Beacons of War Everywhere

Obito quickly spotted an Anbu rushing towards him.

His first instinct was to use Kamui to leave; he didn't want to get entangled with the Konoha ninja.

However, just before he disappeared, he inadvertently glimpsed a head of white hair behind the mask of that figure, and the Kamui he was about to unleash immediately ceased.

At the same time, along with the effects of Kamui, all of Obito Uchiha's rationality vanished.

The border Land of Earth and Land of Falls.

Kitsuchi led an army of two thousand ninjas, intending to cross the Land of the Falls.

Kitsuchi's goal is to cross half the Ninja World to support the Mist ninja.

Of course, supporting the Mist ninja was just a pretext; Kitsuchi's real goal was to cut off the Cloud Ninja Army's retreat and take the opportunity to weaken Cloud ninja.

At the pre-battle meeting in Iwagakure, Yichen said that regardless of whether Konoha could survive this battle, Konoha's fall from grace was inevitable.

Konoha may not only lose its position as the Ruler of the Ninja World, but it may also lose its title as the number one ninja village.

At this point, only Kumogakure, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure were vying for the title of the number one ninja village.

Therefore, if this First Shinobi War could weaken the Cloud ninja, Yichen would not hesitate in the slightest.

Kitsuchi was ordered to cut off the retreat route of the Cloud ninja.

The route of Kitsuchi's advance is through the Land of Earth, the Land of the Falls, the Land of Iron, the Land of Fields, and the Land of Hot Water.

However, just as Kitsuchi Tu was about to enter the Land of the Falls, he was intercepted.

A Konoha Ninja Army of about 1,500 men stood in the way of the Iwa Ninja Army.

Kitsuchi stared silently at the Konoha Army in front of him for a long time, then suddenly revealed a bright smile.

In the Land of Water, a mountainous area a dozen kilometers away from Kirigakure, the Cloud Ninja Army and the Mist Ninja Army faced off.

No, the two sides didn't stand in a standoff; instead, a major battle broke out as soon as they met.

Tens of thousands of ninjas from both sides scattered across this vast mountainous region to engage in fierce combat.

"Darui, this can't go on. The Mist ninja are prepared. We've gotten Mist ninja into a chaotic battle with them, and the losses are too great," a female Cloud ninja Shia said to Darui.

Darui glanced at Shia, then at Yugito, and said, "The Mist ninja were prepared. They anticipated that we might deploy Killer B or Yugito, which is why they chose to engage in a free-for-all immediately."

"The Mist ninja are familiar with the terrain and have the village behind them; we can't outlast them. Yugito, you go."

"Hmm." Upon hearing this, Yugito left the temporary Command Center immediately.

Before long, Yugito, enveloped in a large amount of blue Chakra, rushed into the mountainous area where the battle was taking place.

The appearance of the Yugito puppet caused quite a stir, naturally attracting the attention of all the ninjas in the mountainous area.

Cloud ninja's aura intensified. However, the Mist ninja remained calm.

Even before the war began, their commander had said that if the Cloud ninja deployed their Tailed Beast, someone would handle it.

As expected, Yugito, who was in his Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, was quickly swept away by a giant earth dragon.

Next to Yugito was Ikura.

Yugito her Partial Tailed Beast Transformation form, wasn't very big. After being hit squarely by Ikura, she immediately lost her balance.

After the earth dragon, there came a water dragon.

Once Yugito regained his footing, they had already left the core area of the battle.

Ikura's attack was naturally observed by Darui and the others.

Shia said to Darui, "I'm going to help Yugito."

Darui sighed and said, "Let's go together. That person is Advisor Ikura from Iwagakure. Mist ninja is well-prepared; even if we go, we might not gain the upper hand."

"Watch my signals. If things become unfavorable, we won't waste time Mist ninja. I'll hold them off here, and you go to meet up with Lord Raikage."

Shia hadn't expected Darui to back down so quickly. But she wasn't the commander; Darui was, so she could only nod.

The two quickly approached Yugito's direction.

As Darui expected, the Mist ninja were also busy, with two figures approaching Yugito and Ikura.

The two sides spotted each other almost simultaneously, then changed direction at the same time and engaged in battle.

Mist ninja Mei Terumi and Hozuki Mangetsu were the ninjas who followed them.

After the four briefly interacted, Hozuki Mangetsu chuckled and said to Mei Terumi, "You take that Lightning Release ninja, and I'll take the other one."

The Hozuki Clan's Water Release Technique is most vulnerable to Lightning Release, so Hozuki Mangetsu chose someone else.

Mei Terumi nodded solemnly and said, "Be careful. If I'm not mistaken, the markings on that person's face are the Sage Markings."

That's right, this female Cloud ninja Shia is currently in Sage Mode.

After making contact with Mount Myōboku, the Cloud ninja finally obtained some of the necessary conditions for cultivating Senjutsu at great cost.

The huge price was the lives of countless Cloud ninja.

Finally, a ninja from the Cloud ninja emerged who could barely enter Sage Mode —this was Shia.

Hozuki Mangetsu slightly toned down his nonchalant expression, sized up Shia for a moment, and said, "Don't worry, the lines all over his face mean his mastery of Senjutsu is only so-so."

"Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about our Mizukage. He's facing the Fourth Raikage."

Mei Terumi was indeed somewhat worried upon hearing this, as she, along with Hozuki Mangetsu and Kisame, were all quasi-Kage.

But Kisame was a dark horse that suddenly appeared.

Originally, during the Bloody Mist Rule of Karatachi Yagura, there were only three people who were most likely to become the Fifth Mizukage: Yuki Koru, herself, and Hozuki Mangetsu.

