Chapter 5

Konoha was fighting on four fronts. The Konoha higher-ups, led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, oversaw the overall war situation and formulated strategic plans.

Orochimaru served as the frontline commander on the battlefield between Cloud and Konoha. Cloud had already broken through the Land of Hot Water and massed its troops along the Land of Fire's border.

Jiraiya and Tsunade served as the primary and secondary frontline commanders on the battlefields against Sand and Rock in the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass.

Although Tsunade suffered from hemophobia, she had no problem serving as a commander.

Moreover, as one of the ninja world's foremost—perhaps even its greatest—medical ninjas, Tsunade was not without ways to deal with her hemophobia.

Tsunade could use top-tier Medical Ninjutsu to adjust the nerves related to her retinal pigmentation and alter her sense of smell.

That way, bright red blood would appear in a different color to Tsunade, and she would no longer be able to smell blood, allowing her to fight normally.

Of course, this method required time. Before the battle between the Sannin in the original story, everything had happened too suddenly, and Tsunade had not had time to make such precise adjustments with Medical Ninjutsu.

The battlefield between Konoha and Mist was commanded by the Uchiha Clan Head and the Hyuga Clan Head, serving as primary and secondary commanders.

At this time, the Uchiha Clan Head and the Hyuga Clan Head were not Fugaku Uchiha and Hyuga Hiashi, but their fathers.

The Hidden Mist Battlefield was also the most unusual of the four. The other battlefields mainly consisted of civilian ninja, with clan ninja acting as support. On the Hidden Mist Battlefield, clan ninja were the main force, while civilian ninja served as support.

The Hidden Mist Battlefield was also located within the Land of Fire. Mist had already occupied the Land of Whirlpools. During both the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, the battlefields between Konoha and Mist had been in and around the Land of Whirlpools.

The Third Shinobi World War could be said to be the war in which Konoha faced the greatest danger. Defeat on any front would trigger a chain reaction and lead to a total collapse.

Because of the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato Namikaze acted as a firefighter, constantly racing between the various battlefields, mainly the strongest fronts against Cloud and Rock.

Now that Konoha had come under attack, how could Minato Namikaze possibly not rush back?

As a devastating weapon capable of instantly killing fifty Rock ninja, his entry onto the battlefield was enough to break the balance and turn the tide.

Because the battlefields were spread too widely, Minato Namikaze did not waste time supporting other ninja. Instead, he headed straight toward the place where the fighting was most intense.

That place was halfway up Kikyo Mountain, where ten Cloud and Suna Ninja Jonin were besieging Hiruzen Sarutobi.

For this surprise attack on Konoha, Cloud and Sand had not sent any Kage-level experts. Instead, they had dispatched a large number of Jonin.

There were two reasons for this. First, they needed to tie down Konoha's Kage-level experts on the frontlines and prevent them from returning to reinforce Konoha.

Second, the two villages did not dare take the risk. They did not know what level of strength Konoha's remaining defenders possessed.

If Konoha's defensive force was too strong, escaping Konoha's pursuit and interception in the heart of the Land of Fire would be difficult.

Kage-level experts were the foundation that kept a village in check. Losing even one would be far too costly.

A Kage-level expert was more valuable than several Jonin. Under normal circumstances, it took six or seven Jonin to contend with one.

A single Jonin facing a Kage-level expert alone could at most hold out for a few exchanges before being killed. The gap in strength was enormous.

If ten Jonin coordinated well, they were more than capable of hunting down a Kage-level expert.

Unfortunately, the Jonin were facing Hiruzen Sarutobi in his prime. His physical condition, combat experience, and ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu were all at their peak!

Even fighting one against ten, Hiruzen Sarutobi had not been injured. On the contrary, he held the upper hand, and four Jonin had already been wounded.

If the battle continued, as long as Hiruzen Sarutobi made no mistakes, he would eventually defeat all ten Jonin.

Killing them all would be somewhat difficult. Jonin were no rookies. If they scattered and fled, Hiruzen Sarutobi truly would not be able to take down every one of them.

Once Minato Namikaze arrived, the relatively balanced situation was broken.

As a ninja, Minato Namikaze naturally had no concern for fair play. Letting an opportunity for a sneak attack slip by was not a ninja's style.

