Chapter 171 The Plan
"That's really your style, Orochimaru!"
In the rear camp at the Konoha border, Tsunade, who had heard of Orochimaru's overall plan, spread her hands. She had no objection to Orochimaru's plan, but she had a lot of objections to the old man sending Danzo and his Root to "protect" her.
Tsunade was dissatisfied with both the two major advisors and Sarutobi Hiruzen as a teacher and Hokage, but for Danzo, she was purely disgusted.
"As expected of Lord Orochimaru! This will not only allow the plan to be implemented smoothly, but also expose the spies hidden in Konoha by Iwagakure.
Eliminating the spies and revealing the news about Elder Danzo would force Iwagakure to arrange action as soon as possible.
The tight time will prevent Iwagakure from making adequate preparations and finding out more accurate information. "Shizune looked at Orochimaru with some admiration, and figured out the script that was played out under Orochimaru's arrangement.
Iwagakure should be in a dilemma now, right?
If an assassination team is sent out to kill Tsunade, it must be done as soon as possible, but due to the urgency of time, the arrangements and movements of Iwagakure will inevitably not be perfect.
With some preparation and speculation about the Iwagakure plan, they could easily figure out the Iwagakure's arrangement based on their speculation, and roughly determine the opponent's attack time based on this.
If they waited until the intelligence was clear and the arrangements were carried out step by step, then by the time everything was ready, Konoha's Danzo and the Root ninjas would have arrived, which would increase the difficulty of the attack. Especially considering that they would respond after receiving the news and miss a great opportunity.
It might be a trap.
If you don’t act, you may miss the opportunity.
After all, Tsunade's existence is far more important than that of a Kage in a battlefield that is like a meat grinder.
Of course, it would be better to capture them than to kill them, but it was too difficult to capture them.
"Get ready. Before Danzo and the others arrive 'smoothly', Iwagakure will probably launch an 'offensive'. You must be prepared." Orochimaru said firmly.
"Are you sure that Ohnoki will follow your plan?" Tsunade clenched her fists.
"I know that old man. Although he is steady, he is not lacking in the determination to take risks. As long as the benefits are big enough!
Your arrival has alleviated the losses and defeats of Konoha's border defense forces, which is enough for Ohnoki to take the risk.
What I'm not sure about is how much effort he will put into it this time."
As an opponent with whom he had clashed many times, Orochimaru thought he had figured out Ōnoki's mind. It was precisely because of his ability to see through people's hearts that he was able to break through the imbalance of power between the two sides time and time again. He dragged the Iwagakure army and blocked them at the border of the Land of Fire, preventing them from advancing all the way to the Hidden Leaf Village.
In the next few days, Iwagakure launched a frenzied offensive, as if it wanted to break through Konoha's fragmented but tenacious defensive forces in one fell swoop.
Among them, the Iwagakure army led by Higashi Siren launched an unexpected attack and a tough confrontation, forcing the Konoha's first defense force led by Mimura Yemaki into a desperate situation.
……
"I see."
On a close combat battlefield, Namikaze Minato, who was hailed as the Yellow Flash by the outside world, had just used Flying Thunder God to destroy an Iwagakure team that had entered the heart of the Land of Fire and hijacked the food supply.
At this moment he was quickly browsing through the intelligence scroll brought by a communication frog.
"Another mission, Minato-sensei?"
Seeing the familiar communication frog and the mission scroll spread out in Minato's hand, the white-haired boy wearing a mask and carrying a short knife on his back asked.
Having experienced the fighting and hardships on the battlefield, Kakashi's temperament is now more fierce, like a sharp, sharpened knife.
In the past two years, under Minato's careful training, his strength and combat experience have improved by leaps and bounds. In Minato's words, Kakashi's current strength and experience are fully qualified to be a jonin.
"Is there another mission?"
A young man wearing goggles and with the Uchiha clan emblem on his clothes turned his eyes away from Nohara Rin's face in the team and looked at Namikaze Minato, wailing.
