The moment Hikaru unleashed Wood Release infused with dense senjutsu chakra, the battle was essentially over.
Even though he had not used too many of his higher-level abilities, and even though he had deliberately restrained himself when casting this jutsu, this battle had already achieved the strategic goal he wanted.
With Hikaru's move, the earth rumbled violently. A small forest instantly rose before him, and countless vines thicker than human bodies surged out like raging serpents.
"Retreat!"
The Fourth Raikage was the first to sense the danger. He immediately let out a furious roar, then threw himself toward the branches and vines.
Boom, boom, boom!
Dull impacts rang out one after another. Lightning flashed all over the Fourth Raikage's body as his fists smashed madly into the branches created by Deep Forest Emergence. Every punch shattered a thick branch, and the spread of the forest in his direction was forcibly slowed.
But even with Hikaru holding back, the range of Deep Forest Emergence was not something the Fourth Raikage alone could fully stop.
In the original timeline, Naruto had once tried to block Madara Uchiha's Deep Forest Emergence by using Multi Shadow Clones and Rasengan. To be fair, that method had some effect, but it was only suitable for Naruto.
The Fourth Raikage was indeed physically powerful, and his chakra was abundant, but he did not know the Multi Shadow Clone Technique. Whether he even knew an ordinary Shadow Clone was another question.
Nor did he have a jutsu like Rasengan. He was relying entirely on taijutsu and nin-taijutsu to resist.
And his condition was getting worse.
Blood had already appeared on his fists, and his chakra was steadily draining.
After all, Deep Forest Emergence could absorb chakra, and even life force.
"Ah!"
The area blocked by the Fourth Raikage was indeed unable to spread quickly, but the Kumo shinobi in the directions he could not defend were not so fortunate.
Many Kumo shinobi were directly entangled by vines. Some unlucky ones were crushed beneath massive branches, leaving only misty sprays of blood behind.
Screams rose one after another.
They were fast, yes, but they were packed together, and Hikaru's Wood Release had sealed their escape routes. How could they possibly flee instantly?
Crack!
The Fourth Raikage was still desperately blocking the forest, but when a muffled crack suddenly came from his arm, his expression changed at once.
His arm had already been fractured. He had only been able to keep fighting because his chakra had been nourishing and supporting it.
But now, that arm could no longer hold out.
The damage to his body was too severe. His already fractured arm had suffered another heavy blow.
His chakra was still strong, and his speed had not dropped by much, but he knew clearly that he could not continue like this.
"Damn brat!"
The Fourth Raikage felt unbearably frustrated.
This frustration was even worse than when he had faced Minato Namikaze.
Back then, when he and his younger brother Killer B had fought Minato, what he felt was mainly humiliation.
Minato's unpredictable Flying Thunder God, combined with his reaction speed, had left the brothers with no way to deal with him. His pale-blue jutsu, the Rasengan, had also left a deep impression on the Raikage.
But no matter what, Minato had not beaten him in a direct head-on clash.
In the Fourth Raikage's heart, he acknowledged Minato's strength and admitted his victory, but he did not like that man's fighting style.
Minato had never fought him head-on.
Now, facing this brat, he felt not only frustration, but something even harder to swallow.
Because he had been unable to defend against Minato's attacks back then, he had spent years training his Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Now, he had refined it to a respectable level.
But this brat had powerful offensive methods of his own.
Not only could Senju Hikaru break through his defense, he could even pose a lethal threat.
And while Hikaru's own physical defense might not be impressive, his techniques completely made up for it.
That damned Wood Release was absurdly strong in both offense and defense. The Raikage could not break through it alone.
Worse still, he could feel that he could not withstand its attacks either.
This kind of all-around suppression and restraint made him feel deeply unwilling.
Most importantly, he felt that as long as he could land even one hit on Hikaru, just one, he could decide the outcome.
But he simply could not touch him.
"Flying Thunder God and Wood Release together are this strong?"
The Fourth Raikage gritted his teeth and leapt backward.
He knew he had to retreat.
He could no longer keep fighting.
Leaving this place as quickly as possible was now the priority.
Although this operation could almost be described as a failure, he had still obtained some intelligence.
But when he leapt up and saw the current state of the battlefield, his expression twisted violently.
Countless Kumo shinobi had already been strangled or bound by Hikaru's Wood Release. They struggled desperately, but they could not break free.
In that moment, he finally understood what Hikaru had meant earlier.
With a jutsu like this, perhaps Hikaru truly did not need to worry about that one-hundred-man advance unit.
Besides, Hikaru had so many subordinates with him. If that advance force had run into him, their survival really would have been uncertain.
