Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Faced with this terrible desert disaster, even though they are ninjas with superhuman strength, they can only cower like turtles.

Suddenly, a terrifying yet familiar chakra fluctuation appeared, causing all the Sand Ninja to shudder. Many of them gritted their teeth, revealing hateful eyes, but most of them looked on with fear.

Because they knew that the hateful and powerful Konoha ninja had returned.

And this terrifying sandstorm was the work of the other side.

But the next moment, they realized they were wrong. The creator of this sandstorm was not that Konoha ninja, but an even more terrifying creature.

A deafening voice echoed in the wind: "Hahaha~, this day has finally come, you Sunagakure insects, today I will settle all the grudges between you Sunagakure and me."

Chapter 217: The Power of the Guardian Crane

"It's Shukaku, that monster has arrived."

Inside the Sand Village headquarters, a Jonin cried out in terror.

He had seen this monster when he was a young genin, and witnessed many of his predecessors, who were invincible in his eyes back then, being killed by this monster like insects. Therefore, he had a vivid memory of everything about this monster.

Now that he heard Shukaku's voice again, the despair and helplessness he felt when facing this monster immediately came to mind. A strong fear surged into his heart, instantly robbing him of the courage to fight it.

In an instant, the thought of clinging to life began to grow rapidly in his mind, and then he decisively abandoned his companions and subconsciously ran towards the direction of Sunagakure.

There was absolutely no chance of winning; the only hope was to escape back to Sunagakure.

That was the only thought in the mind of this Jonin at that moment.

It wasn't just this Sand Village Jonin who had this idea; many other Jonin who were no longer young shared the same thought. It was those young Chunin and Genin who hadn't personally experienced how terrifying Shukaku was that stubbornly rushed out to confront Shukaku head-on.

If morale is low, the team will be difficult to lead.

With the death of Ebizo, a member of the martial arts faction, Shakumo, a moderate, has become the frontline commander of the Sunagakure army. He is furious to see a large number of ninjas disobeying orders and deserting, but no matter how angry he shouts and how his core forces try to stop them, the effect is still minimal.

"Damn Ebizo, of all times he had to die, he had to die on the battlefield, and he even lost one of his tails. Now I have to clean up this mess. Why am I so unlucky?"

Seeing that the situation was completely out of control, Sha Yun said with a look of despair.

As the frontline commander, he first failed to manage the extremist militants in the army, giving the enemy an opportunity to incite them to attack Konoha and cause a major disaster. Now he has lost the frontline territory. Even if he returns alive, he will definitely be dismissed from his post.

The thought of losing all the power and influence he had worked so hard for over a lifetime overnight made Sha Yun feel dizzy and extremely upset.

"Clan leader, stop talking. Shukaku is coming soon. As long as we live, with the clan's status in Sunagakure, you will definitely be able to make a comeback."

Seeing that Sha Yun was on the verge of collapse, one of Sha Yun's confidants quickly tried to comfort him.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel ashamed and disheartened that this moderate leader had behaved so poorly at such a crucial moment.

"Escape? Where can we escape to? We're already surrounded. There's no way we can escape."

Upon hearing this, Sha Yun still spoke in despair.

Although his individual strength is not as great as Ebizo's, he is a rare sensory ninja with exceptional sensory abilities.

That's why he was able to quickly spot Chizuru and her group of Uchiha ninjas after they stormed into the military camp.

Unfortunately, because the Third Kazekage was eager to take advantage of the Land of Rain, he took advantage of the peace talks between Sunagakure and Konoha to select many elite martial arts ninjas from the army to go to the Land of Rain. There were not many strong people left in the army, and they could not stop a group of ferocious Uchiha ninjas.

Ultimately, this led to a group of martial arts ninjas being controlled and taken away by Chizuru and other Uchiha ninjas using genjutsu.

Now, thanks to his excellent perception, he can clearly detect that there is a large amount of Shukaku's chakra in the sandstorm that covers the Sand Village's headquarters, and there is a large amount of chakra reaction outside the Sandstorm.

If he's not mistaken, the people outside the Sand Tornado are all Konoha ninja, waiting for them to break out of the Sand Tornado formed by Shukaku so they can wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Furthermore, there were multiple Jonin-level chakra reactions in all directions, indicating that the Konoha ninjas came prepared and must have already laid a trap to eliminate them.

"Chieftain, you are the commander-in-chief. Now is not the time to talk such discouraging words. The sandstorm is getting stronger and stronger. If we don't break through now, we will have no chance. Are we just going to stay here and wait to die?"

