Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

As he spoke, his expression became slightly serious.

For some reason, he was a little worried about his friends in Amegakure.

"Concentrate, Nagato. The process of cultivating Sage Mode requires you to keep your mind absolutely calm. It's the same as keeping your mind calm in battle. Being emotional is not a bad thing, but if you want to maintain Sage Mode in battle, you must keep your mind calm. If you are swayed by your emotions, Sage Mode will be interrupted, and you will become a burden, harming yourself and others."

As an old and shrewd man, Fukasaku immediately noticed that Nagato was somewhat distracted and promptly offered a reminder.

Upon hearing this, Nagato was immediately shocked and realized his mistake.

Yes, what's the use of him being anxious now? In the current ninja world, although his strength is not bad, he is still far from being able to influence the course of a battle.

The thought of how the person who claimed to be the master of the Rinnegan had driven him and his two companions to the brink of despair, and how he was powerless to help them, filled him with immense pain. He then mustered his strength and did his utmost to calm himself down.

Then, he once again consumed a large amount of chakra to create hundreds of shadow clones to train with him.

Now that he has lost his Rinnegan, Sage Mode is the only way for him to continue to advance his current strength. He must seize the time to master Sage Mode as soon as possible.

"Hmm, not bad."

As Fukasaku watched Nagato's breathing become steady once again, and he himself returned to a state of closeness with nature, Fukasaku nodded with satisfaction.

Then, he frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "What's that kid Yahiko up to lately? He hasn't come here to practice his Sage Mode for quite some time. He used to be the fastest, but now Nagato and Konan have caught up. I'll have to send a toad to talk to him about this."

……

The Land of Water, the Hidden Mist Village, the Mizukage Building, the Mizukage's Office.

The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, was diligently processing various documents. Due to the large number of documents, he had to create two additional shadow clones to assist him in handling these matters.

He rose to power through a coup, so the flaw of his illegitimate accession to the throne is naturally present.

Therefore, even though he dealt with the conflict between the Blood Mist faction and the conservative faction in the village as soon as he took office, preventing the village from having a large-scale internal conflict, many people still did not accept him, which made it difficult to implement many of his decrees.

Therefore, he had to do many things personally and start training a group of obedient subordinates, keeping him busy all day long.

If he weren't a perfect Jinchūriki, with abundant energy and a fast recovery ability, and if he weren't an intelligent ninja with high efficiency, he would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

However, all the effort and hard work were worthwhile. Under his leadership, Kirigakure, which had been declining in strength due to internal strife, was recovering at a good pace. Many people who did not understand or obey him were slowly accepting him as the new Mizukage and were willing to follow his leadership.

The only thing that bothers him now is that Kirigakure's strength recovery speed is not fast enough.

Although the Land of Water, where Kirigakure is located, is far from the mainland and implements a policy of isolation, the current tense situation on the mainland still affects Kirigakure.

How could it possibly not be affected?

The fact that Madara Uchiha, this madman, had come back from the dead and launched a powerful attack on Konoha, kidnapping the Third Hokage, shocked the entire ninja world.

It's important to understand that Konoha is currently the strongest ninja village, yet Madara Uchiha managed to snatch the Third Hokage from the brink of disaster. This means he could easily replicate what he did in Konoha on other ninja villages.

How could this not arouse suspicion among the higher-ups of other ninja villages?

Then there's Uchiha Madara, a legendary figure who had been famous for a long time, but in the end he suffered a great loss at the hands of a 12-year-old Konoha ninja. The Third Hokage was safely rescued, and Konoha's prestige in the ninja world increased rather than decreased.

Thus, the Konoha that many older generation ninjas remembered as capable of suppressing everything single-handedly seemed to be returning, and this Konoha would bring far more pressure to the major ninja villages than Madara Uchiha.

After all, no matter how powerful Madara Uchiha was, he was already nearing the end of his life and couldn't compare to that Konoha ninja who was like the rising sun.

"If nothing unexpected happens, it will be within the next few years. I wonder if Kirigakure will be able to successfully dodge it this time?"

Yagura absentmindedly put down the documents in his hand and sighed.

Even though Kirigakure was isolated from the world, it never relaxed its surveillance of the outside world. Therefore, the Fourth Mizukage was well aware that the major ninja villages on the continent were expanding their armies and preparing for war.

In particular, their neighbor, Kumogakure, made almost no attempt to conceal their military expansion and preparations for war.