"Is Lord Fourth Raikage planning to leave?"
Hikaru's voice suddenly drifted over.
The Fourth Raikage turned and saw Hikaru standing on a massive tree trunk, arms folded across his chest.
His face carried a gentle smile.
But to the Fourth Raikage, that smile made him grind his teeth in fury.
Beneath that warmth, he sensed a bone-chilling cold.
The Fourth Raikage forced himself to calm down. He knew this was not the time to dwell on anger.
He had a more important task.
He had to leave immediately, and he had to take everyone who could still move with him.
"It seems Lord Raikage really has no intention of caring about the people I caught. What a pity."
Seeing the Fourth Raikage remain silent, Hikaru spoke again.
This time, the Fourth Raikage felt his heart turn cold.
"In that case, all shinobi who can use Fire Release, listen!"
"Yes!"
"Prepare Fire Release. Target: my Wood Release."
"Yes!"
In Kumogakure's camp in the Land of Hot Water, the Fourth Raikage smashed everything around him.
His body was wrapped in bandages, and his right arm in particular was tightly bound and fixed. Even so, none of it could conceal the rage in his heart.
He had lost.
And it had been a complete defeat. A humiliating defeat.
Failure itself was something he could accept.
What he could not accept was that of the one thousand shinobi who had gone with him, more than five hundred had not returned.
What kind of result was that?
It was almost the same as being routed.
They had been nearly stopped by Senju Hikaru alone.
One thousand had set out. Although they had obtained some intelligence, they had paid for it with over five hundred casualties.
As for Konoha, no matter how one looked at it, their casualties were only around one or two hundred.
That casualty ratio was something the Fourth Raikage simply could not accept.
He had declared war on Konoha with absolute confidence, but before the two sides had even entered a true high-intensity battle, things had already become like this.
This blow was not small.
It had also affected the morale of Kumo's main army.
Morale was vague and intangible, yet it truly existed.
Especially in war, if morale was lost, the possibility of defeat would increase without limit.
Although this blow was not enough to shatter the army, prevention was necessary. The Fourth Raikage could not ignore it.
After smashing things for a while, he finally sat down weakly.
He was furious, but he had not completely lost his reason.
He had now thoroughly remembered the name Senju Hikaru.
And this time, he had gained quite a bit of information about the boy.
He knew now that he alone would have difficulty dealing with Hikaru.
Not because of anything else, but because he simply could not hit him.
"Flying Thunder God lets him instantly escape when I close in, and Wood Release prevents me from approaching too easily. Dealing with him is troublesome, but all I need is one chance. One real chance to touch him."
The Fourth Raikage forced himself to stay calm and began rapidly reviewing every detail of his fight with Hikaru.
Hikaru's combat power was too troublesome.
That terrifying Wood Release in particular demanded serious thought.
If that kind of jutsu were poured onto the main army, it would be an enormous problem.
He had to come up with a way to deal with it. Otherwise, this war would become truly dangerous.
"Big Brother."
At that moment, Killer B entered with several others.
At the doorway, the Kumo medical shinobi were peeking inside nervously.
Clearly, they had called Killer B over. The Fourth Raikage's earlier behavior had been too frightening, and for the sake of his body, he was not suited to move around recklessly.
"Why are you here?"
The Fourth Raikage frowned, but he was no longer angry.
"Since you're here, good. We need to discuss some things."
As he spoke, he raised his head.
He looked somewhat ridiculous at the moment.
His body was wrapped in bandages, his right arm was fixed in a cast, and a strip of cloth held it suspended from his neck.
In addition, there were many wounds on his body that had not been bandaged, though with his excellent constitution, they had already scabbed over.
"How is the army's morale?" the Fourth Raikage asked. That was what concerned him most right now.
"I sealed off part of the news. The shinobi who returned have all reported to the medical squad," one Kumo shinobi said. "For now, the main force still doesn't know the details, so there is no need to worry yet."
"But this kind of thing can't be hidden for long."
The Fourth Raikage sighed.
He knew very well that this news could not be sealed forever.
"Teacher Dodai, what do you think?"
The Fourth Raikage's tone was respectful, which was somewhat different from his usual image.
The man he faced looked to be in his thirties.
Unlike most Kumo shinobi, his build was not particularly burly, and his left eye was covered by an eyepatch.
This man was Dodai.
If Hikaru were here, he would have recognized him immediately as the man who had once protected Naruto Uzumaki's shadow clone in the original timeline.
Dodai's experience was quite legendary.
He had once served as the Third Raikage's bodyguard and had acted as the examiner for the "Double Lariat" compatibility test.
The Fourth Raikage and Killer B's Double Lariat had been taught and guided by him.
