Otsutsuki Toneri Appears

The original Hoshigakure was located in the Land of Bears. There was a meteorite in the Hoshigakure, which the Star Ninja called Star.

Yichen only knew that in the original story, this star was used by the Star Ninja to practice a certain Ninjutsu.

However, this substance seems to have irreversible side effects, causing fatal damage to the body. At best, it shortens lifespan; at worst, it can lead to sudden death.

Yichen wouldn't even seal the Tailed Beast within himself or transplant the First Hokage's Cells, let alone use that star to cultivate.

Therefore, Yichen never even considered the idea of occupying the Hoshigakure.

Naturally, Yichen never paid attention to where this thing went.

I remember when the Land of Bears was occupied by the Iwa ninja, the Iwa ninja disbanded the Hoshigakure following the old precedent of the Takigakure.

Those from Hoshigakure with decent strength were sent to the Dark Akatsuki Organization bolster its outer ranks.

The Genin Hoshigakure were too weak and were not valued by Iwa ninja. They were scattered and resettled in various parts of the Land of Earth, where they could only live as commoners.

The civilians of Hoshigakure were dispersed to various parts of the Land of Bears.

However, Yichen did not receive any information afterward regarding the whereabouts of that so-called star.

With this in mind, Yichen quickly returned to the camp and began to arrange for the Anbu to investigate the whereabouts of the meteorite.

Kitsuchi, Matsutani Shinya, and Deidara in the Command Center found it strange. The situation was not yet completely stable, so why did Yichen suddenly think of searching for some star?

Yichen was fine just now, why does he seem so preoccupied after coming back from his trip?

On the battlefield where the Iwa ninja and Cloud ninja were located, Yichen killed the Fourth Raikage and left with Deidara.

Ōnoki returned to Iwagakure shortly afterward.

Ikura, Han, Roshi, and Kawakita, who arrived later, launched a general offensive against the Cloud ninja.

Kawakita tried to entangle Killer B, while Ikura and the others wanted to deal with the retreating Cloud Ninja Army.

But at that moment, a group of about a hundred people dressed as Anbu suddenly appeared in the Cloud Ninja Army.

They stood in a single file behind the Cloud Ninja Army and began Hand Seals in unison.

These people were all using B-rank Lightning Release hand seals, which Ikura and the others didn't initially care about.

However, the intense fluctuations in Chakra quickly surprised Ikura and the others.

It's clearly B-rank Ninjutsu, but its Chakra fluctuations are no weaker than an A-rank.

This feels so familiar... Could it be Senjutsu? Does the Cloud ninja have a hundred ninjas who have mastered Senjutsu?

Ikura was shocked and immediately ordered his army to cease pursuit.

The power of over a hundred B-rank Sage Jutsu was considerable; the Cloud ninja had created a dense Lightning Release between themselves and the Iwa Ninja Army.

Ikura thought to himself, "That was close! Luckily, I managed to stop the main force in time, otherwise this wave of Iwa ninja would have suffered heavy losses."

Immediately, Ikura narrowed his eyes and instructed Kawakita, Han, and Roshi: "Forget about the Cloud Ninja Army and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Leave behind all one hundred ninjas who can use Senjutsu."

"Han, Roshi, you just need to stop Killer B and prevent him from supporting these Sage Ninja. Kawakita and I will deal with them."

Upon hearing this, Kawakita nodded and charged ahead into the midst of the hundred Cloud ninja Senjutsu.

Then, Han and Roshi immediately Partial Tailed Beast Transformation and pounced on Killer B.

Ikura did not immediately join the battle. He first arranged for the Two Thousand Army to bypass the hundred men and set up a defensive line on their retreat route.

Then, a group of Elite Jonin with considerable strength were selected from among them, and these Elite Jonin were brought into the battle.

The power of the Senjutsu is indeed great, and these hundred Cloud ninja Anbu are clearly professionally trained.

They don't know many Ninjutsu, but they are all offensive Ninjutsu, and they are very skilled at using each Ninjutsu.

Each of them was very fast at Hand Seals, and they could even coordinate with each other to perform combined Ninjutsu.

If such a force were to face off against the regular army of Iwa ninja, the Iwa ninja would likely suffer heavy losses in a single encounter.

However, Ikura was now on guard, and Kawakita, a Kage Level fighter, broke into their ranks and disrupted their formation.

Therefore, the overall situation is still developing in a direction favorable to the Iwa ninja.

