'Ōnoki, the Third Raikage...'
Hiruzen considered the two of them. In his mind, they were shinobi who truly possessed their own distinctive specialties.
Dust Release, which could disintegrate matter, and a body that rivaled or even surpassed a Tailed Beast's, combined with the ultimate in raw physical output.
The Third Raikage and Ōnoki were probably not as well-rounded as he was, but they still could not be underestimated.
After all, battle was never a simple contest of numbers. Terrain, the number of enemies, and one's condition were all complicated factors.
'The Tailed Beasts of Kumogakure and Iwagakure won't be easy to capture, but getting some of their chakra shouldn't be difficult...'
'Right, I almost forgot. Orochimaru once collected some of the Eight-Tails' chakra!'
Hiruzen's thoughts stirred.
The training method recorded on the Sage of Six Paths' stone tablet said that the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts had to resonate with one another and then merge into a single whole, eventually evolving into the so-called "the power that gives rise to all things."
Although Hiruzen disliked war, now that war had already broken out, he had to find a way to secure more benefits for Konoha.
'Still, there's no need to rush...'
'This method of fusing the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts is far too extreme and dangerous. Although I can vaguely sense that it isn't merely some empty claim passed down from ancient times, I still need to proceed steadily.'
'I should first complete the Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal, then use the Kekkei Genkai threads to reinforce the structure of my "sealing body." Otherwise, conducting such dangerous experiments inside my own body could create problems that simple medical ninjutsu wouldn't be able to heal...'
Hiruzen continued thinking.
At that moment, Hizashi rapidly descended from the sky and reported in a clear, brisk voice: "Hokage-sama, something seems to have gone wrong in Kirigakure's rear. Their reinforcements are moving unusually slowly!"
"Something went wrong in the rear? That shouldn't be happening..." Hiruzen frowned.
"Could it be Nakamaro?" Tenzō's eyes lit up.
"Nakamaro received my true teachings. I believe he's capable of rising to a high position in Kirigakure, protecting himself, and building up a small faction of his own..."
"Hokage-sama, did you see Nakamaro earlier?"
Hiruzen shook his head. He remembered all of those Kirigakure exchange students.
"I didn't see any members of the Kaguya Clan either."
"Then it has to be him! Nakamaro would never allow the Kaguya Clan to be wiped out. He's definitely capable of handling something like that. One of the three strategies I left him specifically included a way to deal with this..."
Tenzō said with complete certainty: "Hokage-sama, Nakamaro must have seen how fierce Konoha's offensive was and is using this method to send us a silent signal from Kirigakure's rear!"
Beside him, Hizashi showed a rare look of confusion.
'Father, what exactly do you mean by this?'
Hizashi had a feeling that his own father, Tenzō, understood Nakamaro and cared about him far more than he did his own biological son.
And probably far more than Hiashi, the legitimate eldest son, as well...
Hiruzen merely smiled without saying anything.
The shinobi world's unique tradition: the heir to one's Nindō mattered more than blood ties...
"If that's the case..."
"Kirigakure has already been affected by the routed troops, so their morale must be unstable. And for the moment, they can't obtain reinforcements either..."
"Although the coastline is terrain that favors Kirigakure..."
Hiruzen rapidly weighed the situation.
If Kirigakure were allowed to reorganize, then even though his individual combat strength stood in a league of its own, the combination of ocean terrain and large-scale coordinated ninjutsu would still be capable of causing him trouble.
For someone at the level of a Kage, a few dozen chūnin posed no threat at all if they were disorganized.
But if they could advance and retreat in an orderly fashion, then stopping a Kage's ninjutsu was not particularly difficult. For lower-level combat forces to truly exert their strength, organization was inseparable from combat effectiveness.
"Hokage-sama, Kirigakure hasn't fully withdrawn. They've stationed themselves near the coastline and are currently reorganizing their forces..."
Hizashi quickly continued, "Combined with the Tailed Beast chakra I detected, I believe they're relying on something!"
