Since the Land of Fields did not border the Land of Earth, Nagato first led the Light Shinobi forces into the Land of Grass, where they joined up with the Grass Shinobi, preparing to launch an attack on the Land of Earth from the border between the Grass Shinobi and Rock Shinobi.
"Lord Yahiko, you will be in command of this attack on the Land of Earth. We Grass Shinobi will definitely follow your orders," the Grass Shinobi leader said somewhat humbly.
Although they were both leaders of minor ninja villages, the Grass Shinobi leader did not put himself on the same level as Nagato. Instead, he addressed Nagato as "Lord," indicating that he would follow his arrangements.
There was no other reason than the fact that the Grass Shinobi leader had already gotten a small glimpse of Nagato's strength. That was why the Grass Shinobi leader had adopted his current attitude.
"Mm." Nagato nodded indifferently without saying much.
The Grass Shinobi leader did not mind. He quickly reorganized his forces, preparing to launch a surprise attack on the Land of Earth together with Nagato's Light Shinobi.
He did not care about Nagato's cold attitude, nor did he bother wondering why Nagato sometimes called himself Pain and sometimes Yahiko. In the past, when he had fawned over the Five Great Nations, those Five Great Nations had not given him any good treatment either.
Nagato might be cold, but at least he would not exploit or oppress him. He would even give the Grass Shinobi secret techniques and high-tech equipment.
If being treated coldly could get him so many benefits, the Grass Shinobi leader wanted to say, how about whipping him a few more times? Otherwise, he really would not feel comfortable taking all these things.
At this moment, the Grass Shinobi leader was actually quite excited. The Grass Shinobi Village had always been an ambitious village, and their goal had always been to become one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
The goal was huge, and achieving it was extremely difficult.
The once-famous "Demigod" Hanzo, who had shaken the entire ninja world, had proven one thing to everyone: the Five Great Nations were terrifyingly powerful.
Whether in terms of high-level combat power or the middle and lower levels, the Five Great Ninja Villages were not something minor ninja villages could compare with.
Hanzo, relying on his famous strength, had not lost to Konoha's higher-ups, but the Rain Shinobi forces were unable to defeat Konoha's ninja forces. As a result, the Rain Shinobi Village suffered a disastrous defeat and nearly collapsed overnight.
However, the Grass Shinobi leader now felt that the opportunity was huge. Not only could Nagato's ninja village become a Great Ninja Village, but his Grass Shinobi Village could also ride this wave and rise to become a Great Ninja Village.
First, Nagato himself was extremely powerful, stronger than Hanzo had been back then and stronger than the current leaders of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Second, their ninja forces had better equipment, so their strength might not be much weaker than the forces of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
The Grass Shinobi leader's original plan had been to observe Nagato's performance before deciding whether to join him. Now, the Grass Shinobi leader felt that the opportunity was enormous and wanted to take a gamble. If he won, he would gain everything.
'The long-cherished wish of our predecessors has finally gained a chance to be fulfilled.' Excitement flashed through the Grass Shinobi leader's eyes as he embarked on the march to attack the Land of Earth.
The Land of Earth was located in the northwestern part of the ninja world. The terrain within the country was primarily mountainous, with many towering mountain ranges. The Rock Shinobi Village was also located within one of these mountain ranges, surrounded by rocky mountains that formed a natural defensive barrier.
Not only the Rock Shinobi Village, but even the road from the Land of Grass to the Land of Earth had a large mountain blocking the way. To enter the Land of Earth from here, they could only cross the mountains.
"Lord Yahiko, how about letting my people lead the way? We Grass Shinobi are fairly familiar with this area. We know the fastest route into the Land of Earth," the Grass Shinobi leader suggested.
Nagato shook his head and rejected the Grass Shinobi leader's suggestion, replying indifferently, "With me here, why waste so much time traveling through the mountains?"
The current Nagato could be summed up in two words: confidence.
"Could it be..." The Grass Shinobi leader looked at Nagato in surprise, and a bold guess appeared in his mind.
"But wouldn't the commotion be too great if we did that? Wouldn't the Rock Shinobi discover us?" the Grass Shinobi leader asked.
"What does it matter if they discover us?" Nagato asked in return.
When he could completely crush the opponent through sheer strength, why worry about being discovered? When the difference in strength was too great, no amount of planning would make a difference.
He actually wished the Rock Shinobi Village would discover them, then gather all its ninja and confront him head-on, saving him the trouble of fighting all the way into the Rock Shinobi Village.
The Grass Shinobi leader fell silent, preparing to quietly watch Nagato show off.
He was still accustomed to being cautious and was not quite able to adapt to Nagato's attack style, which had no strategy whatsoever and could be summed up with one word: charge.
Nagato ordered all his subordinates to retreat, then slowly floated into the air. He extended both hands toward the mountain.
