Sarutobi Ryo knew this was the biggest fight of his life, so he was incredibly careful.
To deal with the strong enemies he knew were coming, Sarutobi Ryo wanted to save as much of his energy as he could.
As Konoha and Iwagakure ninjas started fighting, Pakura, who was leading the Sunagakure group, also began to move.
This three-way fight turned the area where several countries met - the Land of Rain - into a deadly battlefield.
The sounds of fighting never stopped.
This was a battle where people's lives were on the line, where the future of villages and even countries was at stake!
While Iwagakure might not wipe out the entire population of the Land of Fire like Kumogakure and Kirigakure had done to the Land of Whirlpools, the destruction of Konoha was a possible outcome.
So, to stop that from happening, the Konoha ninjas would fight as hard as they could.
"Summoning Technique!"
After a short initial clash, Konoha was quickly losing ground.
Faced with the huge wave of Iwa ninjas, Jiraiya immediately summoned Gamabunta, just like they had planned.
Orochimaru, who was second in command, also quickly summoned Manda.
The arrival of these two giant summoned creatures changed the situation on the battlefield a little.
And then a third summoned creature appeared... Katsuyu.
Suddenly, the fighting seemed to pause for a moment.
Gamabunta, Manda, and Katsuyu were all strong enough to fight Tailed Beasts or imperfect Jinchuriki for a short time.
Together, these three summoned creatures were as powerful as a Tailed Beast showing up.
Gamabunta and Jiraiya worked together to unleash the Toad Oil Flame Bullet, which instantly destroyed hundreds of Iwa ninjas.
Manda breathed out poison gas, covering a large area.
Katsuyu's attack range seemed smaller, but it used very little chakra to spray acid, which instantly dissolved any Iwa ninjas it hit beyond recognition.
When the Konoha ninjas saw the Sannin's summoned creatures appear at the same time, their spirits lifted.
They cheered loudly and fought even harder.
But Jiraiya knew that if they kept fighting like this, Konoha still had very little chance of winning.
Once the summoned creatures' time was up and they disappeared, the situation would go back to being one-sided.
Ching!
Just then, a bright white flash of light appeared on the battlefield.
The arrival of Hatake Sakumo changed the battle once again.
Hatake Sakumo's plan was to find and kill the most skilled ninjas among the thousands of enemies.
Hatake Sakumo was even more effective than Namikaze Minato at this.
That's because Hatake Sakumo didn't need to use the Flying Thunder God Technique.
While the Flying Thunder God Technique was good, it used up a lot of chakra.
Moving constantly across a large battlefield needed a huge amount of chakra.
This wasn't a small fight where only short movements were needed.
So, Namikaze Minato couldn't use his abilities to their fullest on this big battlefield.
On the other hand, Hatake Sakumo relied on his strong basic skills and moved as if the battlefield was empty.
The White Fang Short Sword, combined with his chakra flow techniques, used very little chakra.
And every strike was deadly.
The Iwagakure Jonin couldn't even last a single exchange with him before being killed instantly.
This was Hatake Sakumo's job: to hunt down Jonin and Elite Jonin.
If the number of Iwagakure leaders quickly decreased, their operations would become chaotic.
Iwagakure's army was organized in a way that orders were passed down from one level to the next, making them stiff and inflexible, which was their only weakness that could be exploited.
At this time, Hatake Sakumo didn't need to block 10,000 Iwa ninjas like the Third Raikage did in the original story.
He only needed to find and target the strongest opponents.
He could leave the weaker enemies to others.
As the fighting grew more intense, another battle broke out on a different part of the field.
Hanzo, leading the Amegakure forces, joined the war.
With them was a team of young people.
Sarutobi Ryo looked closer and saw that it was Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan!
This was unbelievable.
No... looking even closer, the reason was clear.
In the original story, Hanzo decided to get rid of Akatsuki to strengthen his own rule.
At that time, the Third Shinobi World War was almost over.
Iwagakure had lost 10,000 troops.
The remaining 1,000 Iwa ninjas were forced to retreat in shame because Namikaze Minato had cut off their supplies.
But in this version of events, 10,000 Iwa ninjas were a threat to everyone.
Even Hanzo had to think about the possibility of his country being destroyed.
A small country like the Land of Rain would be completely leveled like the Land of Whirlpools if it was subjected to a full-scale war.
So, Hanzo thought about it and agreed to Danzo's offer, forming an alliance with Konoha.
As part of that alliance, Akatsuki was invited to this battle.
When a country's survival was at stake, everyone had to do their part, and Akatsuki was no exception.
Jiraiya saw the three familiar figures who had changed and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yahiko? Nagato? Konan?"
After Jiraiya left the Land of Rain, he kept hearing stories about Akatsuki.
But then Akatsuki disappeared.
Some said they had been killed.
But now, seeing them alive and well in front of him, how could Jiraiya not be surprised?
The arrival of the Demigod and the respect his title commanded made the Iwa ninjas panic.
They were facing the Konoha White Fang, the Demigod, and the Sannin - all legendary experts - at the same time.
Even with more soldiers, they couldn't help but be nervous.
To make things worse for Iwagakure, they were also being attacked by Pakura and the Sunagakure forces.
In other words, Iwagakure was fighting three Shinobi Villages at the same time!
This showed not only how strong Iwagakure was, but also how weak Konoha had become.
Seeing their morale drop, the Iwagakure leaders decided to use the power of the Tailed Beasts.
The first to enter Partial Tailed Beast Transformation was Han, the Five Tails Jinchuriki.
A bright red beam of light shot up into the sky, and everyone saw it stirring the clouds.
Then, an extremely powerful chakra reaction appeared on the ground.
This reaction was so strong that even those who weren't sensory ninjas could feel it!
"A Jinchuriki..."
A cloud of smoke rose, and Jiraiya and Orochimaru landed.
They both looked up in that direction at the same time.
Soon, a figure moving as fast as lightning shot over from the distance.
Before Orochimaru could even warn him, Jiraiya was hit.
"Gah~!"
Jiraiya spat out a large mouthful of blood and was sent flying.
He crashed into the trees, breaking over a dozen of them before finally stopping.
"Roar..."
When that red figure appeared, Orochimaru slowly turned his head.
"Heh heh..."
Orochimaru, who was known as one of the Sannin, looked serious for the first time.
*
**
***
[T/N:
Latest Chapter translated on Patreon - Chapter 296 (Vol 2 Ch 238) (+149 Chapters Ahead!)
Final Total Power Stone Collection : 167 PS
Goal : Reach +50 Total PS = +2 Bonus Chapters next day! 🚀
Here are the novels I'm currently translating:
-> Naruto Paradise: An Evil Uchiha's Rise
-> One Piece: I'm Destined to Be the Son-in-Law King!
-> Young Master, Please Become Hokage!
Want to support my work and get early access to chapters? Check out my Patreon! 👇
➡️ patreon.com/Boundless_Beacon
]