Marching into the Land of Wind

Hozuki Mangetsu, standing at the forefront of the Mist ninja Third Division, surveyed the Konoha army opposite them and immediately said to one of his companions, "Konoha ninja than us, and they haven't sent many ninja from their major clans."

"We'll engage them in a chaotic battle, just like we did with the Cloud ninja last time. With the village behind us, medical care and supplies are readily available, giving us an advantage in a melee."

The man nodded and said, "Don't worry, I know what to do. But you, be careful of Kakashi Hatake's Lightning Release; he has a self-created Chidori. He also has the Sharingan, so don't fall for his Genjutsu."

This person is the actual commander of the Third Mist ninja Squad, and he will be responsible for the specific ninja deployments.

Hozuki Mangetsu is only the nominal commander; his mission is to stop Kakashi.

The two armies soon clashed, but Kakashi and Hozuki Mangetsu did not immediately engage in combat.

Last time, all parties thought they could take advantage of the other countries' distraction and achieve a quick victory.

This time, Konoha and Mist ninja had considered the options and decided to take it slow, figuring out the opponent's true strength first.

First, the small team probed, slowly searching for the enemy's weaknesses. Without external interference, this battlefield could last for ten days to half a month.

Not too far from Hozuki Mangetsu and his group, Mei Terumi a little later, also encountered the Sunagakure.

The Sunagakure is more direct than the Konoha; they've crossed the entire Ninja World to fight, and they can't afford a protracted war.

Therefore, the battle between the two sides escalated rapidly, with explosions occurring continuously, and the commotion even reaching Hozuki Mangetsu and Kakashi's side.

This has, to some extent, spurred the escalation of the battle here at a faster pace.

The last place was where Kisame's First Mist ninja unit fought against the Cloud ninja; this was the last battle to break out.

The Cloud ninja delayed by traveling by water and arrived a little late.

However, since the leader here is the Fourth Raikage, the battle starts right away.

Although the Fourth Raikage acknowledged Kisame as a worthy opponent, his fiery temper meant he still wanted to kill Kisame himself.

So before the two armies had fully deployed, the Fourth Raikage charged ahead towards the Mist ninja side.

This kind of clumsy tactic is something only a Kage- Kage Level like the Fourth Raikage would dare to use.

If it were any other Kage Level, they would definitely have been wiped out by the combined Allied Shinobi Forces Technique.

Kisame was not to be outdone; he charged out of the ranks, carrying his Samehada, to meet them.

Last time, he was still a quasi-Kage, and when facing the Fourth Raikage, he could only try to close the gap through cunning. But this time, he doesn't intend to do that.

Kisame valued the Fourth Raikage highly, and he included most of the elites from Kirigakure in his team. If he were to be defeated, they would cooperate with him to restrain the Fourth Raikage.

That's why he sent Matsutani Shinya and others to support Mei Terumi and Hozuki Mangetsu, because those two units had too few elite troops.

The Land of Water set the stage for what would later be known as the final battle of the Fifth Ninja World War.

At this time, the other two locations were also about to clash.

Land of Bears.

Yichen arrived earlier than the armies from Ōnoki and the Land of Snow. However, the army from the Land of Demons had already arrived first.

Yichen entered the middle of the army and asked its commander, "How was the journey?"

The other party nodded and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, the journey has been smooth; we haven't encountered any enemies."

Yichen nodded and said, "Let's rest for a while. Once the Third Generation and the Land of Snow's army arrive, we'll consider whether to march on the Land of Wind."

"Yes." Upon hearing this, the man immediately went to make the arrangements.

After a long while, the other two armies arrived.

Yichen, along with Ōnoki Kawakita, joined forces to form the army Command Center.

Yichen asked, "Third Hokage, what's the current situation in the entire Ninja World?"

Onoki said, "The war has already begun in Kirigakure."

