Just as wars broke out in the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers, intense battles also erupted in the Land of Grass. Due to a shift in strategic focus, the main enemy force in the Land of Grass was now the Iwagakure ninja village. Faced with pressure from both the Konoha and Kumogakure ninjas, the Iwagakure ninjas displayed astonishing resilience.
After Fumori masaki arrived, the morale of the Konoha ninjas soared. Eager to perform well in front of the Hokage, their attacks on the Iwagakure ninjas were unexpectedly fierce, and their use of explosive cannons became increasingly sophisticated. With the delivery of the Thunderblast Talisman series of ninja tools, their suppressive power over the Iwagakure ninjas grew even stronger.
Rock walls that previously required multiple bombardments to collapse were even less of a challenge against the explosive power of the Thunderblast Talismans. Furthermore, landmines constructed from Thunderblast Talismans could be buried deeper than explosive tag landmines, thus having a greater effect and completely blocking Iwagakure ninjas' ground infiltration.
Of course, the Iwagakure ninjas were not entirely stubborn. After realizing that rock walls were not significantly effective against explosive cannon bombardments, they changed their tactics, focusing on altering terrain and constructing trenches to defend against the explosive cannons.
It must be said that after changing their defensive methods, the Iwagakure ninjas' ability to withstand explosive cannons significantly increased. Moreover, without tall rock walls to obstruct their vision, they had more flexible reaction time against Konoha ninjas who stealthily approached under cannon fire, thus prolonging the battle.
Facing this situation, the Konoha ninja village promptly modified their shelling methods, firing "shells" in a parabolic trajectory. How to mathematically calculate parabolas had long been taught in the Konoha ninja village. What seemed like confusing mathematical calculations in the original Chunin Exams were actually proving useful here.
The longer he lived in the ninja world,Fumori masaki could feel the differences from the original work. The trend of historical development was almost identical, but there were differences in daily life. At least, he had never seen any modern items in the Konoha ninja village. The closest were black technologies utilizing chakra, which were difficult to popularize.
In terms of academics, the ninja academy established by Tobirama only taught basic knowledge. Mathematics, at most, involved some understanding.Fumori masaki had never seen the kind of parabolic calculations that appeared in the Chunin Exams in the original work—he only managed to promote them after the explosive cannons appeared.
Originally, when ninjas threw kunai, they relied more on their own experience and intuition, something that couldn't be described in words. In fast-paced battles, even ninjas didn't have the reaction time to perform complex calculations. Therefore,Fumori masaki had always considered those exam questions inexplicable. Even if they were to test information gathering, there was still the option of solving them oneself, and the questions should at least be something ninjas ought to understand.
Of course, those exam questions were originally very absurd. In his previous life,Fumori masaki saw a video creator meticulously analyze all the questions. The first question, decoding a cipher, was very normal and completely within the knowledge level a ninja should possess. However, the subsequent questions became increasingly ridiculous, such as parabolic mathematical calculations that were completely unusable in ninja combat and seemed to have no value in understanding—unless the difficulty itself was a value—and then chemical calculations appeared, including one about relativity!
Due to the nature of anime production, it was understandable that modern human common sense would be incorporated. However, if this world truly possessed advanced concepts like relativity, there would be no need for a transmigrator from a novel to introduce advanced knowledge and theories for chakra application; these native ninjas would have already mastered such things.
Fortunately, in the real ninja world, there were no such bugs from creators. Based onFumori masaki's own life experience, the knowledge and technological level of the ninja world were akin to the era in his previous life when firearms first appeared. Because the quality of firearms was extremely poor and the existence of chakra, cold weapons still largely dominated. While other knowledge occasionally showed some very advanced things, overall, it was empirical knowledge.
In terms of progress, it was still inferior to modern times.
However, after the explosive cannons appeared, due to the special effects of chakra and the craftsmanship of ninjas, they suddenly leaped to the stage of applicable modern thermal weapons. This might be a characteristic of the ninja world, technological progress brought about by chakra. And it was precisely because of the appearance of this thing that meaningless mathematical calculations finally became useful.
However,Fumori masaki had realized that he truly could not underestimate these native ninjas. After a brief suppression from the "shells" fired from high altitude, the Iwagakure ninjas once again changed their tactics, further improving their trench-based defensive fortifications, and similarly withstood the parabolic bombardments.