"Attack!"
Hiruzen made the decision immediately.
"We're attacking precisely because they have those two Tailed Beasts!"
"All forces, move out with me! I'll first use another barrage of compound Five Releases to strike Kirigakure's formation. Hizashi, eliminate their commanders from long range..."
Now that Kirigakure had finally learned to spread out, it was no longer realistic to wipe them all out in one sweep with another massive Five Releases barrage.
But for the Kiri shinobi who had only just experienced the Hokage's overwhelming power, simply seeing that spectacle again would inevitably cause panic to spread.
Combined with Hizashi's precise long-range eliminations and Tenzō's accurate command and control of Konoha's shinobi, they could effectively create a battlefield where Hiruzen and the Third Mizukage would be almost one-on-one.
This was an opportunity that came once in a thousand years!
"Hokage-sama, what about those two Tailed Beasts?"
Tenzō frowned.
"We still don't know the exact details of how the Third Mizukage controls them..."
"No need to worry. Mito-sama and the Nine-Tails told me some things about that."
Hiruzen waved a hand.
"Tailed Beasts have very simple methods of attack. Aside from Tailed Beast Balls and a few abilities tied to their nature, they mostly rely on crushing enemies with their enormous bodies."
"As for Tailed Beast Balls, I already know their chakra composition, so they won't be able to fire them."
"If they were perfect jinchūriki, they'd be worth being wary of. But wild Tailed Beasts are nothing to fear. This time, we're confiscating both Kirigakure's Three-Tails and Six-Tails and bringing them back to Konoha. We'll break Kirigakure's spine!"
"And ideally, we'll kill the Third Mizukage on the battlefield!"
Tenzō blinked. Hiruzen's words were a little hard to wrap his head around.
What did he mean by saying that because he knew the composition of the Tailed Beast Ball, the Tailed Beasts wouldn't be able to fire one?
Did that even make sense?
But that was exactly what Hiruzen's Spirit Release was for...
"Hokage-sama, the Third Mizukage is also highly proficient in genjutsu. You must be careful..."
Tenzō rapidly ran through the intelligence in his mind, mentally reviewing all the correspondence exchanged between the Hyūga and Kaguya clans over the years before saying solemnly: "His ability to control the Three-Tails and Six-Tails is probably also because his genjutsu mastery is exceptionally high!"
Hiruzen smiled when he heard that.
"All right. Understood!"
Within his Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal, the sections that had already reached a solid level of refinement were "Fire Sealing," "Water Sealing," and "Evil Sealing"...
Two out of those three happened to correspond directly to the Third Mizukage's specialties.
Even Hiruzen had to admit that he really did seem to have a bit of a natural advantage against him.
"Move out!"
Hiruzen hesitated no longer and swept his hand forward.
"We may not have many people, but we absolutely have to fight with overwhelming momentum and ferocity. Make the enemy relive the fear they just experienced!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
Hizashi, Tenzō, and the Konoha shinobi present roared back with tremendous spirit.
...
Land of Fire.
Coastline.
The Third Mizukage coldly watched the Kiri shinobi while executing routed soldiers who undermined morale.
The battle line had already begun stretching gradually along the shore, and the Third Mizukage positioned the Three-Tails and Six-Tails under his control at the front of the formation.
The eyes of the two controlled beasts were filled with chaos, their auras violent and restless.
Feeling the Tailed Beasts' raging chakra and the ocean beside him, the Third Mizukage felt considerably more at ease.
This was the confidence that had allowed him to establish the Bloody Mist!
But at that very moment—
A compound barrage of all Five Releases descended from the sky!
Once again, it was the same violent combinations of magma, lightning and fire, lightning and water, mud, and wind and fire!
Cries of alarm immediately erupted across the battlefield. The extraordinarily violent Release techniques exploded into shockwave after shockwave, and the spray of chakra sent screams of agony spreading across the field once more.