Moreover, the support given to Kumogakure by the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning is enough to make all the other ninja villages envious.

On the contrary, the Daimyo of the Land of Water, the financial backer of Kirigakure, is alienated from Kirigakure and has been trying to control the village by withholding funds, which has seriously affected the speed at which Kirigakure is recovering its strength.

Ultimately, a ninja village needs money to develop.

The windfall that Kirigakure received from supporting Amegakure has been mostly used up, and they urgently need new windfall support.

"The remnants of the Blood Mist Sect have been almost completely wiped out. It's time to settle accounts with those who are dragging us down. Otherwise, these guys won't know who the real master of this country is."

After comparing the relationships between Kirigakure and Kumogakure with the daimyo, Yagura felt extremely unbalanced and resentful.

Chapter 334: Landing on the Moon, First Encounter with Otsutsuki Toneri

"Bang!!!"

A tremendous artillery barrage rang out, and then a small hill collapsed into ruins and dust.

On the other side, atop another small hill, the Fourth Raikage and a group of Cloud Ninja were gazing at the results of their chakra cannon attack. Looking at the hilltop that had been blasted to pieces, their faces were filled with excitement.

This chakra cannon is indeed powerful. It was worth the huge amount of manpower and resources that the Hidden Cloud Village spent developing it. The power of this cannon is no less than that of a Tailed Beast's Tailed Beast Ball attack.

The Tailed Beast Ball is something that a Jinchuriki can only release after mastering a Tailed Beast. While its power is immense, it is extremely difficult to execute and carries the risk of going out of control. The Chakra Cannon, on the other hand, is completely controllable and can be mass-produced.

With such a powerful weapon in hand, Yunyin's confidence immediately increased.

"Hahaha~, it truly lives up to its reputation as a weapon made in imitation of the Tailed Beast Ball. Although its power is slightly less than that of the real Tailed Beast Ball, it's about the same. With such a powerful weapon in our hands, no one can defeat us in the Hidden Cloud Village."

The Fourth Raikage, filled with pride, laughed heartily.

He hadn't laughed so heartily since the defeat at Yunyin, and he felt the pressure on his shoulders lighten considerably.

Not only did the Fourth Raikage feel a surge of pride and a great sense of relief, but the other Cloud Ninja around him felt the same way. Many of them shouted excitedly, and some even started to cry while laughing.

If the Hidden Cloud Village had possessed such powerful weapons back then, how could they have worried about not being able to defeat the Hidden Rain Village and the Leaf Village?

If the Hidden Cloud Village could produce a dozen or so of these weapons, they could destroy that damned Hidden Rain Village in one fell swoop.

Upon realizing this, some of the Cloud Ninja present gradually revealed a murderous intent in their eyes, including the Fourth Raikage.

With a sharp weapon in the body, the murderous heart starts from the beginning.

"It's time for revenge."

This was the thought that arose simultaneously in the minds of the Fourth Raikage and many other martial arts-oriented ninjas at this moment.

"Ahem, Raikage-sama, there are still many problems with the chakra cannon that need to be solved. The most important problem is energy. Each chakra shell requires at least 20 Jonin to contribute their chakra. Moreover, the manufacturing process is not mature enough and needs to be improved. Otherwise, it is easy for the barrel to explode."

Ai Lui keenly sensed that something was wrong and quickly intervened to interrupt the Fourth Raikage and the others' growing desire for revenge.

The barrel exploded!

Upon hearing this term, the Fourth Raikage and other staunch advocates of war immediately changed their expressions and suppressed their murderous intent.

They had all witnessed the power of the chakra cannon. If it were to explode, that would be terrible. They might kill their own people instead of the enemy, which would be absolutely unacceptable.

However, this thing is extremely valuable and absolutely cannot be captured by the enemy; it must be guarded by heavy troops.

This immediately created a vicious cycle.

"Let's do it your way. This thing definitely needs further research and improvement to maximize its safety."

The Fourth Raikage was quite intelligent; after calming down, he understood Erui's good intentions and nodded in support.

Thus, a war was temporarily averted.

Many people present breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the conversation between the two.

Revenge is certainly warranted, but war inevitably results in death, and the situation on the battlefield can change in an instant. To say that victory can be assured solely by relying on chakra cannons is not necessarily true.

Everyone in the ninja world knows that the new leader of Amegakure is a ruthless and cunning person, and his strength is terrifying.

They, the Hidden Cloud Village, unleash a chakra cannon; what will their opponents unleash in return?

