Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 222 The war begins

"Uchiha Touko, does Konoha intend to start a full-scale war with Kumogakure?" Seeing that his two Jinchuriki had suffered a great loss in the first exchange, Kumogakure's commander, Hijiri, quickly stepped forward and asked.

The massive Susanoo sheathed its sword, and Uchiha Touko coldly said, "By kidnapping Konoha's children within the Land of Fire, weren't you Kumogakure already prepared to wage war against Konoha?"

"Do you, the Hokage, have the right to declare a formal war between our two countries?" Xi said at this moment.

That's true. Generally speaking, between two countries, only the daimyo can announce the official declaration of war.

However, at this moment, in the Daimyo's palace in Konoha, Minamoto no Yukichi, who used to only give his teacher the final decision on major issues, was now shouting that he wanted to go to war with the Land of Lightning!
Despite the ministers' repeated attempts to persuade him, Gen Yuxie seemed determined to wage war against the other side, slamming his hand on his chair.

In the end, it was Miura Kazuo who suggested waiting for Uchiha Touko to return before making a decision, which finally persuaded the child to back down.

The reason why Genjiro Yukyo reacted so strongly, which was unusual, was mainly because the person who was kidnapped was Konohamaru.

Konohamaru can be said to be Minamoto no Miyabi's only friend of the same age. How close are the two? More than a year ago, this kid suddenly had a crazy idea and secretly wanted to grant Konohamaru a noble title. It can be said that if Miura Kazuo hadn't reported it to Uchiha Touko, and Uchiha Touko and Sarutobi Hiruzen had jointly stopped it, their Sarutobi clan would have produced a noble in this generation, and it would be the kind of hereditary title.

It could be said that after Hiruzen Sarutobi gradually became marginalized in the village, Konohamaru's words in the village might have carried more weight than Hiruzen's.

How could Genji be not furious that the Cloud Village dared to kidnap their Land of Fire's One-Word King?
……

Looking at the ambiguous smile on Uchiha Touko's face in the crystal head of Susanoo, Xi realized that she might have said the wrong thing. It seemed that Konoha's declaration of war by the Daimyo was really just a matter of a single word from the man in front of her.

Given the current situation, Yunyin is now trapped here, unable to advance or retreat.

If they fight, their Raikage of Kumogakure is no match for Uchiha Tokō. Their two Jinchūriki are like toys in front of his complete Susanoo. If they retreat, Kumogakure will probably have to pay a huge price to escape unscathed. Moreover, the initiative to fight or not fight is now completely in the hands of the other side.

"Konoha ninjas." At that moment, Uchiha Touko's cold voice echoed throughout the battlefield from within the crystal above Susanoo's head.

"At this moment, dark clouds are pressing in! The iron hooves of the Hidden Clouds, driven by greed and arrogance, are trampling the borders of peace and issuing the most despicable challenge to everything we cherish—our homeland, our loved ones, and the 'Will of Fire' passed down through generations!"

Uchiha Touko's voice suddenly rose in pitch, carrying the sharpness unique to the Uchiha clan.

"Did they think Konoha would become weak after experiencing pain? Did they think the previous Shinobi World Wars had broken Konoha's backbone? They were sorely mistaken!"

"Look around you! Look behind you! Look at the gazes of the Hokage of each generation fixed on the village! The First Hokage created peace with his unparalleled power, the Second Hokage laid the foundation with his iron fist and wisdom, the Third Hokage protected the flame with compassion, the Fourth Hokage forged a protective wall with his life... and me!"

At this moment, everyone in Konoha could see the figure inside Susanoo, and see the five large gold-embossed characters "Fifth Hokage" fluttering on the divine robe that moved without wind.

"He is the Fifth Hokage, who inherited this will and power! He is the guardian who carries the blood of the Uchiha and bears the name of Hokage! The Sharingan of the Uchiha can see through illusions, perceive the truth, and burn away all enemies that come against it! The Will of Fire of Konoha is never afraid of any storm; it will only burn more fiercely in adversity!"

"The lightning of Kumogakure? Let them strike! But remember, the Will of Fire of Konoha is enough to burn mountains and boil seas! Their arrogance will be shattered before our will to defend our homeland! Their ambition will be completely...buried by the kunai in our hands and the flames in our hearts!"

