The Inferior Five Kage
Southwest of the Land of Fire.
The once prosperous city has been reduced to ruins, with black smoke and Kakkō raging everywhere. Everywhere you look, there are Konoha and Hidden Sand Village, as well as the corpses of city residents who were unfortunately killed in the battle.
The Third Kazekage, clad in his Kazekage robes, calmly and methodically took charge of the operations on site.
Occasionally, he would use Ninjutsu to manipulate items containing precious metals, allowing them to load themselves.
As a ninja with the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, although he often uses Iron Sand to attack his enemies, it does not mean that his Magnet Release can only use Iron Sand.
Manipulating metal objects is also one of his specialties.
It's just that Iron Sand has the best plasticity, allowing him to freely modify it into various shapes for easier combat.
"Hurry up, and be careful not to damage valuables. The evacuation must be completed before sunset!"
The Third Kazekage gave a loud command.
He wasn't the only commander at the scene; there were also several black-clad ninjas scattered around directing the Hidden Sand Village.
Although their style was uniform, their clothing differed from that of ninjas from all other countries in the Ninja World, and the fact that everyone wore masks was also highly suspicious.
Clearly, they were not from Sunagakure, but rather 'experts' specially recruited by the Third Kazekage through Black Market Anbu to contact the Black Market.
These 'experts' are paid extremely high fees, but the benefits they bring are immeasurable.
Although many Hidden Sand Village were still a bit clumsy, seemingly because it was their first time doing something like this and they weren't quite in sync, their hands moved quickly and their efficiency was more than twice as fast as usual.
'Truly a professional.'
The Third Kazekage nodded repeatedly, praising his foresight in recruiting 'experts' from the Black Market before the war even began.
Moreover, he didn't just let things slide; when necessary, he and some Hidden Sand Village who were good at thinking also diligently studied this professional knowledge.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Hidden Sand Village must have its own 'experts'!
The only traces of Hidden Sand Village activity were at the scene; most people were counting and moving goods, while a small number were collecting corpses.
Previously, a large number of residents of the Land of Fire fled, but the Third Kazekage ignored them. As long as they didn't interfere with the work of Hidden Sand Village, he wouldn't be so unethical as to deliberately hunt down a group of Ordinary People with little fighting ability.
Moreover, the Land of Wind is already a populous country, so he doesn't need to abduct people to populate Land of Wind.
The Land of Wind may be poor in resources, but in other aspects it is no worse than other major powers.
Otherwise, Hidden Sand Village wouldn't have been so fixated on the Land of Fire ever since the previous Kazekage.
After all, for Hidden Sand Village, the Land of Fire was like a beautiful, cherished first love.
"Lord Kazekage, the Third Battalion on the front lines has sent an urgent request for reinforcements, saying they have been ambushed by Konoha Ninja!"
Just then, a member of the Hidden Sand Village Anbu appeared in front of the Third Kazekage, speaking urgently.
"How many support troops does Konoha have, and who is leading them?"
The Third Kazekage remained calm. Although Konoha's counterattack was somewhat swift, the Third Battalion should not be defeated so quickly.
"The group only numbers around three or four hundred, but the ninja leading them is none other than the Third Hokage of Konoha, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
The Anbu answered truthfully.
"The Hokage...?"
The Third Kazekage murmured, his expression calm, showing no sign of tension.
He knew that the Third Hokage, as the leader of Konoha, couldn't be simple-minded, but as one of the Five Kage, he didn't think he would lose to him.
As far as he knew, this Hokage had neither family Secret Technique nor a noble Kekkei Genkai; in the end, he was just an ordinary person proficient in Taijutsu and various Release Technique.
No matter how powerful a ninja is, there is a limit to their strength.
"Interesting. I'll leave this to you; I'll go and meet this Hokage myself!"
A strong sense of confidence appeared on the Third Kazekage's face as he decided to take action personally.
The opponent is one of the Five Kage Five Kage, and so am I; there's no need to avoid a direct confrontation!
After he finished speaking, black, granular sand appeared behind him, condensing into a pair of black wings that lifted his body and propelled him into the air. They then sped eastward, and in the blink of an eye, only a rapidly disappearing black dot remained in the sky.
A dozen minutes later, the Third Kazekage, piloting his Iron Sand Wings, flew rapidly and finally arrived at the location where the Third Battalion was fighting the Konoha Ninja.
It was a lush forest, and not far away was a huge canyon with a rushing river flowing down its bottom.
A few dozen kilometers further ahead lies the next prosperous town in the Land of Fire, and also the target of the Third Division of Hidden Sand Village's attack.
However, the Third Battalion's operation failed completely because Konoha's reinforcements arrived too quickly.
The Third Kazekage surveyed the scene from his vantage point, taking a peculiar look at what he was seeing.
The Third Battalion, with 1,200 men, was completely outmatched. If he had arrived any later, the entire battalion would have been wiped out by the Konoha Ninja.
'I underestimated Konoha a bit. No wonder Lord Shamon repeatedly warned us to be wary of such a formidable enemy!'
