Menma was also stunned immediately.
Meeting Shibuki's incredibly sincere eyes.
Menma took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and nodded heavily. While bowing slightly in return, he replied: "Please rest assured, Shibuki-san. I am also a member of the Hidden Waterfall Village and will definitely destroy all incoming enemies one by one!"
In a situation decided by one word.
Menma completely controlled the scene with his confidence and bearing.
Or perhaps this was a matter decided from the very beginning.
For the Hidden Waterfall Village.
They simply had no other choice.
A high-level opinion fully integrated and agreed upon.
Subsequently, this high-level meeting entered the rhythm presided over by Menma. Order after order was conveyed from Menma's mouth. Agun, Tarashi, Fushimi, and others below, after the initial discomfort, also chose the attitude of acquiescence one by one, accepting the orders.
At this moment.
Menma seemed to have directly become the master of the Hidden Waterfall Village.
Fu on the side looked at Menma's still tender and incredibly youthful face, sighed lightly in her heart, and the words her Grandpa Satoru said on the day he passed away involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
'This is probably the scene you could foresee long ago, Grandpa Satoru...'
Tasks were assigned methodically.
The entire Hidden Waterfall Village also began to act subsequently.
Figure after figure gathered at different locations in the ninja village after receiving their respective different orders.
Item after item of supplies was also transported out of the warehouses.
The current strategic goal was indeed to defeat the Hidden Cloud Village's frontline troops quickly with thunderous momentum, but this didn't mean that this war would end in a short time.
Sometimes, if the enemy was stubborn, it could very likely be prolonged indefinitely. Menma naturally needed to be fully prepared.
Including the Hidden Grass Village side, when the Waterfall ninja began to act.
Menma's order was also sent to Karin through his summoned ninja beast, and then conveyed to Mui.
For this war, the Hidden Grass Village didn't need to undertake the main force work; they just needed to protect the flank of the battle line.
The power of the two ninja villages hadn't been integrated at all, so they were unsuitable for joint operations. The Grass ninja had just changed leaders, and Mui needed more time to integrate the power within the Hidden Grass Village.
Unless necessary, it was best not to mess around.
Of course, a more important reason was that Menma didn't think he needed the power of the Grass ninja side at the beginning.
The Fourth Raikage only brought more than three thousand Cloud ninja.
Such a small amount of power.
That Fourth Raikage was indeed very confident.
But what Menma wanted to do was to completely shatter this layer of confidence!
"Lord Menma, personnel assembly is complete."
"Lord Menma, supply preparation still needs some time..."
"Lord Menma, the advance troops have already entered the designated positions."
"Lord Menma, news from the front line says the Cloud ninja troops are about to arrive at our country's border."
Orders conveyed clearly and accurately.
Feedback news received successively.
Menma responded to all potential enemies like the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Cloud with full preparation, while that Fourth Raikage obviously completely underestimated Menma's side.
In the eyes of that Fourth Raikage.
What needed to be guarded against were ultimately the Hidden Leaf, Orochimaru, and the so-called three Tailed Beasts.
The remaining so-called strategy?
Really wasn't put in the eyes of this Fourth Raikage at all. And this Raikage was bound to pay a heavy price for his own arrogance.
Crossing directly through the Land of Frost, arriving at the area named Mukawa covered with jungles and canyons.
This was the border area of three countries.
To the north was the permanently neutral samurai country located directly north of the continent—the Land of Iron. To the southeast was the country where Orochimaru once established his main base—the Land of Rice Fields.
And directly west was the Hidden Cloud Village's target this time—the Land of Waterfalls.
The straight-line distance from the location of the Hidden Waterfall Village was only a few hours' journey.
The Fourth Raikage led his ninja village's troops, raiding arrogantly all the way. After removing two surrounding Waterfall ninja strongholds...
He ordered the troops to set up camp in this area.
Establishing a simple frontline military camp stronghold.
This fully confident Fourth Raikage certainly felt that his joint action with the Hidden Leaf this time was bound to win.
But he also felt it wouldn't be that easy.
It would require a certain amount of time and paying a corresponding price.
The Fourth Raikage still had this awareness.
