Time moved on to the next day.
The moment Kitazawa got up, White Zetsu updated him on Iwagakure's latest movements.
Iwagakure had four outposts. Konoha had already destroyed two of them. Of the remaining two, one was an ordinary outpost, while the other was Iwagakure's main headquarters.
But last night, Iwagakure voluntarily withdrew from the ordinary outpost, sending three thousand ninja to reinforce their headquarters.
In other words, Iwagakure's headquarters now had more than six thousand ninja.
Kitazawa narrowed his eyes, thinking.
Iwagakure's plan wasn't hard to guess.
The ordinary outpost might have had three thousand Iwa ninja defending it, but it lacked top-tier combat power—people like Ōnoki and Kitsuchi.
Given enough time, it was inevitable that Konoha would smash it.
Iwagakure could have split their high-level fighters across the outposts, but they simply didn't have enough of them. If they spread out, they couldn't maximize their impact—and they'd just get picked off one by one.
So in the end, Iwagakure chose to concentrate everything and gamble it all in one place.
As for Konoha's Second Ninja Force, only two choices remained:
Either give up here… or force a decisive battle.
Giving up was impossible. The only option was to fight.
After White Zetsu left, Kitazawa activated the Byakugan.
He swept his gaze across Konoha's temporary camp and immediately understood Hyūga Hiashi's decision.
Just as he expected, the Second Ninja Force was making preparations for the coming battle.
Kitazawa couldn't help but smile.
In his memories, the original story rarely featured true siege battles between ninja.
Because holing up behind a city's walls didn't fit a ninja's style.
Now, with Iwagakure under massive pressure, six thousand ninja choosing to turtle up behind fortifications was practically a first.
And Konoha assembling five thousand ninja to storm a fortress was also a first.
"After breakfast, we'll go to Iwagakure's headquarters with them," Kitazawa said to Konan, shutting off the Byakugan.
Konan nodded.
At ten in the morning, Konoha's Second Ninja Force assembled on time at the gate of their base camp.
At Hiashi's command, they set off toward Iwagakure's headquarters.
"In a moment, Squad Five and Squad Six will be the main force. The rest of you support them," Hiashi said in a deep voice as he looked at Yamato, Might Guy, Hyūga Neji, and the others.
After the previous two strikes against Iwagakure's outposts, he'd already learned how important Squads Five and Six were.
Ordinary ninja really didn't have many answers against a fortress that was basically a giant turtle shell.
Yamato and the others nodded.
Time passed slowly.
Konoha's Second Ninja Force finally arrived at Iwagakure's headquarters.
Kitazawa came along as well—but he didn't reveal himself. Instead, he and Konan observed from high in the sky.
[Current Mission: Help Might Guy's squad become famous.]
[Mission Reward: Eight Gates Formation.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.
He hadn't expected the reward to be the Eight Gates.
How to put it…
The Eight Gates were certainly strong, but Kitazawa wanted Ōtsutsuki dōjutsu more.
With his current power, he didn't really need a technique with such a brutal cost.
Still, it made sense for the system to trigger a reward like this.
Might Guy's squad—Squad Five—consisted of Rock Lee, Hotaru, and Haku.
Lee was still too young.
And while Haku was the Six-Tails jinchūriki, he still couldn't compare to a Might Guy opening the Eight Gates.
Once this battle was over, the one who would become famous would definitely be Might Guy—not Haku, the Six-Tails jinchūriki.
[Current Mission: Help Yamato's squad become famous.]
[Mission Reward: All-Killing Ash Bones.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa nodded.
Now this reward was good.
All-Killing Ash Bones came from Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—a Kekkei Mōra.
Its effect was simple: shoot bone projectiles from your hand. If they hit the target, the target collapses and disintegrates into ash.
In terms of form, it resembled the Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse).
Considering Kaguya was the ancestor of all shinobi bloodlines, it was probably connected.
"There are traps," Hyūga Neji said, raising a hand.
His Tenseigan had seen all kinds of traps ahead.
Neji then took out the Fatefeather Bow.
"Multiple Arrows!"
He released the string—more than two hundred Yin Release arrows burst forward.
In an instant, a chain of continuous explosions erupted in front of Iwagakure's headquarters.
"In front of the Tenseigan, those traps really are useless," Ōnoki said, shaking his head.
"The next part is what matters," Akatsuchi said grimly.
"Haku is the Six-Tails jinchūriki," Kurotsuchi said thoughtfully. "For Konoha, the simplest and most effective method is a Tailed Beast Bomb."
