Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

The last time the Third Hokage sent members of the Uchiha clan to the battlefield, the Uchiha clan lost a number of genin and chunin, but gained more than twenty ninjas with the three-tomoe Sharingan, further strengthening the Uchiha clan's power.

"Hmph, aren't we researching the Sharingan and Wood Release right now? If we don't send those arrogant Uchiha ninjas to the battlefield, where will we get so many test subjects and Sharingan? With you guys being so hesitant, it's going to take who knows how long before we succeed in our research."

Seeing so many objections from the two, Sarutobi Takashi said sarcastically.

These two old guys are really ridiculous. They both crave the power of the Uchiha clan and fear it. No wonder Danzo looks down on them so much.

"That's because you don't understand the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan. You're young and it's good that you're energetic, but never underestimate the Uchiha clan. We're currently having a conflict with the Senju clan, so we can't let the Uchiha clan benefit from it."

Ignoring Sarutobi Takashi's provocation, Mitokado Homura calmly explained.

"I don't think so."

Sarutobi Takashi sneered, then clapped his hands.

The next moment, a ninja wearing a tengu mask emerged from the darkness.

At the same time, a pair of peculiar Sharingan eyes lit up in the darkness.

When Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu saw this ninja and his eyes, their expressions changed drastically. They immediately looked away, stood up, drew their weapons, and entered combat mode.

But as soon as they stood up, they realized they were under an illusion.

Sarutobi Takashi looked at the two of them, who were in a daze as they were trapped in the illusion, and a deep look of mockery appeared on his face.

A moment later, he used the Edo Tensei Mangekyou Sharingan to dispel the genjutsu on the two of them.

At this moment, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu sat back down in their seats, drenched in sweat, staring in horror at the Edo Tensei Mangekyou Sharingan ninja behind Sarutobi Takashi.

"Gentlemen, what do you think of my suggestion?"

Sarutobi Takashi said to the two men without a smile.

Chapter 206: Tailed Beast Ball

Within the Land of Rain, a great battle is unfolding between the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Rain Village.

The reason why Kumogakure launched a war against Amegakure was very simple and violent: one of their ninjas had gone missing after entering the Land of Rain, and they demanded that someone be sent to investigate.

Amegakure initially agreed, but Kumogakure sent far too many investigators—over a thousand, including more than twenty Jonin and over three hundred others. Such a large ninja force, supposedly there to investigate a missing person, was nothing short of a fantasy.

With just this many ninja troops, their power is enough to destroy an entire region, such as the Land of Grass.

The Land of Grass is the most powerful fence-sitter in the ninja world, and its armed force, the Grass Ninja, is the most adept at changing sides. Faced with the Cloud Village's unreasonable demand to send a large number of ninja troops to be stationed in their country, they accepted without much consideration and were even willing to obey the Cloud Village's orders, with the sole purpose of obtaining some spoils of war.

Yunyin agreed to this.

Therefore, thousands of Grass Ninja acted as the vanguard of Cloud Village, working together with thousands of Cloud Ninja to exert pressure on Amegakure at the border.

Rain Hermit is not Grass Hermit; its fierce spirit dares to challenge any major power.

Therefore, faced with the Cloud Village's obvious conspiracy to invade the Land of Rain under the guise of investigation, the Rain Village decisively dispatched a large number of ninja troops to confront them at the border.

Finally, it's unclear which side's ninja lost their temper first, but they threw a kunai with an explosive tag at the other side, and the battle broke out.

The border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass is just like the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, separated by a great river, a river that is thousands of meters wide.

Since Hattori Masanari returned to Amegakure and implemented sweeping reforms, Amegakure's border defenses have been continuously strengthened. Not only have they dispatched a large number of elite Amegakure ninja to garrison the area, but they have also built strong fortresses that are easy to defend and difficult to attack.

For example, on the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass, there are three huge military fortresses, each garrisoned with thousands of ninjas. Around these three military fortresses are more than a dozen smaller fortresses, each garrisoned with at least a hundred ninjas.