"Don't be like this, Obito! The situation on the battlefield is not favorable to us right now. As a mobile team, we need to go everywhere to provide support." Nohara Rin smiled and comforted Obito.
Under the training of the battlefield, Nohara Lin has changed from a weak and frail appearance to a more heroic one. Her strength has also increased on the battlefield. Although she is not as good as the genius Kakashi, she is already a qualified medical ninja who has mastered a variety of medical ninjutsu.
"I'm not complaining." Obito immediately stopped his wailing, touched the back of his head with his right hand, and his tone instantly returned to normal, even with some tenderness as he replied.
"I need to go support Mimura Yejuan-senpai."
Namikaze Minato had already read the mission on the scroll, where Orochimaru told him everything in detail without hiding anything. So Namikaze Minato knew very well that what he needed to do now was to show up at the defense unit where Meimura Yejuan was as soon as possible and show his face in front of those Iwagakure.
"Shall we start at once?"
Kakashi organized his waist bag and counted the ninja tools, food pills, healing talismans and other supplies, then stood up and said.
"Yes! Because the situation is urgent, I have to rush over first. While I'm away, according to the old rules, you will still lead the team, Kakashi!"
Namikaze Minato stepped forward and patted Kakashi on the shoulder. This was not the first time he had temporarily handed over the team to Kakashi to lead, and Kakashi also fulfilled the duties of a captain very well.
The shock and radical ideas that the death of Konoha White Fang brought to him were gradually reversed over the years.
At least now Kakashi cherishes his two current partners. Although he always makes sarcastic remarks to one of them from time to time, making the other person furious, Namikaze Minato can see that the bond between the three of them has gradually become deeper in the past two years.
"That's not fair, Minato-sensei!"
Obito, who was standing by, cried and complained as usual. Minato Namikaze looked at the three people's lively quarrel with a smile, reached out and touched Obito's hair, and said: "If nothing unexpected happens, Kakashi will be a jonin soon, and may become the youngest jonin in the history of Konoha Village. You have to work hard too, Obito!"
"Are we going to support other places as planned, Mr. Minato?" Kakashi confirmed their next move with Minato.
Teacher Minato was carrying out an emergency mission, so the original mission had to be abandoned, or completed by them.
"Yes, you continue to complete your original mission. Be careful!" Minato nodded and reminded before leaving: "Are you still carrying the kunai I gave you?"
Kakashi silently took out the three-pronged kunai that Minato Namikaze had given him from his waist bag and showed it to Minato Namikaze. "Protect yourself and Rin. Especially Obito, don't be so rude all the time." Minato Namikaze touched the heads of his disciples one by one and reminded them.
"Don't worry, Mr. Minato, I will definitely protect Rin!" Obito said with a grin.
"If you don't let Lin protect you and don't hold us back, I'll be very satisfied!" Kakashi on the side stabbed faintly.
"What are you talking about, Kakashi!" Obito turned his head and glared at Kakashi.
"Am I not telling the truth, the last one? In the previous battle, if Lin hadn't helped you knock the kunai away, you would have been injured now! And this danger could have been avoided!" Kakashi said seriously.
"You're so annoying!" Obito's face fell, and he pounced on Kakashi with a grunt, then was tripped by Kakashi cleanly, and his body came into close contact with the ground.
Watching the three disciples' daily playfulness, Namikaze Minato smiled, said goodbye to the three of them, and his body instantly disappeared from the spot.
In the territory of the Land of Fire and in the places he had passed through, there were mostly Flying Thunder God marks left by him. With the help of these marks, he could travel quickly.
……
The sudden fierce attack of Iwagakure did not catch the Konoha Ninja Army off guard. Under Orochimaru's arrangement, Iwagakure, which failed in the sneak attack, had to engage in a war of attrition once again.
The slugs on the shoulders of each Konoha ninja provided medical support and chakra recovery to the Konoha ninja army, giving the Konoha ninjas a considerable advantage in the war of attrition.
The most obvious thing is the significant reduction in casualties.
When Ōnoki showed up with the elite troops of Koji and Iwagakure, Orochimaru went to meet them with his own guards as usual.
