Chapter 110: Full-Scale Battle Begins, Ling Yu's Strategy
"Don't lose heart!"
Seeing his own ninja's morale sinking, the Third Raikage's expression darkened. Then he roared loudly, cutting through the Cloud ninja's low spirits and rallying them:
"Although I can't beat their strongest fighter, Senju Ling Yu is only one person. As long as I do my best to pin him down, we still hold the overwhelming advantage in numbers. Drag this out and victory will ultimately be ours!"
"Believe in yourselves! Our Hidden Cloud Village is the strongest in the ninja world. We Cloud ninja are the strongest ninja in the ninja world!"
"Cloud ninja—follow me! Full charge!"
"Charge!!"
With that, the Third Raikage led his aide forward and rushed toward Konoha first. The Cloud ninja, reinvigorated by his words, surged forward like they had been injected with adrenaline, roaring as they charged toward the Konoha ninja.
"Hmph… I didn't expect the Third Raikage to be such a decent leader. At least he has some brains."
Ōnoki watched the Cloud ninja regain momentum so quickly and let out a cold snort. His impression of the Third Raikage improved slightly.
"Father, should we move now too?" At that moment, Akatsuchi stepped out from behind him.
"Since the Cloud ninja have already attacked, we can't fall behind. Stone ninja—follow me!"
Ōnoki shouted loudly and led his Tsuchikage aide and his son Akatsuchi charging toward Konoha as well.
"It's starting?"
Hanzō gave a quick glance at the two jinchūriki hidden in the Cloud and Stone armies according to the plan. A sinister glint flashed in his eyes.
"Rain ninja—follow me! Take down Konoha!"
Then Hanzō also led the new Kage-level powerhouse he had recruited from the black market and the Rain ninja behind him, following the Stone and Cloud ninja into the charge.
"Hmph! Coming to die? Fine, I'll grant your wish."
Flying in the sky, Ling Yu saw the three-nation ninja charging toward him. He sneered coldly, formed hand seals, and prepared to unleash a Wood Release technique.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees—"
"No chance! Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
But Ōnoki had been waiting exactly for this moment. He formed a deformable semi-transparent barrier in his hand and fired it toward Ling Yu. The barrier's range was extremely wide, enveloping Ling Yu along with hundreds of meters of surrounding space.
"Damn it—again? Everyone just loves interrupting my ninjutsu, huh?"
Ling Yu cursed inwardly. He didn't resist Ōnoki's technique head-on. Instead, he used Space Power to instantly escape the barrier's range.
Although his Rinnegan could absorb the technique, he was currently waiting for the tailed beasts to appear and didn't want to waste energy on them.
"Good opportunity—die, Senju Ling Yu!"
"Lightning Release: Hell Stab – Four-Finger Hand!"
The moment Ling Yu reappeared in the air, the Third Raikage seemed to have predicted his position. Together with his aide, he appeared right beneath him.
Then both of them covered their bodies in Lightning chakra, leaped into the air, and concentrated high-intensity electric current into their hands. Their hand blades formed a pincer attack, slashing toward Ling Yu's neck from front and back.
"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"
"Monster Strength Fist!"
Ling Yu's eyes narrowed. He reacted instantly—first using Dankū to block the Third Raikage's attack from behind. Then he raised his right hand, coating it in Armament Haki while combining Tsunade's Monster Strength Fist, and punched straight toward the Raikage aide's arm.
"Aaaah—!"
A pig-slaughtering scream rang out. The Raikage aide's arm was instantly shattered by Ling Yu. Enduring excruciating pain, he collapsed to the ground, rolling wildly.
"Die! Heavenly Foot!"
With full force, Ling Yu stomped down. The Raikage aide was crushed into pulp. The ground within hundreds of meters collapsed dozens of meters deep, forming a giant crater.
"Aaah! Senju Ling Yu! I'm going to kill you!" "Lightning Release: Hell Stab – One-Finger Hand!"
Another furious roar erupted. Seeing his long-time aide instantly killed by Ling Yu, the Third Raikage's rage could no longer be contained.
Activating his strongest attack, he shattered the transparent barrier in front of him and charged straight at Ling Yu.
"Coming to die together? Then I'll oblige you properly."