The three fortresses are arranged in a triangle, with two on the border and one in the middle and behind the other. Within this triangular area, a dozen or so smaller fortresses are also arranged in a triangular formation.

These military fortresses are interconnected, so if any one is attacked, the surrounding fortresses can react quickly and send reinforcements.

Faced with the fortress formation set up by the Rain Village, the Cloud Village's attack strategy was very much in line with the Cloud Village's: to push straight through. However, they also had wise military considerations behind the scenes. Instead of stubbornly choosing to attack the tough large fortresses, they focused on attacking and destroying the smaller fortresses.

The combined power of Cloud Village and Grass Village resulted in extraordinary combat strength. In just one week, they conquered ten small military fortresses.

If it weren't for the numerous traps set by the Rain Hermits along the way, they would have captured even more military fortresses.

However, as the Cloud Village conquered several small fortresses and began to penetrate deeper into the heart of the Land of Rain, they found themselves besieged by the Rain Ninja. The Rain Ninja from the three large fortresses joined forces, sending more than four thousand ninja to surround the thousands of Cloud Village and Grass Village allied forces that had invaded.

The battle took place on a large river within the Land of Rain.

Thus began a major battle, the first since the outbreak of war between the two sides.

"Kill them!!!"

The sounds of bloodthirsty and frenzied fighting echoed across the battlefield. Both sides' ninjas were in a frenzy, and various ninjutsu and ninja tools flew across the battlefield, constantly hitting the ninjas on both sides, causing countless flowers of blood to bloom on the battlefield.

The blood of countless fallen ninjas stained the wet battlefield and the great river red.

The Rain Ninja showed great tenacity because their homes were behind them. To protect their homes and their loved ones, most of them chose to bravely fight the fierce alliance of Cloud Village and Grass Village.

However, Amegakure had only ended its war with Konoha a little over a year ago. Even though the domestic economy was recovering rapidly and Amegakure had received ample development funds after its reforms, the growth of ninjas was never something that could be achieved in just one or two years.

In such a short period of time, Amegakure only expanded its ninja force to 80% of its peak size, with 8,000 ninjas. Of these, 80% were genin, and their strength was generally very poor. Most of them were just novices who had mastered chakra manipulation and ninja tools, and had not even mastered the Three Body Techniques.

In terms of ninja quality, Amegakure is no match for Kumogakure these days.

Judging from the troop strength deployed by both sides, Amegakure had four times more troops than Kumogakure, but since the start of the war, the casualties have remained at a rate of one out of ten.

On the battlefield, the most captivating battles are always between the strongest.

In order to win the war and boost morale, Hanzo the Salamander, a warrior-type leader, decisively took the lead in the battle. He summoned Fukui the Salamander to wreak havoc on the battlefield, spewing out terrifying poison gas and killing many Cloud Ninja and Grass Ninja. He single-handedly withstood a great deal of pressure.

The Hidden Cloud Village was clearly prepared for Hanzo's arrival. As soon as Hanzo appeared, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Burubi, immediately appeared and led ten elite Jonin to surround and kill Hanzo, showing great respect to the leader of the Hidden Cloud Village.

Hanzo was used to fighting outnumbered. When faced with an enemy's siege, he chose to start with the easy targets and then move on to the difficult ones. He decisively used his Water Instantaneous Body Technique, which he had honed to perfection, to continuously increase the distance between himself and Burubi, and then waited for an opportunity to strike at those elite Jonin.

"Damn you, if you've got the guts, stop running around and fight me head-on."

Brubi, having activated his three tailed beast forms, used his three tails to send the giant salamander Fukui flying a distance. Then, he cursed at Hanzo, who had just finished off another elite Jonin from Kumogakure with his scythe.

By now, Hanzo had already taken down four elite Jonin, while he hadn't even managed to touch a hair on Hanzo's head.

The title of demigod is indeed well-deserved.

This demigod of the ninja world is incredibly powerful in this place where it rains all the time. His combat awareness and experience far surpass those of ordinary people. His combined attack with other elite Jonin from Kumogakure was completely ineffective. His opponent easily found weaknesses to break free from the encirclement and then seized the opportunity to counterattack.

