I am the new Hokage of Konoha.

Upon seeing this, Luo Sha's face was filled with resentment.

It's important to understand that those accompanying him at this moment are all Jonin from Sunagakure.

Losing even one person is a blow to the village.

However, the battle had only been going on for a short time, and several people had already fallen to the Uchiha ninja on the other side.

Although there was prior intelligence indicating that Konoha had gained another ninja who had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan.

But in Rasa's view, as the Fourth Kazekage, he and a group of elite Sand Ninja Jonin were enough to defeat him and use that as a breakthrough point to break into Konoha's defenses without any further obstacles.

After all, not every Uchiha is like Madara.

However, when they actually fought, Rasa realized that he had seriously underestimated this boy named Uchiha Itachi.

Although compared to Uchiha Madara, whom he had personally experienced and felt deeply powerless against, the opponent was still far from being as skilled.

Even so, facing a Susanoo that is not in its complete form; a variety of ninjutsu with extremely fast hand seals and diverse techniques; the most powerful genjutsu I have ever seen; and taijutsu that is by no means weak; and a calm mind that never wavers.

All these factors combined led Rasa to discover that even as the Fourth Kazekage, he was very likely no match for the opponent in a one-on-one fight.

Why does Konoha keep producing such geniuses?

The very first Hokage, the Second Hokage, and even Madara Uchiha.

The next three Hokage were the Legendary Sannin of Konoha.

Then came Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Shisui Uchiha, and most importantly... Kumo-tei Senju!

This is enough to make one feel powerless.

Why hasn't Konoha given up yet? More figures like this have emerged among the new generation!

The Uchiha ninja in front of me looked to be no more than fifteen or sixteen years old.

The gods are so unfair!

Why do they only favor Konoha and not give some to Sunagakure?

For a moment, Luo Sha even felt disheartened.

However, he quickly regained his fighting spirit after realizing that he had a mission concerning the survival of Sunagakure.

Although Konoha is ridiculously strong, it is now facing almost the entire ninja world, plus Madara Uchiha, a force that can completely contend with it.

Even if Sunagakure is weak, little did they know that Konoha would one day enjoy the same prosperity it has now.

Therefore, we must win this battle!

Luo Sha's gaze hardened, and without further delay, he immediately ordered, "Everyone, listen to my command..."

Yawen Bar

Having experienced the power of Susanoo before, and knowing that it was not in its complete form and had weaknesses, he quickly issued a battle plan.

Although he couldn't defeat the opponent by himself, it didn't mean he couldn't with the help of many Sand Village Jonin.

Even if it comes at a huge cost.

Magnetic Escape·Golden Hand.

In the attack initiated by Rasa, more than a dozen enormous sand-gold hands emerged from around Itachi's Susanoo and reached out to grab his massive body.

Seeing this, Itachi's eyes flickered, and Susanoo swept out the Totsuka Sword, severing all the incoming sand-gold hands.

However, soon, with Rasa expending a large amount of chakra, more Sand Gold Hands surged forward one after another.

For the time being, Itachi could only focus on the trouble in front of him.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the more than twenty Sand Village Jonin who had gathered together quickly formed the same hand seals.

A few breaths later, as the final seal was formed in perfect unison, all the Sand Village Jonin shouted in unison:

"Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane!"

"Combined Ninjutsu: Wind Release: Wind Dragon Roars Through the World!"

In an instant, dozens of tornadoes strong enough to disperse the clouds formed in front of the Sand Ninja.

Immediately following, as these tornadoes merged together, an enormous wind-style dragon materialized, and with a high-pitched roar, it pounced towards Itachi with a devastating momentum.

"This is......"

Itachi turned his gaze and, before he could react, the enormous wind dragon charged at an unimaginable speed.

The moment of contact, even with Susanoo's enormous size, it was unable to avoid being pushed back repeatedly by such a huge impact, and in the end, it staggered and was about to fall to the ground.

This is the moment!

Rasa, who had been observing the movements on the other side with his Sand Eyes, reached out and grabbed.

Just like when he dealt with Madara Uchiha, a whip made of gold dust quickly reached in through the gap exposed by Susanoo, wrapped around Itachi's lower leg, and pulled him out forcefully.

"This time I won't give you another chance! Magnet Release: Gold Sand Burial!" Rasa slammed his hands together.

At that moment, the technique that had been buried underground immediately erupted from beneath Itachi's feet.

In an instant, the latter was completely submerged by a vast sea of ​​gold dust rising from the ground.

Just as it seemed he was about to be dragged underground, triggering the final explosion, Itachi, whose expression had remained calm, finally moved and said:

"As expected of the Fourth Kazekage, he really would have died if he had held back any longer."

"Since that's the case, then..."

"Amaterasu!"

An ominous black flame suddenly erupted from Itachi's right eye, burning amidst the surrounding gold dust before spreading outwards at an extremely rapid pace.