Hiruzen wasn't expecting to hit that many Kiri shinobi again...
What he wanted to strike was their will to resist!
As for the chakra required to unleash these oversized compound barrages, the consumption was indeed enormous.
But Hiruzen didn't care, because his chakra reserves were no smaller than those of an ordinary Tailed Beast...
"You've got some nerve!"
A razor-sharp blade suddenly appeared in the Third Mizukage's hand, its entire length gleaming with cold light. It had been condensed from highly concentrated Water Release chakra, and its underlying principle was somewhat similar to Tobirama's "Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade"!
The Third Mizukage rapidly formed hand seals and drew upon the sea.
Water Release received a massive boost near a large water source. Waves like a tsunami surged forward and extinguished the flames, but they also completely divided the battlefield.
Yet the sky still belonged to Konoha.
The aerial squad used the senbon launchers in their hands to empty entire magazines downward at full firepower before following up by bombarding the ground with ninjutsu.
The Konoha shinobi on land were equally ferocious. Under cover from the forces above, they charged forward and slaughtered their way into the enemy!
Hokage-sama was always the one charging at the very front. How could they possibly hold back?
A king against a king, a general against a general!
The Konoha shinobi didn't believe there was any possibility of their Hokage losing.
So they didn't want to lose either.
"Kiritori..."
Hiruzen stood not far from the Third Mizukage, narrowing his eyes as he studied him.
"Why did you betray the alliance with Konoha? Why did you start a war against us..."
"Hokage, are you a child?"
Standing before Hiruzen, the Third Mizukage no longer felt like giving any of those strange excuses. He replied coldly: "Does war in the shinobi world need a reason? Other than naïve people like you, who would ever trust an alliance between shinobi?"
"If Konoha isn't strong enough, then it has no right to continue possessing the Land of Fire's rich lands and resources. It's the simplest principle there is. I'm sure even you understand that."
"What a pity..."
Hiruzen sighed softly.
"When the entire shinobi world questioned the legitimacy of your position back then, I spoke up for you..."
The Third Mizukage's expression froze.
That was something he genuinely couldn't refute.
Even in Kirigakure, where propriety and order had long since fallen apart, if someone had once spoken up for you out of fairness and you later stabbed them in the back, people would inevitably talk about it behind your back.
That was basic courtesy.
"But now it seems I misjudged you."
"For someone as despicable as you, it seems you really did reach the position of Mizukage through dishonorable means. Perhaps you think the reason you weren't the Second Mizukage was because you failed to defeat Hōzuki Gengetsu according to Kirigakure's traditions."
"As the successor personally designated by the First Hokage, I regret to tell you this: if the First Mizukage, Byakuren, had wanted you to inherit the position of Mizukage, Hōzuki Gengetsu would never even have gotten the chance to challenge you."
"From the very beginning, you were a candidate the First Mizukage had already discarded. It had nothing to do with Hōzuki Gengetsu."
"For someone like you to become Mizukage was only possible because the Second Mizukage died fighting for the village, allowing you to luck your way into the position..."
"But when a man's virtue is unworthy of his position, disaster inevitably follows."
"Clearly, neither your ability nor your character is enough to bear the position of Mizukage. That's why you've reduced the Land of Water and Kirigakure to a complete mess. No wonder both the shinobi world and Kirigakure itself consider you a terrible Mizukage..."
Hiruzen spoke in an even tone, his gaze measured and critical.
High above them, Gengetsu listened, then couldn't help smacking one fist into his palm as he blurted out: "Now that's satisfying!"
"I told you Old Man Byakuren had his eye on me from the start. Making that useless Kiritori fight me was just going through the motions!"
Mū chuckled.
Getting excited while listening to a Kage from another village condemn his own village's Kage as unworthy of his position...
Gengetsu was probably the first lunatic ever to pull that off.
'No, wait. Maybe someone from Sunagakure might do it too?' Mū shrugged.
Either way, his own conscience was clear.
