The changes in outbound travel from various small countries quickly attracted the attention of the major powers involved.
Iwagakure was the first to react, and after suffering continuous setbacks in small-scale skirmishes with Kusagakure, they discovered that Kusagakure had brought in outside help.
After several failed assassination attempts, he decided to flip the table and quit.
Start a war!
Not only targeting Kusagakure, Iwagakure also launched attacks on several surrounding small countries, having sensed a danger through its intelligence system.
Although the Akatsuki operates covertly, its large number of mercenaries on the periphery has long attracted the attention of major powers.
Aoki Tsuki is currently in seclusion.
However, he unexpectedly received a message from the village, urging him to return quickly to lead Amegakure in resisting the invasion of Iwagakure. On the surface, the leader of Amegakure is still Ibuse the Hanzō.
He is an advisor and diplomat for Amegakure, a card that can be played openly.
Kikuno Momo was secretly delighted upon hearing this news; she couldn't have been happier if Aoki Tsuki was always out traveling.
"You're leaving so soon after you get back? I'll miss you."
Looking at the reluctant beauty, Aoki Tsuki feigned helplessness and replied, "There's nothing I can do. The war has already begun, and someone has to stand up and stop the invaders."
Actually, what I'm most worried about is...
"Go ahead without worry, I'll keep an eye on the Jashin Cult."
Hammer's Jashin Cult —he didn't care about the lives of these people; he was only worried about the peaches he had just acquired.
'I'll come back to eat peaches once I'm fully recovered.'
A thousand thoughts finally coalesced into one sentence. "I trust you to handle things."
Upon arriving at the northern border garrison of the Land of Rain, Aoki Tsuki immediately convened a military operations meeting.
Let me describe the current situation.
"Hi, according to the intelligence we have received, Iwagakure is launching a multi-pronged attack, with our Land of Rain and Land of Grass being the primary targets."
Kusagakure has received support from Konoha and withstood the attack; however, the village has refused entry to Konoha Ninja.
Konoha has military agreements with neighboring small countries to jointly defend against external enemies.
However, Konoha is not as powerful as it used to be, and it is very low-key. It didn't say anything after being rejected.
When Pain took control of the village from Hanzō, he wiped out the entire Amegakure force, and even after all these years, they still haven't recovered.
The Jonin present here were promoted in the last few years, and many of them did not even experience the Fourth Shinobi World War.
If this is the case for middle and upper-level leaders, one can only imagine what happens to the lower-ranking subordinates.
As the supreme commander on the front lines, Aoki Tsuki could only reassure everyone. "Don't panic. We, the Amegakure Village, have never been weaker than anyone else. If the Kusagakure can find outside help, so can we."
The way Amegakure survives is through 'overcoming strength with gentleness'.
"But the village..."
"We need to broaden our strategy. We only need to handle the first wave of attacks, and we can hire mercenaries for the follow-ups. Those guys will do anything for money."
We will immediately issue a reward for volunteers. The reward is 100,000 taels of silver per battle. Your job is to keep accurate statistics.
Upon hearing that they didn't need to fight the enemy to the death, the group's expressions softened; combat wasn't their forte.
War is all about money, so why not just pay someone else to fight it for you?
"Lord Yue, do we have that much money?" someone asked worriedly.
"Let's take out a loan first. We can use tomorrow's money to save our lives today. It's worth it no matter how high the interest rate is."
Aoki Tsuki speaks very frankly and without any pretense. This candor strikes a chord with everyone and wins their unanimous support.
"Your insight is truly remarkable."
"Since there are no objections, let's discuss the battle plan in more detail. My suggestion is to proceed in three steps:"
The first step is for me to lead everyone in a battle against Iwagakure to stop their main offensive. This is absolutely necessary.
To show our position to the enemy, to give an explanation for the years of nurturing the village, and to demonstrate our hard power to all countries.
The second step involves the mercenaries dispersing and launching guerrilla warfare attacks, harassing the enemy's supply lines and reconnaissance teams, and disrupting the enemy's war rhythm.
Everyone nodded in agreement; this was the safest approach at the moment.
As expected of the Lady Angel's trusted advisor, he calmed people's hearts with just a few words and formulated a practical strategy.
What's the third step?
"This step is the core of the plan: a protracted war."
The Iwagakure Ninja far surpassed the Amegakure in terms of numbers, individual combat strength, and even combat experience.
This is a battle we can't win; we can only wear them down slowly, making their losses outweigh their gains, and then force them to retreat.
"The third step is that we will inevitably suffer heavy casualties after a head-on collision with Iwagakure, which is foreseeable, so a strategic retreat is necessary."
They hid in villages and towns, ready to launch a fatal attack on the invaders at any time.
There is only one objective: to drag the enemy into the vast ocean of the people.
This tactic has been used by many countries and many people; it's despicable, but very effective.
"Doing this will cause huge casualties among civilians. Isn't that... not a good thing?" someone worried.
"We can record their massacre of civilians, issue a statement condemning the invaders' atrocities, and gain international support."
That's really ruthless.
However, this is indeed the most effective method that can be thought of at the moment.
Subsequently, everyone immediately divided the work and cooperated: those who raised funds went to various organizations to borrow money, and those who recruited mercenaries went to issue announcements through various channels.