Kawakita dodged and weaved among the hundred Cloud ninja, using his Movement Technique to evade their Cloud ninja Senjutsu, occasionally wielding his sword to claim one or two lives.

Kawakita's speed and agility far exceeded Cloud ninja's expectations, making it difficult for these powerful immortal Senjutsu to hit him.

Even if multiple Cloud ninja coordinate to use Senjutsu, Kawakita is unable to dodge, he only needs to swing a few swords to disperse the attack.

The Elite Jonin Ikura launched an attack from the perimeter, preventing the Cloud ninja from focusing their full efforts on Kawakita.

Also because of Kawakita's presence, the Cloud ninja were unable to concentrate on dealing with the Iwa ninja on the periphery.

Occasionally, when Cloud ninja threatens Iwa ninja, Ikura will promptly intervene and suppress the opponent.

As a result, the number of Cloud ninja was decreasing at an extremely rapid pace.

The Cloud ninja couldn't hold on for long, especially the row of red-haired female ninjas who were using Fire Release techniques.

This female ninja is terrifying; more Cloud ninja have died at her hands than at the hands of Kawakita.

Moreover, this guy and Ikura blocked the Cloud ninja's retreat routes from both the front and the back.

Several times, Cloud ninja tried to break through, but she stopped him each time.

On the other side, the Cloud Ninja Commander, who had already run far away, was desperately calling for Killer B.

The Fourth Raikage is already dead. If Killer B also dies in battle, then the Cloud ninja will be completely finished.

With only Darui remaining, the Cloud ninja will be reduced to the same predicament that the Sunagakure faced before Rasa's death.

Killer B repeatedly tried to break through Han and Roshi's obstruction to reach the ninjas who knew Senjutsu, but the two blocked him each time.

Seeing that the Cloud ninja were finally about to die, Killer B let out a roar and reluctantly turned around to follow the Cloud Ninja Army.

After Killer B left, Han and Roshi joined the attack on the Sage Ninja.

With the addition of two Jinchuriki, the battle quickly ended, and none of the hundred ninjas capable of using Senjutsu survived.

The Uzumaki Riori, arranged in a dense formation, looked left and right, and seeing that there were no more enemies, they lowered their hands, which were about to continue Hand Seals.

Then they started chatting with each other, still talking about the fun they had just had in lining up to use Fire Release.

The scene became extremely chaotic.

Ikura rubbed his head and gave Purple Lightning a wink. Purple Lightning smiled and stepped forward to have Uzumaki Riori dispel the Shadow Clone.

After a long time, with the help of the Shark Swarm, the Iwa ninja retrieved the bodies of the Cloud ninja who had sunk into the sea. After cleaning up the battlefield, they began an orderly retreat.

Ikura had considered continuing the pursuit of the Cloud ninja to expand his gains. But just now, he received intelligence: the Mist ninja had finally come ashore.

The Mist ninja received an invitation from the Iwa ninja to join forces in attacking Konoha from the very beginning, but they never actually sent troops.

The Mist Ninja Army has been stationed in the Land of Water. If they send troops now, Ikura won't naively believe that the Mist ninja are there to help the Iwa ninja.

Kawakita said to Ikura, "The location of the Mist ninja's deployment is strange. They didn't go to Konoha, but instead landed in the Land of the Moon."

"Do they intend to attack the Land of Lightning?"

Ikura said, "I'm afraid they're coming for us. Let's speed up our retreat. None of us are in good condition, and it's not a good time to clash with the Mist ninja."

Kawakita nodded thoughtfully.

Unlike Kawakita and Ikura, Yichen was not worried at all.

Regardless of which side the Mist ninja chooses to side with now, this battle is already over.

The Mist ninja might want to change their stance, but they have already missed their best opportunity.

They didn't intervene when the Iwa ninja Cloud ninja Konoha ninja; now it's too late to intervene.

Whether the Mist ninja were hesitant or changed sides at the last minute, it doesn't matter.

As long as the Iwa ninja don't become greedy and reckless, the Mist ninja won't turn against the Iwa ninja in the short term.

On the northern coast of the Land of the Moon, Kisame, Mei Terumi, and Yuki Koru stood together.

Behind the three was a massive Mist Ninja Army, who Mist ninja silent, awaiting Kisame's orders.

After everyone stood there for a long time, suddenly an Anbu quickly approached Kisame from a distance and handed him a piece of intelligence.

