Right now, nearly a kilometer away, hundreds of ninja stood motionless, silently holding their positions.
Judging from their attire, they were Sunagakure ninja.
"Chiyo Elder, are we really going against our agreement with Iwagakure?" one of the Suna ninja asked the elderly woman beside him.
She was a high-ranking official within Sunagakure and currently its strongest puppet master. In terms of age, she was slightly older than the Third Hokage.
Chiyo narrowed her eyes and said, "Among the Five Great Ninja Nations, our Sunagakure has always been the weakest. Now that such a rare chance to gain an advantage without bloodshed has come along, naturally I'm not about to let it slip through my fingers."
"Just let them fight... Although Iwa managed to bring that one into this... the Leaf ninja aren't pushovers either..."
On the Rubble Field, Konoha ninja quickly regrouped together. From the earlier tremors, nearly forty ninjas had perished — already a fortunate outcome. Without that sudden burst of light — likely from some technique — the death toll could've been far worse.
Therefore, when the Iwa ninja witnessed this scene, they silently cursed under their breath.
"Ropeshi, are you okay?" Tsunade hurriedly asked as she saw Ropeshi and his team approaching.
"I'm fine, sis. Focus on the battle."
Ropeshi replied. His expression was complicated at the moment — relief for having survived, a trace of fear, but most prominently, intense killing intent.
"Hmm."
Tsunade gave a brief nod before looking away. Jiraiya and Kai Uchiha also glanced respectively toward Minato and Yan Uchiha, confirming their safety before fixing their gazes intently upon the thousand-strong Iwa unit.
All of them seethed with icy fury.
"You actually survived? What a shame..." A faintly regretful voice came from within the Iwa forces — it was that plump man from earlier.
Tsunade stared at him, barely restraining her anger, replying coldly, "Then I'm truly sorry to disappoint you..."
Beside her, Sakumo — who usually spoke little — raised his chakra-infused tanto blade and declared sternly, "So then, Tsuchigawa, are your Iwa ninja prepared to face the wrath of Konoha?"
Lightning crackled along the blade's edge, mirroring the furious hearts of Konoha's ninja.
The plump man called Tsuchigawa shrugged casually. "Seeing your lineup over there does make me feel a bit uneasy..."
He was an elite figure within Iwagakure, second only in rank to the Third Tsuchikage. His strength practically equaled figures like Tsunade and her companions.
Yet compared to Konoha's formidable array, he clearly fell short.
Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Sakumo, and Kai Uchiha alone represented a nightmare for this thousand-man Iwa force.
Let alone the additional nearly one thousand Konoha ninja.
Still, Sakumo noticed an unsettling smile appearing across Tsuchigawa's face.
At this moment, dense dark figures were advancing from the other side of the flattened forest. Due to the distance, even Sakumo and others had yet to notice.
However, a ninja from the Hyuga Clan among the Konoha forces, using the Byakugan to see clearly within a radius of one kilometer, had witnessed everything distinctly.
These were over a hundred figures with powerful chakra fluctuations—undoubtedly all ninjas.
What shocked him most was the strongest chakra among them.
Never before had he sensed such immense power... If he had to compare it to someone, only The Third would come close!
"Tsunade-sama, five o'clock direction—over a hundred ninjas are approaching, and among them is a chakra so mighty it rivals The Third..." the Hyuga ninja said, his voice trembling slightly.
Upon hearing those words, the previously calm group of five immediately turned their gazes toward that direction. Pushing their vision to the limit, they could faintly make out clusters of black dots, growing larger in their field of view.
Within those dots was a warrior capable of rivaling The Third!
Was it the Third Tsuchikage himself?
But that was impossible—the Konoha intelligence network would not have missed such a movement, nor failed to alert them beforehand.
Moreover, to guard against the Land of Lightning, the Third Tsuchikage practically never left the village.
Minato was equally shocked, so he focused all his sensing ability in that direction, stretching its range as far as possible.
After several seconds, upon sensing that chakra, his expression changed drastically.
Now he knew exactly who had arrived!
After acquiring the Nine-Tails' chakra, he had even become able to distinguish different types of chakra by their unique traits.
The hundred Rain ninjas rapidly grew clearer in their vision until finally, their distinctive Amegakure attire came into view.
Tsuchigawa and the Iwa ninja unit showed no eagerness to begin the fight either.
Though surrounded by a hundred Rain ninjas, compared to both Konoha and Iwa combined, their numbers were severely outnumbered.
But when the Rain ninjas finally appeared, the sight sent waves of horror through Tsunade and the other four.
Leading the Rain ninjas stood a man wearing a mask covering half his face, a katana sheathed at his waist. He looked down at Tsunade and the rest with an air of superiority, as if watching children play.
Though none had seen him in person before, his unmistakable style—unique to the Ninja World—and the legend echoing in every ninja's heart left no doubt as to his identity.
"Leader of Amegakure, Hanzo the Salamander?" a Konoha ninja whispered hoarsely, eyes wide with terror.
"Heheh, little brats from Konoha."
Hanzo chuckled softly, but the aura radiating from him—a might belonging only to true powerhouse—made some Konoha ninjas shiver involuntarily.
As the reality of the situation sank in, Tsunade and the others finally understood why Tsuchigawa had been so confident all along.
He had allied with Amegakure—and furthermore... Their leader himself had appeared here.
That man was a true S-rank ninja—an existence equal to a Kage, feared across the world!
"Never did I expect that the leader of Amegakure would ally with a village attacking its own country..." Sakumo's eyes darkened as he stared at Hanzo. This was the first time he had faced an enemy who gave him such an overwhelming sense of unbeatability.
The man standing before them possessed far greater power than he currently had!
"Sakumo Hatake, is it?" Upon hearing this, Hanzo merely murmured the name before shifting his gaze toward Tsuchigawa, who stood at the front of Iwagakure's forces. With an indifferent expression, he asked, "Where is Sunagakure's unit?"
The moment those words were spoken, every ninja from Konoha—including Minato—was stunned into silence.
Iwagakure allied with Amegakure? And even teamed up with Sunagakure?
...
...
To be honest, I haven't been feeling too great lately, so I went to see a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner these past couple days. No internet deep in the mountains, and typing on my phone was just too uncomfortable, so I fell behind by four chapters. I'll make them up tomorrow altogether—six updates including the day's installment.
Just checked the review section. I definitely won't break my word.
Additionally, wishing everyone a happy New Year! (To be continued.)
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