand Iwa ninja surged forward in unison. Their heavy footsteps kicked up a deafening clamor across the mud-covered terrain.
Minato lifted his gaze and stared at the Iwagakure forces closing in. His deep blue eyes flickered with shock.
"How did they find Konoha's camp?"
His heart pounded. If only a small squad of Iwa ninja had shown up, he wouldn't be shocked. But from what he saw now, the entire Konoha force had been completely exposed.
This was unprecedented. After all, even during the Second and Third Great Ninja World Wars, Konoha had always held an information advantage in warfare thanks to clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga with their dojutsu abilities, as well as the Aburame.
At most, smaller supply squads were sometimes destroyed—never the main forces.
But there was no time to ponder the reasons behind this situation now.
Minato formed several hand seals, then vanished with a sudden "swish" sound.
The leaves rustled slightly. A sensor ninja from the Iwa unit glanced toward Minato's previous position but found not a single clue...
Swish!
Inside a hollow tree trunk, Minato's figure appeared before a special Flying Thunder God Kunai beside one of his shadow clones.
"I must inform Master Jiraiya and the others immediately!" Minato thought. However, he couldn't directly warn the high command on the battlefield for two main reasons.
Firstly, he still needed to maintain his secrecy. More importantly...
There wasn't time!
At most thirty seconds remained before the Iwa ninjas launched their attack.
In the *Battle of Kannabi Bridge* during the Third Great Ninja War, Minato killed fifty Iwa ninja instantly using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He knew exactly how they operated.
A thousand Iwa shinobi would definitely change the topography of this forest entirely.
They'd never see it coming.
Without hesitation, Minato formed hand seals again, and his shadow clone disappeared.
Cancelling the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he started forming another set of hand seals. Without even taking the chance to retrieve the specially crafted kunai before him, he vanished once more.
Swish!
In some part of the dense forest, Minato reappeared.
In fact, Minato had previously left behind a kunai near Tsunade and the other higher-ups' encampment.
Poof!
Minato quickly formed a cross hand seal. Then beside him, another shadow clone emerged.
They exchanged glances and immediately started forming hand seals without any further ado.
Both finished a sequence of hand seals almost simultaneously.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!]
[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!]
Roar!
Two different elemental jutsu merged instantly into roaring flames, shooting high into the sky. Within seconds, nearly the entire forest became clearly visible.
The shadow clone beside Minato vanished after releasing the technique.
He didn't hesitate and started forming hand seals once again.
The flames reached the temporary camp, though its occupants had already rushed out.
"Who the hell is that?!"
Tsunade frowned, and not far behind her, Junko Watanabe had already begun forming hand seals with one hand to perform a sensing technique.
[Zap!]
Yet within the blaze, a figure had already crossed through space-time and vanished.
Among the dense trees, Konoha ninja who saw the firelight from the main camp were originally carrying out guard duties, but now all rushed directly toward the flames.
More than a hundred meters away, the Iwagakure ninja who had just reached the edge of the forest did a double-take. The towering flames erupting from inside the woods were never part of "their" plan.
"Weren't we supposed to be the first wave?" One Jonin among more than a thousand Rock ninja spoke up.
The Iwa shinobi looked bewildered too. But among the crowd stood a slightly chubby figure with a calm expression, saying, "Don't panic. Continue with our original plan. No matter what, this time we must completely eliminate all the Leaf ninjas!"
As his voice faded, the expressions in the eyes of the gathered Rock ninja gradually steadied.
Soon after, over a hundred Rock ninja leapt forward and began forming hand seals with both hands.
[Flash!]
At the same time, Minato reappeared inside the tree hollow from earlier.
"Instant Flash!" He immediately used his super high-speed movement technique. However, due to the firelight, Nawaki and Yan Uchiha were now visible within the dense forest. Still, the two seemed somewhat dazed.
"Watch out!" Even from over a hundred meters away, Minato could clearly sense an extremely alarming amount of chakra gathering together.
Over a hundred Rock ninja simultaneously slammed their palms onto the ground and shouted:
[Earth Release: Terra Surge!]
[Boom!]
Within the entire forest area, the earth began violently shaking, wide cracks spreading rapidly across the surface as the ground itself surged like a rising wave.
This scene was spectacular indeed. However, the consequence of the shifting earth was that the entire terrain of the forest would be transformed!
In just a few seconds, the once lush dense woods disappeared, replaced by a vast rubble field over a hundred meters in diameter.
Flattened—completely!
[Boom!]
The next second, amidst the expansive pile of ruins, unimaginable lightning surged forth, instantly shattering boulders within a ten-meter radius.
A portion of the Konoha ninja also became visible. Sakumo Hatake stood holding a tanto, his gaze dark.
What the hell?!
Not far from him, another furious roar erupted as countless huge boulders seemed to be shattered apart by an incredible force.
That was Tsunade's monstrous strength!
Around her, none of the Konoha ninja sustained even a scratch.
"Thanks, Jiraiya-sama," one Leaf ninja behind Jiraiya said.
If it hadn't been for the large-scale Earth Release technique that activated just as the terrain was changing—shielding them all—they might have sustained injuries, albeit not fatal ones.
Jiraiya stood up.
"Iwagakure..." His voice was cold and sharp, then he immediately leapt away from the spot.
Over a hundred meters away, from a ninja's perspective—and especially for powerful ones—although details couldn't be clearly made out, across this wide-open rubble field, silhouettes of more than a thousand figures could still be seen.
"Boom!" "Boom!"
From within the rubble field, figures kept bursting through massive boulders and shooting outward—one after another, all Leaf ninjas.
Tsunade and others led Konoha's most elite ninja forces. And thanks to that sudden flare of light acting as a warning signal, these ninjas had already braced themselves.
Even when the terrain was suddenly shifted by the Iwa ninjas, most of them still managed to survive.
"Boom!"
Dozens of meters away from where Jiraiya and others stood, three slightly frail figures also burst forth from the wreckage—Minato, Nawaki, and Yan Uchiha.
After emerging, Minato didn't immediately engage the Iwa ninjas but instead glanced behind him, noticing that the ninjas stationed at Master Jiraiya's Temporary Camp, scattered over a hundred meters of rubble field, had practically suffered no losses at all. Likewise, the ninjas performing guarding duties deep within the Forest also remained unharmed.
A wave of relief passed through him before he turned his focus back. Facing toward the thousand-odd Iwa ninjas dozens of meters away, his eyes revealed absolutely no fear—only a cold fury flashing across his usually gentle face!
...
(...To be continued.)
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>