After cresting a low hill, Yuzuru and the Konoha ninja behind him caught sight of the Mist frontline blocking their path...
By this point, there were likely still some Mist ninja who couldn't make sense of how everything had happened or why it had turned out that way. Wasn't Mist supposed to be in the offensive position? Wasn't this battlefield supposed to take place on Fire Country's territory?
How could everything flip completely overnight?
There was no need to calculate enemy numbers. A single glance made it clear—they were outnumbered by several times, perhaps even tenfold. Obviously, despite how quickly things had changed, Mist's approach made strategic sense—regardless of victory or defeat, at the very least, the battle must not occur inside the village.
"Can you see the Fourth Mizukage?" Haseo gazed toward Mist's densely packed formation. At this distance, his eyesight alone definitely wouldn't pick out the Mizukage from among the masses.
Still, he was fairly certain the Fourth Mizukage was there. Under these circumstances, only the Mizukage would dare attempt to stop him.
The Mizukage was worth such an attempt.
Haseo might've had somewhat poor vision, but that didn't matter. Among the ninja he led, there were those with excellent eyesight. This question was addressed to those two "reconnaissance specialists."
Thus, the Hyuga brothers activated their Byakugan and carefully observed the Mist frontline.
Meanwhile, naturally, Konoha's formation came to a brief halt at their current position.
"Yes, Lord Haseo," Hiashi Hyuga reported. "The Fourth Mizukage is hiding right in the center of Mist's frontline. He's all geared up and radiating strong chakra… Lord Haseo, shall we begin the battle now? Could you explain your strategy?"
Quickly, Hiashi Hyuga located the Mizukage's position using the Byakugan's long-range vision—doing exactly what he was supposed to. However, the issue was… he actually believed Haseo had some elaborate, practical combat plan at this moment.
"You're kidding me, right? Don't try to act cool when you're just talking nonsense. Explain something to me first—what exactly do you mean by 'fully armed'? Since when did ninjas ever become 'fully equipped'?" Haseo shot Hiashi Hyuga a sidelong glance and immediately started reprimanding the young man.
At the same time, he skillfully dodged addressing the main question—for now.
"..."
Hiashi stood there, clearly feeling hurt, as his chuuni-style dramatic pose instantly crumbled.
"Lord Haseo," Hizashi Hyuga, the younger brother, followed up cautiously, "although the Fourth Mizukage is indeed present among the Mist forces, I couldn't detect any Jinchuriki among them."
Trying to ease his older brother's awkwardness, his intentions were good, but… he really was just the younger sibling.
"Does the Byakugan really have the ability to easily identify a Jinchuriki? Are you sure about this?"
"..."
He sounded far from certain.
Right now, these two brothers really ought to go off and have a good brooding session together.
"Alright, no more jokes..." Haseo's mood was very calm. As he spoke, he glanced back at the Konoha ninja following him and then began issuing the next battle orders. "Everyone, since we've already come here, we must have the resolve of 'succeed or perish.'
In the previous war, we forced Mist to leave the battlefield and swallow the bitter fruit of defeat as quickly as possible. This time will be no different—we can still handle it easily with our past experience.
Following the same strategy isn't difficult, right?
Therefore, listen well to the following orders:
Next, you all should advance toward Mist at your own pace. We're severely outnumbered, so under no circumstances can we allow ourselves to get scattered. Command authority will be delegated to the newly established temporary command headquarters.
As for me... I will break through first in order to create a better offensive environment for everyone.
In one word: I'll initiate the engagement first while you advance steadily from behind."
If they launched an attack using conventional tactics, seven hundred Konoha ninjas absolutely couldn't break through Mist. Therefore, Haseo needed to create a better chance for Konoha's assault—Mist's main force had to be kept busy, and he just so happened to know exactly how to pin them down.
This technique was called...
[Ambush]
And because what Haseo had just said wasn't up for discussion but rather a straightforward command, his words left no room for debate.
No matter how vague and unreliable the operational plan sounded, it had now immediately entered execution phase—that was the "command" of the supreme commander.