As an aide of the Third Raikage, he was a man who carried the legend of the strongest.
That was perhaps the best way to describe Dodai.
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he had also served as part of the communication unit. He was undoubtedly a deep-thinking strategist.
His personal strength was not weak either. He possessed the Lava Release kekkei genkai.
Konoha had someone like Nara Shikaku, but Kumogakure also had a man who was not inferior to him.
That man was Dodai.
"Lord Raikage, since you went out personally, you must have obtained some information. In that case, we should organize what we know."
Dodai thought briefly before speaking in a low voice.
"You mentioned that when you arrived there, you clearly sensed Konoha had prepared an ambush, correct? It seems the enemy predicted our plan. Since they have been acting so mysteriously and knew we would want intelligence, they used that chance to set a trap.
"I believe the one who planned this was likely Nara Shikaku. The intelligence says he also came to the front.
"Now that Lord Fourth Raikage is injured, I suspect they will not miss this opportunity. Therefore, we should immediately set up defensive lines. This will allow us to resist Konoha's attack while also preventing the army from dwelling too much on what happened.
"Moreover, our current position is not easy to capture. If we control it well, we may even be able to counter-pressure them."
Dodai was worthy of his name.
He quickly devised a countermeasure, and the Fourth Raikage's eyes brightened slightly after hearing it.
The issue troubling him most right now was the morale of Kumo's main force.
If Dodai's plan succeeded, and if Konoha cooperated by attacking, the result could be very useful.
Since that was the case, the Fourth Raikage did not hesitate for long.
He had already asked about his injuries.
His fractured arm would take close to half a month to recover, even with his physique.
The wound on his back, pierced through by Hikaru, would also need nearly a week to heal. Hikaru's chakra was far too strange.
He needed time to recover.
Since Dodai could stabilize the situation during that time, then the Fourth Raikage could trust him completely.
Once he recovered, he would take revenge next time.
Because next time would not be another one-on-one duel.
"Commander Hikaru, according to our count, Kumo left behind five hundred and sixty-two corpses.
"Our side suffered one hundred and forty-four casualties. Overall, this is a major victory."
Inside Konoha's command post, Nara Shikaku calmly read the statistics to Hikaru.
His expression was fairly composed, although he was somewhat frustrated that Hikaru's duel with the Fourth Raikage had disrupted all the plans from yesterday.
At the same time, he was deeply shocked by the strength of the Kumo shinobi.
Even with his preparations, they had caused such casualties in such a short time.
It was easy to imagine how powerful those Kumo shinobi were.
It was also likely that they were among Kumogakure's elite.
As for Hikaru's strength, that had exceeded everyone's expectations as well.
Everyone knew he was strong, but most had believed he was probably not a match for someone like the Fourth Raikage.
After all, he was too young.
And the only battle people were familiar with was his action during the Nine-Tails incident.
In other words, people had never truly trusted Hikaru's strength.
That was undeniable, and there was nothing that could be done about it.
But this time, Hikaru seemed to have completely shattered all doubt and distrust.
He had single-handedly routed a thousand-man unit together with the Fourth Raikage.
Although in the end he had ordered Konoha shinobi to use Fire Release to kill the trapped Kumo shinobi, everyone knew that Hikaru had deliberately given them that opportunity.
Whether it was Flying Thunder God or Wood Release, Hikaru's strength had reached an unreasonable level.
Now, the morale of Konoha's shinobi had risen even higher.
That was excellent news for Konoha.
So although Shikaku was somewhat frustrated, his overall mood was still good.
After all, the results were right there.
"I understand. Thank you, Minister Shikaku."
Hearing Shikaku's report, Hikaru nodded lightly.
He was also a little surprised by Konoha's casualties, but after hearing that Kumo had suffered even greater losses, he relaxed slightly.
As long as Konoha had not lost out, it was fine.
If they had profited, even better.
But that matter had already passed.
What Hikaru needed to handle now was what came next.
This time, he had slapped Kumo hard across the face and made the Fourth Raikage understand his strength.
Even though he had not shown everything, it was enough to make the Fourth Raikage take him seriously.
After all, Hikaru had nearly killed him.
If the Raikage still failed to take him seriously, then there would be something wrong with his brain.
That meant when the true decisive battle arrived, the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki joining forces against him would be the optimal choice.
That would save Hikaru from having one of them run off to kill Konoha's living forces while he was dealing with the other.
If that happened, Hikaru would suffer a huge loss.
After all, Konoha had fewer people than Kumo.
Even if Hikaru's attack range was large and he was confident he could handle the situation, he still had to guard against accidents.
War was full of uncertainty.