"The power of a Tailed Beast Bomb is huge, but it isn't invincible," Kitsuchi said confidently. "If I lead the Earth Release users to continuously reinforce the headquarters in real time, we can withstand it."
"Defense alone won't cut it," Kurotsuchi warned. "To beat Konoha, we have to counterattack."
"Leave the counterattack to me!" Deidara clenched his fist.
"Kitsuchi, you take people to defend," Ōnoki decided quickly. "I'll lead the counterattack with Deidara."
The explosions stopped. All traps had been destroyed.
Konoha's ninja looked at the thick wall ahead—dense and layered like a turtle shell, built from Earth Release techniques.
"I'll test it with a Tailed Beast Bomb," Haku said after a moment.
The Tailed Beast Chakra Mode Kitazawa taught was basically half-tailed-beast transformation—enough to use a Tailed Beast Bomb.
As soon as he spoke, he activated the mode.
A blood-red chakra cloak wrapped around him, and then six tails emerged.
Hiashi and the others watched with anticipation.
After all, they knew exactly how terrifying a Tailed Beast Bomb could be.
Haku raised his hand.
Terrifying chakra surged out, rapidly gathering and compressing in front of him.
Soon, a black Tailed Beast Bomb took shape.
With a thought, Haku launched it toward Iwagakure's headquarters.
"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"
Kitsuchi shouted, face stern.
Behind him, a large number of Iwa ninja formed seals at the same time.
The ground in front of the headquarters shook violently.
The earth bulged upward—one enormous stone pillar after another erupted from nothingness.
Boom!
The Tailed Beast Bomb crashed into the pillars.
Boundless light and heat expanded outward, and chakra shockwaves raged like a hurricane.
The pillars collapsed with thunderous force, and countless cracks spiderwebbed across the earth.
The bomb's remaining shockwave surged toward Iwagakure's headquarters like a tidal wave.
At that moment, an enormous rock giant suddenly appeared.
It used its thick back to block the shockwave.
"That's Ōnoki's Earth Release: the Rock Golem Technique," Hiashi said immediately.
"They can't block many times," Haku said, breathing hard.
Whether jinchūriki or tailed beast, using a Tailed Beast Bomb consumed a massive amount.
Aside from the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, it was difficult to fire them repeatedly.
But if Haku's consumption was heavy, Iwagakure's was even heavier.
After all, Haku was one person—while Iwagakure needed all their Earth Release users working together to withstand the blast.
"Watch out!" Neji's gaze snapped sharp.
Everyone instinctively looked up—and saw a massive white dragon in the sky.
"Ōnoki is up there!" Hiashi warned. "Everyone, defend!"
In the next second, the dragon opened its mouth and spat out enormous amounts of clay.
It was Deidara's C2: Dragon.
"Multiple Arrows!"
Neji immediately drew and fired.
A dense rain of Yin Release arrows shot out, instantly hitting the clay.
Continuous explosions erupted in the air.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
Ōnoki formed seals with both hands.
A transparent, square barrier appeared between his palms.
"Dust Release!" Hiashi recognized it instantly—his Byakugan still active.
"Leave it to me."
Neji's expression didn't change as he drew his bow.
"Spiral Arrow!"
A Yin Release arrow shot straight toward the transparent square barrier in Ōnoki's hands.
Ōnoki's expression tightened. He released it.
The transparent square barrier immediately condensed into a white sphere and accelerated, dodging the Spiral Arrow.
"Localised Reincarnation Explosion!"
Neji raised his hand.
A green glow surfaced in his right palm.
The square barrier expanded, attempting to envelop him and disintegrate him down to the atomic level.
But in the next instant, a powerful suction force erupted from Neji's right hand, swallowing the Dust Release technique whole.
"How is that possible?!" Ōnoki's eyes nearly bulged out.
"As expected of the Tenseigan!" Hiashi said excitedly.
Ōnoki's Dust Release was famous to everyone, and its destructive power far surpassed most ninjutsu and Kekkei Genkai.
Yet in front of Neji, it was resolved so easily.
"Truth-Seeking Ball Shuriken!"
Neji entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
A Truth-Seeking Orb appeared, transforming into a shuriken that shot toward Ōnoki.
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!"
The shuriken was too fast for Ōnoki to dodge, so he threw a punch.
Boom!
The Truth-Seeking shuriken—really, the Truth-Seeking Orb—pierced straight through his body.
But no blood appeared.
This Ōnoki was only a shadow clone.
They hadn't killed Ōnoki, but it still meant Iwagakure's first counterattack had failed.
