Chapter 167: Sudden Change(BOUNS CHAPTER)
Saka merely glanced at Ishiro before continuing to brief everyone on the current ninja world situation.
"Konoha has completely abandoned its defense line in the Land of Rivers and has now fully retreated into the Land of Fire."
Saying this, Saka pointed to a location on the meeting room map and said, "Here, this is Kikyo Castle, one of Konoha's most important border fortresses."
"Currently, Orochimaru is leading the remnants of Konoha's western front forces, about five thousand strong, holding out here."
"Kikyo Castle is a product of decades of Konoha's efforts. Since the First Hokage, Konoha has been building this border fortress. This fortress is equipped with numerous offensive and defensive barriers. It won't be easy for Sunagakure to breach this fortress."
"If Konoha were to transfer troops from other fronts at this time, the price Sunagakure would have to pay to take Kikyo Castle would be even greater. They might not even be able to take it even if they exhausted all their forces."
"Therefore, our mission is to apply a certain amount of pressure on the Konoha ninjas facing us, so that Konoha cannot spare a hand to reinforce the Kikyo Castle direction."
"I believe Kirigakure and Kumogakure will take similar measures after receiving the news. As long as we tie down their reinforcements, once Sunagakure breaks through the Kikyo Castle defense line, Konoha's defeat will be imminent."
Saka sounded somewhat excited as he reached this point.
Ishiro understood his feelings. The current situation was unprecedentedly favorable for the other four great nations.
In the previous two Great Ninja Wars, the four nations were hostile to each other from the very beginning. Their forces weren't united, so although Konoha was hard-pressed, it had never shown such obvious signs of defeat as it did now.
But Ishiro also knew clearly that Konoha wouldn't be defeated so easily. Konoha's top-tier combat power hadn't suffered losses. Although Orochimaru was injured, Ishiro, with information from the original story, knew that people like Orochimaru were the hardest to kill.
Especially since the current Orochimaru had already experienced the setback of being nearly killed by the Third Raikage in the Land of Whirlpools.
On paper, Konoha had Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Danzō – four Kage-level figures capable of fighting.
Although Tsunade suffered from hemophobia, it was a psychological illness. It couldn't be guaranteed that her illness wouldn't be cured if she saw Konoha defeated and the village her grandfather established facing destruction.
Not to mention, Konoha still had Minato Namikaze, that bug of a character whom Kishimoto had forcibly killed off.
Rasa already possessed Kage-level combat power; there was no reason Minato Namikaze would be inferior to Rasa.
The terror of the Flying Thunder God technique needed no further elaboration.
And Konoha also had an adult Jinchūriki. Ishiro wasn't sure if Kushina herself was Kage-level, but Kushina, possessing the strongest Tailed Beast, was definitely top-tier among Kage-levels.
Additionally, around this period, there seemed to be a Konoha Genin: Might Duy. If the four nations broke through Konoha's defense line and entered the interior of the Land of Fire, Ishiro was certain that one country would inevitably hit the jackpot.
However, Ishiro naturally wouldn't speak up to shake morale at such a mobilization meeting. On the contrary, Ishiro had to express a look of assured victory, just like everyone else.
The meeting was very successful. Everyone was full of confidence about the Third Great Ninja War, which was about to reach its climax.
At the meeting, Saka issued the order to advance into the Land of Grass and assigned tasks to all the ninjas of the Southern Front forces.
Although Ishiro was an Elite Jōnin, he wasn't assigned any command tasks. The reason was simple: Ishiro was classified as high-end combat power and would act alongside Ikura and Saka.
Ninjas were highly efficient. Just half an hour after the meeting ended, all the ninjas of the Southern Front advanced towards the Land of Grass in an orderly manner.
Saka's objective was clear: to pressure Konoha, but not to engage in a fight to the death with them.
According to the plan, if Konoha abandoned the Land of Grass defense line, then Iwagakure would push the battle line to the border of the Land of Fire. As long as Iwagakure stationed troops on the Land of Fire border, Konoha would definitely not dare to dispatch ninjas to reinforce Orochimaru.