After reading it, Kisame sighed, "The Iwa ninja have withdrawn."

Mei Terumi also felt some regret. This time, Kirigakure sent out all its elite forces, leaving only Hozuki Suigetsu to guard the village, because she wanted to do something big.

The Mist ninja's biggest expectation for this First Shinobi War was that the Iwa ninja would severely damage either the Konoha or the Cloud ninja, and then they would strike and severely damage one of the Iwa ninja's main forces.

Ideally, one or two Kage -Kage Level Iwagakure should be killed during the battle.

When that time comes, the Iwa ninja will be defeated, and the Mist ninja will take the opportunity to form an alliance with the Konoha and Cloud ninja.

With their overwhelming victory, the Mist ninja are well-suited to lead the alliance. Furthermore, the number of Kage-level Combatant in the Kirigakure has surpassed that of Konoha and Cloud ninja, making this relatively easy.

After the war, the three clans of Mist ninja, Konoha, and Cloud ninja will definitely have the upper hand against the heavily damaged Iwa ninja.

Furthermore, since the Mist ninja was the leader of the three clans, it can be said that the Mist ninja rose to power in the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, the Iwa ninja were more cautious than expected and did not trust the Mist ninja.

All illusions were shattered.

Yuki Koru said, "Mizukage, now that the Iwa ninja have withdrawn their troops, shall we Land of Fire as planned?"

This was part of the Mist ninja's pre-planned strategy: if the Iwa ninja stopped in time and didn't escalate the war, then the existing peace would be maintained, and they could continue to follow behind their Iwa ninja elder brother and live off the spoils.

At this moment Mei Terumi said, "We can also go to the Land of Lightning. The Cloud ninja suffered heavy losses this time, and it seems that even the Fourth Raikage is in trouble."

"The Cloud ninja are at their weakest point right now; they should be able to gain more benefits by going to the Land of Lightning."

The two disagreed, so they both looked at Kisame.

After thinking for a moment, Kisame said, "Let's Land of Fire. Although Konoha didn't suffer many losses in this First Shinobi War, they lack the courage to go all out."

"Konoha will probably just put on a show of force, and then gracefully choose peace."

"Although the Cloud ninja suffered heavy losses, they are now filled with hatred, and a large-scale battle may break out between us."

"Furthermore, the Tsuchikage is still locked in a standoff with Konoha, so Konoha's main pressure still comes from the Iwa ninja. But the Cloud ninja only need to deal with us, so going to the Land of Lightning might not be beneficial."

Mei Terumi pondered the personalities of the Konoha ninja and the Cloud ninja, and finally nodded.

Having made their decision, the Mist Ninja Army quickly left the Land of the Moon and changed course to the Land of Fire.

In the Land of Fire, at the Konoha Army camp, Kakashi had received a message from the Cloud ninja.

His expression was extremely grim as he addressed Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, saying, "The Fourth Raikage is dead. He was killed by the Tsuchikage himself."

"Previously Namiashi Raidō sensed someone using the Flying Thunder God Iwa ninja camp. It must have been the Tsuchikage. He took advantage of the ceasefire with us to go to the Cloud ninja battlefield."

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Hyuga Hiashi.

Hyuga Hiashi didn't look too good. It was a ninja from their Hyuga Clan who had risked approaching the Iwa Ninja Army's camp to confirm that the Tsuchikage was still there.

Now they've been proven wrong.

If Kakashi and the others had known that Yichen had left, they probably would have launched a full-scale attack on the Iwa ninja long ago.

It's too late to say anything now.

Kakashi didn't blame Hyuga Hiashi; he simply stated, " With the Fourth Raikage dead, we will bear the brunt of the Iwa ninja's attack alone."

"Do you think the Iwa ninja will choose to continue fighting or quit while they're ahead?"

As he spoke, Kakashi focused his attention on Shikaku Nara.

As it turned out, Shikaku Nara's earlier judgment was correct; the main target of the Iwa ninja's attack was indeed the Cloud ninja.

Shikaku Nara remained silent for a long while before speaking, "I think the Tsuchikage might not escalate the war any further."

"Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to send Sokai Uchiha and Izumi Uchiha to Iwagakure."

Although these two are not in good condition, they can still play a role here.

"Especially since their Dōjutsu are bizarre, we need to take their existence into account no matter what tactics we devise."

"But the Tsuchikage deliberately sent everyone back to Iwagakure. Subconsciously, he never intended to fight us."

