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For Onoki now...
There were only two most important things. One was to choose a qualified, or even excellent, successor for himself. This was a major matter concerning the future of the entire ninja village, and he couldn't be sloppy about it. The second was the alliance with Menma. Don't look at how Onoki seemed to reach an alliance with Menma easily under Menma's persuasion.
Onoki knew clearly, and Menma also knew clearly, that this was a process of mutual utilization.
Onoki wanted to see if Menma could really inflict heavy damage on the Leaf. If he could, this would be a profitable deal with no loss. Don't look at how Onoki was already old; the old man still had the ambition to lead the Hidden Stone Village to dominate the entire ninja world. Otherwise, over a decade ago, he wouldn't have led tens of thousands of Rock ninja to forcibly kill the Third Raikage. If it were truly just for self-preservation, the Hidden Stone could have declared victory when the Cloud ninja retreated; there was no need to insist on keeping the Third Raikage there.
The reason, fundamentally, was that this Third Tsuchikage also wanted to take advantage of the situation to suppress the Hidden Cloud and achieve greater results, wasn't it?
It was just that the old man underestimated the toughness of the Third Raikage.
With his own strength, he forcefully withstood the assault of ten thousand Rock ninja. While it couldn't be said that he slaughtered them through and through, the number of Rock ninja killed and heavily injured in that wave was countless. This resulted in the Rock ninja, clearly the victors, being unable to further expand their results and instead having to retreat to their own village's sphere of influence.
Otherwise, with Onoki's personality, he would absolutely have suppressed the Hidden Cloud further, forcing them to cough up more!
Onoki knew all too well who the biggest enemy on his ninja village's path forward was. Or more accurately, the structure of the Five Great Ninja Villages was established as early as after the First Great Ninja War.
Only two ninja villages could contend for hegemony with the Leaf: the Hidden Cloud and the Hidden Stone. Since its defeat in the First Great Ninja War, the Hidden Sand had been in a downward slide like the Hidden Waterfall. The Hidden Mist was plagued with internal problems and had obvious inherent disadvantages; it was a typical existence with enough to protect itself but no ability to advance.
If the Hidden Stone could have truly crippled the Hidden Cloud in the Third Great Ninja War, their target could have been directed straight at the Leaf.
This could be considered a rare miscalculation by the Third Tsuchikage, underestimating the power of the Third Raikage, who was of his generation. After all, Onoki reckoned that without the ability to fly, it was impossible to fight against a full ten thousand enemy ninja and still cause so many kills before dying in battle.
It was also because of that battle...
That the rumors of the Third Raikage being able to draw with the Eight-Tails, previously scoffed at by a large portion of people, were completely recognized by the world.
He must have had such strength to forcefully withstand ten thousand Rock ninja for a full three days. Not to mention anything else...
At least the Rock ninja side had to admit the Third Raikage's strength.
Otherwise, wouldn't they be saying their Rock ninja's combat power was worrying!?
In any battle, the victorious side cannot belittle the opponent, because that would also lower their own level.
After that battle, Onoki became more cautious. Over the years, whether it was the Nine-Tails' attack 12 years ago, the "Byakugan issue" between the Leaf and Cloud separated by several years, or the Konoha Crush plan nearly half a year ago, the Hidden Stone under Onoki's leadership faced changes with constancy.
In Onoki's own words: without a relatively high degree of certainty, he, the old man, wouldn't act easily.
In Onoki's view, one can only act when the benefits outweigh the risks. Of course, this was different from Hiruzen Sarutobi's "old turtle" or even weak mentality in his old age; Onoki just simply became more cautious.
If there was a suitable opportunity, Onoki would still strike directly with thunderous momentum.
The alliance with Menma was this Third Tsuchikage's most decisive judgment. He wanted to use Menma to strike at the Leaf, and he was also prepared at any time to personally lead a team to capture Menma if the situation went wrong.
The Nine-Tails!
The strongest Tailed Beast in the world.
Such returns were enough for Onoki to take the risk.