A space-time ninjutsu like Flying Thunder God was terrifying when used for sneak attacks. Caught completely off guard, four Jonin had their throats slit by Minato Namikaze in an instant.

There had only been ten Jonin in the encirclement to begin with. Four died at once, and the situation immediately collapsed.

Seizing the opening created by the enemy's shock and distraction, Hiruzen Sarutobi produced four Shadow Clones and unleashed his ultimate move, the Five-Style Great Barrage Technique, killing five Jonin.

The last surviving Cloud Jonin came to his senses, turned pale with fright, and tried to flee, only to be taken out by Minato Namikaze.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze exchanged a few quick words, and Minato Namikaze headed toward Kikyo Castle.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and his Shadow Clones went to support the others.

Because the Cloud and Sand allied forces outnumbered them, Konoha lacked the ability to keep every enemy outside Konoha. Some enemies had already entered Kikyo Castle and damaged many buildings.

Some Konoha Ninja were fighting the ninja from the two villages to the death in Kikyo Castle, preventing the enemy from pushing deeper into Konoha and causing further destruction.

Minato Namikaze's support and Hiruzen Sarutobi being freed up had already tipped the scales of the Battle of Kikyo Mountain toward Konoha. Victory was only a matter of time.

Uchiha Gen did not know Minato Namikaze had arrived. He was diligently hunting ninja, harvesting souls and lifespans.

Although the lifespans harvested by the Soul-Soul Fruit could not be used on himself, they could serve as a power source for Homies.

Plant-based Homies were fine, since they could draw power on their own. But Homies created from inanimate objects could not.

As for human corpses, a Soul-Soul Fruit user could neither inject souls into them nor inject souls into living people.

After harvesting the souls of seven people, Uchiha Gen found it increasingly easy to hunt ninja and came up with a more efficient new method.

Uchiha Gen bestowed souls upon the great trees scattered throughout the forest, bringing many of them to life.

The areas occupied by those trees became Uchiha Gen's hunting grounds. Anyone who entered them, or was lured into them, had their souls and lifespans drained dry and died.

Who could withstand motionless trees suddenly coming alive to launch sneak attacks in the middle of a battle?

At the very least, the Sand and Cloud Chunin and Genin absolutely could not. Every last one was tricked by Uchiha Gen, that scheming bastard.

Uchiha Gen wandered through his hunting grounds or along their edges without going to support anyone. Not only was he safe as could be, but his gains were considerable as well!

He kept lying low until the afternoon, when the Sand and Cloud allied forces were defeated. Some surrendered, while others fled.

However, it was not easy for Sand and Cloud ninja to survive. Not only did they have to withstand pursuit by Konoha Ninja within the village, they also had to evade the searches and pursuit of Konoha Ninja returning from the frontlines.

It had not been easy to infiltrate deep into the Land of Fire and launch a surprise attack on Konoha. Leaving alive was even harder.

It would be impressive if the allied forces had even a two-digit number of survivors. There were plenty of ninja in Konoha skilled at tracking and searching.

Taking advantage of the allied forces' collapse, Uchiha Gen harvested the allied ninja who fled in panic on a massive scale.

Ninja who had lost their composure basically could not escape the sudden ambushes of the tree-demon-like Homies. One after another, they were bound tightly.

Uchiha Gen only needed to harvest them one by one, then reclaim the souls and lifespans he had given to the trees.

They were merely tool trees. With little stored soul and lifespan energy, they could not be wasted casually.

Very few ninja were without fear. As for the small number who regained their composure, that was no problem either. A single Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique would do.

It had to be said that fear-inducing genjutsu paired with the Soul-Soul Fruit was an absolutely perfect combination.

Most people in the world had weaknesses. Those who feared nothing were far too rare.

After finishing the harvest, Uchiha Gen silently counted them up.

Neither more nor less: exactly sixty-nine souls. A meaningful number that invited all kinds of thoughts—and they were all ninja souls.

Although most were Genin, they were still stronger than ordinary human souls.

As for exactly how much stronger, he did not know, since he had never harvested an ordinary person's soul.

After handling the aftermath, Uchiha Gen returned to Kikyo Mountain.

He had delayed for quite a while. If he did not show himself soon, people might think he was dead...

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