Shinobi World in Turmoil
The situation in the Shinobi World changes rapidly. Since the wind and fire kingdoms declared war on each other, the Land of Lightning was the first to intervene, declaring war on the three kingdoms of wind, earth, and fire.
The three kingdoms were not to be outdone and all declared war in response to the Land of Lightning.
However, it's all just empty talk; the actual battle situation is still hampered by geography and terrain. Declaring war merely indicates a state of mutual hostility.
However, the Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning is somewhat unreasonable. Taking advantage of the disappearance of the Third Kazekage of the Kumogakure in the Land of Wind the Land of Fire, the Hidden Sunagakure launched a surprise attack on the Sunagakure in Land of Wind was leaderless.
The Land of Wind is located to the west of the Land of Fire, separated from the Land of Fire Thunder by the Land of Lightning and many smaller countries.
After the Kumogakure's initial foray into the fray, repeatedly met with setbacks at its stronghold in the Land of Fire, it increased its ninja forces but did not continue attacking Konoha. Instead, it changed its target, picking on the weaker party.
The main force of Kumogakure crossed the borders of the Land of Fire and many small countries, heading straight into the desert to fight a major battle against Sunagakure.
With the pressure on the northeastern and Western Stronghold of the Land of Fire greatly reduced, and the three sides in a state of mutual hostility, Konoha could not intervene and could take the opportunity to rest and remain neutral.
Sarutobi Hiruzen transferred nearly half of his ninja forces from the Western Stronghold to the Northwestern Stronghold base in the Land of Earth to block the invasion of Iwagakure.
Because of the intrusion of Kumogakure the Land of Lightning, the pressure on Konoha has been greatly reduced.
Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, had always harbored the idea of taking advantage of the chaos, and his first target was the nearby and wealthy Land of Fire.
However, instead of engaging in a head-on confrontation, they probed for a long time before observing the battle between Kumogakure and Hidden Sand.
At this very moment, the Third Raikage of Kumogakure personally led his forces into Sunagakure, and the battle between Kumogakure and Hidden Sand became the focus of attention in the Shinobi World.
Land of Fire
Eastern Stronghold
More than 3,000 ninja troops were stationed there. In addition to guarding the Anza stronghold, many ninja squads patrolled the coast, observing and defending the sea to prevent attacks from Kirigakure ninjas.
The coastline stretches for hundreds of kilometers, and there are as many as twenty patrol teams, each patrolling approximately twenty kilometers of the coastline.
At this moment, countless ships appeared on the sea some distance south of the coastline, sailing towards the coast of the Land of Fire.
The Land of Fire and the Land of Water are far apart, and if the ninjas had to travel such a long distance by riding the waves without boats, it would consume a great deal of Chakra.
The Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, stood at the bow of the flagship, gazing at the distant coastline of the continent.
Karatachi Yagura balanced the various factions within Hidden Mist and painstakingly integrated the numerous ninja forces of the Land of Water to launch this transoceanic campaign.
Karatachi Yagura is very knowledgeable about the current situation in the Shinobi World. Having ended the policy of the Village of the Bloody Mist, Yagura's political approach is relatively enlightened, and he actively seeks to understand external affairs.
The battle between Kumogakure and Hidden Sand Kumogakure the Land of Lightning gave Karatachi Yagura a chance—an opportunity to promote the fame of Hidden Mist. He decided to target the weakest link, and Yagura was the Sunagakure he most wanted to attack.
In this campaign to subjugate Konoha, Yagura dispatched a detachment of two thousand men to cross the sea by ship to conquer the Hidden Sand of the Land of Wind.
The Sunagakure in the Land of Wind has suffered some setbacks this year. Konoha and Iwagakure, who declared war on it at close range, did not take drastic measures. On the contrary, the distant Kumogakure and Hidden Mist both wanted to target it.
"I hope this expedition will wipe out all the ninjas of the Kaguya Clan and Yuki Clan."
The short-statured Yagura stood calmly at the bow of the flagship. The campaign to subdue Konoha was a carefully planned scheme by Yagura to weaken the Hidden Mist Clan.