If Konoha intended to hold the Land of Grass defense line, then Iwagakure would launch a large-scale battle to a certain extent, adopting a stance of being ready for a decisive battle at any time.
In short, according to Iwagakure's thinking, Konoha was bound to be defeated this time.
Half a day later, over ten thousand Iwagakure ninjas, under Saka's command, entered the Land of Grass front line.
With such a large movement from Iwagakure, Konoha had long since received the news and made countermeasures.
Soon, the main forces of both sides met on a plain within the Land of Grass.
Without much probing, the two sides engaged in a fierce collision.
Iwagakure's purpose in attacking was to tie down Konoha. But Konoha, unexpectedly, not only didn't defend but also adopted an offensive stance.
Ishiro stood with Ikura, watching the vanguards of both sides already engaging in battle not far away, a bad premonition in his heart.
"Ikura, the situation isn't right. Is Konoha trying to have a decisive battle with us?"
According to Iwagakure's speculation, Konoha should be retreating appropriately at this time, keeping the battle within a small scope. And Iwagakure would then cease its offensive, occasionally pressuring Konoha.
After all, having just been defeated in the Land of Rivers, Konoha could no longer afford another major defeat in the Land of Grass.
"There is indeed a problem. Go up to the sky and see, confirm if Konoha has other reinforcements."
Ishiro nodded and flew into the sky without a word.
Actually, Ishiro flying up to observe wasn't very useful. After all, Ishiro didn't have the Byakugan. If Konoha truly had an ambush, they would definitely be camouflaged, and Ishiro wouldn't be able to discover them.
After Ishiro ascended, Ikura still felt uneasy. He turned to Saka and said, "Konoha's actions are abnormal. Should we change our strategy?"
Saka's reply, however, surprised Ikura: "Regardless of any abnormal actions by Konoha, Konoha will be defeated today."
After speaking, Saka waved his hand at several commanders of the main forces behind him: "Since Konoha wants to play hardball, then, according to the plan, attack!"
"Yes!" The several commanders immediately turned and left.
The next moment, Iwagakure's main force began to advance. Saka would rather clash head-on with Konoha to suppress Konoha's momentum.
At this moment, Ishiro was a hundred meters in the air observing the enemy situation. Suddenly, he noticed that his own main force had begun to charge and was startled.
"What is Advisor Saka thinking? The enemy situation is unclear, why is he in such a hurry?"
The scene that followed confirmed Ishiro's unease.
Konoha's main force also began a similar charge.
But unlike Iwagakure, two loud booms came from the front of the Konoha ninjas, and then two giant toads appeared between the two armies.
"Hiss～～"
Ishiro sucked in a cold breath and shouted down to the Iwagakure ninjas below with all his might: "Be careful! Immediately defend against a large-scale Konoha fire jutsu!"
With the enhancement of chakra, Ishiro's shout quickly reached the ears of the charging Iwagakure commanders below.
These commanders subconsciously frowned. They had naturally also seen the two giant toads, but Ishiro was somewhat overstepping his bounds.
However, Ishiro was an Elite Jōnin after all, and also a representative figure of the village's younger generation. So, most commanders, out of caution, still complied.
"Defend according to Tactical Plan Number Four!"
Then, a large number of ninjas in the ranks began to perform hand seals.
However, it was still a bit late. The two toads, with a few leaps, crossed over the vanguard units of both sides, which were already engaged, and arrived a hundred meters in front of Iwagakure's main force.
Then, both toads simultaneously spewed flammable oil, while atop each toad, a ninja unleashed a large-scale fire jutsu.
"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
Before most of Iwagakure's Earth-Style Walls could be raised, Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze had already completed their combination ninjutsu.
Two massive fireballs charged towards the Iwagakure side at great speed.