It was also extremely cruel.
"What is the next plan?" Hikaru asked after thinking briefly. "Minister Shikaku, you should know what I want."
"Rest assured, Commander Hikaru."
Hearing Hikaru's words, Shikaku gathered his thoughts and explained.
"I've actually considered this already. If I'm not mistaken, Dodai should be among them.
"If he is there, then after you injured the Raikage so badly, they will definitely switch to defense.
"That can both prevent us from taking advantage of the situation and reduce the morale damage caused by the Raikage's defeat.
"To be honest, if not for your strategic arrangement, I absolutely would not attack. I would simply let them stay there and wear themselves down.
"But since you have a strategic objective, I can use this opportunity to act, forcing their defensive line to keep shifting.
"In the end, we will guide them to the correct location."
Shikaku did not speak quickly, but he expressed his intention clearly.
Hikaru listened quietly.
He was not certain whether Dodai was truly on Kumo's side, though he did know of the man.
But after hearing Shikaku's plan, Hikaru felt very reassured.
Nara Shikaku was indeed reliable.
With him handling this matter, Hikaru could relax considerably.
Moreover, Shikaku already knew Hikaru's ambition and had actively invested in him.
That made Hikaru consider what kind of return he should give Shikaku after becoming Hokage.
However, he only thought about that briefly and did not dwell on it.
The most important thing now was still dealing with Kumo.
"Commander!"
At that moment, a shinobi suddenly rushed in, looking anxious. He held a document in his hand.
"Commander, urgent report from the Anbu."
"Oh?"
Hikaru immediately walked over, took the document, and opened it.
He read quickly.
Before long, he had finished the entire report, and a smile appeared on his face.
The information in the report was about Iwagakure.
It seemed Iwa had learned that Konoha and Kumo had clashed, and that Konoha had won a decent victory. Because of this, they had begun to move.
Hikaru knew they would most likely only station troops at the border and would not take much direct action.
But that was exactly what he needed.
Especially because this report said that Ōnoki himself had already set out.
That surprised him pleasantly.
Clearly, his stage was slowly being prepared.
"I didn't expect Senju Hikaru to possess this level of strength."
On a road leading from the Land of Earth toward the Land of Hot Water, Ōnoki traveled quickly with several Anbu. His mind was still shaken.
After accepting Shikashiro's proposal, he had immediately sent people to observe the movements of Konoha and Kumo so that he could decide whether to take the next step.
In truth, Ōnoki knew he would have to make a decision sooner or later.
After all, those newspapers had successfully stirred the fighting spirit and desire of everyone in Iwagakure.
Of course, cooperating with Konoha to attack Kumo would not bring as much profit as cooperating with Kumo to attack Konoha.
But Kumo and Iwa were blood enemies, and there were enormous conflicts of interest between them in several smaller countries.
If they used this chance to uproot some of Kumo's influence in those small nations, the gains would not be as large as attacking Konoha, but they would still be considerable.
Besides, as soon as Konoha and Kumo went to war, countless missions had already begun flowing into Iwagakure.
In other words, Iwa was guaranteed to profit.
"We can strike an enemy, raise morale, seize interests in smaller countries, and gain a large number of missions.
"Except for being manipulated by Konoha, everything else is acceptable."
Ōnoki saw things very clearly.
Their movement could indeed bring benefits, but it was also true that Konoha had manipulated them.
That made Ōnoki very unhappy.
No one liked being led by the nose.
But for now, he could only accept it.
Besides, both Uesugi Shikashiro and his father had given Ōnoki a rather good line of thought.
Since that was the case, why would Ōnoki not try it?
What he had not expected was that soon after he sent his people out, Konoha and Kumo would enter a relatively intense clash.
That brat, the Fourth Raikage, had personally led more than a thousand Kumo shinobi to attack Konoha's outpost.
That move was somewhat reckless, but the Fourth Raikage lacked concrete information about Konoha, so his action was understandable.
However, Senju Hikaru had displayed inhuman strength.
According to the intelligence, that boy seemed to have used Wood Release to hold back the Fourth Raikage and killed nearly half the Kumo force.
Although there were not many concrete details, even this vague information was enough.
Ōnoki had long thought that the appearance of Hikaru might cause Konoha to "go backward" forty or fifty years.
At the same time, he had believed Hikaru could not do so yet, because the boy was simply too young.
But now, it seemed everyone had underestimated that brat.
The Fourth Raikage alone truly could not deal with him.
Such growth speed was frightening.
That was precisely why Ōnoki decided to send troops to the border and personally move as well.
He was someone who had seen the power of the First Hokage and Second Hokage.