Then, Haseo used the Shadow Clone Jutsu, leaving two clones behind with the main force as some kind of safeguard and contingency measure. After instinctively stretching his limbs slightly, he continued speaking:
"Next... the operation begins."
Then, before anyone could even think to respond, Haseo himself had already rushed out.
He followed through on his words—he really did charge ahead alone into battle, without hesitation whatsoever.
A single person charging decisively into an enemy formation numbering in the thousands was still quite a sight to behold; but don't expect anyone to call it 'brilliant.'
Certainly not.
But at this moment, facing Haseo's direct charge, Mist responded immediately with commotion.
Bright arcs of electricity surged around Haseo. As his moving speed climbed to its peak, shapes and outlines of surrounding objects stretched into colored strips within his field of vision, yet visual blurring didn't mean any lack of perceptiveness.
The Water-natured chakra radiating around him sharpened his senses, helping him detect every detail around him. After long-term adaptation to this high-speed movement method, Haseo could accurately determine in an instant whether something near him was human or object, dead or alive, dangerous or harmless.
The linear movement, no matter how fast, ultimately allowed them to determine Haseo's trajectory and position. So immediately afterwards, a barrage of wide-range ninjutsu rushed towards him.
Yet even now, Haseo still chose not to evade. His speed surged once again, allowing him to precisely dash beyond the attack range just before the techniques struck.
The Mist frontline clearly had no intention of simply letting Haseo charge into their core formation. In an instant, numerous earth walls suddenly rose up, blocking his path forward.
But how could Earth Release possibly stop Lightning Release?
The Earth Flow Wall didn't even slow him down for a moment before Haseo pierced right through it in an instant.
In the next moment, Haseo stood face-to-face with the foremost Mist ninja.
A Lightning Bolt struck the open field. The Mist ninja at the forefront already seemed to foresee the storm of carnage about to erupt.
However, just as Haseo was nearly piercing straight into the Mist formation, he suddenly made a ninety-degree turn, bypassing the enemy line at unimaginable speed before turning back to his original direction and charging ahead.
This...
The Mist ninja who'd been directly facing Haseo stood stunned for a moment, only then realizing cold sweat had already soaked their brows.
But they hadn't yet wiped away the sweat or felt any relief from surviving death when they glanced toward the direction Haseo headed—and their perspiration poured even more heavily.
Kiri again. Still Kiri. This lunatic had fixated on it like nothing else.
When facing a high-speed ninja like Haseo charging straight in, who could possibly stop him—and how? Flying Thunder God might do it… but what else?
The Land of Water itself was far smaller than the Land of Fire, and Kiri wasn't located at the nation's heart but closer to the coast. Thus, under Haseo's extreme speed, this village was nowhere near distant.
Like a meteor piercing the atmosphere, even though the guarding Mist ninja detected Haseo from afar, they still couldn't prevent his arrival.
Rushing into the heart of the village amid the Mist ninja's shock, his feet hadn't even touched the ground when he started forming hand seals:
[Earth Release: Uka no Mitama no Kami]!
[Earth Release: Great Moving Earth Core]!
With the land and buildings beneath him collapsing together, a thirty-meter-tall Earth Release statue appeared within the village in an instant.
Then, the colossal statue slowly lifted one massive leg.
Powered by the immense chakra behind the Great Moving Earth Core, the core of Kiri suddenly began to rise from beneath.
The earth swelled up, and the colossal statue's single leg came crashing down. In the next moment, like a massive drumstick striking the bulged drum surface, with a heavy and profound tremor sound, the central part of the village was instantly shattered into pieces.
During the Second Great Ninja War, Haseo provoked the emergence of the Six-Tails, then used the unexpected method of triggering its "Big Rainbow Spot"—blowing up Kiri halfway. Although it looked horrifying at the time, in reality, the process had been quite troublesome.
Haseo needed Tailed Beasts to destroy Kiri.
Now, in the midst of the Third Great Ninja War, the damage The Mist had previously suffered appeared to have vanished on the surface. However... if Haseo harbored the same intentions now, would he still need the Tailed Beasts?
Would simply hiding the Jinchuriki be enough?
That's strange. Why would there be such an illusion?
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