Chapter 81: 4 vs 20,000 (Part 3)
After being ambushed by Dana, Onoki decisively increased his altitude.
In that brief delay, the Third Raikage had already reached the gate of the Stone's main camp.
"Who are you?!" the guards shouted, caught completely off guard.
"So I was the fastest after all," the Raikage said. "Well then! Lightning Release: Thunder Plow Hot Knife!"
He didn't even slow down, crashing through the Stone's heavily reinforced gate like a human tank, his arms crossed in front of him. The gate was shattered, and the camp was thrown into chaos.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! We're being invaded!"
Hanzo of the Salamander arrived a moment later. Seeing the destroyed gate, he said with admiration, "You were a step ahead of me, my lord. Then I cannot be outdone."
As he ran, he took off his steel mask, and a cloud of purple poison billowed from his mouth. He spun his chain-scythe, and though he lacked the Raikage's raw power, he exuded an aura of deadly menace.
He threw a pill to the Raikage. "This is the antidote to my poison," he said. "If you trust me, Lord Raikage..."
Before he could finish, the Raikage had already popped the pill into his mouth. "A little bitter," he said. "Don't forget to give one to the two brats."
Hanzo froze for a second. "I will not fail you," he said, his voice grim. It was unclear what he was referring to.
But after Hanzo had turned away, the Raikage secretly spat the pill out and tucked it away.
With the gate breached, a large number of Stone ninja rushed to the scene.
The Raikage and Hanzo moved in perfect sync, one to the left, the other to the right.
The Raikage ignored the volley of ninja tools. Kunai and shuriken bounced off his body with a metallic clang. He charged into the crowd like a locomotive, sending countless Stone ninja flying.
"Dammit! So fast!"
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
A ninja used a jutsu, and a dragon of mud and stone rose from the ground, spitting a massive stone ball at the Raikage.
"Just in time!"
The Raikage opened his arms and caught the massive stone ball with his bare hands.
"What?! What kind of monster is this?! Impossible!"
He spun around and, with a powerful twist of his body, threw the stone ball back at the densest part of the crowd, even faster than it had come. It exploded like a cannonball, and the earth trembled.
The scene on Hanzo's side was even more gruesome. His chain-scythe danced, sending limbs and flesh flying. The purple poison, stirred up by the chain, became a life-sucking tornado. Ordinary ninja couldn't even get close.
"Aah! Poison! I can't breathe!" A Stone ninja, about to engage, felt a burning sensation in his lungs, the pain so intense he doubled over.
"Cover your mouths and noses! Don't breathe the poison!"
"It's no use! Aah, my eyes!"
Hanzo weaved through the crowd, reaping the lives of the helpless Stone ninja.
But that wasn't all.
"Summoning Jutsu: Salamander Ibuse!"
A massive, eyeless salamander appeared and spewed a torrent of poison gas. If Hanzo's own poison was a smoking chimney, then Ibuse's was a waterfall.
A Stone ninja suddenly burst from the ground, trying to launch a surprise attack. Hanzo didn't even blink. He sidestepped, and his chain-scythe, on its return path, changed direction and impaled the man.
The Stone's underground surprise attack unit was famous throughout the ninja world.
"Ibuse, go underground!"
The eyeless salamander nodded, and its massive body melted into the earth. In addition to its poison, Ibuse could also move freely underground. That was its home turf, where it could also avoid being targeted. The Stone's main camp was a massive, sprawling complex, a small town in its own right, and the ground beneath it was a labyrinth of tunnels. Ibuse would have a lot of fun. The Stone ninja in those dark tunnels would surely enjoy its poison gas.
The initial assault had happened in an instant. Onoki finally arrived, his wounded arm bandaged. Seeing the chaos in his camp, he didn't hesitate. The moment he was in range, he used his Dust Release.
A white, glowing square materialized, enveloping the Third Raikage. But before it could fully form, the Raikage had already shot out of it.
"Earth Release: Stone Hands!" Massive stone hands shot up from the ground, trying to grab him, but he just smashed through them, sending a shower of rock and debris flying.
Onoki tried several times to stop him, but the natural advantage of lightning over earth made any attempt futile. Onoki was chasing him from the sky, while the Raikage was plowing through his forces on the ground. And the ones who were suffering were the Stone ninja.
Seeing that he couldn't stop the Raikage, he turned his attention to Hanzo, hoping to find an opening. But Hanzo's battlefield was completely shrouded in a thick, purple fog. All he could hear were the occasional screams of his men.
As more and more Stone ninja arrived, the Raikage and Hanzo pushed deeper and deeper into the camp, and the chaos grew.
"Everyone, spread out!" Onoki ordered. "Wind Release squad, release—"
"Lightning Release: Overclocked Thunder Severing Wave!"