"Super Shinra Tensei!"
Nagato's Rinnegan trembled violently. An enormous amount of chakra suddenly erupted from his body, and an extremely powerful aura spread outward. Birds that happened to be flying nearby were immediately knocked unconscious by the powerful aura and fell to the ground.
Boom!!
The moment the powerful repulsive force erupted, it produced a tremendous sound. Even the air was affected by the powerful repulsive force, generating a powerful current.
Rumble!!!
When the repulsive force Nagato unleashed struck the mountain blocking the road, a tremendous explosion rang out. One roar after another echoed as the mountain collapsed.
Under everyone's gaze, the mountain was pushed down by Nagato as easily as if it were made of fragile paper.
This exaggerated scene deeply shocked the hearts of the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi.
Although they knew that Nagato was extremely powerful, seeing him directly alter the terrain over such a large area with a single ninjutsu was still incredibly shocking.
"This is what a true powerhouse is. Such tremendous power, capable of moving mountains and filling seas." A ninja looked at Nagato with an expression of yearning, hoping that one day he could reach Nagato's level.
It was not only the ninja on Nagato's side who were shocked. Even the Rock Shinobi guarding the border were stunned when they witnessed this scene.
A Rock Shinobi could not help rubbing his eyes hard, somewhat questioning his life. How could such a mountain simply collapse like that? Could it be that he had not woken up yet?
But no matter how many times he rubbed his eyes, the result would not change. The mountain blocking the road between the Land of Grass and the Land of Earth had indeed collapsed.
Immediately afterward, the Rock Shinobi saw large numbers of Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi enter the territory of the Land of Earth without the slightest restraint.
"Stop where you are. If you continue forward, your actions will be regarded as a declaration of war against the Land of Earth," the captain of the Rock Shinobi squad said, forcing himself to step forward.
Seeing the densely packed ninja forces, he was actually extremely nervous. But there was nothing he could do about it. He was the captain of this squad and a Rock Shinobi.
"That is exactly what we came here for. We came to attack the Land of Earth. Go back and tell your Tsuchikage that the Light Shinobi Village and Grass Shinobi Village have declared war on the Rock Shinobi Village," Nagato said calmly without attacking this Rock Shinobi squad.
Then Nagato ignored the Rock Shinobi squad and continued advancing with his forces.
One Rock Shinobi could not help asking, "Captain, are we really just going to watch them enter?"
The Rock Shinobi captain could not help smacking this clueless ninja once. "What else can you do? Safely delivering the intelligence is the most important thing."
If they had a larger force here, the Rock Shinobi captain would have chosen to struggle, even if it meant sacrificing his life for the country. But they only had this one squad. Being spared by the enemy was already fortunate enough. Going out to seek death would simply be foolish.
In this situation, the best choice was to let the village know about the enemy invasion so that the village would not be placed at such a disadvantage in the war.
"Minor ninja villages are becoming more outrageous than the last. There is actually a minor ninja village that is taking the initiative to attack one of the Five Great Ninja Villages." The Rock Shinobi captain felt somewhat baffled.
Looking back throughout the entire era of ninja villages, only the Rain Shinobi Village had actually done something like this. But what was going on now? First, the Bird Shinobi Village defeated a Rock Shinobi force, and now the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi had actually marched directly into their territory.
Even during the Great Ninja Wars, the war had not reached the territory of the Land of Earth itself.
The Rock Shinobi captain felt that something was wrong. He did not know what method the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi had just used to flatten the mountain, but he felt that no one would be foolish enough to willingly throw their lives away for no reason. They must have something they were relying on.
Back then, Hanzo had indeed failed to pull down the Five Great Ninja Villages and fulfill his ambitions, but he had still managed to ignite a Great Ninja War and cause tremendous chaos.
After the Rock Shinobi squad reached a safe location, they used a special method to send the news back to the Rock Shinobi Village.
Before leaving, Onoki had appointed Kurotsuchi as the acting Tsuchikage. After learning the news, Kurotsuchi immediately convened a meeting of the higher-ups.
"The Tsuchikage launched an attack not long ago, and they immediately attacked our Land of Earth. Could the enemy have planted a spy inside the Rock Shinobi?" asked a Rock Shinobi higher-up with a long white beard, frowning.
Spies were not particularly unusual. In the past, the major ninja villages had all desperately tried to plant spies inside one another's villages.
But if a minor ninja village had managed to plant a spy inside them, then the intelligence department would lose a lot of face.
"Not necessarily. This is already the best time to launch an attack," said a burly Rock Shinobi higher-up.
"We are currently fighting the Bird Shinobi. Perhaps they simply wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to attack us, coincidentally when the Tsuchikage personally led the forces out."
"If it really were because of a spy, they should not have ignored our patrol squad at the border. Wouldn't it have been better to catch us off guard?"