At this moment,Fumori masaki truly experienced the meaning of "Rock" in Iwagakure ninja village. Among the Five Great Nations, the individual combat strength of Iwagakure ninjas was definitely not top-tier. In his opinion, it could even be said to be at the bottom—Sunagakure and Kirigakure ninjas pursued an elite soldier approach, thereby significantly enhancing individual combat strength, while the warlike Kumogakure ninjas and the resource-rich Konoha ninjas also maintained high-level individual combat strength.
However, the Iwagakure ninjas, relying on their teamwork and utilization of Earth Release, demonstrated defensive warfare to its fullest, causing not only Konoha ninjas but even the attribute-restraining Kumogakure ninjas to fall into a slow-moving predicament.
Since completely abandoning high-wall defenses, the Iwagakure ninjas created numerous trenches and high grounds, establishing many uneven and undulating defensive lines, preventing the fast-moving Kumogakure ninjas from moving freely. Once caught in a trench, they could easily be buried by Earth Release, and attacks from above also exerted significant suppressive force.
Even with explosive cannons, the Kumogakure ninjas, who were still not proficient in their use, clearly could not compare with the Konoha ninjas. If the Konoha ninjas themselves had no good methods, then the Kumogakure ninjas certainly wouldn't.
And this tactic had an even greater impact on the Kumogakure ninjas. The Konoha ninjas, due to the many chakra natures their ninjas possessed, could form more complex tactical compositions. While the Kumogakure ninjas also had multiple types, because they were basically all Lightning Release, their tactical deployment was also limited.
Watching the Iwagakure ninjas' flexible use of Earth Release,Fumori masaki suddenly understood why the Third Raikage in the original story, after covering his companions' retreat, was exhausted to death there. Theoretically, three days should have been enough time for the army to retreat. The real reason was probably that the Third Raikage simply couldn't escape the Iwagakure ninjas' encirclement.
Although the Third Raikage possessed a powerful body and Lightning Release that completely countered the Iwagakure ninjas, if the Iwagakure ninjas adopted this tactic of constructing complex terrain, they could completely prevent the Third Raikage from escaping. Uneven hills and unstable ground could cause one to lose direction or hinder the exertion of power.
If the number of Iwagakure ninjas wasn't enough, the Third Raikage might have been able to break through their encirclement with his immense power. However, at that time, there were a full ten thousand Iwagakure ninjas surrounding the Third Raikage. Earth Release used by ten thousand people working together would probably exceed the Third Raikage's ability to break through the encirclement.
And the Third Raikage's end also proved that he indeed failed to escape, but was exhausted to death by the Iwagakure ninjas. After carefully observing the Iwagakure ninjas' tactics,Fumori masaki felt this became increasingly likely.
Now Fumori masaki still had some doubts whether Onoki had intervened in that battle. If Onoki hadn't intervened, then the Iwagakure ninjas were truly formidable, relying on the collective strength of many to trap and exhaust a master capable of wrestling with the Eight-Tails, despite their own insufficient individual strength.
Fumori masaki leaned towards Onoki not having made a move. If Onoki had been there, it might not have taken ten thousand Iwagakure ninjas to deal with the Third Raikage. After all, the Third Raikage was alone. It seems unlikely that a master of the same level would still need ten thousand Iwagakure ninjas to encircle and kill him.
At least Fumori masaki felt that if he were alone and caught in an encirclement of ten thousand Iwagakure ninjas, with Onoki also present, unless he possessed space-time ninjutsu comparable to Minato Namikaze or Obito Uchiha, his fate would likely be similar to that of the Third Raikage.
Being caught alone in an enemy encirclement is inherently very dangerous. If Tobirama hadn't received support from Fumori masaki and his men, the outcome would have been the same as in the original story: he would have been surrounded and killed by Kinkaku, Ginkaku, and others—although Tobirama also had the Flying Thunder God Technique, it consumed a significant amount of chakra due to not being improved, making its use very limited.
"Indeed, to completely suppress the Iwagakure ninjas, we must wait until flying combat ninja tools are developed,"Fumori masaki mused after several days on the battlefield.
