Chapter 206: Kikyo Mountain, Konoha's Last Line of Defense
The spring of Konoha's 46nd year.
The Iwagakure and Sand ninjas secretly formed an allied ninja army, with Ōnoki personally leading the Five Thousand Iwagakure and Ebizo leading the Three Thousand Sand ninjas.
Eight thousand allied ninja forces directly invaded the Fire Country from the border of the Rain Country, and in one surprise attack they destroyed Konoha's border defense line, seriously injuring Jiraiya.
If Danzo had not been causing trouble in the Rain Country and had not been hit by the first shot, and if Orochimaru had not provided temporary support, Jiraiya would have almost been killed.
At the same time, no one had expected that when the Third Raikage's injuries had not yet healed, he also secretly sent out 3,000 Cloud Ninja Corps to invade the Fire Kingdom from the Frost Kingdom.
For a time, the border of the Land of Fire was filled with smoke of war. Orochimaru's army, which had lost protection on its left and right wings, would have to face a pincer attack from the coalition of Sand and Rock Ninjas, as well as the Cloud Ninjas if they were not careful.
In the end, Orochimaru made a decisive decision, abandoned the front-line position, and retreated all the way to Mount Kikyo, where he reorganized the defense line.
Kikyo Mountain, Konoha Camp.
"Damn it, the entire front line collapsed. If we hadn't retreated in time, we would have suffered heavy losses!"
"The Rock Ninja, Sand Ninja, and Cloud Ninja coalition forces have formed an offensive and defensive alliance. Although our front-line positions have been lost, all our forces have also been concentrated on Mount Kikyo."
At this time, in Konoha's command tent, as the map unfolded, icons of the troops of the three major ninja villages, Iwagakure, Sand Ninja, and Cloud Ninja, were marked.
At this time, the faces of the Konoha ninjas in the tent were all extremely ugly, especially Tsunade, who hurried over from the border of the Land of Rice to support, and slammed the table in annoyance.
"Damn it! According to the strategic map, we can cut off the retreat of the Cloud Ninjas and the Sand Ninja Ebizo at any time. But in reality, because our ninjas are outnumbered, we can't accomplish this task at all!"
You have to know that behind them there are the Mist Ninjas attacking the Whirlpool Country. Although Konoha is known as the number one ninja village in the ninja world, it is really stretched in terms of military strength when facing the four major ninja villages at the same time.
At this moment, there was no trace of dejection in Orochimaru's golden snake eyes due to the defeat in the war. Instead, he pointed at the map and spoke in a very calm and hoarse voice about the current situation.
"Kigen Mountain is our last line of defense. If this place falls, the Fire Country will have nowhere to defend. At that time, the battlefield will expand to the entire Fire Country..."
In the original work, the Battle of Mount Kikyo was launched by the Sand Ninja and the Cloud Ninja together, while the Rock Ninja did not participate. From a geographical point of view, it can be inferred that the Sand Ninja and the Cloud Ninja joined forces, while the Rock Ninja did not get involved. So there is only one possibility!
The Battle of Kikyoyama took place after the Battle of Kannobi Bridge, when the Iwagakure withdrew from the war.
But this time, due to the changes, the war broke out earlier than expected, and there was even an additional Iwa Ninja.
"How should we fight now? There are two Cloud Ninja Corps. One is right in front of us, and the other is in the Land of Rice to hold our forces. Even if we cut off this part, the Cloud Ninja can still return to the Cloud Ninja Village from the Frost Land Sea.
The old woman Chiyo led five thousand Sand Ninjas to the border of River Country, and Ebizo led three thousand Sand Ninjas to merge into one place..."
Tsunade was also frowning at this time. The three major ninja villages have now merged into one, with 3,000 Cloud Ninjas, 3,000 Sand Ninjas, and 5,000 Rock Ninjas. The number of ninjas alone is already over 10,000, which is almost half of the military strength of any ninja village.
Not to mention the Cloud Ninja and Sand Ninja who are restraining them in the Land of Rice and the Land of Rivers respectively.
"Our defensive ninja corps in the Land of Fields and the Land of Rivers only have about 5,000 or 6,000 Kikyo Mountain ninjas. Even if support from the rear continues to arrive, there will only be 7,000 or 8,000 ninjas at most."