"I can use another Tailed Beast Bomb," Haku said after recovering his breath.
"No need to trade exhaustion with them," Neji said after a brief thought. "We do it together."
Haku nodded.
He raised his hand—another Tailed Beast Bomb formed.
Waves of pressure rolled outward as it slammed toward the headquarters.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall of Ten Thousand Miles!"
Kitsuchi roared.
Countless earth walls fused together.
In an instant, an impossibly thick wall rose in front of the headquarters, solid like a fortress rampart.
Boom!
The Tailed Beast Bomb exploded, white light swallowing the wall.
The wall cracked—but more walls rose again, layer after layer, blocking the blast.
Neji took a deep breath.
He raised both hands; seven Truth-Seeking Orbs spun around him.
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
With a casual sweep of his hand, the seven Orbs turned into a golden chakra blade.
Like an arrow of light, it sliced through the stacked earth walls in an instant and struck Iwagakure's headquarters.
Every Iwa ninja felt the continuous tremor through their bones.
Cracks spread across the turtle-shell defense layer.
Golden light seeped in.
"Not good!"
The moment Ōnoki saw the golden blade, his face changed drastically. "Everyone, attack!"
Akatsuchi, Kurotsuchi, and the others formed seals.
All kinds of ninjutsu slammed into the golden light.
"It worked!" Hiashi's eyes lit up.
Under the Golden Wheel's strike, a huge hole had been carved through the turtle shell outside the headquarters.
"Not enough."
Neji drew the Fatefeather Bow again.
Haku couldn't fire Tailed Beast Bombs continuously, but Neji's World-Ending Arrow was comparable to one.
A Yin Release arrow shot forward.
So much chakra condensed around the shaft that the air distorted in its wake.
Iwagakure's ninja were still resisting the Golden Wheel strike—and the World-Ending Arrow was too fast.
It slipped cleanly through the hole the Golden Wheel had opened and drilled inside.
"Defend!"
When Ōnoki saw the World-Ending Arrow, his scalp went numb.
He quickly formed seals.
"Earth Release: the Rock Golem Technique!"
A massive rock giant surged up, protecting the Iwa forces.
The World-Ending Arrow detonated.
The rock giant shuddered and cracked with countless fissures.
Kitsuchi and the others turned pale and hurriedly formed seals.
"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"
Under the control of many Iwa ninja, enormous stone pillars burst up from underground.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall of Ten Thousand Miles!"
After the pillars came more walls.
They reacted fast—but now their turtle-shell defense worked against them.
Both the Golden Wheel strike and the World-Ending Arrow exploded in an enclosed space, amplifying their destructive power.
When the dust finally settled, what appeared before Konoha's eyes was complete devastation.
Iwagakure's headquarters had become rubble.
The turtle-shell wall protecting it had split apart into pieces, collapsed and twisted.
And in that single wave of blasts, more than half of Iwagakure's ninja were dead or wounded—corpses everywhere.
"Damn it!"
Ōnoki roared in fury. "I will never let you get away with this!"
And it wasn't just him—Kitsuchi and the other survivors were all seething.
Neji put away the Fatefeather Bow.
After firing the World-Ending Arrow, the bow temporarily fell into a weakened state.
But with the Tenseigan, he wasn't overly dependent on it.
"Truth-Seeking Light Cannon!"
Neji raised his hand.
A dense swarm of Truth-Seeking Orbs shot out.
Green chakra—like a laser barrage—blasted toward the remaining Iwa ninja.
Ōnoki and the others looked horrified.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall of Ten Thousand Miles!"
Kitsuchi shouted.
The Iwa forces formed seals together again, raising another heavy wall.
Rumble!
The green chakra struck the wall.
The wall shattered.
Before Ōnoki and the others could even cast a second Earth Release defense, the green chakra fell into the crowd.
Screams erupted.
Blood mixed with raging chakra shockwaves, blasting many Iwa ninja into the air.
"I'll kill him!"
Deidara used Explosive Clay: Giant Bird.
He leapt up, riding the bird into the sky.
"Come back!" Ōnoki shouted instinctively.
But Deidara was already too far—he didn't hear him.
"I'll help him!"
Kitsuchi took a deep breath and chased after him.
But halfway there, Haku blocked his path.
"The Six-Tails jinchūriki…?" Kitsuchi stopped, face grim.
"Kurotsuchi, you take command," Ōnoki said, immediately breaking away from the fight.
But he didn't get his way—because a green-clad figure appeared right in front of him.
It was Might Guy.