His confidant was very anxious when he heard that Sha Yun still had no intention of escaping, and continued to persuade him.

Sha Yun remained silent. He knew the sandstorm was getting stronger and stronger, but that also meant his chances of escaping were getting smaller and smaller.

He certainly didn't want to die. Since the chances of escaping were very slim, he figured it was better not to run away and to stay and have a better chance of survival.

He's Sha Yun, the leader of the moderate faction in Sunagakure. He's very valuable, and he doesn't think he'll be killed if he chooses to surrender.

Indeed, after realizing that the chances of escaping were slim, his first thought was to give up resistance and surrender to save his life.

For Sha Yun, this was not an unacceptable thing. Although it was somewhat shameful, it was still better than other Sand Village ninjas risking great danger to break out of the sandstorm, only to be cut into pieces by the dense air blades hidden in the sandstorm before they even got out, and then buried by the yellow sand.

The sandstorm created by Shukaku is not so easy to escape. Apart from ninjas who can use Earth Release to burrow underground, any other ninjas running on the ground will be immediately attacked by countless wind blades formed by wind release chakra once they are exposed to the sandstorm.

Ordinary junior ninjas simply cannot survive for long in such a terrifying sandstorm; only jonins with numerous skills have a chance of escaping it.

However, the sandstorm was only the first line of defense; there were still many well-rested Konoha ninja waiting outside, so the chances of escaping were extremely slim.

Rather than risking that slim chance of escape, he felt that surrendering would give him a better chance of survival.

On the other side, outside the Sand Scroll, Shukaku's towering body, over twenty meters tall, was running happily on the sand, much like a dog that had been locked up for too long frolicking outside.

However, the huge commotion it caused was seen as a hysterical rage by a group of elite Konoha ninjas nearby, who saw it as destroying everything in sight and venting its discontent.

However, even though it spent most of its energy running wild, it still used Wind Release chakra combined with its unique sand manipulation ability to create a huge sand tornado that surrounded the Sand Village's headquarters, giving the Sand Villagers no chance to escape.

"Chizuru, is Kirito alright? This giant tanuki is getting more and more out of control, is it really going to get out of control?"

Outside the sandstorm, Rope Tree, standing on a huge sand dune, looked at Shukaku frolicking in the distance and asked Chizuru beside him with some concern.

Upon hearing this, many Konoha ninjas nearby pricked up their ears to listen and turned their gazes toward Chizuru, Kirito's most trusted partner.

The question that Rope Tree asked was exactly what they were all worried about.

They knew that Kirito was very strong, but they could never overestimate the power of a Tailed Beast, a creature beyond reason. They heard that Kirito had released Shukaku on his own initiative, saying that it was on his condition that Shukaku would go all out to deal with Sunagakure.

Shukaku's antics grew increasingly violent, appearing as if they were out of control.

If Shukaku hadn't attacked them indiscriminately, they would have all thought that Kirito had lost control of Shukaku.

At this moment, Chizuru was wrapped in blood-stained bandages, her face was very pale, and her whole aura was somewhat weak.

Clearly, Chizuru's mission to infiltrate the Sunagakure headquarters did not go smoothly, resulting in a fierce battle in which she was seriously injured.

In fact, only five of the thirteen Uchiha ninjas who went on this mission returned alive.

Uchiha Fuya also perished in this operation. He was unlucky and was surrounded by three Sand Village Jonin. Even though he activated the Cursed Seal and temporarily boosted his combat power to Jonin level, he still couldn't come back alive. In the end, he used a suicidal Fire Release ninjutsu to take a Sand Village Jonin down with him, leaving no trace of his body.

War is cruel; if you are not strong enough, and you are unlucky enough to be surrounded by a large number of enemies of the same level, you will die.

"Instead of worrying about him, you should worry about yourself. You look sickly and instead of resting in the barracks, you have to come here to cause trouble and become a burden."

Chizuru deliberately raised her voice when she heard Nawaki's words.

"I'm not a burden. You wait and see how I kill a ninja who broke out of the sandstorm."

When Chizuru said that, Nawaki immediately bristled like a cat whose tail had been guessed.

After saying that, he stormed off, his eyes fixed on the direction of the sandstorm.

Before long, he successfully discovered a Sand Village Jonin puppeteer who used the mechanical light shield on the puppet to break out of the sandstorm.

Before the other Konoha ninjas could make a move, he decisively used the Eight Gates Technique, opening four gates in one go, instantly unleashing a terrifying speed that surpassed that of an elite Jonin, and then used the Konoha Taijutsu Secret Technique: Konoha Dragon God to kill the enemy on the spot.