Outside, Rasa, who was about to breathe a sigh of relief, suddenly saw a large amount of black flames burning from the area covered by the weasel, and quickly forming a large black sea of ​​fire using gold dust as a medium. He couldn't help but gasp.

"The gold dust was actually burned away by this black fire?"

Rasa, who was well aware that his sand gold had a strong resistance to fire jutsu, looked at everything in front of him in disbelief.

When his gaze fell upon the ominous black flames, the sense of danger forged through years of battle told him that he absolutely must not touch them.

"I've never heard of any ninjutsu in Konoha that releases such black flames. So, is this a Child's Technique of the Mangekyou Sharingan?"

Luo Sha frowned as he quickly guessed this.

Then, he saw the black fire in front of him seemingly without end, constantly surging towards the other unaffected gold deposits in the surrounding area.

Seeing that the black flames were about to reach them, Rasa could only lead the Sand Ninja to retreat first.

On the other side, Itachi, who was surrounded by black flames but had no injuries whatsoever, wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his right eye, then took out an injection from his ninja bag, inserted the needle into his arm, pushed in the green liquid full of life, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, his Mangekyou Sharingan, which he had used many times in this short period of time and whose vision had deteriorated, quickly replenished his childlike energy, sweeping away his previous fatigue.

With Yun Ting personally serving as the blueprint, Konoha naturally also made some involvement in the utilization of Hashirama's cells.

For example, the disposable injection that uses interstitial cells as a drug carrier to restore the Kaleidoscope Child's power and eliminate the worry of going blind is one such product.

Shisui and Itachi, the only two people in Konoha who possess the Mangekyou Sharingan, each carry several in their ninja pouches for unforeseen circumstances.

Just like now.

When facing a combination of the Fourth Kazekage and numerous Sand Village Jonin, Itachi, unsurprisingly, had to be in his full strength to deal with them.

A few minutes later, the black flames that had consumed all the gold dust in the surrounding area dissipated.

Seeing this, Luo Sha led the group back.

However, his expression turned very somber when he saw Itachi, who was completely unharmed.

Itachi's strength once again exceeded his expectations.

Dealing with such a person will likely be difficult to achieve results in the short term.

"If I had known, I would have brought Gaara along."

Taking a moment to glance at the other battlefields, Luo Sha said with some regret.

Chapter 271 Three tails, six tails

Although compared to the mature Jinchuriki of other ninja villages, Gaara, who is only ten years old, is far from being able to control the power of the One-Tailed Beast.

But in Rasa's view, as long as he and the others could hold off Tsunade, Itachi Uchiha and other Konoha experts, they could simply find a spot on the long battlefront between the Sand Village and Konoha and throw Gaara into Konoha's territory.

When Gaara goes berserk, the power of Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast, will naturally erupt.

Even if Konoha manages to suppress Shukaku, the resources involved and the casualties will certainly be considerable.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Sand Ninja army has a real chance to break through the Konoha defenses, which are already small in number and tied down by the Tailed Beasts, and capture Tsudo River in one fell swoop, thus achieving final victory over Konoha on the battlefield of the Land of Rivers.

As for whether Gaara's life will be in danger along the way.

Luo Sha didn't take it to heart.

Compared to the grand plan for the survival of Sunagakure, he was willing to sacrifice even himself, let alone a son he didn't like.

Unfortunately, they made a mistake in their prediction before setting off, thinking they could take over the Land of Rivers in a short time, and did not bring Gaara, the tailed beast weapon.

However, it's better to make up for it now than not to make up for it at all.

Seeing that Uchiha Itachi's aura seemed even stronger than before, and knowing that it would be difficult to defeat him in a short time, Rasa reached out and immediately ordered a Sand Ninja to deliver the message to the village that Gaara had been brought to the front lines.

As for the present situation, Luo Sha looked around at the stagnant battle and could only take it one step at a time.

......

Meanwhile, just as the Sand Village was at a standstill, the port of the Land of Water, which faces the Land of Wind across the vast sea, was once again under attack by the Konoha aircraft carrier fleet.

Having received prior intelligence from Konoha spies, they learned that the Land of Water was building new ships at a much faster pace than expected, with a large number of Kirigakure ninja personally involved.

Uchiha Shisui, who was stationed in the Land of Waves, decisively changed his original plan and directly deployed all six aircraft carriers to deal a heavy blow to the ports and shipyards of the Land of Water.

The plan is progressing smoothly so far.

Not only were many of the ships in the Land of Water that were mostly under construction destroyed, but the major shipyards also suffered devastating damage.

Just as the Konoha pilots were piloting their flying ninja tools and cheering as they returned to the aircraft carrier...

On the land below, out of their sight.

Although they witnessed firsthand the immense losses inflicted on their side by the air raid, the elite Mist Ninja remained expressionless throughout, even now sporting smiles that seemed to say, "It's finally about to begin," without glancing at the thick smoke billowing around them.