That night, Yūgao Uzuki stayed in the Grass Ninja Village.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Sora had his subordinates begin setting up defenses, preparing to welcome the surprise attack from the Land of Earth forces.
He distributed the flying thunder god kunai to everyone and had them buried at various positions outside the Village.
Then, he summoned some of the elites from the Grass Ninja Village and gave them instructions.
Setting up barriers, establishing sentry posts, evacuating the civilians, and so on.
Next, it was just a matter of waiting for the arrival of the Land of Earth forces.
He intended to keep the battlefield outside the Grass Ninja Village, ensuring all enemies would be unable to enter!
For this purpose, he dispatched the Six Edo Tensei Individuals to the four cardinal directions, with the remaining two acting as mobile units to patrol everywhere.
Since Uchiha Sora was the caster of the Edo Tensei, he could, whenever he wished, know the situation near the Edo Tensei individuals through their connection.
Once everything was ready, Uchiha Sora went to rest, beginning to recharge his energy.
After all, a defensive battle was coming, and the consumption would certainly be significant.
For him, this was also a form of training and a challenge.
By the early morning hours, the alarm in the Village was finally sounded.
Uchiha Sora rolled out of bed, threw on his custom white divine robe, brought enough flying thunder god kunai, and walked out the door.
At this moment, Yūgao Uzuki was also startled by the alarm and hurried over to find Uchiha Sora.
"Why are you here?" Uchiha Sora asked, frowning slightly as he saw her wearing a tight-fitting combat suit that accentuated her graceful figure.
Yūgao Uzuki said, "I'm here to help you! Otherwise, why would I stay behind?"
Uchiha Sora said with a wry smile, "You really want to fight alongside me? Alright, this isn't a joke; you should just stay in the Village!"
"Sora! Do you look down on me?" Yūgao Uzuki became angry instantly and frowned.
"Don't mess around. The opponents are troops from Iwagakure, and their strength is definitely not weak. It's too dangerous for you to participate in the battle," Uchiha Sora advised.
"Don't forget, I am a Special Jonin of Konoha!" Yūgao Uzuki said stubbornly, "Do I not even have the qualifications to participate in battle?"
"I know you aren't weak, but I'm afraid of you getting hurt," Uchiha Sora shook his head and said.
Yūgao Uzuki's body trembled slightly; Uchiha Sora's words instantly struck the soft spot in her heart.
Looking at his handsome profile with misty eyes, Yūgao Uzuki felt a complex mix of emotions.
If only we were still in Konoha, how wonderful that would be!
Seeing that Yūgao Uzuki refused to leave, Uchiha Sora had no choice but to say, "Alright, if you want to participate, you can, but stay by my side for now. Let my Edo Tensei subordinates go first."
Yūgao Uzuki was satisfied with this.
Outside the Grass Ninja Village, in the forest.
The entire surprise attack force from the Land of Earth had about a thousand people.
They were divided into two groups: one attacking from the main gate of the Grass Ninja Village, and the other breaking in from the rear.
Long before this, the Land of Earth had already arranged a detailed invasion route through spies planted inside the Grass Ninja Village.
In their invasion plan, they would first use a feint at the main gate to attract Uchiha Sora's attention. When he focused all his attention on the main gate, the troops raiding from the rear could directly invade the Village.
Their goal was, on one hand, to seize some of the resources and secret techniques within the Grass Ninja Village. On the other hand, and most importantly, they wanted to use the pincer attack method to force Uchiha Sora to submit, or ideally, kill him on the spot. This would allow them to collect the one-hundred-million-ryo bounty and also obtain the secrets of the Sharingan from him.
The Third Tsuchikage was also aware of the intelligence regarding Uchiha Sora's background; he knew that Uchiha Sora originated from the Uchiha Clan of Konoha Village. Although he did not know his specific abilities, it was a fact that he was not very old.
Therefore, in the eyes of the Third Tsuchikage, Uchiha Sora certainly had some strength, but it definitely could not be that high.
The one leading them this time was the expert from Iwagakure who was second only to the Third Tsuchikage: the Third Tsuchikage's son, Kitsuchi!
Kitsuchi was a tall, burly man with a tough appearance. His Earth Release Ninjutsu was unmatched in the Ninja World, and he was the face of Iwagakure alongside the Third Tsuchikage.
And he was the main force for this feint against the Grass Ninja Village!
"Everyone, the situation seems a bit off!" Kitsuchi, leading half of his subordinates, stopped in the forest outside the Grass Ninja Village. He frowned as he looked toward the Village and spoke.
"What's wrong, Captain?" someone nearby asked, not understanding.
"The Grass Ninja Village seems suspiciously quiet! Even if our movements were stealthy, at this stage, it's impossible that their people haven't discovered us!" Kitsuchi analyzed.
The elites beside him immediately realized this and said in surprise, "Could this be intentional by the Grass Ninja Village?"
"Oh no! We might have been ambushed!" someone suddenly shouted.
As soon as that person's voice fell, a series of explosions erupted from all around their troops.
Suddenly, the Grass Ninjas who had been lying in ambush all around appeared and surrounded Kitsuchi's troops from all directions.
"Damn it! We really were ambushed! These guys actually dared to ambush us!" an Iwagakure Ninja cursed angrily.
"Calm down!" Kitsuchi said. "These rabble from the Grass Ninja Village are not what we need to worry about. Even if we are surrounded by them, they cannot be our opponents. What I am worried about is that our intelligence seems to have been leaked long ago. Only people from the Five Great Ninja Villages could likely possess this level of intelligence-gathering capability!"
"Don't forget the other purpose of our mission this time!" Kitsuchi reminded everyone.
"Could it be... Konoha is pulling the strings behind the scenes?" The people around him were shocked.
"That's it! If it is Konoha, they would never sit by and watch us attack the Grass Ninja Village. Perhaps many of the people currently lying in ambush around us are Konoha Ninja!"
"Damn it, the Third Hokage of Konoha is indeed cunning! It seems our mission will be very troublesome this time!"
Kitsuchi waved his hand. "Regardless, we must complete the mission! Although we lost the initiative this time, the Ninja of Iwagakure are not to be trifled with! Everyone, fight with all your might!"
With that, Kitsuchi was the first to launch a Ninjutsu.
He slammed his hands onto the ground, and immediately, a massive stone giant rose from the earth. Under his control, this stone giant, standing three or four stories tall, roared and charged toward the Grass Ninjas.
Seeing this, the other Iwagakure Ninja also successively unleashed their respective Earth Release Ninjutsu.
Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!
Earth Release: Earth-Splitting Projection!
Earth Release: Earth Rising Gun!
Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spear!
Earth Release...
One Earth Release Ninjutsu after another emerged endlessly, launching a fierce attack toward the Grass Ninjas.
The Earth Release Ninjutsu of Iwagakure was extremely powerful; with so many people using various Earth Release techniques together, it instantly triggered an earthquake on the battlefield.
Dust filled the air, and the sounds of intense fighting soon spread everywhere..