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others thought about what Shikaku Nara and agreed that it made sense.

But why?

Now is truly the best time for the Iwa ninja to severely damage or even destroy Konoha.

The Iwa ninja had even come up with an excuse, all to uphold justice for Danzo Hokage.

With such a golden opportunity, how could we possibly give up the offensive?

If Itachi Uchiha were here, with his personal experience and his judgment, he might be able to guess something.

After all, Yichen had let him go once before.

However, Itachi Uchiha was not qualified to attend Konoha's High-Level Meeting.

Finally, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and said, "Let's withdraw the troops first, leave the border, and avoid any easy conflict with the Iwa ninja. Then let's wait for Iwa ninja reaction."

Kakashi didn't object; he remained silent for a moment. Had his First Shinobi War after taking over ended so anticlimactically?

With the retreat of the Konoha Army, the war instigated by the Iwa ninja to seek justice for the Sixth Hokage Danzō, Danzo, was temporarily brought to a halt.

The Ninja World immediately fell silent as all sides tried their best to gather intelligence in order to gain the upper hand in the subsequent negotiations.

Yichen was not in a hurry to negotiate peace with Konoha. Right now, neither Ōnoki, Sokai, nor even a powerhouse like Atsumi Akino were in top form.

Yichen needs to give them time to recover. Only when they are fully recovered will Yichen have the confidence to force Konoha to sign even more stringent conditions.

Moreover, Yichen now has an even more important matter to deal with.

Before the war broke out, Chiga, Yichen's disciple, played a significant role in positioning all members of the Hyuga Clan, which was crucial for the Iwa ninja.

Especially those Hyuga Branch Family members scattered around.

Each Hyuga Branch Family members represents a reconnaissance squad dispatched by Konoha.

Under Chiga's guidance, the Iwa ninja precisely eliminated more than a dozen Konoha reconnaissance squads.

Moreover, it is purposeful, efficient, and minimizes losses.

Chiga also provided information about Itachi Uchiha, which was even more important. A Kage Level ninja hiding in the shadows posed a huge threat to the Iwa ninja.

However, after the outbreak of war, Chiga became of little use.

All she could do was idly update the distribution of Hyuga Branch Family members and submit it to the commander of the Iwa Ninja Army on a regular basis.

But just as Chiga was feeling bored, her eyes suddenly widened, revealing an incredulous expression.

"This, how is this possible?" Chiga muttered to himself.

Because a figure suddenly appeared in her perception space.

Chiga examined it for a moment and thought, "This should be from the Hyuga Clan, not the Uchiha Clan."

The figure appeared almost out of thin air, and then Chiga sensed that he was rushing towards Konoha.

After arriving in Konoha, the man stayed near the Konoha for quite some time before returning the way he came.

"They didn't enter Konoha?" Chiga, somewhat puzzled.

There are many members of the Hyuga Clan in Konoha, so Chiga was able to roughly determine the area of Konoha.

This Hyuga Clan ninja was quite a distance from Konoha, so he definitely didn't go directly into the Konoha.

After a long time, the Hyuga Clan member returned to the place where he had first appeared, and then disappeared again after a while.

Chiga's eyes widened. "It really disappeared? Was that just my imagination?"

Chiga stood up, instinctively wanting to go and take a look at that spot.

But she quickly came to her senses. She had to report this to Teacher Yichen. Maybe Teacher Yichen had asked her to monitor the Hyuga Clan just to wait for this person.

However, Yichen was constantly fighting between Konoha and Cloud ninja, and never had a moment to spare.

It wasn't until Konoha withdrew its troops and the tension of the battle gradually subsided that Chiga found an opportunity to report the situation to Yichen.

Upon hearing Chiga's first words, Yichen disregarded the presence of many others and jumped up from his chair.

Yichen completely forgot about Matsutani Shinya and the others. He excitedly thought, "A mysterious ninja from the Hyuga Clan suddenly appeared in Chiga's Blood Sense space? And then suddenly disappeared?"

"Otsutsuki Toneri, I've finally waited for you!"

In the Land of Fire, at the new camp after the retreat of the Konoha Army.

As darkness fell, the Konoha ninja were busy setting up tents and establishing a new camp.

Kakashi called Itachi Uchiha, who was disguised Anbu, to his side, wanting to ask him about the Akatsuki Organization that Itachi Uchiha had infiltrated.