The others prepared to engage the Iwagakure Ninja head-on.
A major battle was inevitable, and everyone was told that as long as they survived this wave, they would be eligible to live.
They thus regained their confidence and actively prepared for battle.
As long as they don't fight to the bitter end, things are fine. Fighting one battle and then retreating gives everyone hope of survival.
Akatsuki's second plan was to instigate conflict between small countries and monopolize the war through mercenaries.
I didn't expect the Land of Earth to react so sensitively, launching a war right away. Well then, let's take this opportunity to let the Akatsuki flex their muscles on the stage of war.
A large number of Akatsuki mercenaries will come to answer the call and take the opportunity to ambush and kill the Iwagakure Ninja.
To show other smaller countries the value of Akatsuki's wars.
Aoki Tsuki worriedly, "Right now, the most important thing is the first wave of attacks from the Iwagakure Ninja. I'm afraid they'll collapse at the first touch."
Faced with the overwhelming force of the Iwagakure army, amidst death, fear, and despair, how could they not flee?
Earth Release is also extremely effective against Water Release.
The vanguard of the Iwagakure Ninja did not give the Amegakure much time; their strategic objective was to inflict heavy and effective casualties on the Amegakure.
We must not allow the power of neighboring small countries to grow too rapidly and threaten our status as a major power.
A local war can be launched under any pretext to achieve this goal.
Now that the Amegakure have almost fully assembled, there's no need to wait any longer; let's finish this quickly.
On a gloomy, rainy morning, the Iwagakure troops launched an attack on the Amegakure positions, and the battle began.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Boom boom boom...
The battle usually begins with a slingshot exchange of Kunai carrying Explosive Tag, followed by a brutal melee.
"Kill...!!"
Iwagakure Ninja are tall and have an extremely brutal fighting style. They are particularly skilled in Taijutsu combat) and can even take on two Amegakure at once.
There were occasional Ninjutsu exchanges during the battle, but Amegakure was still countered by Earth Release and was at a disadvantage in all aspects.
Aoki Tsuki's strategy for everyone was to use Explosive Tag as much as possible.
Before the battle, each person was equipped with twenty Explosive Tag. They were to throw the Explosive Tag whenever they had the chance, thinking that losing money was better than losing their lives.
Training a ninja takes a lot of time and resources, far more than using Explosive Tag.
He brought all the Explosive Tag he had stored in the secret vault with him when he left the Jashin Cult.
Even so, he was forced to retreat steadily by the opponent, and seeing that he was about to lose his grip, Aoki Tsuki quickly summoned the Ibuse to fight.
Hand Seals with both hands and pressed them to the ground, each hand spreading out in a circular black pattern.
Thud... Thud
Two giant Ibuse appeared on the battlefield, greatly boosting morale.
puff...
The Ibuse spewed out a large cloud of purple poison gas, instantly wiping out a large Iwagakure Ninja.
Faced with attacks from the Iwagakure, they were always able to dodge nimbly, and even burrow underground to launch surprise attacks, playing a significant role in restraining the Rocks.
" Earth Release - Earth Spear "
A burly Iwagakure Ninja Hand Seals and launched a wide-range attack, attempting to pierce the Ibuse.
" Body Flicker Technique "
Aoki Tsuki stood atop the Ibuse's head and activated Water Body Flicker, disappearing before the attack arrived, then suddenly reappearing behind the enemy.
In the Land of Rain, the Water Body Flicker alone is half the battle won.
thunderbolt...
With a flash of blue light, the Iwagakure Ninja was pierced through the back by a spear formed from lightning, and fell to the ground.
" Lightning Leap: Lightning Fang "
The mastery of mental energy gave Aoki Tsuki extraordinary control over Chakra, finally enabling him to Shape Transformation.
Similar to the ' Chidori Sharp Spear ' developed by Sasuke three- Tomoe state.
Earth Release counters Water Release, and similarly, his Lightning Release counters Earth Release.
On Amegakure's side, only Aoki Tsuki is a force to be reckoned with, consistently holding the upper hand; the others are fighting for their lives.
Soon, Iwagakure noticed the situation and began to mobilize its forces to launch an attack.
Unlike other villages, the most distinctive feature of Iwagakure Ninja is their general proficiency in Earth Release, allowing them to unleash large-scale Earth Release in combination.
His most glorious achievement was that he outlasted the Third Raikage by taking 10,000 men.
Undeterred by death and with unwavering fighting spirit, they surged forward like locusts, and before long, another Ibuse fighting alone was wounded and left.
Aoki Tsuki didn't have that much Chakra to waste with these people, and black runes appeared in his right palm.
"The savings are almost gone, you foolish Iwagakure, let me show you the power of tattoos."
"God's Right - Angel's Kiss "
A spiraling halo emerged from his palm, accompanied by surging energy, and poured out towards the Iwagakure Ninja gathering in front of him.
Rumble...
The Iwagakure Ninja caught in the attack only saw a white figure with outstretched arms embracing them, and then they knew nothing more.
Such a large-scale clearing operation also affected many Amegakure, resulting in their deaths.
A brief silence fell over the battlefield.