Rasa's Ambition

The one-minute attack lasted only a short time and ended quickly. Looking at the Konoha Army now, only a few intact defenses remained. Yichen estimated the range of these Defensive Ninjutsu and concluded that the number of Konoha ninja hiding within them could not exceed 200.

Of those exposed outside the well- Defensive Ninjutsu, only about a hundred survived, almost all of them wounded.

Seeing this, Yichen smiled slightly. This move was truly impressive. It should be noted that there were at least 1500 Konoha ninja below before the attack was launched.

These were all elites; the weaker ones had all perished in previous battles. This single round resulted in 1,300 casualties, in addition to those lost in the previous battle against Dark Akatsuki. Yichen felt certain that after this First Shinobi War, they could at least force Konoha to pay a certain price.

Afterwards, Yichen ignored the remaining Konoha ninja and turned his attention to Hiruzen Sarutobi. While Yichen was unleashing an attack technique with power exceeding that of S-rank Ninjutsu, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also busy.

He finally defeated the Animal Path Pain using his Taijutsu.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi was now filled with regret. If he hadn't resorted to this diversionary tactic of attacking Wei to rescue Zhao, but instead stayed with the main force, adding another layer of defense on top of Orochimaru and Kakashi's already strong defenses, wouldn't he have been able to stop Yichen's attack?

The result is that over a thousand elite soldiers were exchanged for a single puppet of the enemy.

Although the giant Summoning Beast disappeared along with the puppet, Orochimaru's numerous giant snakes were now freed up.

However, none of this can compensate for the loss of more than a thousand elites.

"Retreat!" Hiruzen Sarutobi roared. Then, together with Orochimaru, they began to cover the rear for the others.

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi speak, Danzo had already joined up with the remaining Konoha ninja and escorted them to a swift retreat from the battlefield.

Yichen watched his ally Danzo leave without giving chase. Instead, he focused his attention on Hiruzen Sarutobi —a perfect opportunity.

If he could keep Hiruzen Sarutobi and send Izanagi to the Uchiha Clan, Yichen felt that the path to Unifying the Ninja World was secure.

Thinking this, Yichen made a cross with his hands, aimed at Hiruzen Sarutobi, and then terrifying power began to gather. At the same time, he shouted, "Orochimaru, prepare to die! Without those people protecting you, let's see how you hide now!"

Orochimaru's lips twitched. What a great actor.

However, now is not a good time to consider these things; we must retreat.

Chiyo of the Sunagakure Chiyo had already begun her retreat, but fortunately Sasori was far away and would take a while to arrive.

However, Kakuzu was not far away. Having had both of his hearts destroyed by Danzo Kakuzu desperately wanted to leave Hiruzen Sarutobi and his heart behind.

"Light Release - World Splitter Jutsu." Yichen aimed the Light Release at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to dodge, Nagato suddenly reached out and said, "Banshō Ten'in."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was terrified. The Banshō Ten'in made him pause in his dodging movements, and by then it was too late to dodge.

Just then, a giant snake suddenly sprang out from underground, rushed to Hiruzen Sarutobi's side, Hiruzen Sarutobi away with a single impact.

Then blue light descended, and the giant snake was instantly vaporized.

Unfortunately, Yichen's Mind's Eye had been locked onto Hiruzen Sarutobi, and he managed to capture his Chakra, escaping the range of the Light Release attack at the last moment.

Yichen Orochimaru n't surprised that Orochimaru would make a move, but he didn't expect Orochimaru to have predicted his Light Release attack.

"Does he know me too well, or has he learned a lesson from Jiraiya's death?" Yichen wondered to himself.

Using the force of the collision, Hiruzen Sarutobi escaped the battlefield and fled in a different direction from the retreating Konoha Army.

Orochimaru, however, was even faster; he disappeared before the Light Release explosion had even finished.

However, Orochimaru's summoned giant snakes did not escape; instead, they remained and launched a suicidal attack on Deva Path Pain and Kakuzu.

Unfortunately, Deva Path Pain was tied up, making it difficult for Yichen to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi.

After a while, Deva Path Pain had dealt with all the giant snakes.

Yichen sensed the area below and found that apart from the two intact Pain, Sasori, Kakuzu and his two masked clones, there were no other living ninjas.

Yichen then looked at Deva Path Pain and asked, "How is things going in the Land of Rivers?"

With the Land of Rain in such a state, this base is practically destroyed. Almost all the outer members of the Dark Akatsuki Organization have been wiped out, and even Juzo Biwa is dead. I wonder if the fighting in the Land of Rivers is just as intense.

However, Deva Path Pain said, "The Sunagakure didn't make a move; instead, they signed a peace treaty with us."

Yichen was taken aback. What was going on? Then he looked at Sasori. He had just been fighting Chiyo. What was wrong with Rasa? Why was he sending Chiyo to participate in the attack while he was just slacking off?

"Rasa's request is the same as yours: to establish contact with the Land of Fire. Yahiko has already agreed, exchanging a portion of the southernmost territory of the Land of Rivers with the Land of Wind. Now the Land of Wind is adjacent to the Land of Fire," Deva Path Pain continued.