Kakashi and Itachi Uchiha were not familiar with each other. Kakashi was only very Shisui Uchiha and often heard Shisui Uchiha mention Itachi Uchiha.

However, Kakashi later took a different stance from Itachi Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha regarding their attitudes towards the Uchiha Clan.

Shisui Uchiha fared somewhat better; he was only tricked into killing one of his clansmen by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Itachi Uchiha, on the other hand, represents the complete elimination of the Uchiha Clan by force.

Although Itachi Uchiha wasn't the main force behind the massacre of the Uchiha Clan that night, as depicted in the original story, he still killed quite a few people.

Therefore, Kakashi and Itachi Uchiha didn't have any past experiences worth discussing.

Walking with Itachi Uchiha in the woods outside the camp, Kakashi Gate of Opening and asked, "Itachi Uchiha, tell me the detailed information about the Akatsuki Organization."

Wearing a mask, Itachi Uchiha nodded and said, "Lord Hokage, the village knows the composition of the Akatsuki Organization."

"Let me explain the differences between the Akatsuki Organization and the Dark Akatsuki Organization."

"The core members of the Dark Akatsuki Organization are S-rank Rogue Ninja like myself."

"The outer members consist of most of the ninjas from the former Land of Rain and Land of Rivers, plus some strong individuals from the smaller ninja villages that were destroyed by Iwagakure."

"The core members of the Dark Akatsuki Organization do not actually participate in the organization's decision-making; only the leader, Nagato, truly decides the organization's Strategic Direction."

"The Akatsuki Organization's Strategic Direction is jointly discussed by its three leaders, including Nagato."

"I believe the reason for the division into Akatsuki Organization and Nagato Dark Akatsuki Organization is the difference in Yahiko ideologies."

"Both of them are idealists. They both established Akatsuki and Dark Akatsuki for the same purpose: to bring peace to the Ninja World."

"Yahiko's Akatsuki Organization hoped for mutual understanding between people, while Nagato's Dark Akatsuki Organization wanted to achieve peace in the Ninja World through powerful military intimidation."

Itachi Uchiha paused here, giving Kakashi time to process what he was saying.

After Kakashi nodded in acknowledgment, Itachi Uchiha continued, "The Akatsuki Organization and Dark Akatsuki Organization haven't had any significant actions in recent years because of the Tsuchikage."

"The Tsuchikage set a goal for the Akatsuki Organization and Dark Akatsuki Organization: to govern the newly acquired Land of Wind Territory according to their own wishes."

"I suspect that if Yahiko and Nagato cannot improve the lives of the common people in this part of the Land of Wind, they will not even think about Unifying the Ninja World."

After hearing Itachi Uchiha's description, Kakashi gained a completely new understanding of the Akatsuki Organization.

Kakashi had previously been completely confused about the difference between the Akatsuki Organization and the Dark Akatsuki Organization.

Moreover, Kakashi's previous impression of the two organizations had always been that they were mysterious and powerful.

After becoming Hokage, Kakashi faced immense pressure from the Akatsuki Organization and Dark Akatsuki Organization, which controlled both the Kawa and Ame Countries.

Kakashi gets restless whenever he sees such a huge organization on the edge of the Land of Land of Fire map, an organization with many Kage Level.

Recently, Konoha has mobilized all its forces, and Kakashi's biggest fear is that someone will attack his own rear.

And the organization that could do this most easily was the Akatsuki.

If Konoha hadn't been desperate and short-handed, Kakashi wouldn't have abandoned the village's safety so easily.

Look at the Iwa ninja, Cloud ninja, and Mist ninja; Kitsuchi, Darui, and Hozuki Mangetsu have never left their respective ninja villages.

Kakashi then asked, "Itachi Uchiha, is it possible to disrupt the relationship between Akatsuki Organization and Iwagakure, and then establish contact between Akatsuki Organization and the village?"

Itachi Uchiha shook his head and said, "That's impossible. I once used Genjutsu on the Akatsuki Organization and learned some information."

"The Tsuchikage and Akatsuki Organization, the only female ninja among the three leaders of Konan, may be Marriage alliance."

Kakashi's body stiffened, and he asked in a trembling voice, "Is the intelligence accurate?"

Itachi Uchiha said, "It's highly credible; this isn't a secret within the Akatsuki Organization."

Kakashi turned his gaze toward the direction of the Kawa and Ame Countries in the darkness of night, his heart sinking ever lower.