"Konoha 'Kakashi Hatake led an army of 1,500 against Hozuki Mangetsu's 2,000 Mist ninja, with Shinya assisting Hozuki Mangetsu."

"The commander of the two thousand Sunagakure Two Thousand Army is Ryosuke, and the two thousand five hundred Mist ninja troops fighting against them are led by Mei Terumi. Uchiyama Takuhiro, Wada Akio, and Suda Himezuki are all in this force."

"Finally, it's the Mizukage versus the Raikage, also 2,500 Kirigakure Mist ninja versus 2,000 Cloud ninja."

"All three fronts are already engaged in combat. If there are no unexpected developments, then regardless of which front wins, the result will be a lose-lose situation."

"But since Konoha has chosen to target Kirigakure first, they must have some trump card we don't know about. So we suspect the situation in Kirigakure might worsen."

"In addition, Killer B and Darui of Kumogakure are leading the main force of Kumogakure, about the Five Thousand Army, and are confronting us across the sea."

"I sent Ikura, Han, and Roshi, along with the Five Thousand Army, to the seaside."

"Now only Kitsuchi remains in the village, and the number of ninjas in the village is not many, only three thousand troops. These three thousand troops have been assembled and are ready to support various battlefields at any time."

"However, we still have 1,500 troops at our Land of the Falls Branch, and this army is currently hiding in the mountains of Land of the Falls."

"If the Konoha Army attacks, this small force probably won't be able to hold them off. Obito Uchiha is still in our Land of Earth, and Kitsuchi can't easily leave the village. In that case, we'll have no choice but to fight a battle to defend the village."

Yichen knew what Ōnoki was worried about, so he said, "Don't worry, Konoha is there to keep Nagato occupied."

"Furthermore, I sent a letter to our people in Konoha, instructing them that if the Konoha High-ranking officials is too weak, we should find a way to create chaos and incite the Uchiha Clan to rebel."

"I believe Konoha can't spare any Kage-level Combatant to attack us. If they only send regular troops, the force probably won't be very large."

"Perhaps the ambush within Land of the Falls can stop Konoha, and maybe even keep the enemy out of the country."

Ōnoki nodded, then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Then let's enter the Land of Wind. I imagine the Kazekage has been waiting for us for quite some time."

Yichen nodded and said, "Kazekage probably doesn't know that we'll use him as our Wind Release: Breakthrough."

Then Yichen's expression turned serious, and he said to the people in the Command Center, "Pass on the order: all troops advance, target: Sunagakure."

"Yes, sir!" came a unified voice from the Command Center.

Before long, the 5,000- Iwa Ninja Army entered the Land of Land of Wind.

Rasa did not wait for him in Sunagakure.

Although fighting near Sunagakure has an advantage for the Sunagakure, post-war reconstruction will inevitably bring many more troubles.

Therefore, Rasa chose the battlefield in the Land of Wind, in a canyon about 100 kilometers from the border.

Rasa seized the advantageous terrain first, and as Ōnoki had said, he was indeed waiting for the Iwa ninja to invade.

Yichen had already entered Sage Mode and gained Global Vision, so he discovered the Sunagakure's whereabouts not long after entering the Land of Wind.

Yichen smiled slightly and said to Ōnoki, who was flying in the air like him, "Third Hokage, the Kazekage is leading a large army about 80 kilometers away from here."

Ōnoki was initially delighted that Yichen had discovered the enemy's location ahead of time.

But then she froze, staring at Yichen in disbelief, and asked, "Yichen, you... you can sense things eighty kilometers away?"

Yichen shook his head and said, "This is the limit; we usually don't sense places that far away."

Ignoring Yichen's Versailles-like manner, Ōnoki asked directly, "How many men does the Kazekage command?"

Yichen shook his head genuinely this time, saying somewhat awkwardly, "It's still too far away now, it's inconvenient to count. Let's talk about it when we're closer."

After a while, once the Iwa Ninja Army had advanced another ten kilometers, Yichen said, "The Sunagakure have probably mobilized their entire force; there are about six thousand ninja ahead."

