Whose job should we take?~
As darkness fell, a dark cloud loomed over the horizon, the air thick with tension, and a massive storm seemed imminent.
After a busy day, the Animal Path doesn't need to eat or drink, but Tōka was starving.
The two eventually settled in a bustling town in the southern part of the Land of Rivers. The Animal Path allows them to communicate with the Yatagarasu, and it won't be long before they can reach the Land of Grass.
Therefore, Tōka was not in a hurry.
"Wow~~" With a table full of dishes, Tōka ate with both hands, her little face puffed up, looking happy and satisfied.
During this period of time, Tōka has been on a boat and has hardly had a proper meal. It's not that there's no food on the boat, but rather that he has no appetite.
For Tōka, this moment was like heaven.
The Animal Path was quietly sitting in a corner, Budong as if it were meditating and resting.
The only sound in the room was the clinking and clattering of Tōka's food.
Sudden!
Tōka paused in her eating, her cheerful expression gradually fading. "This is really annoying~, it's so hard to finally have a quiet meal."
The Animal Path beside it also opened its eyes, and the ripple-like Rinnegan emitted a captivating light.
Sensing the chakra fluctuations briefly, and finding them weak, the Animal Path closed its eyes again.
Hmph, they're just a bunch of little bugs, it's not his place to make a move!
The Animal Path's cold gaze and disdainful expression did not escape Tōka's notice.
"Well, this old man doesn't bother to fight. What a headache!" What the Animal Path considers a weakling is at least a rooster in Tōka's eyes.
Annoyed as he was, Tōka still had to deal with the mice. He slowly stood up, feeling rather full...
Holding her belly, Tōka moved her body around.
Chakra Sensing Technique activated!
There were eight different chakra fluctuations, with strengths roughly equivalent to those of Chunin...
Huh? The strongest one is Jonin?
Jonin are already a rare breed, let alone Jonin who are Rogue Ninja; their numbers are even smaller.
"Let's start with a Genjutsu spell to whet our appetites." Tōka clasped his hands together, preparing to unleash a large-scale, area-of-effect Genjutsu.
Suddenly, his hand stopped...
Tōka stopped forming Hand Seals because he noticed that the group of Rogue Ninja were not targeting him!
"They're after the Animal Path?" Tōka was slightly taken aback, then grinned.
It must have been during the Underground Exchange that they witnessed the power of the Animal Path. If they wanted to claim the bounty of one hundred million taels, they would have to take down this "bodyguard" of the Animal Path first!
The right choice...
A path to death!
Tōka silently mourned for everyone for a fraction of a second, then changed his hand seals and activated the Genjutsu.
Buzz!
A strange, water-like energy flowed around Tōka, like ripples spreading across a calm lake.
Before long, Tōka's presence vanished completely.
The Animal Path, who was sitting cross-legged in the corner, suddenly opened his eyes. He subconsciously looked towards where Tōka was, initially thinking that some strange ability had kidnapped Tōka.
But then I saw... a smiling face on the treetop outside the window.
The way he looked... suggested he was watching a show?
"What are you up to?" The Animal Path had barely finished speaking when a series of sharp, gusts of wind whistled through the air.
The sharp blade pierced through the air, causing the spinning Shuriken to vibrate and make a buzzing sound.
The Animal Path's gaze sharpened slightly, and he clasped his hands together in a mudra.
Bang!
A huge cloud of white smoke erupted, instantly engulfing the small house.
The Shuriken disappeared into the white mist like a mud ox sinking into the sea, remaining motionless for a long time.
Sizzle...
The smell of burning filled the air as countless Kunai shot out, many of them carrying Explosive Tag as a Kunai attack.
Driven by the bounty of 100 million taels, this group of Rogue Ninja went all out, pulling out all the savings they had accumulated over the years.
Rumble!!
The Kunai shot through the White Smoke, and a huge explosion ripped through the night sky.
The earth trembled violently, and a mournful cry, as if unable to bear the weight, rolled in with thick smoke.
Upon hearing the commotion, the residents rushed away in a frenzy, with many even leaving their houses in their pajamas.
When life is in danger, all manners and attire are completely forgotten.
A deathly silence fell over the empty courtyard.
The night wind howled, making the ruins even more eerie and terrifying, like the sound of evil spirits tearing apart raw flesh and swallowing it whole.
Glug...
The Rogue Ninja hiding in the shadows swallowed nervously, remaining quietly in place, not daring to move an inch.
They weren't sure if the guy was dead or not, so they even started breathing very carefully.
