That day, after giving Nara Shikaku his instructions,
Sarutobi Hiruzen set out with Fujin and Raijin.
He brought no extra subordinates. Sarutobi Hiruzen intended to catch the enemy completely off guard.
With no one else to slow him down, Sarutobi Hiruzen could cover a thousand li in a day at full speed,
and Immortal Breathing let him recover quickly, greatly cutting down the time he needed to rest. He could travel from Konoha to the Land of Fire's border in just a day and a night.
What's more, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no intention of making the journey on foot.
Instead, he had Fujin and Raijin activate the Eight Inner Gates and take turns carrying him as they traveled.
With the Eight Gates open, Fujin and Raijin could sprint at full power faster than sound.
But since Sarutobi Hiruzen's physical abilities couldn't keep up, they had to stay below the speed of sound.
Even so, they were frighteningly fast. People who saw them on the road only caught a flash of blue-green light before the two streaks vanished from sight.
Despite having to carry Sarutobi Hiruzen, Fujin and Raijin still reached the Land of Fire's border in just half a day.
"We're finally here..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the camp ahead. Its banners clearly bore Konoha's insignia.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't alert anyone. He went straight to the commander's tent.
Uchiha Fugaku was still in the camp, reviewing confidential intelligence. It said the Third Hokage had already set out and would arrive sometime that day.
As Uchiha Fugaku considered that even traveling without food or rest by shinobi footwork would take at least a day and a night,
and that a squad on a forced march would usually need at least two days and a night, he wondered how the Third Hokage could possibly arrive that same day.
Then he looked up and saw Sarutobi Hiruzen's dignified face, which seemed to grow younger by the day.
"Third Hokage?!"
Uchiha Fugaku was utterly stunned. A moment ago, he'd been wondering how the Third Hokage could arrive so soon, and now the man was right there.
Sarutobi Hiruzen waved a hand, signaling him not to make a scene.
There had to be Cloud Ninja spies in the camp, and the Cloud Ninja were watching them closely. If anyone learned that Sarutobi Hiruzen had arrived, the Cloud Ninja would surely find out.
Uchiha Fugaku understood what he meant. He didn't bother asking how Sarutobi Hiruzen had gotten there and simply asked in a low voice,
"What are your orders, Third Hokage?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen asked,
"How many people are in the Cloud Ninja camp right now, and which strong fighters are leading them?"
Although he'd already heard the report from Nara Shikaku, Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to confirm it.
Uchiha Fugaku replied,
"I had an elite Hyuga Jonin scout them."
"They have about a thousand troops stationed there."
"They're led by Toroi, and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki is with them..."
Uchiha Fugaku relayed the intelligence, already guessing what Sarutobi Hiruzen intended to do.
But he was worried. Was the Third Hokage planning to launch a raid by himself?
Even with the strength of a Kage, Sarutobi Hiruzen would struggle to handle a thousand-strong force led by a Titled Jonin—especially with a Jinchuriki stationed among them.
He might catch them off guard and inflict some losses in the short term.
But if the battle dragged on, he could be held down by the sheer number of shinobi, or even surrounded and killed.
Uchiha Fugaku's heart lurched as a possibility occurred to him.
Could the Third Hokage be planning to take him along?
Even with the Mangekyō Sharingan, he couldn't stomach a dangerous mission like that.
Seeing the unease on Uchiha Fugaku's face, Sarutobi Hiruzen guessed what he was thinking and found it rather amusing.
"I'm not taking you with me..."
"You stay here and guard the rear."
"First, gather the troops and pretend you're conducting a drill..."
"Once you see my signal flare, send out troops to hunt down the scattered Cloud Ninja units..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen had no intention of bringing Uchiha Fugaku along. With the Mangekyō Sharingan's limited stamina, Uchiha Fugaku was practically a three-minute man.
He'd barely be able to fight for fifteen minutes before Sarutobi Hiruzen had to carry him back to Konoha.
Uchiha Fugaku secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know where Sarutobi Hiruzen's confidence came from, but at least he wasn't being asked to take on such an outrageous mission.
He quickly promised to carry out the orders.
Although the Uchiha Clan Head standing before him was a bit of a coward, Sarutobi Hiruzen still patted Uchiha Fugaku on the shoulder in encouragement.
After all, his Mangekyō Sharingan was still a useful trump card, and it might come in handy at a critical moment.
Having confirmed the intelligence, Sarutobi Hiruzen went straight across the Land of Fire's border with Fujin and Raijin, approaching the Cloud Ninja encampment.
From high ground, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the Cloud Ninja's well-equipped camp from afar. They looked even more spirited than the Konoha Ninja.
"But after today, none of these Cloud Ninja will be left."