Ling Yu sneered. He turned and once again clashed with the Third Raikage in close combat.
Although he was slightly surprised that the Third Raikage could break through his Bakudō, Ling Yu didn't care much. In his eyes, the Third Raikage was always just a flea he could crush at any moment. Even going all out, he posed no real threat.
"All forces—attack! Don't be afraid! We have more powerful fighters than they do. Once we deal with their strong ones, we'll come back to support you!"
Seeing Ling Yu holding down two Kage-level fighters, Hiruzen Sarutobi scanned the enemy's Kage-level lineup, felt victory was already in hand, and led the high-morale Konoha ninja to meet the three-nation forces.
"Coordinate with the Konoha ninja—Sand ninja, follow me into battle!"
The Third Kazekage shouted loudly and followed Hiruzen Sarutobi, leading the Sand ninja into the fray.
As they drew closer to Hanzō and Ōnoki, Hiruzen Sarutobi said no more. He formed hand seals, summoned Enma, and engaged Ōnoki head-on.
However, due to Ōnoki's overwhelmingly powerful Dust Release and his flight ninjutsu, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't get close to him for a while.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wings!"
Seeing the Third Hokage falling behind, the Third Kazekage's lips curved slightly upward. He used Magnet Release to highly compress iron sand into a pair of giant bird wings on his shoulders, flew into the sky, and began dealing with Ōnoki—apparently intending to assist Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hatake Sakumo wielded his short sword White Fang and fought the Tsuchikage aide. Since Sakumo was only slightly weaker than the Third Hokage, he held a small advantage in the battle.
Tsunade—as Konoha's other main Kage-level fighter—coated her fists in Armament Haki, combined it with Monster Strength Fist, and used Shave (from the Six Powers) to charge straight at Hanzō.
"Senju Tsunade, Danzō's poison is too bizarre. I'll help you."
"Puppet Technique: Chikamatsu Ten Puppets!"
At that moment, Chiyo also released her puppets and joined Tsunade in confronting the salamander Hanzō.
"Chiyo? Just as Ling Yu said—the Sand ninja really do have a problem."
While fighting Hanzō, Tsunade secretly glanced at Chiyo. Remembering Ling Yu's warning yesterday, she quietly withdrew part of her strength and began guarding against Chiyo.
Finally, Jiraiya blocked Ōnoki's son Akatsuchi, while Orochimaru faced the new Kage-level powerhouse Hanzō had recruited from the black market. The high-level fighters of both sides clashed together.
Although Konoha's high-level fighters held the advantage, the ordinary Konoha ninja were outnumbered nearly two-to-one and forced into one-versus-two situations. When strength was roughly equal, Konoha suffered heavy losses.
Only the Uchiha and Hyūga clan ninja could barely withstand the one-versus-two pressure and hold on desperately.
Meanwhile, while the battlefield was raging fiercely, a sneaky Cloud ninja and another Stone ninja silently circled around to the rear of the Konoha ninja.
"Mikoto, I've already located the two people with the strongest malice. These should be the tailed beast jinchūriki Ling Yu mentioned. During the fight later, be careful—you and Konan."
At the edge of the battlefield, Kushina and Mikoto hid with Konan in a lush tree.
"Mm. I'll protect Konan well. You be careful too."
Mikoto held Konan in her arms and gave Kushina a confident smile.
The night before the battle began, Ling Yu had already told them that tailed beasts would appear on the battlefield. Originally he hadn't planned to let them join the fight—he wanted them to stay in camp and look after Konan.
But after Kushina and Mikoto's double pleading and threats, Ling Yu reluctantly agreed. Then he gave them a task:
The two of them were to wait outside the battlefield. Once the tailed beasts appeared, each would hold one down and have some fun. When they got bored, they would notify Ling Yu to come and capture the tailed beasts.
"Don't worry—I'm pretty strong now too."
Kushina patted her chest, her eyes full of eagerness to try her new power. Then she spoke softly to Mikoto:
"Alright, I'm telling you one of their positions now. Later, take Konan and go wait there for him to transform into his tailed beast form before you attack. I'll go wait for the other one first."
With that, Kushina pointed out a Cloud ninja to Mikoto, then ran toward the other side of the battlefield herself.
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