While the two armies were engaged in a fierce melee, a team of ten composed of Iwagakure jonin were riding non-stop, taking advantage of the cover of night, bypassing the battlefield and heading straight for Tsunade's position from the rear.
Looking at the camp ahead, the Iwagakure team that was carrying out the infiltration and assassination mission approached and tacitly used their own techniques to eliminate or confuse their own chakra as much as possible.
They knew very well that they only had this one chance. Minato Namikaze had been transferred away and could not provide support. Orochimaru and the large ninja army were pinned down on the front battlefield and were unable to provide care and support.
As long as they can break through the camp's guards and eliminate Tsunade, they will be considered successful.
……
"This feeling? Is it the assassination team from Iwagakure? No, this violent and huge chakra is the tailed beast! Damn it!"
Inside the camp, several perception ninjas who had been prepared and reminded were using their perception abilities to explore the surroundings in advance.
They did not initially notice the Iwagakure assassination team that had sneaked into the two kilometers, but when a huge and violent chakra suddenly appeared in their perception, they immediately realized that something was wrong.
"careful!"
Tsunade looked at the black ball formed by high-concentration chakra flying towards her from afar, and her heart couldn't help but rise.
Tailed beast jade!
damn it!
Tsunade immediately figured out what the sphere was. When she was surprised that Iwagakure actually delegated its jinchūriki, she quickly thought of ways to prevent it from falling into the camp.
Although the seriously injured in the camp had been secretly transferred to other places, in order not to alert the enemy, there were still many lightly injured ninjas in the camp.
If this falls inside the camp, the chances of survival for the ninjas there will be almost zero.
"Triple Rashomon!"
One after another, walls with demon fangs and like the gates of hell rose from the ground, forming three barriers that separated the camp and the Tailed Beast Ball.
The Tailed Beast Ball hit the doors, destroying the first door almost with ease, then hit the second door, and then the third.
The massive explosion instantly engulfed the three seemingly solid city gates. The huge flames created a wave of gas that swept across the camp along with a howling wind.
Tsunade was standing on a high place in front of the camp, her hair and clothes rustling in the wind.
"Fortunately, I caught up."
Shisui entered the Hogyoku mode in an instant and summoned three Rashomons. He looked at the Rashomon that was completely destroyed but successfully detonated and blocked a part of the power of the Tailed Beast Ball's explosion, and spoke with lingering fear.
"It's Gobi!"
In the darkness that was dispelled by the flames in an instant, a tall figure wrapped in violent chakra was rushing towards this side at an extremely fast speed, whistling and rumbling.
All the ninjutsu performed and obstacles created by the ninjas along the way could not hinder the figure in the slightest.
The opponent was like a huge beast, smashing everything and rushing forward.
The opponent's target was also very clear. In a few flashes, he had already come close to Tsunade. The Jinchūriki, whose face could no longer be seen and who had entered the half-tailed beast state, waved his claws and slapped Tsunade.
The whistling wind was torn apart, and the opponent's arm left an afterimage, but just as it fell on Tsunade, a sudden resistance inexplicably separated him and Tsunade.
At the same time, an irresistible force instantly hit the half-tailed beast Jinchūriki. His body froze in mid-air for a moment, and then with a whoosh, he drew a straight line in the air and flew backwards, hitting the ground with a bang, creating a huge circular hole in the ground.
Shinra Tianzheng!
Lu Nie stood in front of Tsunade, slowly retracted his outstretched hand, and stared at the Jinchūriki who was blown away by the repulsive force with the Rinnegan in his left eye socket.
With the Jinchūriki's thick skin and strong vitality, this blow can make the opponent feel pain, but it cannot make him lose his fighting ability.
Glancing at Shisui on the other side of Tsunade, Kane sighed a little. If Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan had not been blinded, chakra creatures like the tailed beasts would naturally be restrained by their eye techniques.
However, it was an unexpected surprise to see a Jinchūriki here. In any case, whether used for research or as a chakra energy source, the tailed beasts were rare and precious materials.
(End of this chapter)