Everyone felt that the burly Rock Shinobi higher-up's words made sense and nodded one after another.
"So, how should we respond? According to the intelligence, the Grass Shinobi and Light Shinobi are coming aggressively. They even flattened the mountain at the border," a higher-up raised the central question.
Under normal circumstances, they definitely would not have taken such a serious approach simply because two minor ninja villages attacked them.
Instead, they would have thought that the leaders of these two minor ninja villages had probably drunk too much fake alcohol and lost their minds.
However, having just suffered a defeat at the Bird Shinobi Village, the Rock Shinobi higher-ups no longer dared to underestimate these minor ninja villages too much.
Furthermore, according to the intelligence sent back, the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi were truly arrogant. They did not care at all about concealing their movements, directly flattening a mountain to enter the Land of Earth and even ignoring the Rock Shinobi patrol squad.
Being this arrogant clearly meant there was a major problem.
"I will lead the forces to intercept them," Kurotsuchi said solemnly.
"We cannot allow a hostile ninja force to operate freely inside our country."
"Then Kurotsuchi, you must be extremely careful. Do not underestimate them. The Light and Grass Shinobi are being so arrogant, so they must have something to rely on," a higher-up warned.
Kurotsuchi nodded solemnly and quickly mobilized the ninja forces.
According to the intelligence provided by the Rock Shinobi patrol squad, the Grass Shinobi and Light Shinobi together had roughly 2,500 ninja.
Kurotsuchi did not dare to be careless and directly dispatched 2,800 Rock Shinobi to block the invading forces.
Because Nagato had no interest in concealing his movements and had not bothered clearing out scattered Rock Shinobi along the way, Kurotsuchi easily found Nagato and his ninja forces.
Seeing that it was Kurotsuchi, Nagato was somewhat disappointed. "You are still as arrogant as ever. Even after we have reached your homeland, the Third Tsuchikage still isn't coming personally?"
Kurotsuchi: ...
It seemed that the possibility of a spy inside the Rock Shinobi could be ruled out.
Although Nagato had sent the Rain Shinobi to support Konan and Kakuzu, he did not know that Onoki had personally gone there. Otherwise, he might have sent more forces over.
After all, Konan could be said to be his only living friend in this world, and Nagato certainly did not want anything to happen to her.
"If you want to see our Tsuchikage, defeat me first," Kurotsuchi said with a resolute expression.
Since Nagato did not know, Kurotsuchi would not tell him that Onoki was not even in the Land of Earth.
"Earth Release: Fist Rock!" Kurotsuchi suddenly charged toward Nagato. As he advanced, chakra gathered around his right arm, and soon his right arm was covered in hard rock.
Facing Kurotsuchi charging toward him, Nagato remained unmoved, simply standing there and watching Kurotsuchi approach.
From Kurotsuchi's perspective, Nagato seemed to have been frightened silly, standing motionless in place.
But when Kurotsuchi was only one meter away from Nagato, Nagato moved. He extended his right hand and lightly pointed.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Whoosh!
The powerful repulsive force instantly pushed Kurotsuchi away, sending him flying backward at an even greater speed than when he had charged in. He slammed heavily into the ground, creating a large crater.
The Rock Shinobi forces were stunned by this scene. This was Kurotsuchi, the acting Tsuchikage, yet he had been sent flying just like that?
The quicker-acting Rock Shinobi hurriedly helped Kurotsuchi out of the crater.
"Lord Kurotsuchi, are you alright?" the surrounding Rock Shinobi asked nervously.
Kurotsuchi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and waved his hand to indicate that he was fine. Then he looked at Nagato with a solemn expression.
He was not as relaxed as he appeared. That single attack had broken at least several of his bones, and that was only because he had used Earth Release to protect himself.
Kurotsuchi no longer dared to approach Nagato recklessly. Instead, he poured out a large amount of chakra and performed his strongest ninjutsu.
"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!" Kurotsuchi slammed both hands against the ground. An enormous amount of chakra erupted, and the ground continuously let out booming sounds.
"Why has the sky gone dark?" a Light Shinobi suddenly realized that he had been enveloped in darkness.
Two enormous hemispheres made of earth and stone suddenly rose on both sides of Nagato. They were more than forty meters high, completely enveloping Nagato and part of the ninja forces.
The Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi who were attacked were not panicked at all. After all, Nagato could easily push down an actual mountain. What was a hemisphere more than forty meters high?
"Is this all you have?" Nagato's expression remained unchanged as he slowly floated upward and extended his hands toward both sides.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Rumble!!!
The enormous earthen and stone hemispheres, more than forty meters high, were directly pushed away and destroyed by the powerful repulsive force Nagato unleashed, sending earth and stones flying everywhere.
"Too feeble." Nagato lowered his hands, floating in the air and looking expressionlessly at Kurotsuchi, as if he were a god.