Menma knew this clearly himself. While strengthening contact with Onoki in the past period, he also hid his tracks and plans as much as possible. Although the secret of him staying in the Hidden Waterfall would be exposed sooner or later...
As an ally, Onoki might even learn of it in advance through some clues. But hiding it for a bit longer was better. The current him wasn't enough to truly face these powerful enemies in the ninja world, and the Hidden Waterfall Village wasn't truly ready to join the battlefield of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Such a weak Hidden Waterfall Village, without considering Menma's combat power, was just a dish in the eyes of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Even the currently weakest Hidden Sand could still manipulate the Hidden Waterfall.
Time!
Still time!
What Menma needed most now was time.
And after a full two or three months of teaching and preparation...
Under Menma's leadership...
The Hidden Waterfall Village finally welcomed the moment to deploy its own super-large-scale sensory barrier.
This was an important matter concerning the entire ninja village.
Therefore, when Menma notified Shibuki that the barrier deployment could proceed...
This leader of the Hidden Waterfall was extremely excited.
He directly brought Jun, Fushimi, Taru, and other existing quasi-high-ranking Jonin of the Hidden Waterfall to the scene.
Regarding the deployment of a sensory barrier for their own ninja village...
Others in the village didn't know clearly.
But these few Jonin belonging to the village's quasi-high-ranking level had learned of it successively over the past month or two.
Initially, none of them quite believed Menma had such ability.
Including Jun, who was half-believing and half-doubting.
A super-large-scale sensory barrier capable of covering the entire ninja village.
Could an ordinary person truly deploy this thing!?
Currently, knowledge of barrier jutsu was a high-level classified jutsu possessed only by the Five Great Ninja Villages. And more accurately, only the Hidden Leaf could use it proficiently.
The other major ninja villages would struggle to deploy it completely.
Therefore, for them to believe that Menma could deploy a large sensory barrier... they really didn't believe it.
Or rather, they were reluctant to believe it.
But today, reality was about to be laid out in front of them. Even the most skeptical person, rationally, was telling themselves that this was about to become true. After all, someone wouldn't come to deploy a barrier knowing they would fail, right?
Wouldn't that be slapping their own face?
And the consequence would be a plummeting of status and prestige in the village.
Jun held a skeptical attitude toward Menma, this outsider who joined halfway, let alone Fushimi, Taru, and the others. However, compared to Jun, these few felt more strongly that this was a special arrangement by the late Elder Satoru to suppress them, allowing Shibuki, as the leader, to hold sole power. Based on this, it would be strange if these people had goodwill toward Menma!
In any world, blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents, not to mention crushing them in terms of power.
Menma could see this very thoroughly, but he wasn't worried about the problems therein at all.
If he failed, it would naturally mean death, so these problems were moot.
But if his plan went smoothly, he could make the Hidden Waterfall bigger and stronger. Often, so-called internal strife is the result of uneven distribution of benefits. A qualified leader can only balance the situation and keep the village stable, but an excellent leader can definitely enlarge the village's entire pie of benefits. As long as the benefits everyone shares are constantly expanding, some minor problems might not disappear, but they will definitely be suppressed.
At this time, whoever causes trouble is the public enemy.
What Menma wanted to do now was this. Deploying the sensory barrier was merely the first step. To fight for benefits for the village, he had to first give them a sense of security, making these people understand that following him was the most correct choice.
Only when safe will people choose to look toward higher positions!
"Point One ready!"
"Point Two also ready!"
"Point Three still needs instrument debugging."
"Point Four's barrier rune inscription will be finished soon."
"Point Five..."
"Point Six..."
On the scene, the Waterfall ninja who had been trained by Menma for a full two months were now preparing the final work before barrier deployment at 12 equidistant points on the periphery of the Hidden Waterfall Village under Menma's command.
This was a super-large-scale sensory barrier. Menma, as the core point, was the key to casting the jutsu, while the other twelve points served as auxiliary functions to control the entire barrier. Once the barrier was successfully deployed, these 12 points would require responsible Waterfall ninja to perform regular stability control and checks in the future.