Before he could finish, Dana attacked him again from some unknown corner. But Onoki was prepared this time. He blocked it with his stone fist, which was mostly sheared away, but he was unharmed.
As he dodged, he immediately assumed the Dust Release stance and, without even looking, fired in the direction the attack had come from. The white cube enveloped a large area, but Dana had already moved on. The rocks and trees within the cube were reduced to nothingness.
Onoki sneered and turned his attention back to his troops. "Dammit, brat! Stone ninja, listen—"
"Lightning Release: Overclocked Thunder Severing Wave!"
"Again!" Onoki dodged again.
"Explosion Corps, to me—"
"Lightning Release: Overclocked Thunder Severing Wave!"
Every time he tried to command his army, Dana would interfere, hitting and running with his incredible mobility, driving him mad with rage.
"You #
%#@#@!!!!"
"Lightning Release: Overclocked Thunder Severing Wave!"
This was one of their earliest strategies: disrupt the chain of command.
While flying, Onoki had the advantages of high mobility, safety, and a good vantage point, but his connection to his ground forces was weakened. He was the only one who could fly. Communication was mostly done by shouting. Even if he had hand signals, they were difficult to use with Dana constantly harassing him.
And so, faced with the two super-powered monsters who were causing chaos and destruction in his camp, to effectively command his forces, he had no choice but to land.
The flying artillery has become a ground-based cannon. His threat is greatly reduced. Plan successful! Dana thought, seeing him land.
"Wind Release squad, disperse the poison!" Onoki ordered the moment he touched down. "Explosion Corps, deal with the Raikage! Everyone, spread out! Spread out!"
Several ninja immediately stepped forward. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Hanzo's purple poison was clearly under some kind of control and was not easily dispersed. But it was still a fog. Under the continuous barrage of wind, it gradually began to thin.
Just as Onoki was about to strike the moment Hanzo was revealed, a voice came from within the purple mist.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
It was as if the sea had suddenly appeared on a high plateau. A terrifying amount of water swept out, washing away a large number of the Stone ninja, the force so great they didn't even have a chance to tread water.
Nearly half of the Stone camp was flooded. The chakra-infused water did not dissipate, but gathered into a surging tide. Dana was also caught in it, but he just leaped onto a wave and surfed forward. He clapped his hands together.
"Lightning Release: Overclocked I-Haven't-Thought-of-a-Name-Yet Impure-Water-Can-Conduct-Electricity-Too Jutsu!"
His mastery of lightning allowed him to freely manipulate his jutsu. He rode the wave, constantly infusing the water beneath him with electricity. The Stone ninja who were being tossed about by the waves were now being electrocuted as well.
Hanzo emerged from the water. He looked at the young boy, who dared to participate in such a crazy battle, with a look of undisguised admiration. He threw him a pill.
"This is the antidote to my poison," he said. "Don't get yourself poisoned!"
Dana caught the pill but didn't take it. "Lord Hanzo," he said with a smile, "what are the symptoms of your poison?"
"...The first thing is a pain in the lungs."
"Alright. I'll take it when I feel the pain."
Hanzo just sighed. "It seems you didn't inherit your father's bold spirit. But a ninja can't be too careful."
Dana just smiled, pretending not to understand his meaning.
A commotion erupted on the northern side of the camp. It seemed Arashi was a bit late, having chosen to attack from a different direction. His assault was not as spectacular as theirs.
"Well," Dana said, "it's impossible to kill them all. Now we just have to make our dear Tsuchikage understand that retreat is his only option."
He leaped into the air, did a flip, and clapped his hands together. "Lightning Release: Overclocked Thunder Dragon Bullet Technique!"
A massive dragon of blue lightning appeared and spat a ball of thunder at the enemy, which exploded into a shower of electricity, taking down a large number of the Stone ninja.
"Nice!" Hanzo complimented.
"I'm not done yet," Dana said with a smile.
He then landed on the dragon's head and, controlling the lightning beast beneath him, charged into the battlefield like a whirlwind.
Hanzo's mouth fell open. He had seen people ride earth and water dragons, but a lightning dragon... was that even possible? Even with all his experience, he was stunned.
The massive lightning dragon, its scales rendered in perfect detail, seemed both real and intangible. Nothing could stand in its way.
"I made a dragon, so of course it's not just going to spit a ball! But the horns aren't long enough. I'll make them longer next time. Lightning Release: Overclocked Thunder Severing Wave!"
The dragon, as if it had a mind of its own, charged and coiled, destroying everything in its path. Dana, standing on its head, fired an unstoppable beam of lightning from his mouth, sweeping across the battlefield and suppressing the enemy in an instant.
Hanzo, after a moment of hesitation, burst out laughing. "Interesting! Very interesting! Such a reckless youth! Water Release: Water Clone!"
Eight Hanzo of the Salamanders appeared on the surface of the water. They all slowly put on their respirators.