At this time, Tsunade looked at Orochimaru with a serious expression and talked about the current situation that Konoha was facing, which was a serious shortage of troops.
The two lines of defense alone made it impossible for their eight thousand ninja troops to move, not to mention the offensive of the Mist Ninja in the rear and the defenses throughout the Land of Fire.
It can be said that the four major ninja villages have only dispatched less than half of their troops, and their combined strength has forced Konoha to respond with all its strength.
"Can't retreat!"
A hoarse voice sounded, Shimura Danzo's face was full of aggrieved, and there were obviously more bandages on his body. He happened to be in the Rain Country when the accident happened.
Not to mention Jiraiya, who was wrapped in bandages all over his body, and it was obvious that his injuries had stabilized. At this time, he looked at the blond figure beside him and said with emotion:
"Tsunade, it's all thanks to you, otherwise I would have to admit defeat this time."
Jiraiya sighed and his eyes met with those of Shimura and Danzo. He couldn't help feeling a little awkward. If Danzo hadn't taken the blame for him, he might not have been able to come back.
"No wonder the Four Great Ninja Village Alliance was so loud at the beginning, but it turned out to be a lot of noise but little action. After all this time, they actually had this strategy in place long ago."
Jiraiya's face was full of aggrieved at this time. At the beginning, the Cloud Ninjas did not work hard, and the Iwagakure were cunning and sent troops slowly, which made Konoha mistakenly believe that the four major ninja villages still had their own ulterior motives.
Who would have thought that it was actually a conspiracy. The Sand Ninja had been fighting desperately. After the Mist Ninja attacked the Whirlpool Country, the attacks of these two major ninja villages attracted Konoha's attention.
Everyone thought that Iwagakure and Kumogakure were waiting to deplete Konoha's strength, but they never expected that they would come up with a sneak attack.
"Ahem, damn Onoki..."
Danzo Shimura coughed, his face full of aggrieved. He almost couldn't come back and was almost killed.
"Report! Lord Uchiha Ye has arrived with reinforcements!"
"Nara... reinforcements have arrived."
"Team Sarutobi, Uchiha... reinforcements have arrived..."
As a support force continued to rush in from the Land of Fire, many of them included Uchiha Ya, who led an elite ninja army of over a hundred men.
There are also members of a small three-person team who are on missions outside. From the territory of the Land of Fire, it can be seen that the ninjas of Konoha are gathering and moving towards Mount Kikyo.
The depressing atmosphere of the Konoha ninjas at Mount Kikyo was relieved after they saw a reinforcement force arrive.
Mount Kikyo is a mountain range that spans the left and right borders of the Fire Country.
At this time, in the Konoha Command Post, as reinforcements arrived one after another, many Konoha Jonins appeared in the spacious tent.
"Ye, now the situation has already..."
When she saw Uchiha Ye coming, Tsunade, who was wearing armor, nodded solemnly and pointed at the map to explain.
This scene made many Konoha ninjas secretly shocked. It seems that the relationship between Uchiha and Senju is even closer than the rumors.
Among a group of jonin, Uchiha Ye was sitting in the front this time, with the same status as the three jonin. None of the jonin showed any strange expression, after all, ninjas speak with strength.
In the second battle, he defeated the demigod Hanzo of the Salamander, and before that he cut off the right arm of the Third Raikage. These are all real achievements.
"The situation has not reached its worst point yet!"
Uchiha Ye, who came all the way to provide assistance, seemed to be on the verge of collapse when he saw the situation on the front line, but he was calm and saw the pros and cons of the overall situation at a glance.
As Uchiha Ye's voice echoed, a group of jonin showed doubts, only Orochimaru laughed hoarsely, seeming to agree.
Uchiha Ye was seen calmly pointing at the situation between the enemy and us on the map.
"Our disadvantage is that we are losing on the front line, and we have fewer ninjas than the enemy. Similarly, the disadvantages of the Kumo and Sand ninjas are that they attack in separate forces, and their supply lines are stretched. Even the Rock ninjas have overwhelmed the Grass Country...