"Today, we fight not to conquer, not to plunder! We fight to protect! To protect the lights under the eaves, to protect the peaceful smiles of every child sleeping in the village, to fight for this land of fire that has borne all our laughter and tears!"

"I, the Fifth Hokage Uchiha Touko, hereby declare: Where the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire will never cease! And today, we are the flames that burn away our enemies! I will stand with you! My Sharingan will reflect the bravery of every warrior; my ninjutsu will pave the way to your victory!"

Uchiha Touko drew his Lightning Blade from his waist, its tip pointing directly towards the Hidden Cloud Village. The cold light reflected in his blood-red eyes as he unleashed a final, soul-shaking roar:

"Konoha ninja! Grip your weapons! Ignite your chakra! Let the enemy witness the true power of Konoha ninja! Today, some of you may die, but victory will surely be ours!"

"For Konoha—"

As soon as the words fell, a deafening roar erupted on the battlefield: "For Konoha! Hokage-sama!"

Their fighting spirit ignited like wildfire, instantly setting the hearts of every Konoha ninja on fire.

"What should we do? Is war about to break out?" Seeing this, an elite Jonin from Kumogakure couldn't help but ask.

“We have no other choice now,” Xi said with a wry smile. “Now, we can only hope that the chakra cannon can break through Susanoo’s defenses.”

“But, Lord Hiei, the chakra cannon hasn’t been tested yet…” the elite Jonin from Kumogakure said hesitantly, “And if we were to go to war, our morale would be…”

Before the elite Jonin of Kumogakure could finish speaking, Xi turned to look at the situation in his own ranks. Faced with the giant Susanoo that had defeated two of their Jinchuriki with a single blow, most of the Kumogakure members had a hint of fear in their eyes. Moreover, the white-clad soldiers in their ranks seemed to be wavering.

With racial tensions in Kumogakure escalating, these white ninjas see this conflict as entirely their incompetent black Raikage's fault for instigating trouble and failing to defeat the enemy. Now that war is about to break out, they, the white ninjas, are expected to fight for them. Why should they be expected to do so?

As a white man, Xi had once been approached by these white ninjas in the village who wanted to elect him as their leader. Xi knew all too well what these white men were thinking.

However, the current situation seems to leave them no room for hesitation. With the other side clearly unwilling to let them go, the Cloud Hidden Sect has no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the challenge.

For Uchiha Touko, starting a war with Kumogakure at this time wasn't a good choice. Given the current rate of development in the Land of Fire, their unification war would be a sprint in three years at most, allowing Konoha to quickly unify the ninja world and preserve more manpower to deal with a potential alien crisis. However, with Kumogakure openly provoking Konoha, Uchiha Touko naturally had no reason to let them off the hook. Firstly, the people of Konoha respected him as the Fifth Hokage not only because of his unparalleled strength, but also because they believed he could protect the village. Now that Kumogakure had extended their reach into their village, kidnapping the former Hokage's grandson, if he couldn't make Kumogakure pay, it would be a huge blow to his reputation in the village.

"All troops, attack!" Uchiha Touko's cold voice resounded throughout the battlefield. Susanoo drew its long sword from its waist, pointing it directly at the enemy. The next moment, the Konoha ninja behind him, led by Kakashi, charged towards the Cloud Village's lines.

At that moment, a figure wielding a long staff swiftly flew out, overtaking Kakashi and arriving beside Uchiha Touko's Susanoo. After a series of leaps, the figure landed on the Susanoo's shoulder.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, turned to look at Touko Uchiha within the crystal above Susanoo's head and asked, "Touko, do you need me to create thunderclouds for your technique?"

After confirming that his grandson was safe and sound, Hiruzen Sarutobi's previous worries were replaced by immense anger. After all, he was a legendary ninja hero back in the day. When he made his name in the ninja world, A wasn't even born yet. Now, this guy actually dared to kidnap his grandson. Did they really think the professor of ninjutsu had no temper?

Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi is now eager to vent his anger through a major battle.

"Hehe, then I'll have to trouble you, Third Hokage." Uchiha Touko said with a smile, "After all, I also want to see the power of the Five Elements Ninjutsu of the Ninjutsu Doctor."