The Third Kazekage recalled the earnest teachings of his predecessor and reflected on his own Kazekage.
Although the Konoha Ninja reinforcements numbered only three or four hundred, they displayed extremely high combat skills.
Of course, the most crucial figure was the Third Hokage, who led the charge at the forefront.
He had a goatee and a lean, not particularly strong-looking body, but he held a long staff in his hand, and with a casual swing, he could unleash a terrifying storm.
The nearby Hidden Sand Village were sent flying by a single blow before they could even Hand Seals, leaving behind a large amount of glaring bloodstains, their fate unknown.
His superb taijutsu and staff Taijutsu required no Ninjutsu at all; he could take down almost every Hidden Sand Village with a single blow. Many Hidden Sand Village were killed instantly with their heads blown off, their brains and blood splattering out.
His brutal and ruthless methods of killing contrasted sharply with his lean physique and easygoing demeanor.
The Third Kazekage knew he couldn't let the opponent cause any more trouble, so he immediately swooped down, ready to personally block the opponent's attack.
Hiruzen naturally noticed the Third Kazekage in the sky. Seeing him swooping down, he didn't hesitate to abandon the Hidden Sand Village around him, gripped his long staff with one hand, and aimed the staff tip at the Third Kazekage.
"Enma, extend your Adamantine Staff!"
With a loud Hiruzen, Hiruzen's ordinary-looking long staff suddenly pierced through layers of atmospheric barriers, stretching straight into the sky and creating a piercing, sharp sound as it cut through the air.
The Third Kazekage's expression changed. The Adamantine Staff Bang extended too quickly, leaving him no time to Hand Seals to defend. He could only dodge to the side.
However, the Adamantine Staff extended to his side, and the tip of the cudgel suddenly wriggled, revealing a white-haired ape with its upper body exposed, baring its teeth and glaring at him with ferocious eyes.
"!?"
What is it?
Before the Third Kazekage could react, the white-haired ape— the Enma —grabbed his neck.
' Summoning Beast?'
The Third Kazekage flushed red as he finally understood the source of this unusual feeling.
A layer of black substance had appeared on his neck, which was the Iron Sand hidden inside him. It could be used to deal with an enemy's attack and absorb the impact if necessary.
Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!
Below, Hiruzen, with one hand free, completed the Hand Seals, his mouth and chest bulging high.
Scorching flames erupted from Hiruzen's mouth, transforming into a gigantic fire dragon over twenty meters long, carrying billowing heat waves as it hurtled towards the Third Kazekage, who was unable to move in mid-air.
Boom!
The fire dragon exploded in the air, distorting and deforming the air itself.
The Adamantine Staff retracted, still retaining the heat of the flames. This level of Fire Style was merely equivalent to the Enma taking a hot bath.
Hiruzen gazed intently at the still-burning flames in the sky, where a black sphere the size of an adult gradually appeared, blocking the flames' encroachment.
The black sphere then transformed into countless black particles that moved, revealing the figure of the Third Kazekage within.
His Kazekage robe showed charred burn marks, indicating that it had not completely blocked Hiruzen's Fire Release attack.
"You've angered me, Hokage!"
The Third Kazekage's face darkened with rage as he watched himself being burned by Fire Style of such a degree.
He Hand Seals, and black sand particles floated, quickly condensing into a huge black cube, which he then fiercely smashed down on Hiruzen below.
The Konoha and Hidden Sand Village around them had already dispersed; this level of battle was beyond their ability to participate in.
"I'm the one who should be angry for invading the Land of Fire without cause!"
Hiruzen's face was also filled with rage, radiating an intense killing intent.
"Get back inside!"
As the black cube crashed down, Hiruzen swung his hands, and his Adamantine Staff extended and lengthened once more.
Bang!
Part of the black cube instantly collapsed, turning into a large amount of black sand rain that fell down.
The remaining portion rebounded at an even faster speed, heading straight for the Third Kazekage.
The Third Kazekage was stunned. What kind of monstrous strength was that?!
If he weren't certain that his opponent was human, he would have thought he was facing off against Tailed Beasts.
Aside from the Tailed Beasts, there's also that barbarian Third Raikage, A. He's never seen anyone use Taijutsu to knock his Iron Sand back.
Although shocked, the Third Kazekage did not remain still. Dodging the returning black cube, he continued to manipulate the Magnet Release, stabilizing the cube's shape, collecting the scattered black sand, and restoring the cube to its original state.
Just as the Third Kazekage dodged and restored the black cube, Hiruzen below used the Shadow Clone Technique.
Along with a wisp of smoke, four physical clones appeared around him, standing side by side.
The Third Kazekage knew that Hiruzen had created four physical clones at this moment because he intended to use some kind of special technique that he had never seen before, but he didn't feel that he needed to dodge.
The Third Raikage, A, had no choice; he genuinely couldn't break through the opponent's Lightning Release Armor. As for Hanzo, he didn't want to fight because, as the Kazekage.
But the Hokage before us is only slightly better at Taijutsu.
If I avoid confrontation at this time, wouldn't that mean I'm just a lowly Five Kage?