We still have some advantages if we tighten our defenses and fight on our home ground. Moreover, once we get into a protracted war, the gaps between the three major ninja villages will inevitably lead to the division of forces..."
Although the latter words were not explicitly stated, Orochimaru heard them and couldn't help but laughed hoarsely:
"If the three ninja villages are stuck in a stalemate, the gaps between them will be infinitely magnified. In addition, we also have ninjas who are proficient in space ninjutsu. The advantage of a protracted war is on our side!"
In the command post, the content of everyone's discussion was not of great practical significance, it was more for the purpose of maintaining morale.
At this point in the war, it had become a pure offensive and defensive battle, with both sides suffering from ninja consumption and logistics.
Let’s see who can’t bear it first!
If it was a war of logistics and attrition, Konoha's economy and population are now the best in the ninja world, and what they have to face now is to withstand the first wave of strong attacks.
...At this time, the alliance camp of the three major ninja villages.
The Iwagakure and Sand Ninjas joined forces to launch a surprise attack from the direction of the Rain Country, and with the addition of the Cloud Ninjas, this alliance battle achieved brilliant results and destroyed the Konoha front line in one fell swoop. It was also the first time that they reached the territory of the Fire Country.
"Now is not the time to be happy. Even though we have the advantage in ninja manpower, we may not be sure of winning when it comes to Konoha's high-end combat power!"
Inside the command post of the alliance of the three major ninja villages, compared to the excitement of the ninjas from the three major ninja villages, Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, had a solemn expression on his face.
The more this time, the more cautious we must be!
The Sand Ninja Ebizo nodded slightly in agreement and said in a serious tone:
"Yes, we haven't caused serious damage to the Konoha ninjas at the moment. The brilliant results are more like the result of misleading intelligence. Moreover, Orochimaru was extremely decisive. As soon as he sensed the danger, he directly gave up the border...
More than half of Konoha's jonin combat power are ninjas from major families, which is something we cannot compare to."
Even though the five major countries have similar numbers of jonin, with the same number of jonin, Konoha can easily defeat any ninja village and remain fearless even when fighting one against two.
"The three bloodline ninjas, Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga, are all extraordinary in combat power, especially the Sharingan, which can at least restrain two people of equal strength. There are also the Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, Aburame and other esoteric families..."
As Ebizo spoke out Konoha's intelligence with a serious expression, it can be said that even if you know the opponent's intelligence, in the chaos of the battlefield, they can make the simplest personnel exchanges and adjustments at any time.
So, there is no solution at all!
This time, Ōnoki went to the front line in person. The one from the Sand Ninja was Ebizo, and the one from the Cloud Ninja was the young Fourth Raikage candidate Ai. At this moment, he snorted arrogantly, showing no fear in the face of the two seniors.
"What are you afraid of? No matter how powerful Konoha is, can it really beat our three major ninja villages? And there's also the Mist Village behind them. Konoha is now in a difficult situation!"
This time they didn't expect the plan to go so smoothly, and it turned out like this in one fell swoop.
Originally, they still had the idea of retaining their strength, but now, Oonoki frowned, feeling speechless in his heart. Being too smooth is not a good thing.
Konoha will definitely hold on next, but he can't use the two major ninja villages at the moment.
Things have come to this point, and the three major ninja villages are well aware that if they play dirty in private, the alliance will collapse in an instant. This is what Konoha wants to see most, but it is also what they least want to face.
"Alright! This time I'll be frank."
Ōnoki blew his beard in annoyance and glared at the bad Cloud Ninja boy who didn't give him face.
"No one wants to miss this opportunity. Let's restrain our subordinates and join forces to attack Konoha."
Having finally seen the hope of defeating Konoha, Ohnoki was so jealous that he really didn't want to miss this opportunity.
"Once Konoha has a chance to catch its breath, do you think it will give us a chance?"
When he said this, Ōnoki gave a warning look, especially when he glanced at the Cloud Ninja.
The three major ninja villages have joined forces. Even though they have a lot of filth and hatred in private, they have now penetrated into the territory of the Land of Fire. As long as they can take down Mount Kikyo, the fat meat of the Land of Fire will be right before their eyes.