After easily killing an enemy Jonin, Nawaki looked at Chizuru triumphantly and shouted, "I'm not a burden."

Upon seeing this, Chizuru merely snorted coldly, then looked at Shukaku, who was still 'going berserk' in the distance, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes.

"Tsunade's younger brother has grown up too, Minato, you'd better step up your game."

On a sand dune outside the sandstorm, Orochimaru witnessed Nawaki easily kill a Sand Village Jonin puppeteer by combining the Eight Gates and the Leaf Village Dragon God Technique, without showing any signs of exhaustion afterward. He stuck out a small part of his tongue, licked his lips, and squinted his eyes slightly as he spoke.

He had studied the Eight Gates Formation, a forbidden physical technique, but unfortunately his body was not suitable for practicing it, and he himself did not have the time to spend a long time honing his body in this technique.

But this did not prevent him from understanding the power of this physical technique.

Once a ninja who practices this forbidden taijutsu can open all four gates, they will possess the strength of a Jonin for a short period of time. Moreover, if the practitioner has an exceptional physique, the increase in strength will be even greater.

However, the side effects of gaining great strength in a short period of time are also significant. Once the time is up, one may experience sudden exhaustion or even die on the spot.

Nawaki was only 11 years old when he was able to open four gates and looked relaxed afterward, which shows that he has a high talent for cultivating the Eight Gates technique. His physique, which combines the bloodlines of the Senju and Uzumaki clans, is very suitable for cultivating this forbidden physical technique.

At this moment, Orochimaru saw in Nawaki a taijutsu ninja who surpassed the Kage level rising slowly like the rising sun, with astonishing potential.

"The bloodlines of the Senju and Uzumaki clans are indeed exceptionally blessed."

Orochimaru looked at Nawaki's silly and not very bright appearance and couldn't help but sigh.

Minato was also somewhat impressed by Nawaki's strength. He hadn't expected Nawaki's strength to have made such a big breakthrough recently. It was only a few days since he last saw him, and his strength had increased so much. It was really unbelievable.

He had just fought Nawaki in the arena a few days ago, and he defeated Nawaki by relying on the terrifying speed of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

But now, Nawaki is wary of his Flying Thunder God Technique. Given the strength Nawaki is currently displaying, he estimates it will be difficult to defeat Nawaki again. The amount of chakra in Nawaki's body is no joke; it feels to him to be at least two or three times that of Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-sensei, please rest assured, I will definitely work harder in my training and will not let you down."

Minato responded with a serious expression.

He is now desperately trying to catch up with Kirito. He thought he was the closest to Kirito among his peers, but now it seems that there are many people chasing him, some of whom are already quite close to him, which makes him feel a strong sense of urgency.

"You don't need to put too much pressure on yourself. I'm already very satisfied with your current growth rate. As long as you train step by step, your Flying Thunder God Technique will definitely become famous throughout the ninja world in the future."

Orochimaru sensed Minato's anxiety and offered some words of advice.

He meant it sincerely. Minato, who had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, was destined for great things. Moreover, in his opinion, even if Nawaki opened the Gate of Death in the future, he would still be no match for Minato.

Once Minato resolves his issues with physical attributes and chakra reserves, he will be able to dominate the world with the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Moreover, Minato's exceptional talent wasn't limited to mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique; he excelled in other ninjutsu as well, even surpassing Minato in the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, which he taught.

In his eyes, Minato was the second most talented ninja he had ever seen, after Kirito.

Besides, who can predict the future? Kirito is showing his talent at such a young age, but he may not achieve as much as Minato in the future.

"I understand, Orochimaru-sensei. I won't act rashly or fight for a moment's advantage. I will live well, because I am going to become Hokage in the future, and I can't die so soon."

Encouraged by Orochimaru, Minato said with a grin.

Although his teacher was somewhat eccentric and had a somewhat ambiguous style, his teaching of him was impeccable. He genuinely treated him as his successor and even passed on the precious Dragon Cave Spirit Scroll to him.

He must not let Orochimaru down. He will do his best to help Orochimaru become the Fourth Hokage, and then become the Fifth Hokage himself.

"This child is indeed exceptionally talented, but like me, he lacks an outstanding bloodline. Furthermore, he resists my body modification technology, so it will be extremely difficult for him to surpass ordinary physical abilities and chakra reserves in the future. We must find a way to achieve this."

Orochimaru looked at Minato's smile, then at Nawaki who was still smugly shouting, and suddenly felt a little annoyed.

……

As time went on, fewer and fewer ninjas were able to escape the sandstorm, and the outcome seemed to be decided.