The expressions of Iwagakure's higher-ups were hard to contain.
So that's why the sky cleared up—it turns out the Tsuchikage had rendered me speechless.
My Lord Tsuchikage, were you seriously trying to make us cringe?
We knew you were fired up, but you couldn't just stop using your brain.
Adaptation wasn't random fabrication, and random fabrication wasn't nonsense.
Just tell us—how much usable combat strength could the entire Land of Earth possibly scrape together?
Forget three hundred thousand. Gathering thirty thousand would already be a tremendous struggle!
Then there was the matter of the Second Tsuchikage attacking Hidden Mist Village back then.
That had been an incredibly stupid thing to do!
Iwagakure was at the westernmost edge of the Shinobi World, while Hidden Mist Village was at the easternmost edge.
No matter how they looked at it, the two had nothing to do with each other, yet they had insisted on fighting.
Never mind that they had gained nothing in the end—both sides' Kage had perished together.
The Second Tsuchikage Mu and the Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hozuki had died together!
Still, Ōnoki was no one to be trifled with, and no one dared provoke the old man while he was in a foul mood.
"Now, heed my orders! Send a letter to the Land of Lightning and invite them to attack the Land of Fire with us!"
"At the same time, send word to the Land of Water and invite them to attack the Land of Fire as well!"
"Forge alliances! Let the four nations strike Konoha!"
Ōnoki rapidly issued several orders!
"Then immediately organize ten thousand shinobi! Reinforce Dong Shiren's former frontline force and attack Konoha!"
Ōnoki said coldly.
The instant those words fell, Iwagakure's higher-ups below instantly lost their composure.
Wait, were they really sending ten thousand?
What a damn spendthrift!
At that moment, news of Dong Shiren's vanguard force in Iwagakure being completely wiped out instantly spread throughout the Shinobi World!
Two people versus three hundred and fifty!
Those three hundred and fifty were not Genin!
They were three hundred Chunin and fifty Jonin!
Despite the overwhelming disparity! Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha had actually succeeded in annihilating the Iwagakure force!
The moment this battle report emerged, the entire Shinobi World erupted in an uproar!
Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha instantly became the focus of everyone's attention across the Shinobi World!
The Yellow Flash and the Blood-Red Flash stood shoulder to shoulder!
People gave them a nickname! The Two Lights of Konoha!
The strongest master-disciple duo!
Obito Uchiha and Minato Namikaze became famous in a single battle!
Over in Konoha, the entire village was shocked!
Hiruzen Sarutobi was delighted when he learned of it!
So delighted that he ordered the ANBU to spread Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha's exploits!
He wanted every shinobi village to know of their heroic deeds!
This master-disciple pair also became one of Konoha's most talked-about duos!
Konoha
"I never imagined... Obito had already grown to this extent..."
"Looks like I need to hurry up and grow stronger too!"
Rin Nohara gazed brightly at the title of Blood-Red Flash!
The training ground was littered with devastation!
Kakashi panted heavily. When he learned of Obito's performance on the battlefield, his expression became even more complicated.
He only felt that the gap between himself and Obito was growing wider and wider!
Before he knew it, Obito had already become someone capable of fighting alongside Minato-sensei!
And he had earned a title of his own!
Back then, Kakashi had always looked down on Obito, thinking he was nothing more than a childish, crybaby dead last who was always late and liked to sleep.
Now, he was the Blood-Red Flash, renowned throughout Konoha!
"No! I'm going to war too! I'm going to become a Jonin too! I'll fight side by side with Minato-sensei and Obito!"
"I can't keep staying in Konoha! I'm heading for the front lines!"
Kakashi slowly gathered a dazzling light in his hand!
Chidori!
"With this, I'll definitely be able to catch up to you!"
Kakashi resolutely took the Jonin exam at the age of ten!
Because of Obito, Kakashi took the Jonin exam two years earlier than before!
"Interesting! Interesting!"
"Before the age of five, he had been a dead last through and through. How could such an enormous change have happened?"
After receiving news of Obito's rise to fame, Orochimaru extended his long tongue and licked his lips.
An inscrutable smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
"My interest in the Uchiha Clan is growing ever greater..."
Wearing a Hidden Cloud Village shinobi vest, Orochimaru smiled and muttered softly.
A closer look would reveal that Orochimaru was actually in Kumogakure at that very moment!
By all rights, Orochimaru should have been in the Land of Rain, monitoring Hanzo of the Salamander. He should not have appeared here.
But Orochimaru knew that Hanzo of the Salamander was currently overwhelmed by the Akatsuki's rebellion within his own country and would never rashly join the war.
Orochimaru was an individualist!
He had already seen through the village's true nature. Only obtaining power for himself was real!
An environment like war was the most favorable thing possible for him!
Not only could he traffic children, he could also obtain a vast supply of experimental materials from it!
He could not conduct these human experiments during peacetime, but wartime was another matter entirely.
With greed in his eyes, Orochimaru looked at Blue B, the Jinchuriki walking toward the Kumogakure office in the distance!
Blue B, the current Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, was half of Killer B's teacher and the cousin of the Fourth Raikage A.
His purpose in coming here was to obtain the Eight-Tails' power!
(Since everyone might get confused about this part of the timeline, and to avoid anyone saying I got it wrong, let me clarify: in the original work, Blue B participated in the Third Shinobi World War. Orochimaru released the Eight-Tails during the Third Shinobi World War, and Killer B also received the Eight-Tails during that war. Perhaps because Killer B looks older than he is, some people think he was already old during the Third Shinobi World War. In truth, Killer B was only thirty-nine in Shippuden, while Kakashi was only thirty-one. The age gap between them was not that large, which shows that the difference between them was not especially outrageous.)
"The power of the Tailed Beasts... truly wonderful..."
"Back then, Gold and Silver Horns killed the Second Hokage by relying on this power..."
In truth, Orochimaru wanted to set his sights on the Nine-Tails, but if he truly dared to do so, Konoha's entire upper echelon would explode!
Then his teacher, Jiraiya, his partner Danzo, and all of Konoha would become his enemies!
He could not fall out with Konoha yet. After all, he still needed that enormous machine called Konoha to obtain what he wanted.
Such as Hashirama Cells, such as more Techniques...
He had already been lurking here for many days, waiting for an opportunity to paralyze the current Jinchuriki Blue B with hallucinogenic drugs before releasing the Eight-Tails.
Then, amid the chaos, he would seize the Eight-Tails' cells!
On the front lines, with Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha's help, Konoha's forces—
Pushed forward all the way!
They reclaimed the territory they had previously lost!
Obito Uchiha used his Sharingan again and again on the battlefield, becoming increasingly proficient with it!
With Flying Thunder God's high-speed movements combined with the Sharingan's powers of perception—
Obito Uchiha was like a tiger with wings!
Together with Minato Namikaze, the two became the most renowned duo on the battlefield!
The Two Lights of Konoha had completely spread far and wide!
Before you continue