As a result, due to Yichen's interference, Kisame took over the position of Fifth Mizukage.

Because she caused heavy losses to the Bloodline Ninja Clan, Yuki Koru voluntarily withdrew from the Mizukage competition.

However Mei Terumi and Hozuki Mangetsu Kisame.

However, this time when fighting the enemy, Kisame proposed to hold off the Fourth Raikage himself. This was something that earned the admiration of these two prodigies.

Both of them knew their chances of surviving a one-on-one fight against the Fourth Raikage were almost zero. But Kisame dared to face the Fourth Raikage alone.

After Kisame was mentioned, the two of them lost interest in talking.

"Lava Release - Lava Monster Technique." A large amount of magma spewed from Mei Terumi's mouth, quickly attacking Darui and the other two.

Faced with this attack that was clearly untouchable, Darui and his companion immediately used Body Flicker Technique and the lava to create distance.

However, this forced the two to separate.

"Water Release: Water Gun Cannon!" Hozuki Mangetsu grabbed a large sword and charged towards Shia, simultaneously extending a finger to unleash Ninjutsu on Shia.

After Shia dodged Hozuki Mangetsu's Ninjutsu attack, she also drew her sword and engaged Hozuki Mangetsu in battle.

Shia and Hozuki Mangetsu are both close-combat ninjas, and both are skilled with swords. The two fight back and forth, enjoying themselves immensely.

In contrast, Mei Terumi and Darui on the side are both Ninjutsu -type ninjas, exchanging wide-range Ninjutsu attacks in a spectacular display.

Moreover, both of them are Bloodline Ninja, whose destructive power and speed of releasing Ninjutsu far exceed those of ordinary people.

To avoid involving their teammates, the two fought further and further apart.

Thus, the Mist Ninja Army formed four battlefields.

The first was a chaotic battle between the Ninja Army. The two sides were entangled with each other, and there was no longer any systematic command. It had completely turned into a battle between small teams.

The second instance Yugito and Ikura. Yugito, who hasn't yet Complete Tailed Beast Transformation, will be completely overwhelmed by the Kage Level Ikura.

The third match was Mei Terumi and Darui, whose battle was the most spectacular.

The last encounter is between Hozuki Mangetsu and Shia, a close-quarters battle that is the most dangerous. Every clash is a life-or-death crisis.

Meanwhile, on the lake beside the Chunin Ninja Exams venue, Kisame and Yotsuki A were still locked in a battle of attrition.

Kisame's Ninjutsu is very monotonous; his only distinguishing feature is that he is clumsy and awkward.

But it is precisely this wide-range attack that is most effective against Yotsuki A.

The Chakra- filled Water World environment limited Yotsuki A's speed. The constant wide-range attacks gave Yotsuki A no chance to escape the Water World's range.

Yotsuki A's two subordinates had already been killed by the other Mist ninja.

Outside the Water World, there were many elite Mist ninja helping Kisame fill in any gaps in his defenses.

If Yotsuki A has any chance of breaking out of the Water World, they will join forces to launch an attack.

Their attack, like Kisame's initial Water Prison Pillar, wasn't aimed at causing damage, but simply at pushing Yotsuki A back into the center of the Water World.

If this trend continues, the battle between Kisame and Yotsuki A will become a contest of endurance.

Yotsuki A's Chakra reserves are less than Kisame's, but Kisame consumption far exceeds Yotsuki A's. Therefore, the final outcome is still uncertain.

While the situation in Kirigakure was at a stalemate, Mei, who was stationed in Iwagakure, received new intelligence.

She summoned Han, the only Kage-level Combatant remaining in Iwagakure.

"Han, Killer Bee Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer B of the Cloud ninja, is about to enter the Land of Earth Coastline. Go and stop him," the intelligence from the shark's side told Han.

Han glanced at the intelligence report, then left with an Anbu Squad responsible for communications.

Killer B, leading some elite Cloud ninja, approached the Land of Earth from the sea, presumably heading towards the Iwagakure.

However, his movements were spotted by Shark Swarm the Iwa ninja had deployed at sea.

That's why the Underworld sent out its Anbu.

After Han left, Ming became somewhat worried.

Iwagakure has developed rapidly in recent years, but it still seems somewhat overwhelmed in the face of the escalating war.

"Shinya, I'm counting on you to take care of the village's defenses. This is the weakest time for the village, so please don't slack off," Mei said to Matsutani Shinya had been temporarily recalled to strengthen the village.

Matsutani Shinya nodded. He knew the importance of the matter and, after agreeing to Mei's request, went to inspect the village's defenses.

Now that he can enter Sage Mode, he's the only fighting force in the village that he can barely be considered for anything.

If another Kage-level experts were to raid their base at this point, Iwagakure would be in real danger.

After Matsutani Shinya left, Mei turned to a ninja in charge of intelligence and said, "Contact the Third Lord, tell him the situation, and tell him to be ready to return to provide support at any time."

"Yes." Upon hearing this, the Anbu immediately went to deliver the message.

Mei stood alone at the window of the Tsuchikage's Office Building, looking out at the Iwagakure, feeling a bit of pressure.

There are eight high-ranking members in Iwagakure.

Yichen, Tsuchikage in Konoha.

As the Head of Tsuchikage's Support Team, Kitsuchi led a large army to the border of the Land of the Falls.

Of the Advisor Group, Ōnoki and Kawakita are away and have not returned, Tomoko and Ikura are in Kirigakure, and Sakaya has led a large army to the south to defend against Sunagakure.

She was the only one left in the High-ranking officials.

Guarding Iwagakure alone, and not being known for his combat prowess, Mei felt immense pressure.