Given the speed of the fire jutsu, most of the Iwagakure ninjas preparing to use Earth-Style Wall couldn't complete their hand seals before the fire jutsu hit them.
"Porcelain Release: Great Slurry River!" Seeing the situation was dire, Ishiro immediately unleashed his Porcelain Release with all his might.
Slightly slower than Ishiro, Ikura and several Elite Jōnin beside him also began to perform hand seals.
However, apart from Ishiro's Porcelain Release, which was almost instantaneous, they were all a beat too slow.
The Porcelain Release slurry that Ishiro unleashed with all his might timely blocked the Toad Oil Flame Bullet on Jiraiya's side. But Minato Namikaze's Toad Oil Flame Bullet charged into Iwagakure's main force without any obstruction.
A moment later, Ikura's large-scale earth jutsu was successfully cast. Since Ishiro had interfered with Jiraiya's Toad Oil Flame Bullet, Ikura's target was Minato Namikaze's side.
Although it was a bit slow, his earth jutsu still managed to block the subsequent fire.
On Ishiro's side, the Porcelain Release slurry only briefly blocked the Toad Oil Flame Bullet for a few seconds before being broken through.
However, these few seconds were crucial. The main Iwagakure forces, who had received Ishiro's warning earlier, finally completed their preparations. With the combined efforts of many ninjas, an earth wall several meters thick and over ten meters high successfully rose from the ground.
After breaking through the Porcelain Release slurry, Jiraiya's Toad Oil Flame Bullet slammed hard against the earth wall. Apart from some splattered flammable oil that flew over the earth wall and burned a few unlucky Genin, there were no other effects.
But Minato Namikaze's side was different. Ikura's earth jutsu was a bit late, and the earth jutsus of several other Elite Jōnin had no effect at all.
As a result, about two hundred Iwagakure ninjas were burned, and dozens who were closer to the front were directly burned to death.
If Ikura had been a fraction of a second slower, and Minato Namikaze's Toad Oil Flame Bullet had fully spread, this wave could have directly taken out at least five hundred Iwagakure ninjas.
And the power of Jiraiya's Toad Oil Flame Bullet was by no means weaker. If Iwagakure hadn't blocked these two waves of attacks, they would have suffered at least a thousand casualties.
And suffering a ten percent loss of forces right at the start of the engagement, it was hard to say how much morale Iwagakure would have left.
A precedent was Orochimaru's Konoha forces. Ninjas were also human; when suddenly encountering such irresistible ninjutsu attacks, they too would break down.
After all, they were two Kage-level individuals. It was quite normal for them to achieve such a war-deciding result through what was almost a sneak attack!
Fortunately, none of that happened.
However, even after blocking this wave of attacks, Iwagakure's situation was not good. The numbers on both sides were similar, but Konoha's individual combat power was stronger than Iwagakure's, so their overall strength was comparable.
But their Kage-level combat power was completely mismatched.
Fortunately, Saka acted very decisively at this time, immediately ordering Han, the Jinchūriki of the Five-Tails, to enter a semi-Tailed Beast transformation.
Han understood his mission and immediately charged towards Jiraiya like an arrow loosed from a bow.
If Ishiro had been in charge of arrangements, he would definitely have sent Han to deal with Minato Namikaze. Because Han was the tough, thick-skinned type, after entering a semi-Tailed Beast transformation, the Rasengan would have limited damage against him, and he could perfectly tie down Minato Namikaze.
If Minato Namikaze dodged, Han could then charge into the Konoha army. As long as Minato Namikaze had something he had to protect, the effectiveness of his Flying Thunder God would be limited.
Unfortunately, Saka didn't know Minato Namikaze could use the Flying Thunder God technique and thought Minato was easier to deal with than Jiraiya, an established Kage-level figure. So he sent Han to bite off the tough bone that was Jiraiya, leaving Minato Namikaze for Ikura.
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We've hit 200 Power Stones goal As promised This week, here's the bonus chapter. Thank you for your support—please keep it coming!