Sudden Change

Saka merely glanced at Yichen before continuing to explain the current situation in the Ninja World to everyone.

"Konoha has completely abandoned the Land of Rivers's defenses and has now retreated entirely into the Land of Fire."

As he spoke, Saka pointed to a location on the map in the conference room and said, "This is Kikyo Castle, one of Konoha's most important border fortresses."

"Orochimaru is currently holding out here with about five thousand remnants of the Konoha Western Army."

"Kikyo Castle is the product of Konoha's decades of effort. Since the First Hokage, Konoha has been building this border fortress. It's equipped with numerous offensive and defensive barriers, making it difficult for the Sunagakure Village to breach it."

"If Konoha were to transfer troops from other fronts at this time, the cost for the Sunagakure Village to take Kikyo Castle would be even greater, and they might not even be able to take it even if they were wiped out."

"So our mission is to put pressure on the Konoha ninja in front of us, so that Konoha can't spare any resources to support Kikyo Castle."

"I believe the Mist ninja and Cloud ninja will take the same measures after receiving the news. As long as we hold off the reinforcements, and the Sunagakure breaks through Kikyo Castle's defenses, Konoha's defeat will be just around the corner."

Saka got a little excited as he said this.

Yichen understood his feelings; the current situation was better than ever for the Four Great Nations.

In the previous two Ninja World War, the four nations were hostile to each other from the very beginning. Their forces were not directed in the same direction, so although Konoha was in a sorry state, it had never shown such obvious signs of defeat as it does now.

However, Yichen also knew that Konoha was not so easily defeated. Konoha's top combat power had not been lost. Although Orochimaru was injured, Yichen had information from the original work and knew that Orochimaru was the most difficult person to kill.

In particular, Orochimaru has now experienced the setback of almost being killed by the Third Raikage in the Land of Whirlpools.

Konoha has four Kage Level fighters on the surface: Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Danzo.

Although Tsunade suffers from hemophobia, it's a psychological illness. Who knows, maybe her illness will be cured when she sees Konoha defeated and the village her grandfather founded facing destruction.

Not to mention, Konoha also has Minato Namikaze that Kishimoto forcibly killed off.

Rasa already possesses Kage-level Combatant, so there's no reason why Rasa Minato Namikaze would be inferior to him.

The terror of the Flying Thunder God is self-evident.

Konoha also has an adult Jinchuriki. It's unclear whether Kushina herself possesses Kage Level Yichen, but as the one with the strongest Tailed Beast, Kushina's power is certainly among the top of the Kage Level.

Additionally, there seems to be another Konoha Genin during this period: Might Duy. If the four nations Wind Release: Breakthrough Konoha's defenses and enter the Land of Fire, Yichen is certain that one of them will win the grand prize.

However, Yichen would naturally not speak at the mobilization meeting to undermine morale. On the contrary, Yichen would put on an expression of confidence, just like everyone else.

The meeting was a great success, and everyone was full of confidence for the upcoming climax of the Third Shinobi War.

At the meeting, Sakashita issued the order to advance into the Land of Grass and assigned tasks to the ninjas of the entire Southern Army.

Although Yichen was Elite Jonin, he was not assigned any command missions. The reason was simple: Yichen was classified as a high-end combatant and would be acting alongside Ikura and Saka.

The ninjas were very efficient; only half an hour after the meeting ended, all the ninjas on the Southern Front were orderly heading towards the Land of Grass.

Saka's goal was clear: to put pressure on Konoha, but not to engage in a direct confrontation with Konoha.

The plan was that if Konoha abandoned the Land of Grass line, then the Iwa ninja would advance their battle line to the border of the Land of Fire. As long as the Iwa ninja stationed their troops on the Land of Fire's border, Konoha would certainly not dare to send ninjas to support Orochimaru.

If Konoha intends to maintain its Land of Rivers, then the Iwa ninja will launch a major offensive to some extent, preparing for a decisive battle at any moment.

In short, according to the Iwa ninja's plan, Konoha is destined to lose this time.

Half a day later, tens of thousands of Iwa ninja entered the front line of the Land of Grass under Saka's command.

Konoha had already received word of Iwa ninja's large-scale operation and had taken countermeasures.

Soon, the main forces of both sides met on a plain within the territory of the Land of Grass.

Without much probing, the two sides clashed fiercely.

The Iwa ninja's attack aimed to hold off Konoha, but Konoha unexpectedly not only failed to defend but also launched an attack in return.

Yichen and Ikura stood together, watching the front lines of both sides begin to clash not far away, and a bad feeling crept into their hearts.

"Ikura, something's wrong. Is Konoha planning a final battle with us?"

According to the Iwa ninja's speculation, Konoha should retreat appropriately at this point and keep the battle within a small area. The Iwa ninja would then cease their offensive and apply pressure to Konoha from time to time.

After all, the Land of Rivers had just suffered a defeat, Konoha could not afford to suffer another major defeat in the Land of Land of Grass.

"There is indeed a problem. Go up to the sky and check if Konoha has any other reinforcements."

Yichen nodded and flew into the sky without saying a word.

In reality, Yichen's aerial observation was not very useful, since he didn't have the Byakugan Yichen. If Konoha really had an ambush, they would definitely disguise it, and Yichen would have no chance of discovering it.

After Yichen took off, Ikura was still uneasy and turned to Saka, saying, "Konoha's actions are unusual. Should we change our strategy?"

Saka's answer surprised Ikura: "No matter what unusual things Konoha does, Konoha will lose today."