With deep killing intent, Sarutobi Hiruzen beckoned lightly. Fujin and Raijin, who had been following behind him, vanished in an instant.
Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't about to sit around and watch Fujin and Raijin perform, either.
"Come to think of it, I haven't used that move once since I crossed over."
A smile tugged at Sarutobi Hiruzen's lips, and his aura burst forth.
His Chakra surged without being released, forming a tangible ripple around his body that was impossible to ignore.
He'd spent half a day traveling, but most of that time he'd rested on Fujin and Raijin's backs. He'd even had time to practice Immortal Breathing.
So Sarutobi Hiruzen was in better shape than ever—perhaps even stronger than he'd been at his peak.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen formed hand seals and created four Shadow Clones, which immediately spread out in different directions.
The five Sarutobi Hiruzen took up positions around the Cloud Ninja camp, encircling it.
In an instant, all five Sarutobi Hiruzen rapidly formed hand seals, each giving off a terrifying surge of Chakra.
Under their masterful control of nature transformation, red, orange, green, blue, and purple Chakra condensed into tangible Five Nature Transformation Ninjutsu in the air!
Waves, earth dragons, lightning, and tornadoes!
Chakra surged like a tide, turning into natural disasters that converged in midair!
Yet the Five Nature Transformation Ninjutsu, each with a different nature, didn't cancel one another out or explode.
Under Sarutobi Hiruzen's astonishing command of nature transformation, they instead formed a strange balance!
"Five Releases..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's original body calmly formed hand seals, adding the final Fire Release that would trigger a qualitative change.
A voice as impassive as a deity's rang across the battlefield.
"Great Barrage Technique!"
The five natures, each complementing and countering the others, unfolded in midair. The five-colored energy converged into a single mass.
Then, like the birth of the universe, it first contracted to its absolute limit... and then—
Collapsed!
With a thunderous boom,
a devastating wave of multicolored light exploded inside the Cloud Ninja camp!
"Enemy attack!"
"Chakra with five different natures!"
"It's the Professor of Ninjutsu!"
Naturally, the Cloud Ninja sensors weren't blind. They'd detected the terrifying Chakra surging from the moment the Third Hokage began forming hand seals.
Once they recognized the Third Hokage's signature ultimate Ninjutsu, they immediately realized they couldn't withstand it head-on.
The Cloud Ninja reacted quickly, and their combat coordination was highly practiced.
In the blink of an eye, they formed one tactical unit after another.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Unfortunately, there were very few Earth Release users among the Cloud Ninja, and they weren't skilled in defensive Ninjutsu. They could barely scrape together a dozen shinobi to raise earthen barriers from the ground.
Most of the others used the Lightning Body Flicker Technique, trying to escape the range of the Five Nature Transformation Great Barrage.
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched from above, his expression cold.
Unless something unexpected happened, the Cloud Ninja force—poorly suited to defense and packed tightly into its camp—would suffer at least fifty percent casualties if it took the attack head-on, no matter how skilled its members were at the Body Flicker Technique.
"Hm?!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression shifted slightly. The ground seemed to be churning strangely.
"Magnet Release: Super Magnetization Technique!"
Toroi wore a savage grin as he plunged his hand deep into the ground, pouring Chakra into it like a surging tide!
The earth within a hundred meters flashed with lightning as some mysterious force set it churning!
Like an earthquake, countless rocks and chunks of earth burst into the air the next moment, forming a pillar that collided with the wave of the Five Nature Transformation Great Barrage.
But how could a Kekkei Genkai technique thrown together in haste compare to the ultimate Ninjutsu formed from five different nature transformations?
If it had been Dust Release, a Kekkei Tōta, that would have been another matter.
The churning rocks and earth were instantly swallowed by the wave and ground into dust.
The devastating energy continued to ravage the Cloud Ninja camp. Heat and explosions erupted everywhere, scorching the Cloud Ninja.
A massive cloud of dust billowed up, swallowing everything in the camp.
The thousand-strong shinobi army fell silent.
Once the dust cleared, the Cloud Ninja camp was a scene of utter devastation. Flesh and organs littered the ground, painting a gruesome sight.
Sarutobi Hiruzen ignored the carnage and the bones left exposed in the wilderness. He glanced at Toroi, who had come through his technique unscathed but had exhausted his Chakra.
"Using Magnet Release to magnetize the earth lets you control large quantities of soil for a short time."
Sarutobi Hiruzen praised him.
"That's a very inventive Kekkei Genkai..."
"But soil itself has almost no magnetic properties. The Chakra needed to magnetize it must be enormous."
That was why Toroi had exhausted his Chakra and collapsed, unable to get back up.
If Toroi hadn't managed to block part of the attack at the last moment, the Cloud Ninja would have suffered even more casualties.