The outcome is still uncertain.

"Chakra Cannon, hmm~, that's a pretty good thing. We can try installing it on a puppet."

Meanwhile, a fair-skinned and beautiful Cloud Village Jonin, who was present, looked at the chakra cannon not far away and pondered deeply.

She is none other than Casalan, the most outstanding medical ninja in Kumogakure, and the elite Jonin whose strength is closest to Kage level. She is also a Konoha spy controlled by Kirito using the Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Seed Technique.

Kirito doesn't usually control this spy; he only uses her soul to obtain information about the Cloud Village. He also provides her with excellent ninjutsu and resources to help her grow stronger quickly so that she can get closer to the Cloud Village's higher-ups.

During the last great war, Casalan participated in the battle as a medical ninja accompanying the army. With her excellent medical ninjutsu and strong strength, she killed many enemies and made many merits on the battlefield, completely clearing her of the suspicion that she had been controlled by Konoha ninjas and turned into a spy.

Now that the strength of Kumogakure has been severely weakened, her status has risen dramatically. She has officially entered the high-level circle of Kumogakure and gained the favor of the Fourth Raikage, being appointed as the vice president of Kumogakure Hospital.

She was specially invited to participate in this test firing of the Chakra Cannon, to ensure that any accidents during the test firing process would be prevented and that any injured personnel would receive timely treatment.

Upon learning the news from Casalan, Kirito decisively used the Soul Seed Technique to temporarily take over Casalan's body, so he could see with his own eyes the chakra cannon that the Hidden Cloud Village had developed ahead of its time.

In the original story, the Cloud Village's chakra cannon was developed very early on, but it was not successfully developed until the end of the Fourth World War. Its power was said to be able to destroy the moon in one hit, and it was much more powerful than a typical Tailed Beast Ball.

Now that Kirito has witnessed the test firing of the chakra cannon firsthand through Casaran, he immediately sees through its deception. This chakra cannon is most likely a watered-down version of the one in the original story, a hastily produced product.

This is most likely a product of the Cloud Village's repeated defeats, which severely weakened their strength. Forced into a corner, they hastily developed it, resulting in a significant reduction in its power and compromised safety.

Even so, with such a powerful tool, the Cloud Village's confidence has indeed been steadily increasing, and at least they can now calmly deal with disputes with neighboring countries as before.

Since the strength of the Hidden Cloud Village has greatly diminished, the countries surrounding the Land of Lightning that have often been exploited by it have become restless, especially after the emergence of the Oni Organization, a rogue ninja organization that only cares about money and consists of mercenaries.

In short, the Land of Lightning has never truly emerged from a state of war since its defeat, and bloody conflicts frequently erupt with neighboring smaller nations.

"Truth lies only within the range of cannons. With the Cloud Village now possessing chakra cannons, given the tempers of these barbarians, they'll likely reignite the war soon. The shadow of war is drawing ever closer."

Kirito sighed inwardly.

He then ended his control over Casalan, instructing her to find the core technology of the Chakra Cannon as soon as possible before leaving completely.

……

One week later, in Konoha, on the basement of the Sealing Team building, on an enormous sealing array.

Kirito controlled his Uchiha clone to enter the core of the formation. He was feeling quite excited because today was the day he was preparing to go to the moon.

Almost a month has passed since the spacetime magic array was successfully activated ten times.

During this period, Kirito and many sealing ninjas conducted a thorough inspection and reorganization of the spacetime array, further improving its stability and functionality, and completely resolving the problem of insufficient energy supply.

To solve this problem, Kirito used his sealing technique to split the Nine-Tails into two parts, Yin and Yang. One whole Yin Nine-Tails remained inside Kushina, while two-thirds of the Yang Nine-Tails was sealed inside Minato Namikaze to compensate for his lack of chakra.

The remaining one-third of the Nine-Tails was sealed by Kirito into a sealing container made of black rod material, which served as the main energy core of the spacetime magic array.

It has to be said that the Nine-Tails' chakra is enormous. Even if it is only one-sixth of the Nine-Tails, its chakra is much more than that of a whole One-Tails.

"Let's begin."

After calming himself down, Kirito decisively addressed the sealing ninjas scattered across other locations within the spacetime array.

As soon as he finished speaking, Kirito and the other sealing ninjas who were ready quickly formed hand seals, activating their chakra at a near-synchronous frequency and channeling it into the spacetime array beneath them.