"Next, Sensei and I, along with Aunt Kasui, Karin, and Kushina-nee, will be responsible for dealing with Kusagakure. The Kakashi Squad, Yamato Squad, and Might Guy Squad will handle Hozuki Castle. The rest will be responsible for taking over the daimyo's residence."
After entering the territory of the Land of Grass, standing on the wide platform atop the head of the enormous wooden dragon, Aoba assigned the next tasks to everyone.
At this point, there was no longer any need to keep Kushina's identity secret from the people present. Those who knew already knew. After all, she was Naruto's mother.
As long as it wasn't openly publicized within the village, it was fine.
"Understood!"
Everyone answered in unison.
They all understood the importance of this operation and strictly followed the orders of Aoba in his role as Hokage.
Sakura, Ino, and the other girls also did not come over to cling to Aoba at this moment. They knew what kind of things should be done on what kind of occasions.
Uzumaki Kasui's expression was somewhat unusual, her eyes filled with complicated emotions.
There was anticipation, and also a bit of confusion.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. After so many years, she was about to return to Kusagakure once again.
Karin noticed her mother's unusual emotions and couldn't help but take her hand, a bit worried.
"Mom…"
"I'm fine, Karin," Uzumaki Kasui squeezed her hand and said with a smile, "I'm happy."
Seeing that Uzumaki Kasui had adjusted her mindset, Aoba withdrew his gaze and looked toward Kakashi and the others, then instructed them.
"There's something called the Box of Ultimate Bliss in Hozuki Castle. Remember to force them to reveal its whereabouts, but absolutely do not open it. Once it's opened, a monster comparable to a tailed beast will appear. After the matter with Kusagakure is settled, I'll personally go deal with it."
"I understand."
Although Kakashi was surprised that Kusagakure actually possessed such a dangerous item, he still nodded very seriously.
If it was something comparable to a tailed beast, it was beyond their ability to handle.
Aoba nodded as well, then looked toward Yuhi Kurenai and the others.
"As for the daimyo's residence, after you take it, Kurenai-nee and Yakumo will use genjutsu to control the daimyo and the other high-ranking officials, issue an announcement surrendering to the Land of Snow and accepting Konoha's administration from now on. The specific arrangements will be handled by you, Shikamaru."
"Understood!"
Yuhi Kurenai, Yakumo, and Shikamaru all nodded together.
With all arrangements completed, Aoba said no more and turned to face forward atop the giant dragon.
"In that case, split up and move out. If you encounter any danger, remember to ask for help immediately."
"Yes!"
Everyone answered in unison.
Immediately after, the enormous wooden dragon that had been soaring through the air split directly into three, heading toward three different directions.
———
BOOM!
The massive wooden dragon slammed straight into the core area of Kusagakure.
The enormous crashing sound instantly echoed throughout the entire village.
The impact from the dragon also shattered all the surrounding buildings. Large amounts of rubble and wood fragments blasted outward in all directions, kicking up massive clouds of dust.
"Karin, Aunt Kasui, Kushina-nee, next you can let loose and do whatever you want. Sensei and I will be watching from the side," Standing on the dragon's head, Aoba spoke to the three of them.
This was the Uzumaki clan's revenge. He would let them have their fill first.
Anyway, with him here, they couldn't lose.
"Mm!"
The three nodded seriously, and as they jumped down together, multiple Adamantine Sealing Chains appeared behind each of them.
However, the power behind Kushina's chains was clearly weaker. After all, she was an Edo Tensei body and couldn't fully exert her strength. But precisely because she was an Edo Tensei, possessing an immortal body, she was actually the one they needed to worry about the least.
Naturally, the ninjas of Kusagakure also noticed that the village's core area had been attacked, and they rushed over, kunai and short blades in hand.
"Who's there?"
Although Kusagakure had already strengthened patrols and security within the village and surrounding areas due to the news of the Land of Snow's declaration of war, they had never imagined the enemy would break into the village core in this manner.
But once the dust dispersed and the forehead protectors on the three were revealed, the patrolling Grass ninjas were shocked to discover that they were actually Konoha ninjas.
Their brains practically froze.
'Isn't it the Land of Snow that declared war? Why are Konoha ninjas attacking?'
"Konoha ninjas? How could you—"
Before the Grass ninja who spoke could finish his sentence, he was sent flying by one of Karin's Adamantine Sealing Chains. On the spot, he was more out of breath than in.
"This is bad. Enemy attack!"
"Sound the alarm, now!"
The Grass ninjas who had still been in shock immediately snapped out of it when they saw their companion attacked.
The alarm in Kusagakure was instantly sounded.
And as the shrill alarm echoed.
Because they had directly broken into the center of Kusagakure, dozens of Grass ninjas appeared within just a few breaths, many of them jonin. Of course, jonin by Kusagakure's standards.
But even so, this still placed tremendous pressure on the three.
Karin looked into the distance and saw that the Grass ninjas had formed an encirclement, surrounding them at the center.
Even more Grass ninjas were rushing toward them from farther away.
Yet the Grass ninjas still did not rashly attack, only maintaining the encirclement.
After all, the enormous wooden dragon coiled within the deep crater that had just been smashed out, along with the two figures standing atop it, gave them tremendous pressure.
And one of them was Konoha's Hokage.
They were looking at Tsunade.
Kusagakure was, after all, a small place. They didn't yet know that Konoha's Hokage had already changed.
A Grass jonin who knew the relationship between the two villages stepped forward and angrily questioned.
"Hokage of Konoha! Why are you invading our Kusagakure's territory!"
"Don't you know that Kusagakure and Konoha are allies?"
"Hmph!"
However, the only response he received was a cold snort from Kushina, followed by Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Known as the Red-Hot Habanero, she had the fiercest temper among the three. All the suffering her good sister had endured here, she intended to reclaim in full.
That Grass jonin was caught completely off guard and was sent flying.
He didn't suffer serious injuries, but after landing on the ground, his face was swollen, and he was completely dazed.
It was obvious that this sudden, massive slap had caused considerable damage to his mental state.
Seeing this, the other Grass ninjas could no longer sit still and immediately shouted.
"Damn it, to treat Kusagakure with such contempt. So what if it's the Hokage! Everyone, attack together. They only have a few people. Before their chakra runs out, it's impossible for them to defeat so many of us!"
"Konoha must give us an explanation!"
With that, spurred on by the words, large numbers of Grass ninjas surged toward Karin and the other two on the ground.
As for Tsunade and Aoba, no one went looking for them.
What a joke. They knew it was Konoha's Hokage. Who would be tired of living and go looking for trouble with them?
As for the person who had just spoken, he had already quietly moved to the back of the group and gone to find the elders in the conference room.
It had to be said that although Karin and Uzumaki Kasui were quite strong now, stronger than Kusagakure's so-called jonin by a fair margin, facing the encirclement of dozens of ninjas at the same time was still extremely taxing.
And this trip was originally meant for revenge. If they ended up getting beaten back because of being surrounded, that revenge would feel unbearably stifling.
At that moment, under Tsunade's curious gaze, Aoba brought his hands together.
"Wood Release… Deep Forest Emergence!"
In an instant, the earth rumbled violently. Under the shocked gazes of countless people, countless vines and towering trees erupted from beneath the ground throughout Kusagakure.
After just a few breaths, Kusagakure tasted, for the first time since its founding, the overwhelming shock of Wood Release ninjutsu.
Before nearly all of Kusagakure's ninjas could even react to what was happening, they were firmly restrained by the trees that had suddenly grown up from beneath the ground.
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