As it stood, roughly a third of the Cloud Ninja had been injured. Most had suffered minor or serious wounds, while perhaps a little over a hundred had died.
"A thousand-strong army, and even a full-power attack from one of the Ninja World's top fighters only killed a hundred people."
"And that was with a surprise attack."
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head.
The Third Hokage's power was strong enough to reshape the landscape with ease.
But an army trained to wield Chakra could still make up for inferior quality with sheer numbers and hinder Sarutobi Hiruzen's attacks.
"Besides, no Titled Jonin is a pushover. Though they can't match the raw power of the very strongest, men like me,"
"they can still slow me down."
A Titled Jonin was the cream of the elite Jonin, with a clear, distinctive moniker like the Mist Ninja's Seven Ninja Swordsmen or the Copy Ninja Kakashi.
Every Titled Jonin could hold their own in the Ninja World. They were precious assets to their villages—not only the gatekeepers to the ranks of top fighters, but also a threat capable of killing one of the Five Kage when they gathered in sufficient numbers.
Even when facing a top shinobi alone, they could hold their ground for a while.
That was why Toroi, known as a Magnet Release ninja, had the ability to withstand Sarutobi Hiruzen's attack in a moment of crisis.
Sarutobi Hiruzen understood that this outcome had been expected.
Unless he reached the level of Hashirama and Madara, the God of Shinobi, and brought a giant mechanical warrior onto the battlefield,
even the Five Kage could only change the course of a small or localized battle. They couldn't hold back an army of more than a thousand.
Suddenly, Sarutobi Hiruzen sensed a hateful gaze fixed on him, along with a powerful, chilling surge of Chakra.
He turned to look.
A young woman with brown hair was wreathed in blue Tailed Beast Chakra. Two enormous Chakra tails spread over an area dozens of meters wide, shielding a group of Cloud Ninja.
"I almost forgot..."
"The Jinchuriki is here, too."
Facing the hatred in Nii Yugito's eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled. Jinchuriki had excellent senses; she'd pinpointed his location right away.
If this Jinchuriki had been the Perfect Jinchuriki she'd become in the future, the Cloud Ninja might have suffered almost no casualties this time.
But there were no what-ifs.
"Whoosh!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Nii Yugito skimmed across the ground at incredible speed, heading straight for Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"All Cloud Ninja!"
"Organize a counterattack!"
Toroi was helped to his feet by his subordinates. Though he had collapsed, his voice remained strong, brimming with hatred.
"Stop the Third Hokage!"
After unleashing an attack that dramatic, Sarutobi Hiruzen's position was no longer hidden.
Toroi, consumed by hatred, quickly organized a defensive counterattack.
Every Cloud Ninja still able to move sprang into action, wearing the same look of bitter resolve as they converged on Sarutobi Hiruzen!
"This is what makes shinobi units so troublesome..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed.
An ordinary army would have lost the will to fight against a Ninjutsu that struck like a natural disaster, no matter how many casualties it suffered.
After all, one-third casualties would have reached the morale limit of almost any army.
"But shinobi have far greater willpower than ordinary people, and they're accustomed to extraordinary powers."
"Even after suffering more than fifty percent casualties, they can maintain their fighting strength and morale..."
"Especially the Cloud Ninja. Their fighting spirit is unusually tenacious."
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the Cloud Ninja forces surging toward him and sighed.
"But I'm not your opponent today..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen raised a hand and pointed. An orange flare shot from his hand and exploded in the sky.
Toroi's expression hardened when he saw it.
"Calling in reinforcements now..."
"Do you think they'll get here in time?!"
"Third Hokage!"
Toroi was a veteran of many battles and knew that if a large force had been advancing on them, the sensory ninja would have detected it long ago.
Only a top-tier shinobi like Sarutobi Hiruzen could infiltrate without alerting the Cloud Ninja.
So even though Sarutobi Hiruzen had fired a signal flare, it would take at least fifteen minutes for reinforcements to arrive.
But Toroi was also beginning to have doubts.
The Third Hokage had dragged his old body to the front lines and caught the Cloud Ninja off guard. He must have been thoroughly prepared.
Although the results so far fell far short of a major victory, the Cloud Ninja were still at a disadvantage.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen were surrounded in turn and left stranded here, that so-called advantage would be a joke.
Despite his concerns, Toroi had few options left.
For now, the fury of having been ambushed was enough to keep the Cloud Ninja forces' morale from falling. But if they simply retreated...
Their morale would likely collapse completely, turning their disadvantage into a crushing defeat!
Besides, Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't earned the title Professor of Ninjutsu for nothing. If he saw a thousand-man force in retreat, he could pursue them and kill half the Cloud Ninja.
Toroi would pay dearly for that.
Before you continue