Do It at Once

Standing on the hillside, watching the billowing dust rising into the sky in the distance, the ground beneath my feet trembled slightly.

He slowly closed his eyes, and his senses instantly expanded to a vast area, probing all the dense Chakra fluctuations within the smoke and dust.

With tens of thousands of ninja troops, the Stone Ninja have made a huge investment this time.

Katsuki remembered that in her previous life, Fourth Shinobi World War, the Five Great Ninja Villages formed the Ninja Alliance, with a total of 80,000 Ninja Alliance deployed to the battlefield.

That was a ninja army organized to deal with Madara Uchiha, a world-destroying boss. It was basically composed of Chunin and Jonin. Genin (except for two exceptionally powerful Genin) could not play any role in that level of war and would only be sent to their deaths on the battlefield.

Based on this calculation, each of the major ninja villages dispatched approximately 15,000 to 16,000 Jonin and Jonin. There may be some more and some less, but to be considered a major ninja village, it is certain that there are more than 10,000 Jonin and Jonin. In addition, the number of Genin is several times that of Jonin Genin.

Furthermore, during major battles, it was impossible to leave no one to defend the villages in the rear; this also constituted a force.

Based on this calculation, the number of ninjas in a large ninja village is estimated to be around 50,000 to 60,000. However, there may be some exceptions, such as Konoha, which may have more ninjas, and Sand Village, which focuses on elite soldiers, which may have fewer. But the overall number is roughly the same.

The number of ninjas, numbering fifty to sixty thousand, included those who maintained daily order in the village, protected dignitaries such as the daimyo, and served as garrison troops patrolling the borders.

The actual number of people that could be mobilized to launch a war was only a little over ten thousand. If we were to be ruthless, we could squeeze out a little over twenty thousand, but that would be the limit. Any more than that and the village would become unstable.

In previous Shinobi World wars, it was usually the case that a few thousand people were deployed to test each other first, and then reinforcements were gradually added, and the scale of the war was upgraded accordingly. It was rare for a large-scale battle to be set up like this from the very beginning, with tens of thousands of ninja troops deployed.

"What a bold move, Ōnoki of the Two Scales... Hehe, truly impressive."

Opening his eyes, Katsuki grinned bitterly. In his perception, these tens of thousands of Iwa Stone Ninja were mostly elites with extremely concentrated Chakra. The proportion of Genin was very small, and most of them were Jonin and jonin. In addition, the Third Tsuchikage personally took action, and there were also two Jinchuriki accompanying them.

This battle will not be easy!

"But that's all there is to it. I never expected this battle to be easy." Katsuki clenched her fist, raised her head, and squinted as she gazed at the sky.

He had just sensed a very unique Chakra fluctuation soaring in the sky.

His eyesight was instantly enhanced to its maximum, and the distant sky was brought closer to his eyes. Every change in the clouds was taken in, including the little old man moving through the sea of clouds.

The Third Tsuchikage!

"As expected... there aren't many ninjas who can fly."

Katsuki's lips curled up; he began to feel excited, his blood was surging, the veins on his temples were throbbing, and his breathing became heavy.

Since his battle with the Third Mizukage, he has never fought with his full strength, and he has been holding back for a long time!

The distance is rapidly closing.

The Stone Ninja couldn't possibly miss Katsuki standing on the hillside. His undisguised, immense Chakra fluctuations, comparable to those of Tailed Beast, were as conspicuous as a campfire in the night to the sensory ninja.

The Stone Ninja's orderly formation was slightly disrupted. The sensory ninjas were the eyes and ears of the ninja army, and these 'eyes and ears' were frightened by Katsuki on the hill. As a result, the entire ninja army was at a standstill, fearing that they would run into the enemy's Jinchuriki.

Such a dense formation against a Tailed Beast is a disaster!

In the sky, Ōnoki's flight speed also decreased. He received a report from his subordinates that Jinchuriki, suspected to be from Konoha, had appeared on the hill ahead.

This news stunned him. Konoha's response was too... strange. They actually released the Jinchuriki alone. Weren't they afraid of losing him? Stone Ninja were willing to lose more manpower, but as long as they could capture a Jinchuriki, it would be a worthwhile deal no matter what.

Not to mention, the Jinchuriki of Konoha is the Nine-Tails.

Ōnoki had not forgotten the scene when Madara Uchiha tamed the Nine-Tails and conquered all directions.

In an instant, a multitude of possibilities flashed through his mind: trap? confidence? accident? After weighing all the options as carefully as possible, Ōnoki made his decision.

Its flight speed suddenly increased, and it sped towards the hill.

"They're here, they're here! Let's have some fun..."

A dazzling white light rapidly spread across the field of vision. He swallowed back the words he was about to say. This was not the time to speak. That Ōnoki was so unscrupulous, he had no manners Tsuchikage. Shouldn't everyone have said a few words before making a move?

And then they unleashed their ultimate move right from the start!

As soon as Katsuki blinked, silvery-white lightning burst forth beneath her feet, shattering the hills and earth beneath her, and a deafening roar echoed across the plains.

Then, a pure white light swept down, silently extinguishing the lightning and obliterating the mountain. In an instant, the once towering hill disappeared without a trace, leaving only a huge, round crater. The surface of the crater was as smooth as a mirror, without a single rough spot.

Ōnoki slowly descended, hovering above the crater, quietly looking down at his masterpiece!

After much deliberation, he felt that capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was too risky, and that it was very likely a trap set by Konoha.

To be on the safe side, we'll use a powerful attack to kill it right away. This way, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki will need some time to regenerate, and during that time, Konoha will essentially lose its Jinchuriki. This will undoubtedly be a favorable development for the upcoming battle.

"So this is Dust Release! Seeing it in person really makes a difference. The destructive power... wow, it's truly terrifying!"

Thunder rumbled through the sky.

A silver thunder chariot roared down, driven by a young man with red hair standing on end like a lion's mane. With a Thunder Chariot of his hand, a bolt of silver lightning struck down.

Lightning engulfed Ōnoki in an instant, tearing his limbs to shreds.

However, Katsuki showed no smugness at this; instead, he clicked his tongue in exasperation, secretly sighing that someone worthy of being called a "Shadow" was certainly not someone who could be easily dealt with.

The next moment, Ōnoki's voice rang out.

"Konoha Disaster?"

The old man's figure suddenly appeared high in the sky, and his questioning voice reached Katsuki's ears on the strong wind.

"It is I, Tsuchikage."

Turning the vehicle around, the Thunderclap Chariot sped towards Ōnoki at top speed. Katsuki flipped her right hand, clenched another bolt of lightning in her grasp, and then hurled it fiercely.

Great Thunderclap.

With a deafening roar that shattered the sea of clouds, a flash of lightning spanned a distance of ten meters, shattering the rock puppet that Ōnoki had hastily summoned, reducing it to a pile of fragments! (To be continued)