Ōnoki asked, "How's the formation?"

Yichen said, "They've divided themselves into several different areas, each with a tight formation. The Sunagakure are trying to wage Positional Warfare against us."

Ōnoki thought for a moment and said, "Are the Sunagakure's Puppet Master unit present?"

As Yichen flew, he used Porcelain Release to simulate the general deployment of the Sunagakure in the air, then pointed to one of the locations and said, "At least eight hundred Puppet Master are gathered at this location."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "So, the Kazekage is really planning to go all in. He didn't send out this army of Puppet Master in the previous conflicts."

"Yichen, how do you plan to deal with this?"

Yichen said, "We won't engage in a free-for-all. The casualties in a free-for-all are too great, and even if we win, it won't be conducive to maintaining the new post-war order."

"However, I don't intend to fight Positional Warfare as the Kazekage wants. If we fight a positional war, the Sand Ninja Army can compensate for the lack of top-tier combat power to some extent."

"Moreover, those from Kawakita excel in close combat, so positional Positional Warfare would not be conducive to leveraging our strengths."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "The Kazekage must have seen this out, which is why he dared to fight us head-on."

"But if you're neither engaging in melee combat nor Positional Warfare, how do you plan to fight?"

Yichen laughed and said, "I want a one-on-one fight!"

"We have many Kage Level, so the best way for us is to force the Kazekage to engage in a high-level one-on-one duel with us."

Ōnoki thought for a while, not understanding Yichen's meaning, and asked, "How do we force him? Kazekage isn't stupid; he shouldn't give up his advantage and compete with us in terms of the number of Kage-level Combatant."

Yichen smiled but didn't answer directly. Instead, he said, "Third Hokage, we are now the Ruler of the Ninja World, but Ruler of the Ninja World isn't easy."

"Why has Konoha been able to dominate for decades? The biggest reason is not because Konoha is strong, but because Konoha once produced a Kage who could suppress all four of our Four Great Ninja Villages single-handedly."

"In the eyes of all ordinary ninjas, since the beginning of the ninja village era, all the Kage of the Five Great Ninja Villages can be divided into two categories."

"One type is Hashirama Senju, and the other type is the other Kage."

"Konoha has had Hashirama Senju, so Konoha is special. That's why, even though we're both among the Five Great Ninja Villages, we can tolerate Konoha standing above us."

"Now we, the Iwa ninja, will also become the overlords, standing above the other Four Great Ninja Villages. By what right? By what right can they accept this reality?"

"Today I want to tell the entire Ninja World that our Iwagakure has a Kage who, like Hashirama Senju, can single-handedly take on an entire village."

"I am naturally not as good as Hashirama Senju, but in this day and age, I need to give people the impression that I am like Hashirama Senju, who elevated Konoha to godhood back then."

"I gave Iwagakure the confidence to dominate. Our village now has a powerful figure who rivals even the Kage."

"I will use my personal strength to subdue the entire Sunagakure."

Ōnoki was startled and blurted out, "Yichen, you're going to face the entire Sand Ninja Army by yourself?"

Yichen nodded and said, "That's right, I'm going to take on the entire Sunagakure single-handedly."

"This First Shinobi War is my battle to become a legend. This First Shinobi War is the battle for our Iwagakure to dominate the world!"

"I brought you to the Land of Wind not to fight a war of attrition with the Sunagakure. We're going to overwhelm the Sunagakure with sheer power in this direction."

As the two chatted, the Iwa Ninja Army drew even closer to the Sand Ninja Army.

Yichen packed the Outer Path Statue Fragment into a backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Then he said to Ōnoki, "Third Hokage, I'll go ahead first. You take the army and follow."

After saying that, Yichen quickly left the ranks of the Iwa Ninja Army.

All the Iwa ninja saw Yichen flying away quickly, but no one knew what their Tsuchikage was doing, including Kawakita.