Yichen's lips twitched. "Not bad. This Rasa, his so-called alliance with Konoha is just a ploy to use Akatsuki Organization to weaken Konoha."

So far, the biggest beneficiary of this First Shinobi War has likely been Rasa.

Both Konoha and Akatsuki Organization were formidable enemies that Rasa had to face. His ability to inflict heavy losses on both sides in First Shinobi War was truly remarkable.

Most importantly, after this First Shinobi War, the Akatsuki Organization, which originally loved peace, will definitely regard Konoha as a mortal enemy. The pressure felt by the Land of Wind will be much less.

Before the battle, even Yichen believed it, thinking that Rasa was going to attack the Land of Rivers. He never expected that he would underestimate Rasa.

Perhaps Rasa was also Teuchi; if there was profit to be made from attacking the Land of Rivers, he might have already taken action.

Seeing that Yahiko and the other two from the Land of Rivers were all there, Rasa felt it wasn't worth it, so he changed his target to Konoha.

Yichen suddenly remembered something and asked, "Where's the Seven-Tails?"

Deva Path Pain said, "The Seven-Tails was stolen by Konoha. Konoha was well-prepared, having scouted the location of the Seven-Tails beforehand. While we were being held back, that Konoha Kakashi Hatake, stole the Seven-Tails."

Kakashi?

Yichen recalled that his attention had been Hiruzen Sarutobi and he hadn't paid much attention to Kakashi.

Now that Kakashi and Danzo have retreated together, will Danzo take possession of the Seven-Tails? After all, everything Danzo does is for Konoha, so Danzo also belongs to Konoha.

What difference does it make whether the good stuff is in the village's hands or in Danzo's?

Yichen's guess was correct. Not long after leaving Yichen and the others' sight, Danzo, in his capacity as an advisor, forcibly took the Seven-Tails from Kakashi.

Danzo's status and strength are undeniable, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's fate is unknown; he is the supreme commander of this remnant army. Kakashi was almost exhausted after using S-rank Ninjutsu, was unable to resist.

If it weren't for the fact that the Seven-Tails wasn't entirely under his control yet, and that this wasn't the right time to cause trouble, Danzo would have even planned to forcibly recruit Kakashi into Root.

Danzo knew that if he did that, the hot-tempered Tsunade might turn against him. She might even issue an arrest warrant and declare him Danzo.

So Danzo let Kakashi go for now, deciding to deal with Kakashi's situation after he became Hokage.

After obtaining the Seven-Tails, Danzo showed no intention of supporting Hiruzen Sarutobi. Instead, he led the remaining troops and marched at breakneck speed towards Konoha.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Yichen and the others hadn't pursued them. He found a secluded spot to treat the wounds he'd sustained from the giant snake. Fortunately, Orochimaru had acted prudently, and his injuries weren't serious.

Then Hiruzen Sarutobi also retreated towards Konoha, and as a result, he was faster than Danzo.

When Tsunade heard from Hiruzen Sarutobi that Konoha had suffered over 80% casualties in its recent elite operation, she nearly fainted. Her Hokage as Hokage was truly pathetic; since taking office, although she hadn't experienced a large-scale war, every operation she'd undertaken had ended in failure, resulting in either heavy losses or financial ruin.

This surprise attack on the Akatsuki Organization was meticulously planned; it shouldn't have ended like this.

"Could it be that Orochimaru has turned against us again?" Tsunade asked.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said, "No, if it weren't for Orochimaru, we wouldn't even have a few hundred people left. Even I would have died from the Kekkei Tōta."

"Kekkei Tōta? Ōnoki made his move?" Tsunade asked.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head again. "It's not Ōnoki, it's the Fourth Tsuchikage, Yichen."

Tsunade exclaimed in surprise, "What? The Fourth Tsuchikage can also use Dust Release? Wasn't he not good at Wind Release?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi thought for a moment and said, "It's definitely Kekkei Tōta, but it shouldn't be Dust Release."

"The method of execution is exactly the same as Ōnoki's Dust Release. Although there are some differences in the effects, the power is no less. It's definitely Kekkei Tōta."

"Dust Release has three attributes: fire, wind, and earth, but the Kekkei Tōta used by the Fourth Tsuchikage shouldn't be one of those three attributes. There's a blue light when it hits the target, so it should have Lightning Release among the three. I guess the other two are water and earth."

"These two attributes are precisely what the Fourth Tsuchikage excels at. His first Kekkei Genkai, Porcelain Release, is a fusion of water and earth attributes."

Tsunade frowned and said, "I remember that the Tsuchikage originally had two bloodline limits, Porcelain Release and Storm Release. Now there's another Kekkei Tōta. Didn't Kei say that he possesses three bloodline limits by himself?"

"Previous intelligence indicated that one of the Tsuchikage's female disciples, named Ogura Saki, seemed to have also developed a Kekkei Genkai. It seems that the Iwa ninja's bloodline development technology is already very advanced."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, somewhat envious. Although Konoha had many secret techniques, none of them suited him. On the contrary, the method of developing bloodline limits used by Iwa ninja was suitable for his physique, which possessed all Five-Attribute.

If Konoha also had such a secret treasure, then he might truly be the strongest Hokage.