None of this had anything to do with the bandaged man. He was just here to watch the show...
The Third Mizukage's expression changed again and again.
In truth, Hiruzen didn't think anything he had said was particularly harsh.
But in the environment of the Bloody Mist, no one dared tell the Third Mizukage certain uncomfortable truths.
As a result, his psychological defenses weren't particularly strong. Over the past two years, he had even become somewhat childish...
"Sarutobi Hiruzen, what gives you the right to judge me?! To judge my Bloody Mist?!"
The Third Mizukage looked deranged.
"I'll have you know, I was just wondering whether you'd dare come after me! Do you see this ocean? Do you see these two Tailed Beasts?"
"Today, this will be your grave!"
Hiruzen gave a disdainful smile.
"With such poor self-control, it's no wonder the First Mizukage, Byakuren, made you one of his guards only to discard you in the end."
"You abandon loyalty at the sight of petty gain and scramble to save yourself when disaster strikes..."
"Fierce in appearance yet cowardly at heart, obstinate and convinced of your own infallibility..."
Hiruzen shook his head.
"So be it. Today, I'll clean house on the First Mizukage's behalf!"
The Third Mizukage stared at him in bewilderment, his face gradually turning red.
"You're courting death!"
The Third Mizukage's eyes widened furiously.
At that moment, the Third Mizukage stood atop the Three-Tails Isobu's massive armored shell, his fingers forming seals so quickly that they blurred.
The Three-Tails opened its enormous mouth toward Hiruzen and unleashed a tremendous barrage of water projectiles. Beside it, the Six-Tails Saiken spewed corrosive foam. The two Tailed Beasts attacked from both sides, leaving seemingly no gap to escape through!
"Sarutobi Hiruzen, you dared insult me, so leave your life here!"
The Third Mizukage's roar was filled with arrogance.
In his eyes, with two Tailed Beasts surrounding Hiruzen and the ocean itself giving him the terrain advantage, every advantage was already on his side.
But in the next instant, his pupils abruptly contracted.
Lightning suddenly erupted around Hiruzen. Ignoring the pincer attack from both Tailed Beasts, he charged straight toward the Third Mizukage himself!
Compared with Tailed Beasts acting on their own instincts, controlled Tailed Beasts moved considerably more sluggishly. Their attacks looked almost as though they were dropping frames.
For an ordinary shinobi, attacks from Tailed Beasts like these were still lethal.
But in a battle between top-tier shinobi, that became a weakness that couldn't be ignored.
The Third Mizukage was both shocked and furious. He wanted to ask about that Lightning Release Chakra Mode!
"You're using lightning armor against me?"
The Third Mizukage's pupils contracted as his hand seals abruptly changed.
"Ridiculous!"
Lightning and water didn't have an elemental advantage over one another, but in actual combat, each could counter the other depending on how they were used.
The Third Mizukage's chakra erupted as he drew upon the ocean. An enormous wave like a tsunami surged toward Hiruzen!
Hidden within the tsunami were countless fist-sized, high-pressure water blades spinning like tops.
This was an exceptionally advanced Water Release technique.
From this technique alone, at least when it came to Water Release, the Third Mizukage was worthy of the title of Mizukage.
But to his astonishment, Hiruzen continued charging straight toward him, as though the massive wave in front of him didn't even exist!
Only the Lightning Release Chakra Mode surrounding his body disappeared, replaced by a layer of pitch-black material.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear?"
"You think that can withstand my Water Release? You're dead!"
The Third Mizukage instantly recognized Hiruzen's technique. His eyes reddened as he gritted his teeth and poured even more chakra into his attack.
In an ocean environment, forget Hiruzen—even Ōnoki's Earth Release could be forcibly smashed apart by his water currents!
Let alone Hiruzen's mortal flesh protected by Earth Release!
The Third Mizukage watched excitedly as the water blades within his massive wave tore through the Earth Spear surrounding Hiruzen.