"Now then," they all said in unison, "let the hunt begin! Water Release: Water Instantaneous Body Technique!"
The eight of them instantly disappeared into the water, like a school of frenzied sharks, and began to patrol the battlefield, dragging the Stone ninja into the water and executing them, leaving a trail of blood in their wake.
Onoki was furious.
"Earth Release: Golem Technique!"
A stone giant climbed out from the ground and brought its massive hand down on Dana.
"Thunder Severing Wave!" Dana fired a beam of lightning from his mouth, shearing off half of the golem's hand, but the heavy hand still fell. He had to jump from the dragon.
The lightning dragon was crushed, dissipating into a shower of sparks.
"Earth Release: Added-Weight Boulder Technique!"
Before he could even land, Onoki was on him, a stone-encased fist hurtling towards him.
The massive fist grew larger and larger in his vision.
He spun on his heel and, in an instant, was behind Onoki. Onoki's fist slammed into the ground, and the earth for dozens of meters around cracked and shattered.
That punch was much more powerful than Tsunade's. If it had hit, he would have been turned to dust.
He had intended to counter-attack, but the violent tremor knocked him off balance, and he had to jump away.
"Onoki! Your opponent is me!" the Third Raikage shouted, having finally dealt with the Explosion Corps.
"Earth Release: Stone Fist Technique! Earth Release: Super Added-Weight Boulder Technique!"
"Hell Stab: Four-Finger Nukite!"
The clash between the Raikage and the Tsuchikage created a massive shockwave. Dana, who had been about to join the fight, was sent flying.
He watched the earth-shattering scene, a bead of cold sweat on his forehead.
Arashi, having dealt with his own opponents, arrived from the north. He was young and already panting, but he was unharmed.
Seeing that he was about to go and help his father, Dana stopped him. "Leave Onoki to Dad," he said. "In a close-quarters fight, I don't think Onoki is a match for him. And Dust Release isn't invincible."
This was Onoki's greatest weakness. The Stone lacked top-tier fighters, which meant they had no one who could suppress the speed of opponents like the Third Raikage, Hanzo, or even Dana and Arashi. And with his own men in the way, he couldn't just fire his Dust Release indiscriminately without risking friendly fire. And it wasn't easy to hit them anyway.
The Stone's specialty, wide-range jutsu, was also a double-edged sword in this situation. It could inflict heavy casualties on their own forces. From the very beginning, the four of them had been intentionally weaving through the Stone's ranks.
If they had been fighting in an open field, Onoki could have used his flight and high margin for error to slowly accumulate an advantage. But now, his own army had become a shield for the enemy.
The Third Raikage's seemingly reckless strategy was not so reckless after all. It was the optimal solution. If they had come with three hundred men, the situation would have been completely different.
"Succeed by planning amidst a thousand dangers," eh? You really taught me a lesson today, Dad, Dana thought.
"Then what do we do?" Arashi asked.
"We keep fighting until the Stone breaks, or until Blue Bee gets here. Don't tell me you're out of chakra."
Arashi immediately straightened his back. "Are you kidding me? I'm just getting started!"
"Good. Lightning Release: Overclocked Thunder Dragon!" A massive lightning dragon appeared again. But this time, its horns were longer, more menacing.
Dana leaped onto its head. "I'm off!" he said to Arashi. "Be safe."
Arashi watched with envy as he rode the lightning dragon into the heart of the battle. He shook his head and then charged in himself.
On the other side of the battlefield, Hanzo, seeing that Onoki was occupied, once again summoned his salamander, Ibuse. He had been worried about it being taken out by the Dust Release before, but now he had no such concerns. Ibuse had a few new wounds, but it was eager for a fight. It seemed to have had a good time with the Stone's underground forces.
"Ibuse, poison!"
The eyeless salamander responded with a silent nod, shook its head, and a waterfall of poison gas billowed out. The Stone ninja were once again faced with their most terrifying enemy and began to fall.
In the 40th year of Konoha, the Hidden Cloud, which had been biding its time, launched a simultaneous attack on the Stone and Konoha in the Mount Tenmoku area. On the Konoha front, the force led by the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Blue Bee, with only three hundred elite troops, drove back the Konoha army, forcing them to retreat and inflicting heavy casualties. These three hundred would go down in history as the "Three Hundred Spartans of the Cloud." The name would be passed down, becoming synonymous with the Cloud's most elite unit, formed only in times of war, an honor that all the village's finest ninja would aspire to.
On the other front, the four-man team of the Third Raikage, Hanzo of the Salamander, Arashi Yotsuki, and Dana Yotsuki achieved a feat that would make the entire ninja world tremble. With just four men, they forced an army of 20,000 to retreat three hundred li, all the way back to the border of the Land of Rain.
They would be celebrated in story and song, considered the strongest squad in the history of the ninja world.
They were known as the Four Heroes of Mount Tenmoku.