The Third Tsuchikage was a short old man with a distinctive large nose. Most striking of all, he floated—actually hovering above the ground.
It was as if he were saying, "Lacking in height? Then make up for it by flying."
He was one of the few ninjas in the world capable of true flight.
The reason the Third Tsuchikage personally came to the Land of Rain was fundamentally due to Kumo. Under pressure from Kumo, Iwagakure had already begun planning an orderly withdrawal from the Land of Rain. At this point, Sunagakure's war ambitions of seizing surrounding small nations' territories had been thwarted—it was a case of "the third attempt will inevitably fail." In the early stages of war, even Suna's strongest initial assault failed to achieve its goal, making it even less possible to succeed during the stalemate phase.
Unless purely driven by warmongering tendencies, there would be no justification for Iwa to continue amassing so much military power on this land.
Thus, even if they couldn't withdraw all at once, Iwa should at least plan a gradual retreat.
The Third Tsuchikage originally came secretly to the Front-line Camp for this strategic adjustment. However, unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the camp, he encountered several annoying issues.
Firstly, not long ago Konoha deployed the Samehada Large Squad into battle, which attacked Iwa's forces, causing massive damage. The confusing part was that Samehada was supposedly a weapon unique to Mist, with only one existing. No one could figure out where Konoha obtained so many giant swords.
Secondly, the current phenomenon before him was utterly unbelievable.
Konoha's Haseo and Sunagakure's Third Kazekage had actually launched a "surprise attack" on Iwagakure's camp one after the other. That was just too strange—did this mean Konoha and Suna secretly formed a military alliance?
In that case, Iwa's military forces stationed in the Land of Rain couldn't be moved anymore.
But how could that happen? After all, the cause of this war was to stop Suna from acquiring surrounding territories. Meaning, Suna should have irreconcilable conflicts with the neighboring major powers.
Haseo's rash decision and sudden stroke of genius left the Third Tsuchikage completely baffled.
At this moment, Haseo faced off directly against the Third Tsuchikage, and the Tsuchikage's appearance temporarily halted Iwa ninjas' attacks.
With Magnet Release supporting him, the Third Kazekage lifted his body high into the air.
A tense standoff between the three sides began.
The scale of this confrontation was quite high. Under normal circumstances, ordinary ninja shouldn't interfere—but the problem was that this was Iwa's camp, where ninja density was extremely high; they couldn't help but get involved.
After the initial skirmish, currently, Haseo seemed to be at a disadvantage. Leaving aside his ragged appearance, he had just taken a punch from the Tsuchikage. Though not seriously injured, he definitely spat blood.
Well, who could really blame him? They're both Kages, while he's just a Jonin. His opponents were simply superior in rank.
At this moment, communication between the three parties wasn't necessary. Regardless, the fact remained—both Haseo and the Third Kazekage appeared before Iwagakure's camp. These factions had always been bitter enemies. Was there anything more to say?
The Third Kazekage shot a sidelong glance, then raised his hand and instantly sent several iron spears straight toward Haseo.
Haseo got a sudden burst of instinct and immediately started dodging. Yet what he was doing wasn't really evasion—it was more like charging straight into Iwagakure's camp without hesitation... All three of them were ninja with tremendous destructive power, so there was no better battleground than the Iwagakure encampment itself.
That way, Haseo and the Kazekage could go all out, while the Tsuchikage would inevitably have to hold himself back.
Even enemies had to work together sometimes when push came to shove.
As Haseo tried to flee, the Third Kazekage naturally gave chase. Being able to move midair, how could ordinary ninja possibly stop him?
As soon as these two moved, their intentions became clear to the Third Tsuchikage without need for words... Regardless of Konoha's current relationship with Sunagakure, one thing was certain—the two intended to invade Iwagakure's camp.
"Stop them!" Onoki immediately shouted orders at his ninja.
Although immensely powerful, the Third Tsuchikage couldn't singlehandedly block two opponents of equal rank. Therefore, he charged directly at Haseo, who was attempting to enter the Iwagakure encampment first.
But then something awkward happened—the moment Haseo kicked it into high gear, everyone saw nothing but a lightning-fast blur. The Tsuchikage simply couldn't keep up with how fast Haseo could run.
Haseo shot into Iwagakure's encampment like a thunderbolt. Every Iwa ninja who tried to stop him was dodged as if they didn't even exist.
Since they hadn't been far from the camp to begin with, it took only a short dash before Haseo had already rushed inside.
He then came to a sudden, forceful stop.
Countless Iwa ninja surrounded him, charging forward. Close behind was the Tsuchikage, while somewhat further back came the Kazekage. Following behind the Kazekage was a large group of Iwa ninja.
At this moment, Haseo started forming hand seals.
"Stop him!"
However, whoever shouted that was already too late.
[Earth Release: Great Moving Earth Core.]
[Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide.]
[Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave.]
Under the impact of these three wide-area ninjutsu techniques, the ground beneath the Iwagakure encampment first rose upward, then split apart, and finally flooded... This once orderly camp filled with disciplined ninja instantly fell into utter chaos.
Now the Tsuchikage didn't have to feel guilty about wrecking the camp… someone had already taken care of that for him.
At this moment, standing below was a rotten piece of trash—someone who'd caused destruction on the scale of a natural disaster. Naturally, the Tsuchikage was furious.
Wind, earth, fire—the Tsuchikage was a small old man, yet he alone possessed the unique [Kekkei Tota] in the entire world.
[Dust Release: Split Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!]
An intensely bright, thick [pillar of light] descended upon Haseo without hesitation.
Why was [Kekkei Tota] considered superior to [Kekkei Genkai]? Not merely because it combined three chakra natures—
Onoki's [Dust Release], known as the [*Two Scales*], could never be stopped unless absorbed.
This may well represent the ultimate peak of offensive and destructive power in Ninjutsu.
Haseo was fully aware of the devastating power of Dust Release, yet he did not attempt to dodge immediately.
Instead, he pressed both hands together, tightly interlacing his fingers, then reversed his arms toward Onoki floating midair:
[Lightning Release · Kurigara – Grand Heavenly Phenomenon!]
Compared to the Tsuchikage's Dust Release techniques, Haseo possessed one distinct advantage… an unlimited supply of chakra.
Then again, the Nine-Tails also has limitless chakra.
Therefore, his attack appeared even more terrifying in scale.
One could say the entire battlefield was filled with nothing but his lightning. Haseo's assault easily surpassed the Tsuchikage's by at least five times in magnitude.
Waves rippled beneath Haseo's feet as he stood atop the turbulent waters, while the airborne Tsuchikage floated there like a truly immovable object.
But regardless, at this moment, Haseo had achieved something legendary:
He was locked in a beam clash with an enemy—right here, inside the very world of ninja!
Too bad, though... it looked like Haseo had landed on the wrong side of the clash.
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