Chapter 353: Appealing to the Players—Saving Konoha
"Look up! More Abyssal Evil Gods!"
Before the cheers could even fade,
several players raised their heads and saw more Evil God avatars emerging from the belly of the true Evil God floating above the sky.
Twenty at once.
They plummeted like cannonballs, kicking up massive clouds of dust upon impact.
Danzo's spirit sneered, clearly taking twisted pleasure in the scene.
Despair engulfed the Konoha forces—
the Evil God avatars they had just sacrificed everything to defeat were nothing more than disposable dolls. The true body could summon more at will.
And not just here.
Tsunade, Naruto, Asuma, and the others were all drenched in cold sweat.
Even those whose strength surpassed that of the avatars were beginning to feel helpless.
No matter how powerful a player was, their stamina wasn't infinite.
After killing eight Abyssal Evil Gods,
Naruto's energy was depleted.
The divine golden flames surrounding his body began to dim, on the verge of being extinguished.
His Whirlwind Slash left him dizzy.
His Sacred Beast Beyblade, requiring energy to sustain, spun weakly—its summoned beast flickering in and out of existence.
Snap.
In front of two Abyss Summoners,
massive, dark magic arrays appeared, from which a flood of Abyss Goblins surged forth.
Ice, flame, projectiles.
A once-clear battlefield was now teeming with new corrupted monsters.
Naruto struggled to raise his greatsword,
but his dim golden flame was snuffed out by a barrage of ice shards from the Ice Goblins—
his blade, and the flames, frozen solid.
"So cold… Someone help me…"
A regular ninja cried out in despair.
Icy thorns stabbed into the ground, frost spreading like a plague, turning everything in the vicinity into a frozen world.
Then came fire and explosions.
Bombs and flame vials thrown by the Abyss Goblins blanketed the town like a spreading corruption field.
Abyss Brutes and Abyss Swordsmen tore through the ranks.
Abyss Mages summoned gales and lightning.
The Land of Hot Water had become an apocalyptic wasteland—no one was expected to survive.
"If this keeps up, we'll be worn down by the Evil Gods!"
Shikaku Nara, strategist and tactician, looked grim.
"Even if we kill the avatars, more will just be thrown down. We have no idea how many more the main body can release."
The belly of the true Evil God…
seemed connected to a dimension of pure corruption.
The energy never stopped flowing.
"If this is really the doing of the Evil God cult's remnants, then maybe they're only targeting the Land of Hot Water."
One clan leader offered a suggestion:
"Should we just abandon the region and relocate?"
It was a slippery slope—
the first compromise easily led to more.
When the Land of Fire fell,
no one dared say such things out loud.
But now that they had already fallen back to the Land of Hot Water,
another relocation didn't seem unthinkable.
"Relocate?"
Shikaku forced a bitter smile. These people were so short-sighted.
He explained:
"Back then, the Four Great Nations attacked Konoha, and Orochimaru colluded with the Fire Nation daimyō to slaughter the nobility of the other nations."
"That chaos reshuffled the entire shinobi world.
With the high command of all four nations in turmoil, they rushed to claim Konoha's legacy."
"That's how we managed to occupy the Land of Hot Water."
The extermination of Yu Shinobi Village had been disgraceful.
Shikaku didn't spell it out, but everyone understood.
"But now, the world's power structure has stabilized again."
"If we attack another hidden village or noble faction recklessly,
we'd be seen as breaking the balance and become a common enemy."
Shikaku shook his head.
Yes, Konoha had some top-tier players,
but their mid-to-low-tier forces were weak.
Nowadays, every faction had their own family territory.
Their Resurrection Platforms were fully stocked.
Without a proper player army,
even the strongest individuals couldn't steamroll everyone like in the days of Hashirama and Madara.
Those days were over.
"Then what do you suggest?"
The clan leader, whose idea had been shot down, scowled in frustration.
He regretted everything.
He never should have followed Konoha.
If only he had defected to another village back then...
But he'd feared being treated as a pariah,
looked down upon, rejected by both sides, unable to gain power.
Now?
He might lose his life for staying.
"Then we mobilize every shinobi.
Hold the line.
Form a strike team of elite players and target the true Evil God."
His words earned silence—every eye now on him.
The unspoken meaning was clear:
Everyone else would be cannon fodder.
The elites would go for the kill.
The ordinary ninjas and players—too weak to face the avatars—would be sacrificed to buy time.
And the Evil God's true strength was unknown.
They hadn't even tested it yet.
Were they just sending their best to die?
In a game,
this was standard raid strategy. Players could respawn.
But this was real life.
Death meant death.
Konoha didn't have enough revive tokens to bring them all back.
Realizing his misstep, the clan leader quickly added,
"That includes me and my clan. We're willing to sacrifice too! Are we supposed to just wait for death?"
"Even if we mobilize all of Konoha's forces, it may still not be enough,"
Shikaku sighed.
"Konoha's army—including the independent Mobile Corps—only has around 5,000 players total."
"Normal shinobi can do very little."
Inside the Reincarnation Game's observation space,
Fang Yi nodded in approval.
It seemed after getting crushed by the Four Great Nations,
Shikaku had regained his senses.
Previously, he'd still acted with the arrogance of a "smart man,"
and with Hiruzen unwilling to embrace chaotic forces, they'd avoided contact with unknown power sources.
That had led to Konoha's downfall.
But now,
they had clearly begun analyzing the game deeply.
Indeed,
non-player ninjas were useless here—
just like in the Fourth Great War, where Madara defeated hundreds with ease.
These Abyssal Evil Gods…
were stronger than Madara.
Regular shinobi couldn't even slow them down—
let alone waste their stamina.
Their only real use was fighting the summoned Abyss Goblins.
"Post a Mercenary Task!"
Shikaku retrieved the scroll Hiruzen had handed him before leaving the command center.
"Request help from other factions' players—
the Four Nations, the Dawn Organization, even the Navy, Pirates, and Adventurers from the Sea World."
"A Level 40 Dark Gold Lord.
No top-tier player will turn that down."
"But…
Konoha's treasury can't cover the rewards.
We'll all need to bleed for this if we want to save the village."
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