Now that such a brat had appeared, how could he not be interested?
He wanted to see just how far this boy had grown.
Only by observing from close range could he make more judgments.
After all, there was no such thing as eternal hatred between villages.
If the other party was truly too powerful, then for the safety of future generations, it was acceptable to show some goodwill as long as core interests were not violated.
"Lord Tsuchikage."
While Ōnoki and the others were traveling, several Iwa Anbu suddenly appeared before them.
"Speak. What's the situation over there now?"
Ōnoki was not surprised by their arrival. He glanced at them calmly and asked.
They had already spent several days traveling since leaving.
Although they had not moved at full speed, they were not slow either.
But no matter how fast they were, they might not keep up with the changes on the battlefield.
After all, during war, anything could change in an instant.
For Ōnoki, keeping track of the battlefield was essential.
These Anbu were the people he had sent to monitor the battle.
"Lord Tsuchikage, Kumo has been on defense during this period. The Fourth Raikage has not appeared once. The ones commanding are Dodai and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki.
"According to our observations, the Fourth Raikage may have suffered a serious injury and needs time to recover.
"Konoha is using this opportunity to attack continuously, but Kumo's defense is firm. Konoha's Nightingale has not moved either, so Konoha has not gained much.
"Konoha is constantly shifting its attack direction, and Kumo is adjusting along with them.
"The two sides are currently in a stalemate. Neither side has achieved any substantial result.
"However, because of our movements, Kumo has already begun pulling some personnel back."
The Anbu quickly reported the situation.
Ōnoki fell into thought.
Why had Senju Hikaru not moved?
That puzzled Ōnoki.
After thinking about it, he believed there were only two possible reasons.
The first was that Hikaru was guarding against the Eight-Tails jinchūriki going berserk, or against the Fourth Raikage suddenly making a move.
The second was that the boy had consumed a great deal of energy and was also recovering.
But Ōnoki did not care which reason it was.
Strictly speaking, he hated both sides.
If they fought each other to the death, that would be perfect.
If they could perish together, Ōnoki might laugh himself mad.
However, their stalemate was also good.
At least it proved he had not arrived too late.
"I understand. It seems we have to wait until that brat, the Fourth Raikage, recovers before there is any larger movement."
Ōnoki spoke indifferently.
He was very clear.
Until the Fourth Raikage recovered, Kumo would probably continue defending.
Ōnoki could not determine Hikaru's condition, and Kumo probably had even less certainty.
Besides, Wood Release countered tailed beasts extremely well. If they were careless, who knew whether Hikaru was healthy enough to attack the Eight-Tails jinchūriki?
"Move out. The sooner we arrive, the better we can understand the situation."
With that thought, Ōnoki gave the order directly.
He was now truly eager to reach the battlefield.
After all, this clash between Kumo and Konoha had become far too interesting.
"Damn Ōnoki!"
Inside Kumo's camp, the Fourth Raikage slammed his fist onto the table.
The other Kumo shinobi standing before him also looked furious.
They truly had not expected Iwagakure to make so many moves while Kumo and Konoha were at war.
And Iwa's movements had not been obvious at first. They had waited until after the Fourth Raikage was injured before acting.
This was blackmail against Kumo.
A blatant military threat.
But Kumo had no good solution.
Right now, their battle with Konoha had already fallen into a stalemate. They had no spare attention for Iwa.
Therefore, they could only withdraw some troops to show an attitude. As for other actions, they could not do much at all.
"Lord Raikage, I think we should not get too agitated," Dodai suddenly said.
"Ōnoki has only deployed troops and has not attacked. That means he is still waiting.
"That old man will not take unnecessary risks. If Kumo falls into a disadvantage, he will not hesitate. But if Konoha falls into a disadvantage, he absolutely will not move.
"Our priority now is to strengthen the defensive line near the Land of Iron while taking down Konoha as soon as possible. Only then can we resolve all these problems."
"Then do you have a plan?"
The Fourth Raikage sighed and looked at the map on the table.
"Also, has Senju Hikaru made any moves recently?"
"No. Perhaps he is preparing something," Dodai said in a low voice. "But he will not be able to continue like this for long, because Konoha is moving in the wrong direction."
As he spoke, Dodai pointed to a location on the map.
Everyone attending the meeting saw it, and their eyes lit up slightly.
"They have been constantly changing their attack direction to pressure us, but they are clearly getting impatient.
"Perhaps they do not want to face the joint strength of Lord Raikage and Killer B, since they are still the disadvantaged side.
"But if this continues, they will end up with their backs against a wide plain.
"And that plain is extremely suitable for our charge.
"Once they reach the designated position, that place will become their doomsday."
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