Four tails are the limit of Brubi's current tailed beast form. He desperately wants to use them to destroy this slippery, demigod of the ninja world.

But he ultimately dared not, because if he used his four tails, he might lose control on this battlefield filled with killing intent, and end up doing more harm than good.

When Hanzo heard Burubi's curses, he didn't bother to reply, and his eyes remained completely expressionless.

His absolute composure was the key to his survival on the battlefield.

He doesn't need to pay attention to anyone; he just needs to keep killing at his own pace.

He quickly formed a hand seal and used Water Release: Water Wall to create a sturdy water wall to block the attack of an elite Jonin from Kumogakure. Then he used Water Instantaneous Body Technique to disappear from the spot.

When he reappeared, he was already behind another elite Jonin from Kumogakure.

This elite Jonin from Kumogakure was also a skilled swordsman. He sensed Hanzo's presence as soon as he appeared. He was no less ruthless, fierce, or reckless than Kumogakure. Even knowing that his opponent was Hanzo, one of the best swordsmen in the ninja world, he still dared to turn around and swing his sword to meet him.

As a result, Hanzo cut off his head in the next step.

The difference in swordsmanship cannot be bridged by mere courage; even the slightest difference can be fatal.

Moreover, in Hanzo's eyes, this elite Jonin of Kumogakure's swordsmanship hadn't even reached the level of a master.

Water Escape·Water Formation Wall.

Water Release: Body Flicker Technique.

Knife skills.

This is the technique Hanzo used throughout the battle; it's simple and unadorned, yet it was enough to make Burubi and the other Cloud Village members feel as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

"Damn it."

Seeing that Hanzo was determined not to attack him head-on, Burubi decisively turned his head and looked at a military fortress of Amegakure in the distance. Then he opened his mouth, and a large number of black and blue chakra balls began to appear and then mixed together.

In no time, a black chakra ball the size of a basketball appeared on the battlefield and continued to expand.

As soon as this chakra ball appeared, it unleashed a terrifying chakra surge, causing countless ninjas on the battlefield to tremble with fear.

Tailed Beast Ball.

This is Brubi's strongest trump card after becoming the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. However, this move is very difficult to use, requires a long charging time, and consumes chakra. He generally does not use it in battle.

But since Hanzo the Salamander hadn't engaged him in direct combat, he had no choice but to use this tactic to force Hanzo to come closer.

If Hanzo can't get there, then he might as well use this move to destroy the military fortress not far away.

This distance was enough to ensure that the accuracy and power of his Tailed Beast Ball would not be greatly affected, and he was confident that he could destroy Amegakure, this small military fortress, with a single blow.

"you dare."

Hanzo immediately realized Burubi's plan and said coldly, his eyes revealing anger.

The military fortress absolutely cannot be destroyed. It contains a large number of Rain Shadow's wounded soldiers and supplies. Once the military fortress is gone, this battle here will be over.

The other Cloud Village members were also aware of Burubi's plan.

The remaining five elite Jonin from Kumogakure decisively attacked Hanzo together.

Lightning Release: Scattered Strike!

Lightning Release: Swift Arrow!

Lightning Release: Black Spot Difference!

Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave!

Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Bullet Technique!

Five powerful lightning-style ninjutsu were launched at high speed towards Hanzo and the other Amegakure ninja who were trying to stop Burubi, forcing Hanzo and the other Amegakure ninja to dodge.

"Fujing!"

As he dodged, Hanzo shouted loudly.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a giant salamander burst out of the ground beneath Brupi, opening its massive jaws to bite him.

But Brubi had already sensed the arrival of this cunning salamander. In an instant, its three flexible tails, as flexible as arms, extended and spurred the salamander to the ground.

At this moment, the Tailed Beast Ball in front of Brubi's mouth had expanded to the size of her face, which was the maximum size of the Tailed Beast Ball that Brubi could currently control.

Next comes the release.

With a fierce determination, Burubi unleashed the Tailed Beast Ball.

"Hahaha~, let's just destroy it like this."