After all, those were three Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.
"Wait here for now. Then, Kamini, you take people to sweep the surroundings again. The Waterfall ninja are getting more and more excessive now, actually daring to cross the border to set up strongholds. We must make them sober up and understand their own position!"
The Fourth Raikage A gazed at the territory of the Land of Waterfalls not far away, snorted coldly, and said with a very disdainful look.
"Yes, Lord Fourth!"
On the side, a black-haired man with incredibly fair skin but an extremely sturdy figure stepped out and replied in a booming voice.
The majestic aura spreading from his body.
Was enough to prove that this man was also an extremely strong Jonin in the Hidden Cloud Village.
Distributed Cloud ninja.
Base strongholds established quickly and orderly.
From this aspect, the extremely high quality of the Cloud ninja could also be seen.
"Lord Raikage, aren't we going deeper? There is still a certain distance from here to the Hidden Waterfall Village, right?"
When the Cloud ninja named Kamini led dozens of companions away from the camp to conduct fixed-point patrols in the surrounding positions.
In the rear, a voluptuous, tall woman with short blonde hair also walked lightly to the diagonally rear of the Fourth Raikage, asking with a look of doubt.
Didn't her Lord Raikage intend to seize the initiative to suppress the Hidden Waterfall Village first?
Stopping at this position, wouldn't it give the Hidden Leaf time to catch up again?
This blonde woman was exactly one of the Fourth Raikage's exclusive secretaries, and also a Jonin of the Hidden Cloud Village—Samui.
Deeply trusted by the Fourth Raikage.
She often handled many government affairs and executed secret missions on behalf of the Fourth Raikage.
"This is just the right distance. Going deeper, who knows what dangers are waiting ahead? If it were just a mere Hidden Waterfall Village, naturally there would be no need to worry, but ultimately there are three Tailed Beasts. If we press too hard and trigger a battle in advance, we Cloud ninja will have to bear too many unnecessary losses, and there's even a possibility of defeat. We must guard against this. In addition, that bastard Orochimaru, and the Hidden Stone Village, all need to be guarded against. This area is the optimal distance!"
The Fourth Raikage A said without looking back.
"So that's it!"
The blonde woman also revealed a look of realization, nodding gently.
Tailed Beasts.
Those weren't just existences ordinary ninja had to tremble and fear.
Even the Fourth Raikage A had to treat them cautiously.
The Six-Tails and Seven-Tails were okay.
The Fourth Raikage was confident that he and the elite Cloud ninja troops he led could suppress them. Only Menma, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
The Fourth Raikage A was still a bit uncertain.
Judging from the current existing intelligence, this Nine-Tails Jinchuriki could already use quite a lot of Nine-Tails chakra.
But what couldn't be determined was whether he could fully transform into a Tailed Beast.
This was a key point.
From the perspective of ordinary Jinchuriki, whether one could fully transform into a Tailed Beast was an important measure of strength!
One who could do this.
Could almost unleash 100% of the Tailed Beast's power.
As the strongest Tailed Beast in the current ninja world, even though the Fourth Raikage hadn't witnessed or fought against it personally, judging from his own Eight-Tails' powerful performance and the price the Hidden Leaf paid 13 years ago...
He could more or less judge how terrifying the Nine-Tails under full power was.
Once it was really like that, a Nine-Tails would already be very dangerous. Adding other powers, the risk factor would definitely skyrocket geometrically.
As the Kage of a village.
He could act arbitrarily, but he must also consider the entire ninja village and all Cloud ninja. He couldn't really just rush up recklessly.
The control of propriety and scale here.
Was very important.
A was just barbaric and rude, at most a bit arrogant, but not stupid. After all, he was the Kage of a village. Without two brushes, it was impossible to ascend to the position, or he would have been pushed down after ascending.
Therefore, the Fourth Raikage A couldn't possibly take the ninja of his own village to do risky things. He just intended to pressure the Hidden Waterfall Village first, taking the opportunity to occupy the dominance and probe the Hidden Leaf.
Anyway, the Hidden Waterfall Village couldn't possibly attack proactively.
This had been amply proven in the past decades.
Would a small ninja village dare to attack a large ninja village?