However, among the group hiding in the shadows, there was one oddball. He leaned casually against a tree trunk, holding...
A plate of boiled peanuts?
"Was that White Smoke from a summoned dog or a panda?" Tōka asked, chewing on a peanut and squinting as he pondered.
Suddenly! A massive surge of chakra erupted, and Tōka's eyes lit up, filled with envy.
Roar!!
A furious roar rang out, Tōka raised an eyebrow, then curled his lips into a smile, "So it's the Hell Hound!"
With a whoosh!
Five Hell Hound burst out of the smoke, baring their teeth and lunging in five different directions.
"Ah!!"
Oh my god!
My arm~~
A series of piercing screams tore through the night sky, their high-pitched cries sending chills down one's spine.
Tōka rubbed his arms, feeling a tingling sensation on his scalp.
Looking at the bloody scene of hell before him, he felt that his abilities were not bad, at least not this disgusting.
In less than a minute, the Animal Path finished the battle. With a bang, the Hell Hound returned to the Alternate Dimension.
Tōka immediately flashed to the side of the Animal Path Elder, frowning and saying with displeasure, "Nagato, can you not be so disgusting next time? Can't you see I'm eating?"
As he spoke, Tōka held up the peanuts in his hand.
Unexpectedly, the Animal Path only glanced at him coldly, then clasped his hands together in a mudra.
Bang!
Another huge cloud of White Smoke rose up, and a three-legged monster bird burst out from the thick smoke.
"Yatagarasu!" Tōka was slightly taken aback. Summoning this bird meant they had to travel through the night?
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Tōka indeed saw the Animal Path leap onto the back of the Yatagarasu.
His cold gaze looked down at Tōka, his eyes revealing an unyielding authority.
Fine, you're awesome, you're the boss.
I can't beat you, so I'll just have to put up with it for now!
Tōka suppressed his displeasure, swiftly floating onto the back of the Yatagarasu, his gaze coldly fixed on the Animal Path, as if he wanted to stare it to death...
The northwestern border of the Land of Fire had long been occupied by the ninjas of Iwagakure.
Because the Kumogakure and the Iwagakure secretly reached an agreement, they launched a sudden attack on the Land of Fire.
Due to the Chunin Ninja Exams, most of Konoha's Elite Ninja were concentrated in the village protecting important figures from the Great Nations.
This has led to Konoha's current predicament, putting them at a complete disadvantage.
The northern border of the Land of Fire was invaded by a large number of ninja from Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
Unable to repel all the elite forces of the two great nations in a short time, Konoha had no choice but to build a defensive fortress outside the Konoha.
In a forest in the Land of Grass, Tōka, who hadn't slept all night, squatted on a tree trunk with dark circles under his eyes and a gloomy expression, coldly glancing at the Animal Path.
"How is the battle going now?"
"Take a look at the information Black Zetsu gave you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Animal Path used a Summoning Technique to conjure a Scroll and tossed it toward Tōka.
What a convenient ability!
Not only can it summon otherworldly creatures, but it can also summon five other clones, and even Konan and some items can be summoned.
Tōka reached out and took the Scroll, then unfurled it.
Intelligence records...
After repelling the Raikage, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and the Two-Tails Jinchūriki's surprise attack on Konoha, Minato Namikaze dispatched three ninja units to leave Konoha.
One thousand of them were stationed on the West border of Konoha to closely monitor the movements of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind. Ninety percent of them Genin and Chunin, and most of the few Jonin were Special Jonin.
It is clear that this unit is not very strong and mainly focuses on surveillance.
Similarly, another force of a thousand men was stationed in the eastern border to monitor everything at sea in case Kirigakure launched a surprise attack.
Although both Sunagakure and Kirigakure have signed peace treaties with Konoha, how much binding force can a piece of paper truly have?
Unless Konoha can defeat Kumogakure and Iwagakure, otherwise...
"It's all nonsense! Do you have any specific information?" Tōka closed the Scroll again and asked in a deep voice.
"Ideally, it would be intelligence on the Battlefield between Kumogakure and Konoha."
"Because the sneak attack was very successful, the northern border of the Land of Fire has completely fallen, and the main Battlefield of the three parties has advanced into the interior of the Land of Fire." As he spoke, the Animal Path threw another Encrypted Scroll to Tōka.
Tōka frowned slightly. There was even a more detailed intelligence report. Why would they do this?
Is Black Zetsu up to something again?
Upon opening the Scroll, Tōka's pupils constricted sharply.