But then something utterly shocking happened!
The instant the water blades touched Hiruzen's body, those seemingly unstoppable blades sputtered out, losing their shape transformation as they spun apart.
Some even dissolved into streams of chakra that flowed directly into the Hokage's body.
Although the Third Mizukage's Water Release had the ability to obstruct and impede an opponent's movement, and Hiruzen's speed had objectively been reduced, at that very moment, violent steam exploded from his body.
In an instant, he was directly in front of the Third Mizukage!
'Impossible!'
The Third Mizukage's shocked cry never even made it out of his mind.
Instinctively, he raised his hand and swung his water blade.
At that moment, the power of Boil Release erupted from Hiruzen's body. The tremendous strength it granted him was utterly straightforward, without the slightest trick or flourish. His fist slammed solidly into the Third Mizukage's chest and abdomen!
In an instant, a dense spray of blood burst from the Third Mizukage's mouth! Hiruzen followed through with a second punch directly to his chest.
The Third Mizukage shot away like a cannonball, hurtling straight toward the distant ocean and crashing into it with enough force to send churning waves dozens of meters into the air!
Hiruzen didn't stop, hovering above the surface of the sea.
He formed seals with one hand so quickly that the individual signs were almost impossible to see.
With a low shout, his chakra erupted, forcibly driving away the seawater within a hundred-meter radius of the impact point!
The sea was pushed back as though blocked by invisible walls, forcibly carving out a vast, waterless void in the middle of the ocean.
There, the Third Mizukage's battered figure was embedded in the reef on the seafloor.
At this moment, Hiruzen could see that the Third Mizukage was using the seawater to repair his injuries.
'The Hōzuki Clan's Hydrification Technique? The underlying principle is very similar. He probably imitated it using Kirigakure's records...'
'So he mastered Gengetsu's specialty secret technique?'
Before the Third Mizukage could use the Hydrification Technique to slip into the seawater, Hiruzen had already descended from above, giving him no chance to catch his breath as he prepared to beat the Third Mizukage to death in one sustained assault!
Hiruzen's fists and kicks rained down, yet every single blow carried the tremendous force of steam behind it!
The Third Mizukage could only use chakra to protect his internal organs, but the terrifying force still penetrated through his flesh, making his Chakra Pathways feel as though they were being shaken by an earthquake and throwing his chakra into complete disorder.
Every time he traded blows with Hiruzen, it was an almost unbearable experience, as if the Three-Tails had rolled directly over his limbs, leaving him crushed, despairing, and utterly at a loss.
In desperation, the Third Mizukage bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, forcibly suppressing the chaos in his body through pain.
A ghostly blue glow suddenly appeared in his eyes.
His secret genjutsu erupted at full power!
Invisible genjutsu chakra surged toward Hiruzen like a tide. This was the Third Mizukage's true killing move, one he had continuously refined for more than twenty years!
During his battle against Hōzuki Gengetsu for the position of Mizukage, Gengetsu's genjutsu had created a mirage that made the Third Mizukage suffer terribly...
Because of that, the Third Mizukage had always regarded it as the greatest humiliation of his life, determined to learn from that defeat and absorb his opponent's strengths!
'I've spent more than twenty years refining this genjutsu...'
A vicious thought flashed through the Third Mizukage's mind.
As long as Hiruzen fell under his genjutsu, the entire situation would reverse in an instant!
The Third Mizukage was extremely confident in his genjutsu.
He had even seen the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyō Sharingan before and didn't believe his own genjutsu was inferior.
But then something happened that nearly made the Third Mizukage's soul leave his body!
The genjutsu, powerful enough to leave both a Kage and a Tailed Beast dazed, had barely touched Hiruzen's body before it vanished like mud sinking into the sea, instantly losing its proper form without even creating the slightest ripple.
Exactly like what had happened when his Water Release touched Hiruzen earlier...
The Third Mizukage was completely dumbfounded.
Was this man immune to genjutsu too?
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