A diplomatic delegation of four to five thousand people?
'Who are you trying to fool?' Onoki wanted to curse out loud. But as he looked at the three massive summoning beasts looming over the battlefield, his heart sank.
He glanced from the high-spirited Konoha forces to his own completely demoralized Iwagakure shinobi. A cold chill ran down his spine.
They couldn't fight this battle. At least, not right now.
With such a massive gap in power, Konoha would wipe out Iwagakure the second war truly broke out. In the distance, a sea of crimson Sharingan glared from the Konoha vanguard. Onoki swallowed hard.
The terrifying power of the Uchiha's Sharingan was famous throughout the shinobi world. In the past, Hiruzen Sarutobi was deeply wary of their strength and refused to send them to the front lines.
Even with that handicap, Konoha had won one Shinobi World War after another...
Now, facing hundreds of crimson-eyed Uchiha, Onoki simply couldn't muster the will to fight. Any Uchiha who awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan had the strength of a Jonin—an elite one at that.
Sending dozens, if not hundreds, of elite Jonin into a single battle... what other hidden village had that kind of foundation? Yet, Konoha had done exactly that.
And it wasn't just the Uchiha. The Hyuga clan, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio... Onoki could see representatives from every major ninja clan in Konoha.
With such overwhelming military might, was Konoha planning to wipe Iwagakure off the map entirely?
At that thought, Onoki drew a sharp breath and forced a cold, calm expression. "The matter of the peace treaty was just a misunderstanding. Iwagakure will give Konoha a proper explanation. Can Konoha withdraw its troops now?"
'A misunderstanding?' Hearing Onoki's words, a cold sneer spread across Orochimaru's face.
Now that someone had kicked down their front door, it was suddenly a misunderstanding? When they tried to exploit Konoha's delegation earlier, why wasn't it a misunderstanding then?
Unfortunately, it was too late for Onoki to back down. He had already drawn the attention of the Fifth Hokage—at this point, no one could save him.
Whether he liked it or not, he would sign the treaty. And if the stubborn old man kept resisting, Jie Uchiha wouldn't hesitate to give Iwagakure a new Tsuchikage.
"Sign the peace treaty, and Konoha will withdraw its troops," Orochimaru's raspy voice echoed across the battlefield. "Otherwise, we attack immediately."
"Peace treaty? What peace treaty?" Onoki frowned, genuinely confused.
Kitsuchi had returned in a panic, and Konoha's forces had mobilized far too quickly. Onoki hadn't even been briefed on the so-called terms. But as Kitsuchi hurriedly whispered the details, fury surged through him.
He had thought his earlier demands were ruthless—but compared to this, they were nothing. This wasn't negotiation. It was outright extortion, a demand meant to strip Iwagakure to its roots. No sane man would agree to it.
"Iwagakure can offer compensation," Onoki snapped, his voice cold, "but those terms are impossible."
"Then we'll replace you with someone who will." A faint, dangerous smile touched Orochimaru's lips.
He raised a hand.
In an instant, Konoha's shinobi surged forward.
Ambushes and traps were meaningless under the watch of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan. Resistance crumbled beneath the crimson gaze of the Sharingan.
Caught off guard and forced into a rushed defense, Iwagakure suffered heavy losses from the very first clash.
And numbers meant little.
During the last war, ten thousand of their shinobi had been held at bay for three days and nights by Third Raikage alone. Even when he finally fell from exhaustion, they hadn't managed to leave a single wound on him.
One man against ten thousand—and still, over a thousand of theirs had fallen.
Now, in the eyes of the far stronger Konoha army, the vast Iwa forces looked less like an army and more like lambs awaiting slaughter—each enemy a walking merit, a stepping stone to advancement.
Watching the massacre unfold, Onoki's heart clenched. The shinobi below were the result of decades of effort, yet they were falling one after another under Konoha's assault. And he could do nothing...
"Leave them to it. Onoki—your opponents are us." Jiraiya stepped in with a grin, cutting off his attempt to intervene.
It was a rare chance to fight alongside Tsunade and Orochimaru again, and the old fire in Jiraiya rekindled.
He looked at Onoki with a mix of battle hunger and something close to appreciation—respect for his strength, and a strange gratitude that his reckless actions had brought the three Sannin together once more.
Tsunade, however, had no such thoughts.
When she looked at Onoki, there was only one thing on her mind... revenge for Nawaki.
"Monstrous Strength!"
Boom!
Her foot slammed into the ground. The massive Katsuyu split instantly into countless smaller slugs, scattering across the battlefield and attaching themselves to Konoha's forces.
"Katsuyu: Division!"
"Katsuyu: Network Healing!"
Despite her intent to attack, Tsunade hadn't forgotten her role as a medical-nin. The Yin Seal flared to life, releasing a vast reserve of chakra that flowed through the slugs into every Konoha shinobi.
Empowered by her healing, they fought with reckless ferocity—ignoring injuries, pressing forward without hesitation. Any wound that wasn't instantly fatal was healed the moment it appeared.
Onoki had no time to focus on the battlefield below.
He only knew one thing...He could not take Tsunade's next punch head-on.
"Earth Style: Rock Fist Technique!"
"Earth Release: Super Added-Weight Rock Technique!"
A massive stone fist surged into existence before Onoki. Compared to Tsunade, it was colossal—four or five times her size.
Crack—!
The moment they collided, the rock fist shattered instantly, breaking apart into a storm of boulders that blasted back toward Onoki.
He reacted at once, manipulating gravity to veer sideways and avoid the incoming debris. But the brief obstruction had already bled off Tsunade's momentum—her charge stalled, and she began to drop through the air.
Seeing the opening, Onoki's hands flashed through seals.
"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
A pale light condensed between his palms before erupting into a blinding beam that tore straight toward Tsunade.
"Ninja Art: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
At the last second, a massive serpent burst from the ground. Tsunade kicked off its body without hesitation, using it as a springboard to twist her trajectory and slip past the beam by a hair's breadth.
Onoki tried to redirect the attack—but Jiraiya moved first.
"Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
Onoki didn't dare meet it head-on. He jerked his body aside again, narrowly avoiding the surge of razor-sharp, binding white hair.
Faced with the flawless coordination of the Sannin, Onoki felt his heart sink.
Upto 40 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/Vristikk