This layout was also a conclusion Menma reached by referencing the super-large-scale barrier of the Hidden Leaf Village.
12 points, no more, no less.
Just enough.
Too many would raise the requirements for the barrier.
Too few, with limited coverage area, would make it hard to stabilize. This was the result Menma finalized after multiple tests.
However, whether it could be successfully deployed in the end...
To be honest.
Menma himself didn't have 100% certainty.
It wasn't that adjustments weren't in place or instruments weren't ready. After all, this was Menma's first time deploying a large barrier. Previously, it was all theoretical, with zero practical experience. Menma naturally dared not guarantee it. Judging purely by theory, there was naturally a 70-80% or even higher probability of successful deployment. But in anything, accidents are feared. Who could be sure that other situations wouldn't arise during the deployment process?
Of course, worry was worry.
Menma wouldn't show even a shred of it on the surface.
He always appeared confident.
"Very good. Hurry up with the remaining points that aren't ready, and then you must conduct a final confirmation. Understood!?"
Through the walkie-talkie, Menma issued his orders one by one in an orderly manner. Although the tech tree of this world was crooked, some high-tech products still appeared. Walkie-talkies, while their usable range wasn't too broad currently, had no problems serving as information transmission within a certain range.
"Yes, Lord Accelerator!"
"Obeying orders!"
For farther locations, passing through relay stations would suffice.
Ensuring Menma could accurately receive information from every point.
"How is it? Can we start? Accelerator-kun?"
Shibuki, who had arrived very early, looked at Menma impatiently at this moment and asked.
A super-large-scale sensory barrier.
This could bring a qualitative leap to his ninja village's security capabilities.
As long as it could be successfully deployed, the safety coefficient of the Hidden Waterfall Village would be greatly improved in the future. Even Jonin-level external enemies wouldn't be able to infiltrate as easily as before. As the leader, Shibuki naturally paid great attention to this matter; this was also a major achievement for him.
"Mhm, the deployment is mostly done. Just waiting for the final debugging of some points, and we can start!"
Menma smiled slightly, nodded, and said.
"That's good. I'll leave everything to you, Accelerator-kun."
Although Shibuki knew clearly that Menma's hidden true identity was merely a boy around 13 years old...
The previous circumstances were enough for Shibuki to erase all discrimination.
This person was more reliable than himself.
Since Menma said so, there must be a high degree of certainty. Shibuki's suspended heart relaxed a lot.
"Yes, please rest assured, Shibuki-san."
Menma said with a light smile.
This attitude was almost equal.
And that commonplace form of address.
And most importantly, Shibuki's 100% approving posture.
All caused Jun, Taru, Fushimi, and others in the back to reveal different degrees of peculiar expressions.
Especially Jun—in that moment, he had an urge to speak up and reprimand Menma for rudeness. Their Hidden Waterfall Village wasn't a small household. Even in the weakest Hidden Star Village, the Star ninja below had to treat their leader with courtesy.
This posture of being nearly equal...
Jun and the others found it strange no matter how they looked at it.
But then Jun thought of some content Shibuki had told him before, and he forcefully swallowed those words back.
This was ultimately a different person.
Jun looked at Menma with a strange gaze. A thought suddenly popped up in the heart of this middle-aged Waterfall ninja over forty: Perhaps the future of the Hidden Waterfall Village will be changed by this young man before me.
"Lord Accelerator, all points are ready!"
Setting aside the different thoughts of the few Waterfall quasi-high-ranking officials below...
Another ten minutes or so passed.
News of completed debugging came successively from the Waterfall ninja responsible for the barrier at each point.
A young Waterfall ninja, about seventeen or eighteen years old, responsible for relaying general messages here, immediately came to Menma's side, bowed, and reported.
A look of obvious respect flowed in his pupils.
Young people, especially those with ambition, were relatively easier to win over by powerful existences with strength and charisma compared to those old guys.
How strong Menma really was...