Twenty thousand ninjas were assembled at the North Camp Iwagakure, almost all the forces that Iwagakure could mobilize.
The Hidden Cloud Village's northeastern camp also mobilized 20,000 ninjas, matching the number from the Hidden Stone Village, in order to better distribute the spoils of war after the battle.
The main camp of Konoha was stationed north of Konoha, serving as the Konoha's last line of defense!
The three parties formed a tripartite balance of power, with Iwagakure and Kumogakure forming an alliance and launching dozens of attacks on Konoha in just half a month.
But they were all blocked!
To be precise, he was stopped by one person!
"The war has escalated to this point?" Tōka's expression turned serious, and she subconsciously bit her lip.
Historically, the Kumogakure's sneak attack also directly penetrated the Land of Fire, reaching the last line of defense of the Konoha.
The situation is now even more serious. This time Ōnoki, not only are there the A-B Combo from Kumogakure and the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, but also the Kekkei Tōta Tsuchikage from Iwagakure!
There's only one thing to be careful about when making a fortune through war.
Only by balancing the power of both sides can the war be sustained!
The longer the Battlefield lasts, the greater the benefits Akatsuki can reap.
"Perhaps we should take the Konoha order," Tōka murmured, his gaze shifting downwards to continue reading the information on the back of the Scroll.
The main camp of Konoha only had 10,000 ninjas, but they were all elite troops. At the same time, two other 10,000-strong units were also gathered in Konoha.
It seems they are waiting for an opportunity to join the Battlefield as fresh troops, or perhaps they intend to wage a protracted war and are using them as reserve forces for rotation.
The last item is information about Minato Namikaze and Black Zetsu's Battlefield summary.
The Fourth Hokage was incredibly powerful; in every battle, he could not only hold off the two top fighters, the Raikage and the Tsuchikage, but also cause trouble for others from time to time.
Almost without warning, a Kumogakure or Iwagakure would Jonin.
To this end.
The Kumogakure and the Iwagakure had no choice but to dispatch two Kage-level Raikage, the Tsuchikage and the Tsuchikage, along with dozens of Elite Jonin.
Even so, they could only barely hold off the Fourth Hokage, preventing him from interfering with other Battlefield.
Fearing a sudden attack from Minato Namikaze, the Raikage had no choice but to keep the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki and the Two-Tails Jinchūriki by his side.
The Kumogakure dared not use its greatest trump card, and the war reached a stalemate.
Battlefield summary...
As long as the Fourth Hokage, Konoha will never perish!
"That's... Black Zetsu is right." Tōka silently put away the Scroll, his dark eyes flashing with a faint light.
The seemingly brutal Battlefield actually had only one pivotal point and one breakthrough point.
Yellow Flash - Minato Namikaze!!
"Let's go to Konoha!" In the silence, Tōka suddenly raised his head and said in a way that brooked no refusal.
"Why?" The Animal Path neither agreed nor disagreed.
He just wanted to know the reason, since Tōka had chosen Iwagakure before.
Tōka looked at the Animal Path with a calm expression; to be precise, he looked at Nagato through those Rinnegan.
There are three reasons.
"Firstly, the ultimate victor in this war will definitely be Konoha. Don't ask me why."
Secondly, the Land of Earth is not as wealthy as the Land of Fire, so helping the Land of Fire will bring more benefits.
Thirdly, Konoha, in order to minimize its losses, will certainly not refuse.
At this point, Tōka glanced meaningfully at the Animal Path, demonstrating his formidable strength to Konoha.
If we can't be friends, then we can only be enemies!
Tōka's words are easy to understand. Jinchūriki exist in Konoha, the strongest Nine-Tails is in Konoha, and there are even more Kage-level Konoha. Minato Namikaze was able to block the Raikage and Tsuchikage.
The terrain is advantageous; Konoha has complete Konoha Main Camp. The Konoha, and all combat support can be reached in an instant.
With large populations and long battle lines in both Kumogakure and Iwagakure, supply routes are prone to problems.
The second point is also very simple: the soup Konoha offered was Eight Treasure Soup, Iwagakure could only offer Vegetable and Tofu Soup.
Finally...
Nagato had no intention of revealing his strength; it wasn't the right time to expose the abilities of the Pain's Six Paths.
However, it would be good to let that guy get out and move around a bit.
"Alright, let's go to Konoha." Animal Path affirmed Tōka's statement, and with his hands clasped together, he summoned Yatagarasu once again.
Swish!
The great bird spread its wings and soared straight into the sky.