Driven by greed, the leaders of the three major ninja villages suppressed their other thoughts. Nothing was more tempting than taking a bite of the Fire Nation.
"Kikyou Mountain and Konoha have stabilized their position. Now we have no choice but to fight hard!"
"A hard fight?! Although there are many Kage-level fighters and jonin in Konoha, our three major ninja villages combined are not inferior..."
Ohnoki smiled grimly, "We, the Iwagakure, are not bad either..."
When the three major ninja villages were secretly discussing how to fight, the entire ninja world was shocked and in uproar.
They were a little skeptical about Konoha's previous record, after all, there was a possibility of intelligence errors and being restrained.
But facing the four major ninja villages, the war had only been going on for a short time when they were driven into the territory of the Land of Fire by the three major ninja villages.
As the ninja world was shaken, Konoha gave people a shaky feeling.
It seems that the leader of the five major ninja villages is not that strong?
……
Platycodon Mountain.
Inside Orochimaru's tent, under various mysterious bottles and jars, in the dim light, Orochimaru showed a sickly and hoarse smile as he looked at the precious research materials collected in front of him.
"Mr. Ye, these are all precious research materials obtained on the battlefield. The ninja world has too many secrets, including the origin of chakra and senjutsu, and the chakra of the tailed beasts obtained before...Mr. Ye, take a look at this information."
With a morbid smile on his face, Orochimaru slowly pushed a scroll over. When Uchiha Ye looked down in confusion, he was stunned.
Orochimaru, who was standing aside, had a look of hope and excitement in his eyes.
"Mr. Ye, how about you take a look at my research? Or what do you want to say!?"
At this moment Uchiha Ye raised his head, and the shock on his face did not show any signs of acting. He was truly shocked by Orochimaru in front of him.
"I have to say! This is truly the idea of a genius madman!"
Uchiha Ye's answer instantly made Orochimaru's morbid smile show excitement. As expected, Ye-kun and he were of the same kind.
"Hehe, madman and genius! This evaluation of Ye Jun really makes me like you more and more."
Orochimaru's research direction is too crazy and alternative, and is not accepted by the world. He knows this clearly, but no one likes to be alone, not even Orochimaru.
At the same time, both of them glanced outside the tent. They both knew clearly that there was someone outside the door, but Orochimaru was so excited that he didn't care at all.
"Ye-kun! What did you see from this research of mine!?"
At this moment, a rare look of eager anticipation appeared on Orochimaru's sickly face. Today, he is not the Orochimaru of later generations who completely cut off everything and ignored the world.
There was still a trace of fear deep in his heart, fear of the world's refutation and disapproval!
Uchiha Ye took a deep breath and raised his head, then slowly uttered two words under Orochimaru's complicated expression. After hearing these two words, Orochimaru's expression became dull.
"Immortality! This research direction is the direction and hope for exploring immortality!"
At this moment, Orochimaru seemed to have his soul trembling, and under his dull expression, a crystal tear actually flowed from the corner of his eye. This was a tear that was understood.
"Hehe...haha..."
The next moment, a morbid laugh appeared on Orochimaru's face, and his pair of snake eyes looked at Uchiha Ye aggressively. He really understood the thoughts of the mad genius!
At this moment he was recognized, and his soul seemed to have found like-minded companions. Orochimaru couldn't help but burst into hoarse laughter.
"Hehe, Lord Ye! You are so unexpected. You actually saw Changsheng!"
Once this idea came to his mind, he could no longer suppress it. Orochimaru excitedly pointed at the research direction on the scroll and started talking about it.
"I have looked up a lot of information about the origin of chakra and found that it appeared in the era of the Six Paths Sage, which is only a thousand years ago... and the origin of immortal arts is even older...
But what about the tailed beasts? The tailed beasts seem to have suddenly appeared since the time of the Six Paths Sage, but the legendary sage has disappeared, so why do the tailed beasts still exist? I have studied this energy body and found that it is pure chakra and soul..."
Looking at Orochimaru's excitement, Uchiha Ye suddenly realized that it was the immortality of the tailed beasts that gave Orochimaru inspiration.
I will only update once in the next three days. The author has something else to do and will resume updating after three days. I hope everyone can understand.
(End of this chapter)