"Then you'd better watch carefully." Hiruzen Sarutobi released Enma's summoning, and then his hands flew up and down.

"Shadow Clone Technique!" Another Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared on Touko Uchiha's left shoulder after a burst of smoke. Then, Hiruzen Sarutobi's main body and the shadow clone each formed complex hand seals.

"Combined Ninja Art: Storm Flame Dragon!"

"Composite Ninja Technique: Thunder Water Dragon Bullet!"

Both of these ninjutsu required more than 80 hand seals, but Hiruzen Sarutobi completed the hand seals in three seconds.

From Susanoo's shoulder, a fiery dragon enveloped in a raging wind and a water dragon crackling with lightning surged forth, charging toward the Cloud Village's lines.

The advantages of using wind to fan the flames and water to guide lightning were fully displayed at this moment. Before the two armies clashed, the Cloud Village's army suffered heavy casualties under the attack of these two combined ninjutsu.

At the same time, a huge amount of steam rose up and slowly gathered in the air.

"Not good! Stop him!" Seeing this, Xi was shocked. Uchiha Touko had made a name for himself with the Lightning Release: Kirin during the Third Shinobi World War, and over the years he had been known as the strongest Lightning Release. Kumogakure, who had always been unconvinced, had naturally collected a lot of information about this technique.

Therefore, they naturally understood what the water vapor slowly gathering towards the sky meant.

“Steam of this scale, once it forms a thundercloud…” Xi’s expression was extremely grim. Under the threat of Lightning Release: Kirin, the losses caused to their army by these two combined ninjutsu were no big deal.

Hiruzen Sarutobi truly lived up to his reputation as the "Professor of Ninjutsu." The marks left by time on him may have only made his movements less agile than when he was young, but his ninjutsu skills only grew stronger with age.

"We must stop him." At this moment, Yugito, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, who had been cut back to his original form by Uchiha Touko and was seriously injured, came to Nozomi's side with an extremely solemn expression after receiving a brief treatment from a medical ninja. "Otherwise, if that technique really takes shape, probably less than one in ten of our army will survive."

"You Cloud Village have provoked an enemy you can't afford to offend at all," the brigade commander sighed from inside the sealed space.

To be honest, even from that brief exchange, Masahiro knew that she was no match for Uchiha Touko. The last time she felt so powerless was when Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were hunting down tailed beasts all over the world. She was just as helpless against the Wood Release Buddha when she faced that Wood Release Buddha.

“Sorry, Tabita.” Yugito took a deep breath. “But we have to stop him.”

“Alright.” Ryuta nodded and had Yugito enter the tailed beast form.

At this moment, Gyuki and Killer Bee also adjusted their condition, and the two tailed beasts roared as they charged towards Uchiha Touko's Susanoo once again.

"Fighting Light?" Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly as he watched the two tailed beasts charging towards him, maintaining his combined ninjutsu.

Uchiha Touko, however, chuckled and said, "Third Hokage, please continue. They won't have a chance to affect you."

Uchiha Touko's gaze sharpened. After sending Hiruzen Sarutobi to the high stone pillar, Susanoo rubbed his wrist and strode towards the two tailed beasts.

Facing the approaching Susanoo, Matatabi launched the first attack. Like the swiftest ghost, it flashed behind and instantly darted out from the left side of the battle light. Its massive body displayed incredible flexibility, and two giant tails made of pure, dark blue flames coiled around the Susanoo's leg joints and waist like serpents. The dark blue flames sizzled and burned, trying to break down Susanoo's chakra defense.

Uchiha Touko smiled slightly. The Susanoo's massive body did not lose its balance due to the Two-Tails' entanglement. Instead, it suddenly took a step to the right, causing the ground to collapse. At the same time, the Susanoo's left hand, Futsu-no-Mitama, did not swing. Instead, the blade pointed downwards, like a giant stake, and with a shriek that tore through the air, it fiercely stabbed the Flame Cat Tail wrapped around its left leg!

"Roar—!" The troop let out a sharp, painful roar.

The lightning-infused Futsu-no-Mitama pierced precisely at the root of the flame tail. The lightning and the dark blue flames clashed and exploded violently, forcibly severing the tail and instantly loosening the binding force.

……

(End of this chapter)