These ordinary Waterfall ninja weren't very clear, but the tip of the iceberg Menma revealed in that battle two or three months ago was enough to prove that Menma was absolutely a Jonin with superb strength. Being able to drive such a terrifying summon beast was clear proof.
Possessing such strong power was attractive to ordinary ninja in itself. Not to mention getting along during this period.
These people more or less admired Menma's knowledge and ability in barrier jutsu. Others might not know, but these Waterfall ninja, who had each been taught part of the barrier jutsu knowledge, knew very well that unless a major accidental problem occurred, this barrier deployment would solidly succeed.
With strength, ability, and bringing benefits to the village—wasn't such an existence worthy of admiration, recognition, and following!?
Although it was far from the point of utter devotion...
This was undoubtedly an extremely good start.
"Mhm. Then notify each point to start according to the scheduled plan. When they see the barrier condensation pattern directly above the center, activate the instruments together, form seals together, and inject chakra. Remember, the moment you see it, you must synchronize. Not slow, not fast!"
Menma nodded gently, speaking with a serious expression.
"Yes, Lord Accelerator!"
After bowing abruptly in response, this young Waterfall ninja immediately walked to the side and used the walkie-talkie to repeat Menma's order twice to convey it down. Until the responsible Waterfall ninja at all points had replied successively...
Only then did Menma take a deep breath and walk directly to the center of the rune array that had been imprinted in advance.
This was the most important core rune array for deploying the sensory barrier.
In a moment, Menma needed to inject his chakra into it, activating this array to build the entire barrier's reference point as the core. Originally, building the reference point for a super-large-scale barrier required several, or even more than ten, Jonin with relatively large chakra reserves to achieve. But this amount of chakra was just a sprinkle of water for Menma; he could do it easily alone.
"Karin, Suigetsu!"
Standing in the center position.
Before forming seals with his hands, Menma looked at Karin and Suigetsu on both sides.
"Mhm!"
"Yes, Lord Accelerator!"
The moment they noticed Menma's gaze shifting over...
Karin and Suigetsu nodded respectively.
One synchronized seal formation with Menma.
The other went to start the instruments.
The next second.
"Ninja Art: Boundless Array Jutsu!"
Seals completed.
Menma clapped his hands together forcefully.
Clap!
Words shouted deeply.
The moment Menma injected the massive amount of refined chakra...
Buzz!
In an instant, the activated array bloomed with a beautiful light and shadow.
Whoosh!
A pillar of light soaring into the sky appeared directly high above.
"Eh!? What is that?"
"It seems to be the center of the village?"
"What a huge pillar of light? Is some ninja lord releasing a ninjutsu?"
"No, no, no, this looks too dazzling, doesn't it? Can it be ninjutsu?"
"What exactly is happening?"
"Wow? So beautiful!"
"Could it be an enemy invasion?"
"Oi, oi, oi, you're talking nonsense now. If an enemy really invaded again, would it be this calm?"
"That's true."
"Then what on earth is it?"
It directly attracted the gaze of the entire Hidden Waterfall Village. Not to mention those ordinary civilians, when the Waterfall ninja in the village saw this special pillar of light, they all widened their eyes.
A considerable portion subconsciously wanted to get closer to see what exactly was happening.
But they were immediately persuaded to disperse by a batch of Waterfall ninja arranged in advance by Shibuki, Jun, and others.
The more this happened, the more curious the civilians in the Hidden Waterfall Village became about what that pillar of light was.
And at the moment that pillar of light appeared...
On the perimeter of the Hidden Waterfall Village.
At the twelve points divided according to prior reconnaissance.
The four Waterfall ninja responsible for each point saw it simultaneously.
"Open!"
Similarly, a Waterfall ninja who had stepped into the array in advance began to form seals rapidly. These Waterfall ninja had rehearsed countless times.
Almost without a second's difference, they completed the seal formation at the same time.
Chakra injected together.
Almost perfectly timed grasp.
The next moment.
Buzz!
Arrays bloomed with light and shadow as well.
Twelve slender pillars of light appeared.