Karatachi Yagura swallowed his pride and ceded many rights to barely manage to unite these forces into a cohesive unit. He then took advantage of the Ninja War to weaken these greedy ninja clans and the ninjas of the Blood Mist Era.
Ideally, this battle would result in the destruction of Konoha, which would boost Karatachi Yagura's reputation. Even if Konoha isn't destroyed, inflicting injuries or deaths on the unruly ninjas and clans of Hidden Mist would still be a significant achievement.
Every year, a new batch of Kirigakure Ninja graduate. Yagura wants obedient ninjas, not these unruly relics of the Blood Mist Era or ninja clans that have carved out their own territories. Yagura has been humble and submissive for years, all for this moment.
Karatachi Yagura stood at the bow of the ship, watching the fleet of ships get closer and closer to the coastline, and the dozen or so brilliant fireworks rising into the sky above the shore.
"Heroes of Hidden Mist, let the world know the power of Hidden Mist! Order the attack!"
Karatachi Yagura of the ship, his Chakra flowing to his throat. He let out a Yagura shout, which was heard by all the surrounding ships.
Yagura's attendants struck the large drum on the ship with sledgehammers. Nearby ships, hearing Yagura's voice and the drumbeats, also began to beat their drums.
Hundreds of ships stretched for kilometers, drums beating, and countless Kirigakure Ninja jumped off the ships, some walking on the waves, others riding Water Dragon, and launched a surprise attack on the coastline.
Karatachi Yagura listened to the exciting drumbeats and watched the Hidden Kirigakure Ninja bravely hunting down the enemy, his face expressionless.
The Hidden Mist Village's battle plan involved 10,000 ninja troops charging in three waves: the first and second waves each had 3,000 men, and the last wave had 4,000 men.
Mizukage Yagura led the last group to hold off the heroes of Hidden Mist. As for whether Mizukage Karatachi Yagura would actually fight in the end, only heaven knows.
"Fireworks! Twenty of them! It must be the Hidden Mist army arriving!"
Outside the tent of the ninja garrison commander at the Eastern Stronghold, Uchiha Nara watched the fireworks rising into the sky above the coastline and murmured softly.
"Yes, Naraku! These signs definitely mean that the main force of Hidden Mist has arrived!"
"Garrison Commander Fukushima Yuki answered loudly."
Whether Fukushima Yuki can survive this battle is an unknown. If she can follow behind the powerful Uchiha leader or White Fang Hatake Sakumo, her chances of survival will definitely increase significantly.
"Report! Naraku, hundreds of ships have appeared on the coastline, and thousands of Kirigakure Ninja are charging towards our Land of Fire's shore!"
A ninja wearing a green vest, holding a Ninja Hawk, handed a note to Naraku.
Naraku took the note and glanced at it. The information was largely the same as what the messenger ninja had reported: a large number of Hidden Mist ninja had come ashore.
"Alright! Pass on my orders: have the frontline troops retreat and set traps, and have the Hidden Mist come ashore. Once they reach our base, then we'll launch a counterattack!"
"Hi!"
Upon hearing this, the messenger ninja withdrew and began writing a letter.
The Konoha Ninja mostly used Ninja Hawk hawks to deliver messages. Ninja Hawk are at the top of the bird food chain, fly fast, and are very reliable for delivering messages once tamed.
Naraku's forces were divided into three parts: the left part was a force of nearly a thousand Konoha Hyuga Clan Hizashi Hyuga; the right part was a force of Konoha composed of small and medium-sized ninja clans and commoner ninja, commanded by Choza Akimichi.
In the middle is Naraku's 1,500-strong ninja force. Fukushima Yuki, the Garrison Commander of the Eastern Stronghold base, serves directly under Naraku.
Naraku's vanguard was led by Uchiha, the Second Elder of the Uchiha Kyo, and consisted of 300 ninjas; the rearguard was led by Uchiha Zen, the elder, and consisted of 300 ninjas.
As for Naraku himself, he commanded more than 900 ninja followers, who were divided into left, center, and right. On the left was Uchiha Fugaku, and on the right was Hatake Sakumo, each leading 200 ninjas.
The Naraku directly commands 500 troops, including the Special Police Division of the Military Police Force and other elite Uchiha.
This defensive battle was the perfect opportunity for Naraku a name for himself.