Right after that, a chilling roar rose from the distance.
A bead of cold sweat slid down Nara Shikakaze's forehead. "Move! Tell everyone—prepare to meet the enemy, immediately!"
Konoha's shinobi responded fast.
After receiving Nara Shikakaze's order, every shinobi assembled at once.
They were tense, but there was little panic on their faces.
Around the camp, they'd already set countless traps to deal with any situation.
Trying to smash into their camp head-on was nothing but a fool's dream!
But just as they formed up, waiting for the Cloud ninja to walk into their net, a pitch-black sphere of Chakra arced across the distant sky, leaving a dazzling trail behind it.
Under the horrified gazes of the Konoha shinobi, the Chakra sphere detonated above the camp with a thunderous blast.
The heat and shockwave from the explosion instantly reduced the Konoha camp to rubble.
Then the second Chakra sphere arrived.
It plowed a broad, deep trench through the ground and erupted again inside what remained of the camp.
"It's a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
"Damn it—Kumogakure deployed a perfect Jinchuriki."
"Don't bunch up! Spread out and keep your distance!"
Two Tailed Beast Bombs shattered Konoha's formation. The shinobi who had been disciplined only moments ago now became headless flies, scattering in confusion.
No matter how desperately Nara Shikakaze tried to direct them, it was already too late.
Even worse, Kumogakure's shinobi were already charging in along the trench carved by the Tailed Beast Bombs.
The traps Konoha had planted ahead of time had been obliterated completely under the Tailed Beast Bombs' assault.
"What kind of dirty trick is this?!"
"HAHAHAHA... Charge with me! Today we'll show these Konoha shinobi what we're made of!"
"Look at these idiots running around—bet the Tailed Beast Bombs scared them out of their minds."
"Today we'll teach these arrogant fools a lesson for our Uchiha brothers!"
"Thanks, brother, but the Uchiha clan prefers to do it ourselves. We've held back for a long time—today we'll show them why the Sharingan is so red!"
"..."
In the distance, Uchiha Yuzuru stood shoulder to shoulder with the Third Raikage, silently watching the battlefield ahead.
With A, Killer Bee, and Uchiha Fugaku leading the charge, Konoha's shinobi couldn't even mount a decent resistance.
Collapse was only a matter of time.
The Third Raikage glanced at Uchiha Yuzuru and couldn't help saying, "Are these really Konoha's shinobi? They look utterly helpless."
"But... Yuzuru. You don't look as happy as I expected."
The Third Raikage nodded to himself.
He felt more and more relieved about the choice he'd made back then.
It could be said that today's battle was going so smoothly entirely because of Uchiha Yuzuru.
Without being detected, Uchiha Yuzuru had mapped every single outpost ahead of Konoha, which was why they could uproot them all in an instant.
It was also Uchiha Yuzuru who found Konoha's camp and proposed using Tailed Beast Bombs to smash the traps, allowing them to clash with Konoha at close range.
No matter how you looked at it, there was nothing to fault.
If a man like that became his enemy, he'd probably lie awake all night with headaches.
Fortunately, this time, Konoha had handed such a powerhouse to him on a silver platter.
In a command room dug deep underground, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Hatake Sakumo, and the others studied a map under harsh fluorescent light, not a trace of a smile on any of their faces.
The war had been going on for a month, and Konoha Village's casualties were catastrophic.
Even with Orochimaru and the others personally coming to the front to support them, all they had managed to do was slow Kumogakure's advance.
There was only one reason.
Kumogakure's way of fighting was utterly shameless.
No matter how well Konoha concealed themselves, the enemy always found their command post with perfect precision—then dropped one Tailed Beast Bomb on the command post, and another on wherever shinobi were gathered.
And then they just mindlessly charged in to slaughter...
Even battle-hardened veterans like Orochimaru had no answer to it.
They couldn't exactly scatter every subordinate shinobi in all directions.
That would be no different from sending them to their deaths.
In the silence, Orochimaru's voice was hoarse and cold as he looked at the others. "This war with Kumogakure has dragged on far too long. If we keep this up, it's not going to work. Sunagakure and Iwagakure are already showing signs of massing troops along the border."
"We have to end the battle with Kumogakure before they launch an offensive."
Jiraiya nodded. "I agree. As long as we can hold back Kumogakure's A, Killer Bee, and Uchiha Fugaku—their top-tier fighters—our shinobi absolutely won't lose to them."
He had originally planned to take Namikaze Minato traveling through the shinobi world, and along the way keep trying to master the Nine-Tails' power.
But the war between Kumogakure and Konoha forced him to put that plan on hold.
Beside him, Namikaze Minato looked ashamed. "If I could control the Nine-Tails' power too, we wouldn't have to be this passive."
Right now he not only couldn't help on the battlefield—he had to be careful to keep hiding, so Uchiha Yuzuru wouldn't find him...