Converging upwards...
"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!?"
"What is this again?"
"Twelve more coming?"
"Wow? Looks so beautiful."
"This must be our village's ninja lords releasing some jutsu."
"Amazing, truly amazing."
Even if they couldn't compare to the majesty of the previous pillar of light, these twelve converging rays of light solidly attracted the attention of everyone in the village once again. The Hidden Waterfall Village had been peaceful for a full several decades.
Except for the Great Ninja Wars.
In daily life, the interior of the village was almost peaceful. Although Suien's rebellion caused quite a stir internally, it was ultimately limited to a certain range.
This barrier deployment was enough to attract the attention of the whole village.
Everyone widened their eyes in this moment, staring closely at the light and shadow above.
And Menma, standing at the central point...
Seeing the twelve rays of light converging smoothly, his heartstrings relaxed a lot. This previous step was the most important procedure in this barrier deployment. If the timing of any point deviated, or if a problem occurred during seal formation, the barrier deployment could not succeed!
Only by activating the arrays at the same time...
Could the barrier take shape smoothly.
"Hah!"
The gathering lights.
The moment they touched...
Menma shouted deeply, his hand seals changing accordingly.
The next second.
Under Menma's control...
Buzz!
The twelve rays of light crisscrossing directly gathered on the pillar of light at the zenith.
The moment of overlap.
"!?"
"!!!"
Not just Menma.
Shibuki, Jun, and the others in the back also tensed their heartstrings.
"Condense!"
Just a few seconds.
Yet it felt as long as a century.
Accompanied by the final seal formed by Menma...
The words spoken lightly.
Buzz!
In the sky.
Light and shadow changed, layers of white light intersecting.
After an instant of tremor...
Whoosh
A perfect arc drawn in mid-air radiated downwards in all directions. Under Menma's perception, intersecting rays of light returned to the previous twelve points.
Forming the most stable chakra channeling pattern.
This successfully outlined a complete circular transparent barrier, encompassing the entire Hidden Waterfall Village within it.
The moment the jutsu was completed...
Menma couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth into a nice arc.
From now on.
Except for a very few special people, anyone else entering or leaving the Hidden Waterfall Village would be easily detected by the Waterfall ninja of the Sensory Barrier Squad.
Menma also perfectly realized his debut in the Hidden Waterfall Village.
It could be said that he had truly preliminarily established his own prestige!
Shibuki in the back, seeing the formation of the light shield—which was noticeable before but now almost transparent to the point of invisibility—revealed a very excited and happy look.
But out of a final shred of small worry...
"Accelerator-kun? Is the barrier successfully deployed?"
Shibuki asked Menma with suppressed joy and a hint of fear that it might be a misunderstanding.
Jun, Taru, Fushimi, and the other Waterfall ninja also widened their eyes.
"Yes, Shibuki-san, please rest assured. The barrier has been successfully deployed."
Menma replied with a face full of smiles.
Subsequently, he directed the Waterfall ninja who were already at the border positions to carry out several passage tests.
Everyone was detected the moment they crossed the barrier.
Not only did the Waterfall ninja responsible for detection sense it, but it was also directly fed back to a large crystal sphere in the core area where Menma and the others were currently located.
After these repeated tests...
Shibuki's last suspended heart was completely put down.
"Great, great! From now on, the safety coefficient of our Hidden Waterfall Village can be raised to another level. You've truly worked hard this time, Accelerator-kun!"
Shibuki's face was filled with unconcealable smiles.
For their Hidden Waterfall Village, the significance and function of such a barrier deployment were truly immense.
Although the main credit went to Menma.
As the leader, he could also increase his prestige.
And most importantly, thinking that the civilians of his ninja village could enjoy more peaceful days in the future, the smile on Shibuki's face became even thicker.
"No, no, no, this is what I should do. I am also a member of the village!"
Menma smiled and waved his hand.
"Haha, mhm! That's true!"
Unlike Shibuki's pure happiness...
The moods of Jun and the others in the back seemed somewhat complicated.