If it were just Orochimaru and Menma and those people, the Fourth Raikage A wouldn't be worried at all. This was a judgment derived from inherent impressions and lack of key intelligence.
The Fourth Raikage A wouldn't have thought that Menma, merely 13 years old, would be so decisive, nor would he have thought that the relationship between Menma and the Hidden Waterfall Village and Hidden Grass Village was far beyond ordinary.
While the Fourth Raikage A thought the opposite side could only defend carefully across the board, or seek help from other ninja villages...
On a plain hundreds of kilometers away from where the Cloud ninja set up camp.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Thousands of figures were flashing forward rapidly.
Leading them was that familiar red hair.
It was exactly Menma Uzumaki who led the troops from the Hidden Waterfall Village not long ago, with Utakata, Shibuki, Fu, and others advancing alongside him.
The dense crowd behind.
Were all elites of the Hidden Waterfall Village.
Fully more than two thousand five hundred people.
This was already all the power the Hidden Waterfall Village could dispatch, excluding other border strongholds and necessary personnel left behind in the village.
Turning out in full strength in the true sense.
If this battle failed.
Menma could only consider fleeing in panic.
Only victory was allowed, not defeat!
"!!!"
Menma looked grim, fully releasing his sensory ability, checking the surrounding areas bit by bit.
With Menma himself as the center point.
Within a radius of forty to fifty li.
Any sign of disturbance couldn't be hidden from Menma's perception.
He wanted to launch a raid at the shortest possible distance. In this way, he could definitely inflict maximum casualties on the Cloud ninja.
"Menma-kun, does it really matter if we advance at such high speed? The reconnaissance personnel on the Cloud ninja side will easily discover our tracks, right? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to disperse and surround them slowly?"
Shibuki, advancing rapidly together, stayed close to Menma, still speaking with a look of worry on his face.
"Don't worry, Shibuki-san. Trust me, no Cloud ninja can discover us before I discover him."
Menma shook his head gently, speaking with a very confident look.
Mind's Eye of the Kagura!
The exclusive jutsu of the Uzumaki clan.
This was originally a detection skill far surpassing the Byakugan.
Now with Menma having the Nine-Tails' malicious perception bonus.
In terms of sensory ability.
Menma was already the undisputed TOP existence in the ninja world. Unless the speed could far exceed Menma, reaching a level Menma couldn't easily react to, otherwise within a fixed range, only Menma's radar could lock onto others; other sensory ninja couldn't easily search for Menma's location.
Although not completely reassured.
But since Menma was so confident.
Shibuki naturally nodded gently and stopped commenting.
And in fact, it was so.
Continuously advancing speed.
In the front, they didn't encounter any Cloud ninja at all.
Until entering a relative distance.
"!"
Detecting chakra fluctuations transmitted from other directions.
"Utakata-san, three o'clock direction, ten kilometers!"
Menma shouted abruptly.
"Mhm!"
Utakata also nodded heavily.
Whoosh!
With an explosion of chakra under his feet.
Speed soaring directly, heading towards the location designated by Menma.
Also starting from here.
Subsequently, they encountered three or four waves of Cloud ninja reconnaissance troops successively. Menma either arranged for Utakata or for Fu, and even on the front, Menma acted personally, killing these Cloud ninja reconnaissance personnel one by one!
Fatal perception deviation.
And the dimensional gap in strength.
None of these Cloud ninja could escape the fate of being killed.
And no one could send out signals for help or warning, but this undoubtedly couldn't last forever. The reconnaissance patrol system of the Five Great Ninja Villages had reached a very perfect level after decades of continuous changes.
Layer upon layer of patrols.
Most importantly, the feedback interval between each other.
Especially during wartime, once a very sensitive "blank" time appeared, subsequent reconnaissance personnel would become vigilant one by one.
Moreover, what Menma led was ultimately not a small-scale elite force, but a huge ninja army of more than two thousand five hundred people.
After eliminating four or five waves of Cloud ninja reconnaissance troops.
When thrusting to just a few miles from the Cloud ninja camp.
The tracks of the large troops could no longer be concealed and were learned by the Cloud ninja side.