It left Namikaze Minato feeling suffocated.
"Don't worry. We'll definitely defeat Kumogakure!"
"I'll handle Uchiha Fugaku. Jiraiya, you go stall Killer Bee. Senior Sakumo, you take care of that guy called A."
After Orochimaru finished speaking, Hatake Sakumo hesitated. "Orochimaru... Uchiha Yuzuru hasn't made a move, but we have to factor his strength in."
"I fought him before. That man's strength is absolutely not below mine."
Orochimaru flicked out his tongue and licked his lips. "Ever since we learned about Uchiha Yuzuru's Mangekyo Sharingan, my teacher and I have been digging through records."
"According to materials left behind by the Senju clan, after Uchiha Madara awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, it seems he went blind for a period of time."
"Later, Uchiha Izuna was gravely wounded by the Second Hokage. Uchiha Madara transplanted his younger brother's eyes and regained his sight."
"I'm not completely sure, but using the Mangekyo Sharingan's abilities likely comes with the risk of blindness."
"I think that's also why Uchiha Yuzuru rarely makes a move."
After hearing Orochimaru's explanation, Hatake Sakumo still looked worried. "But... we can't gamble—"
"We have to gamble!" Orochimaru cut him off, his voice icy. "We don't have that many top-tier fighters. If we want to win, we have to use a method like this."
His gaze swept over everyone. "If you're afraid Uchiha Yuzuru will intervene, then kill your opponent as quickly as you can."
"It's the only way I can think of."
Deep night.
Just like countless times before, a Tailed Beast Bomb tore across the sky from far, far away.
Orochimaru—already waiting—slammed both palms to the ground.
"Summoning Technique: Triple Rashomon!"
naruto.fandom
Three enormous Rashomon gates, each with a vicious face, burst from the earth and shielded Konoha's shinobi behind them.
Boom!
The Tailed Beast Bomb struck the Rashomon at terrifying speed. The first two gates were pierced through on impact, and the third gate shuddered violently under the blow.
But after being checked by the Rashomon, the Tailed Beast Bomb was thrown completely off its original line, veering away in another direction.
"Everyone..."
Orochimaru stood atop the Rashomon, his hem snapping in the frigid wind.
Staring at the Kumogakure shinobi charging toward them, he lifted a hand and swept it forward. "Kill!"
As Orochimaru's command fell, Konoha's shinobi roared as one, faces twisted, and surged forward.
The two sides collided.
Countless kunai wrapped with explosive tags detonated throughout both formations, flesh and blood spraying everywhere.
Then a streak of blue lightning darted through the darkness, and every shinobi in its path was mercilessly blasted aside.
Suddenly, a razor-cold flash cut through the air and stopped the lightning-fast figure.
Hatake Sakumo held a short blade, his gaze frigid. "Your opponent is me."
When A saw that the one blocking him was the Hatake Sakumo—renowned across the shinobi world—he wasn't afraid in the slightest. Instead, he laughed in wild excitement.
"Konoha's White Fang... I've wanted to fight you for a long time..."
"Don't disappoint me like the rest of Konoha's shinobi."
In an instant, Hatake Sakumo and A tangled together.
White light and blue light interwove again and again, moving so fast it made the eyes blur.
Elsewhere.
Killer Bee charged left and right through the crowd, seven blades whirling in his hands.
Even surrounded by Konoha shinobi, a translucent red cloak of Chakra blocked most attacks for him.
Before long, the crowd fell back, and a white-haired man stepped forward, his forehead protector marked with the kanji for "oil."
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"
fear-world.fandom
As Jiraiya formed seals, his white hair erupted and hardened into countless senbon, shooting toward Killer Bee.
Killer Bee didn't move from where he stood. A massive octopus tail swept out, batting every attack aside.
"So this is the Eight-Tails' power..." Jiraiya's eyes were heavy.
No matter how confident he was in his own strength, facing a Jinchuriki who could freely wield a Tailed Beast's power was not something he could take lightly.
"Toad Oil Bullet!"
aminoapps
A flood of toad oil swallowed Killer Bee, and Jiraiya formed seals again. "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
From three directions at once, towering flames rolled in toward Killer Bee.
The next moment, fire surged into the sky.
In the searing heat, Killer Bee threw his arms up and let out a long howl.
Then the Eight-Tails' enormous body manifested and swung a massive palm down at Jiraiya.
"Summoning Technique!"
Jiraiya sprang backward to evade the Eight-Tails' strike, bit his finger, and slapped his palm to the ground.
In the next instant, Gamabunta appeared—so huge it didn't lose out to the Eight-Tails at all.
With a pipe clenched in its mouth, it drew the colossal blade at its waist. "Jiraiya, this one's not going to be easy."
-----
Read up to 20 advanced chapters on my P@treon.
[email protected]/fanfictionsimp