"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" The two girls' hair was a mess, and all their previous composure and ease had vanished, leaving only disarray.
They fled swiftly across the battlefield. The Stone Shinobi of the Land of Earth had suffered a complete and utter rout.
Iwagakure was like Kumogakure: its legacy had been passed down without interruption. Moreover, it did far better than Kumogakure in education, so on paper, it had far more jonin.
But there was one thing the Stone Shinobi had failed to account for.
Lightning Release's advantage over Earth Release.
Although the Stone Shinobi had more jonin, the enemy's Kage-level powerhouse, the Third Raikage, led from the front. Wrapped in indigo light, he charged straight into the Stone Shinobi formation.
The jonin at the front lines used A-rank ninjutsu several times in an attempt to stop the Raikage. However, with lightning Chakra enveloping his body, the Raikage was like a massive humanoid ninjutsu in motion. He smashed through countless Earth Style: Earth Walls and Earth Dragon Bullets before bursting into their ranks.
By the time the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales, rushed over after hearing the news, it was already too late to erase the Third Raikage with Dust Release.
The Third Raikage merely charged into the Stone Shinobi formation like a tireless War Machine.
Thus, he broke through the Stone Shinobi position by himself. Ōnoki saw everything clearly from the sky, but he was not a taijutsu shinobi who led from the front. He was a ninjutsu shinobi. Faced with the Third Raikage, who had reached the pinnacle of taijutsu, Ōnoki could not use his body to block him.
Moreover, in a cold-weapon battle, a leader who charged at the forefront was simply too inspiring. The Cloud Ninja seemed to have been injected with adrenaline as they swarmed after the Third Raikage into the Stone Shinobi formation.
The Cloud Ninja were warlike mountain folk. Against the Stone Shinobi, with Lightning Release countering Earth Release, the entire battlefield immediately collapsed.
The Stone Shinobi could no longer withstand the Cloud Ninja. Kumogakure had won.
"Damn it!" Ōnoki did not make a move from the sky. No matter how many Cloud Ninja he killed with Dust Release now, it would be meaningless. Aside from venting his anger, his Dust Release could no longer turn the tide. Ōnoki was, after all, a shrewd old schemer. Since the situation could not be salvaged, he would not waste Chakra merely to vent his fury.
He needed to bring as much of Iwagakure's remaining strength back as possible.
But the Raikage—the Third Raikage. Watching the Third Raikage slaughter Stone Shinobi at terrifying speed, killing intent nearly materialized in Ōnoki's eyes.
Only him. Next time, he absolutely would not let him go!
The Raikage, who had led the Cloud Ninja to an unprecedented victory, was also immensely enraged. They were far from the Land of Rain, and during the Second Shinobi World War, aside from some friction with Konoha, the only ones they had truly formed a grudge with and fought were the Stone Shinobi.
The village's secret never to be passed on, the Book of Thunder, had been stolen. Though he could recite those secret techniques from memory, quite a few techniques created by previous generations that no one practiced had now become lost arts.
More importantly, these things had been lost during his rule. To him, that was the greatest humiliation.
Other than leaving [b] in the rear formation, he had charged into the Stone Shinobi position with no thought of survival. Then, relying on his Lightning Armor and sturdy body to withstand a large number of Earth Release ninjutsu, he had broken through.
The Stone Shinobi and Cloud Ninja had engaged in a large-scale battle. The Stone Shinobi retreated in defeat, and the Cloud Ninja won, yet they had not gained much from it.
But their grudge had now been forged.
Oguri Hayashi did not care about their grudge, nor could he do anything about it.
For him, whether it was Ōnoki with his Dust Release or the Raikage with his ultimate taijutsu, both were currently existences beyond his reach. He had only one goal now: become stronger.
He did not blindly worship Dust Release, and his Chakra reserves could never compare to Ōnoki's. But the Heavier Rock Technique was a technique he absolutely had to obtain.
Later on, when paired with the Fourth Raikage's Lightning Armor, the Heavier Rock Technique shattered Susanoo with a single blow. The facts proved that even without a bloodline, as long as one paired ninjutsu correctly, even the Uchiha were far from invincible.
The path he had chosen was more like that of the Professor of Ninjutsu, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen Sarutobi was proficient in all five elemental transformations, possessed Chakra reserves far beyond ordinary people, and was practically a one-man army.
Furthermore, his proficiency was the kind born from genius ideas for combining ninjutsu. Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet was an A-rank ninjutsu of immense power that he had created himself, yet it consumed only the equivalent of two B-rank ninjutsu.
Anyone would feel apprehensive about facing someone like that as an enemy, because one could never know which elements he would combine in his next move.
Most shinobi only possessed one to three elemental transformations. As for someone who possessed all five and was proficient in every one of them, only the Third Hokage fit that description.
In other words, the Third Hokage could easily use less Chakra to cast ninjutsu that countered his opponent's, achieving greater destructive results.
The title Professor of Ninjutsu was not empty praise.
The difference between Oguri Hayashi and the Third Hokage was that he could not compare to a genius like the Third Hokage, especially when it came to Chakra reserves.
His Chakra reserves determined that his tactical path could only focus on taijutsu, with Nintaijutsu as support, while ninjutsu would only be used occasionally.
Therefore, he was determined to obtain the Heavier Rock Technique. Now that Iwagakure had been defeated and was retreating, Kumogakure certainly would not let them leave easily, so Oguri Hayashi's opportunity was enormous.
Following Kumogakure's example, Oguri Hayashi simply put on the Invisibility Cloak and easily entered Iwagakure without even using the Omni-directional Mobility Gear.
In contrast, a shinobi village like Sunagakure, isolated in the middle of the desert, was actually the easiest to defend. Even Oguri Hayashi could not infiltrate that kind of terrain.
Of course, the Mist Ninja were also extremely troublesome, but they were not targets Oguri Hayashi needed to consider.
Iwagakure was surrounded by loess cliffs, yet remarkably, they had found a basin in which to live. The terrain greatly resembled the Sichuan Basin. Because of this, the Land of Earth was far better off than the Land of Thunder. After all, the isolated mountain terrain of the Land of Thunder, like the Qinling Mountains, simply could not support too many people.
On the Stone Shinobi side, however, population growth had been quite impressive, nearly catching up to Konoha.
But once a population reached a certain level, resource depletion would inevitably occur. It was precisely due to resource concerns that the Stone Shinobi continuously expanded outward and encroached upon other nations' territory. The Land of Waterfalls, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Fields were all targets of the Stone Shinobi.
The Land of Fields and the Land of Hot Water were also among Kumogakure's targets, so clashes with the Cloud Ninja naturally arose.
The cause of this war was that the Land of Rain had suddenly gained a Kage-level powerhouse, Hanzo. After several years of preparation, it had nurtured a group of stronger chunin and jonin, then naturally began devouring the lands of Konoha, the Stone Shinobi, and the Sand Shinobi in every direction.
Thus, the Second Shinobi World War began.
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