Konoha Notes

Chapter 279 Doubts
Regarding the origins of the demons, information held by various ninja villages indicates that they are monsters from another world. Some have relied on their power to establish what is known as a thousand-year kingdom, but considering the source of their power, it seems to be related to priestesses.

After all, since ancient times, only priestesses have been able to deal with demons effectively.

In general, the ninja world's attitude toward this matter was that since the Land of Demons was located on the edge of the map and its resources were decent, it would serve as compensation for the priestess guarding the demons, and everyone should refrain from disturbing their lives.

If something really happens, we'll talk about it later.

Although it was a powerful monster, it was sealed away after all. Under these circumstances, each family had its own things to do and couldn't think too far ahead.

Now that a real problem has arisen, the primary strategy is to prevent it from affecting oneself.

Sunagakure is not good at dealing with the stone statue army.

Meanwhile, the Land of Earth, which was also listed as a potential target of the Stone Statue Army's invasion, demonstrated remarkable efficiency in its response.

A large number of Iwagakure ninja were mobilized to use Earth Release: Earthquake Core to artificially create large-scale, bottomless ravines or towering, steep rock walls along the path of the stone statue army, forming terrain obstacles that were difficult to pass.

Even though these stone statues are incredibly strong, they can still slowly carve through the rock walls and fill in some of the ravines. However, during their climbing or digging, their bulky bodies and fixed movement patterns make them perfect targets for the Iwagakure ninja to concentrate their firepower and carry out continuous long-range attacks.

At least for the current stage, the mobile mountain defense line built by Iwagakure, relying on its advantageous terrain and ninjutsu characteristics, has not yet been truly breached by the Stone Statue Army.

With Iwagakure serving as a textbook example, the Konoha support forces arriving at the western border of the Land of Wind were naturally not clueless about how to effectively intercept these rocky obstacles.

After the initial deployment of the main border defense nodes was completed and basic communication and supply lines were established, Shuji proposed to Maki, the person in charge of Sunagakure, that he personally lead a mixed elite squad to the more forward combat area to participate in interception operations.

After a brief deliberation, Maki nodded in agreement to the plan. Sunagakure currently lacked effective means to deal with this type of enemy, and any delay in border operations would be beneficial.

However, since Shuji himself was going to the front lines, Maki couldn't just sit back and oversee things from the rear. So he also took some of his elite troops and joined up with Shuji's Konoha squad to head to the front lines of Sunagakure, where the battle was most intense.

The scene before us was utterly chaotic.

The Sand Village ninja used the fortifications and launched an attack with explosive tags, creating bursts of fire and smoke among the stone statues, temporarily halting their advance.

The elite team, equipped with three-star fans, unleashed powerful wind techniques capable of slicing through rock, shredding the stone statues in front.

However, after each of these exhilarating coordinated offensives, what followed was not a pursuit of victory, but a retreat that was even faster and more disorganized than the offensive itself.

Because behind the temporarily cleared position, the seemingly endless tide of gray-white stones continued to march forward with heavy, uniform steps, steadfastly treading over the rubble of their comrades, without a moment's pause, rolling in with a suffocating sense of oppression.

Just as another batch of stone statues was about to break through the gap left by the retreating Sand Village ninja and step into the heart of the defenses—

The solid ground beneath their feet suddenly let out a muffled groan, then abruptly collapsed and cracked!
A deep and wide chasm, like the gaping maw of a long-lurking beast, suddenly swallowed dozens of advancing stone statues, trapping them in the suddenly formed pit and temporarily halting the gray tide.

Having just unleashed Earth Release: Earth Flow Cut, Shuji used another ninjutsu.

"Earth Escape·Yellow Spring Marsh!"

The bottom of the pit that had just swallowed the stone statues, and the larger area in front of it, quickly turned from solid ground into mud, transforming into a vast, viscous swamp. Any stone statues that followed, attempting to cross the path left by their companions or simply detour, immediately lost their support upon entering this area. They began to sink uncontrollably, the more they struggled, the faster they sank, and were soon completely engulfed by the murky, viscous mud, leaving only a few helplessly bubbling pores on the surface before falling silent.

The Konoha ninjas who arrived at the front line with Shuji did not need any further instructions. They immediately dispersed and performed their duties based on their rich combat experience and tacit understanding.

"Tu Dun·Tu Liubi!"

"Earth Release·Rock Pillar Spear!"

Thick earthen walls rose from the ground, further dividing and restricting the stone statue army's assault formation; while sharp rock pillars suddenly pierced through the ground, accurately piercing and overturning those stone statues that were trying to bypass the swamp area.

This newly arrived frontline force, with its highly targeted earth-style ninjutsu and efficient teamwork, managed to temporarily and effectively halt the terrifying advance of the stone statues, which seemed poised to crush everything.

But that's far from enough. Shuji didn't come to the front lines near the Land of Demons just to intercept these statues.

Night fell amidst the roar of rocks cracking.

A familiar figure arrived near the front-line command post.

“Shuji,” Kakashi Hatake said, “we haven’t found any trace of the priestess Miroku in the Land of Demons.”

Kakashi arrived in the vicinity with the first batch of reinforcements from Konoha who traveled by sea. His primary mission was to infiltrate the Land of Demons and find the whereabouts of the Miroku priestess.

Now, this first task has clearly failed.

"Where are the suspected rebels?"

After all, this is the second most important piece of information revealed in the shrine maiden's request.

Kakashi shook his head and replied, "There are signs of battle in the priestess's palace, but it is now empty."

"What about the Land of Swamps?"

"No updates yet," Kakashi replied, which was also something that puzzled him. "Our reconnaissance team is monitoring the area, and everything seems normal. The sealed shrine also appears to be intact."

Shuji fell into deep thought.

For the demon to regain full mobility, it needs the body of a priestess and the unsealing of the shrine in the Swamp Country.

In other words, the Stone Statue Legion's primary target should have been the Swamp Country, rather than immediately expanding outwards.

But the current scene looks like the start of a war of conquest.

Has the demon already possessed the body of the priestess Miroku?
But if that's the case, there shouldn't only be stone statue troops here. When the stone statue troops were blocked, the demons should have made their move and broken through the defenses.

(End of this chapter)