After saying that, Saka waved to the commanders of the main forces behind him. "Since Konoha wants to take a hard line, then proceed with the plan and attack!"

"Yes!" The group immediately turned and left.

The next moment, the Iwa Ninja main force began to advance. Saka was willing to fight Konoha head-on in order to suppress Konoha's momentum.

At this moment, Yichen was observing the enemy situation from a height of 100 meters when he suddenly discovered that his main force had begun to charge, which startled him.

"What is Advisor Saka thinking? The enemy situation is unclear, why are you in such a hurry?"

What happened next confirmed Yichen's unease.

The main force of Konoha also launched the same attack.

Unlike the Iwa ninja, two loud bangs came from the front of the Konoha ninja, and then two giant Toad appeared between the two armies.

"Hiss~~"

Yichen gasped and shouted at the Iwa ninja below with all his might, "Watch out! Immediately defend against Konoha's wide-range Fire Release!"

With the boost of Chakra, Yichen's shouts quickly reached the ears of the charging Iwa ninja commander below.

The commanders frowned subconsciously. They had also noticed the two giant Toad, but Yichen had overstepped his bounds.

However, Yichen was, after all, Elite Jonin and a representative figure of the village's younger generation. Therefore, most commanders, out of caution, complied.

"According to Tactic Four, defend!"

Then, many of the ninjas in the group began Hand Seals.

It was still a bit late. The two Toad leaped over the vanguard forces of both sides who were engaged in battle and reached a position a hundred meters away from the Iwa Ninja main force.

Then, both Toad simultaneously spewed out oil, and on top of each Toad, a ninja unleashed a wide-range Fire Release.

"Fire Release: Oil Fire Bomb"

Before most of the Iwa ninja could even raise their Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze had already completed their Combination Ninjutsu.

Two enormous fireballs hurtled toward the Iwa ninja at breakneck speed.

Given the speed of Fire Release, most Iwa ninja preparing to unleash Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall cannot complete their Hand Seals before the Fire Release hit them.

"Porcelain Release - Porcelain Mud River." Seeing that the situation was not right, Yichen immediately used the Porcelain Release technique with all his might.

Slightly slower than Yichen, Ikura and several Elite Jonin around him also began Hand Seals.

Except for Yichen Porcelain Release, which was almost instantaneous, they were all a beat too slow.

Yichen's full-force Porcelain Mud blocked Jiraiya's Fire Oil Ball in time. Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze's Fire Oil Ball charged into the Iwa Ninja main force without any hindrance.

A fraction of a second too late, Ikura successfully executed his wide-range Earth Release. Because Yichen had interfered with Jiraiya's Fire Oil Fireball, Ikura's target was Minato Namikaze's side.

Although it was a bit slow, they still managed to use Earth Release to block the subsequent Fire Release.

On Yichen's side, the Porcelain Mud only briefly blocked the fire oil bomb for a few seconds before being broken through.

However, those few seconds were crucial. The Iwa ninja force, which had been reminded by Yichen earlier, finally completed their preparations. With the combined efforts of many ninjas, an Earth Wall several meters thick and more than ten meters high successfully rose from the ground.

Jiraiya's Fire Oil Ball pierced through the Porcelain Mud and slammed into the Earth Wall. Aside from the splashing oil burning a few unlucky Genin Earth Wall, it had no other effect.

However, things were different for Minato Namikaze. Ikura's Earth Release was a bit late, and the Earth Release of the Elite Jonin had no effect at all.

As a result, about two hundred Iwa ninja were burned, and dozens of them were burned to death because they were closer to the front.

If Ikura had been a step slower, and Minato Namikaze's fire oil bullets had fully spread, this wave could have taken out at least five hundred Iwa ninja.

Jiraiya's fire oil bombs were no less powerful. If the Iwa ninja failed to withstand the two waves of attacks, they would suffer at least a thousand casualties.

Having lost 10% of their forces in the very first encounter, it's hard to say how much morale the Iwa ninja will have left.

The cautionary tale is Orochimaru's Konoha forces. Ninjas are human too; they too would break down if suddenly confronted with such an irresistible Ninjutsu attack.

After all, they are two Kage Level fighters. It's quite normal for them to achieve such a decisive result in the war through a near-sneak attack!

Fortunately, nothing happened.

Even if they managed to block this attack, the Iwa ninja were still in a precarious situation. The two sides were roughly equal in number, but Konoha's individual combat strength was greater than Iwa ninja's, making their overall strength comparable.

However, the two sides are completely mismatched in terms of Kage-level Combatant.

Fortunately, Saka acted very decisively at this moment, immediately ordering Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, to enter Partial Tailed Beast Transformation.

Han understood his mission and immediately charged towards Jiraiya's location like an arrow released from a bow.

If Yichen were to make the arrangements, he would definitely send Han to deal with Minato Namikaze, because Han is the type with thick skin and tough flesh. After entering Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, the Rasengan would have limited effect on him, which would be perfect for holding off Minato Namikaze.

If Minato Namikaze dodges, then Han can take the opportunity to charge into the Konoha Army. As long as Minato Namikaze has something he must protect, then the effectiveness of his Wind Lightning God will be limited.

Unfortunately, Saka didn't know that Minato Namikaze Flying Thunder God, and thought that Minato Namikaze would be easier to deal with than Jiraiya, a veteran Kage Level fighter. So he sent Han to tackle Jiraiya, leaving Minato Namikaze to Ikura.