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Deep in the canyon, west of the Land of Fire, the massive reverse summoning array's light finally completely faded.
Mabui's body swayed, almost collapsing to the ground, barely held up by two medical shinobi whose faces were equally pale.
"Mabui-sama, you..."
"I'm fine."
Mabui waved her hand, pushing away the support.
Her chakra was already at rock bottom, and the mental exhaustion made her feel like the whole world was spinning.
But she couldn't fall.
Behind her were the last batch of comrades who had been summoned over.
Hundreds of Kumogakure shinobi, some still dry heaving from the ultra-long-distance summoning, while others bravely stood straight, adjusting their gear.
Adding those who had been summoned earlier, nearly one thousand troops had gathered in the canyon.
They were the second group of the Hidden Cloud Village.
They were the second sharp blade that the Raikage would drive into Konoha's heart!
"Where is the Raikage?"
A jonin who had just recovered walked over and asked.
"The Raikage has already led the main force to attack Konoha," Mabui replied, forcing herself to stay alert.
"Excellent!"
"It's finally begun!"
"For the glory of Kumogakure!"
A wave of barely held back excited roars immediately burst out in the canyon.
Every face held hope for victory.
They only knew that the Raikage had launched a surprise attack with three thousand elites.
But they didn't know that those three thousand elites had all surrendered by now.
Even more, they didn't know that the Raikage, who was unbeatable in their hearts, had already been defeated.
Mabui looked at her comrades' high fighting spirit and also breathed a sigh of relief.
According to the plan, she should have finished summoning all backup troops before noon.
Then, destroy the array and lead this unit to meet up with the Raikage.
But it was already long past noon.
Mabui glanced at the sky.
They couldn't wait any longer.
"Everyone, prepare explosive tags!" She gave the order. "Completely destroy this array!"
"Yes!"
Several shinobi immediately stepped forward and placed special explosive tags on various key points of the array.
A few minutes later, preparations were complete.
Mabui signaled to everyone.
"Get back to a safe distance!"
The nearly one thousand strong force quickly moved out of the canyon.
Confirming that everyone had left, Mabui formed hand seals.
"Explode!"
Boom!
A deafening explosion echoed through the valley!
Violent flames and shockwaves swallowed the entire depths of the canyon.
Smoke and dust soared into the sky, and rocks tumbled down.
The reverse summoning array, which had cost the Hidden Cloud Village countless efforts and carried all their hopes, was turned to scorched earth in the violent explosion.
Their retreat was cut off.
Next, it was either victory or death.
"Let's go!"
Mabui turned and ordered the gathered troops.
"Target Konoha!"
"Meet up with the Raikage!"
"Roar!"
Nearly one thousand Kumogakure shinobi let out a sky-shaking roar, transforming into a flood, rushing out of the valley, and rapidly moving toward Konoha.
Outside Konoha, below the massive earth wall was a chaotic battlefield.
Deep craters and scorch marks from the battle were visible everywhere, and the air was filled with blood and gunpowder.
Minato's figure flickered constantly, efficiently directing the Konoha shinobi in post-battle cleanup.
"Barrier squad, immediately apply chakra seals to all prisoners!"
"Security forces, divide into teams for guarding, with a focus on marking jonin-level prisoners!"
Command after command came from his mouth, clear and firm.
All the shinobi that could be called within the village, including the security forces and the jonin on standby, totaled only eight hundred people.
They had not taken part in the battle, their chakra was full, and their spirits were high.
But every face wore a dazed expression.
They looked at the kneeling, surrendering Kumogakure survivors, and then couldn't help but look up at the figure on the city wall.
Throughout the entire process, they had done nothing.
Yet they had witnessed one person crush an army, hold down a jinchuriki and the Raikage.
This feeling was even more absurd and unreal than going through a fierce battle themselves.
"Minato, this is troublesome."
Nara Shikaku walked up to Minato, feeling a rare headache.
"The number of prisoners is still too large."
"Although Kumogakure also had many deaths, the remaining are still nearly two thousand people."
"And each one is an elite. Our village's prison can't hold them all."
"Guarding them will require a large number of personnel."
This was a happy problem!
"First, hold them all in the temporary camp."
Minato said in a deep voice.
"For what comes next, we'll ask the daimyo first."
"Understood!"
Shin did not take part in cleaning up the battlefield.
He just stood quietly on the one hundred meter high city wall, looking down at the busy Konoha shinobi below and the dense mass of Kumogakure prisoners.
These were all his spoils of war.
They were also important bargaining chips for his upcoming talks with the Land of Lightning.
He waved his hand.
An Anbu immediately appeared before him. "My lord."
"Return to the capital."
Shin didn't look back, saying, "Inform the Department of Foreign Affairs of the situation here."
"Also, send letters to the daimyo of the four countries: Earth, Wind, Water, and Lightning."
"Tell them I want to hold a daimyo meeting."
"Yes."
The Anbu's figure flickered, merging into the shadows and disappearing.
After dealing with this matter, Shin prepared to leave.
However, as soon as he turned around, his movement suddenly paused. His eyes looked toward the western direction of the Land of Fire.
A massive chakra cluster was moving at high speed.
The number was nearly one thousand.
Their target was Konoha.
"Heh." Shin let out a light chuckle.
Interesting.
There were still people.
Was it a backup force?
It seemed Kumogakure had truly bet everything this time.
He turned around, looking back at Minato below the city wall, who was busy and rushed.
"Minato."
His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached Minato's ears.
Minato immediately looked up.
He saw the daimyo waving to him.
Not daring to delay, with a Flying Thunder God, he instantly appeared beside Shin. "Daimyo-sama, what are your orders?"
Nara Shikaku and the others also followed nervously.
Shin pointed toward the west, his manner so relaxed it was as if he were talking about something tiny.
"Over there, another force has arrived."
"From Kumogakure, about one thousand people."
"Judging by their speed, they'll arrive within an hour."
What?!
The calm on Minato's face instantly vanished.
Nara Shikaku felt his brain buzz.
Another thousand people?
They weren't afraid of battle. The eight hundred shinobi in the village were energetic enough to fight.
But what was the situation now?
Beneath their feet were over two thousand elite prisoners who could riot at any moment, requiring a large number of guards.
And outside, another thousand enemy troops were coming!
They simply didn't have enough personnel to go around!
If a battle started and those two thousand plus prisoners took the opportunity to cause trouble, wouldn't that bother the daimyo again?
Absurd.
Seeing their hesitant expressions, Shin patted Minato's shoulder. "Bring A and Killer Bee up!"
Hostages?
Nara Shikaku immediately understood and quickly ran down the city wall.
Shin looked at Minato and said, "If they don't surrender later, we'll use these two as a sacrifice."
"Understood!"