Against this level of defensive line, relying solely on long-range parabolic strikes from explosive cannons is insufficient. Only an air force capable of large-scale bombardment directly from above can achieve adequate suppression. He believed that only a combination of air and ground forces could quickly defeat the Iwagakure ninjas.
For the current Konoha ninja village to completely suppress the Iwagakure ninjas, it would likely have to pay a huge price.Fumori masaki was unwilling to bear such a cost. Compared to the Land of Wind, he only needed to sign a truce agreement with the Iwagakure ninjas. As for completely crushing the Land of Earth, he would wait until flying combat ninja tools were developed.
Once flying combat ninja tools are released, a completely new form of warfare will thoroughly suppress traditional combat. The Land of Earth, which might currently take years to resolve, if it doesn't keep up with the Konoha ninja village's pace by then,Fumori masaki believes it would be like a certain country facing mechanized warfare with WWI-era methods, and the war could end in about a month.
"Since the enemy plans to proceed steadily, we shouldn't rush either. Let's take our time. The Iwagakure ninjas find it difficult to launch active attacks. The more we rush, the more likely we are to expose weaknesses, which they will then exploit,"Fumori masaki said to the frontline ninja commanders at the war council.
Fumori masaki believed that the Iwagakure ninjas, facing pressure from two nations, couldn't be at ease. While they managed to hold on with their tactics, seemingly relaxed, from another perspective, it was precisely because they had no better methods that they could only defend this way. An opportunity would certainly arise; now it was just a matter of patiently waiting.
Thus, after the Konoha ninja forces' attacks yielded no immediate results, they reduced their intensity and slowly advanced in a steady manner. And sure enough, a month later, a significant achievement was made. Due to a slight delay in the Iwagakure ninjas' reaction, the Konoha ninjas seized the opportunity and launched a swift attack.
This was an important town in the Land of Grass. If it could be captured, the Konoha ninja village would have a huge advantage. Perhaps the enemy also realized the importance of this place, and Onoki, who had been sitting steadily, finally couldn't sit still. He appeared at the very moment the artillery fire was about to conquer the town.
That day, the Konoha ninjas only saw a tiny black dot appear in the distance, followed by a square-shaped ball of light. The ball of light rapidly expanded, and the "shells" that entered it vanished almost instantly, without a single sound of explosion. The expansion of the light ball didn't stop, quickly enveloping the Konoha ninja village's position.
Fumori masaki had previously warned about the Third Tsuchikage's Kekkei Tota, Dust Release, and described its appearance. The Konoha ninjas at the position immediately recognized it. They chose not to defend, but instead led others to flee, not even bothering to take the cumbersome explosive cannons, only trying to salvage transferable supplies.
Immediately after they left, the Dust Release's ball of light enveloped the position. Without a sound, the position seemed to have been dug away directly, everything instantly vaporized, turning into countless invisible dust particles and disappearing as if it had never existed.
This was Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage's Dust Release, a ninjutsu combining three chakra natures, surpassing Kekkei Genkai. Without an equivalent combination of attributes or a superior power, it was simply impossible to block this technique, and its characteristics were enough to annihilate an army in an instant.
The explosive cannons and supplies left at the position naturally vanished without a trace. After Onoki repeated his trick, destroying all the supplies at another position—the personnel having retreated in time—he was about to do it a third time when his eyes vaguely caught a light rapidly approaching him. He immediately stopped releasing Dust Release and swiftly shifted his position.
Onoki was one of the few ninjas in the ninja world who could fly independently, and his speed was extremely fast. Unless it was at close range, the Eight-Tails' Wind Release, which could threaten others, couldn't catch him if he wanted to dodge.
At this moment, Onoki sawFumori masaki standing on the ground, looking up at him. The move just now was thrown by the opponent, and its speed was so fast that Onoki felt that if he had continued to use Dust Release carelessly, he might have lost his life after releasing it—the combination of three chakra natures slowed down the release speed of Dust Release, while the enemy only had to sacrifice a bunch of cumbersome ninja tools and supplies.
"How surprising, I didn't expect you to notice that move. Wind Release is already difficult to see clearly, let alone from such a distance,"Fumori masaki said. Through the effect of chakra, his voice could indeed reach Onoki high in the sky.
"Hmph, do you think I'm blind with old age? Such a high concentration of Wind Release cannot be ignored so casually," Onoki snorted.