" Admiral lord, Mifune has failed in his mission; the scroll of inheritance has been stolen by a blond boy from Leaf!"
Mifune looked filled with guilt and dejection. He had been prepared to die to protect the scroll of inheritance, but in the end, it was taken away by someone else.
"Don't blame yourself. That blond boy probably used the Flying Thunder God Technique, which was used by the Second Hokage of Village Hidden in the Leaf. This kind of technique is indeed difficult to defend against."
Wang Hao didn't blame him at all; on the contrary, a strange smile appeared on his lips.
It was indeed a scroll of inheritance, but it contained a huge pitfall. Hopefully, the Third Hokage won't get so excited that he kicks the bucket when he finally realizes what's going on.
"Pass down the order: command the Pilgrimage Palace Samurai Corps to march towards the Land of Fire. Under no circumstances should the supreme legacy of the samurai of the Land of Iron fall into the hands of Leaf."
With a change in expression, Wang Hao revealed a hint of anger and loudly gave the order.
Now that the First Tier of the plan has been completed, it's time to begin the Second Tier.
The Pilgrimage Palace is the residence of the Admiral of the Land of Iron. It is a huge palace, and the samurai legion of the Pilgrimage Palace is an army directly under the Admiral. It consists of a thousand people, all of whom are high-level Swordsman, and there are even many Swordmaster masters among them.
This legion is the most suitable to bring on this expedition to the Land of Fire.
Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze, who had arrived in the Land of Fire using the Flying Thunder God Technique, immediately fainted.
Although the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron share a border, the battlefield is more than two thousand miles away. Crossing such a long distance at once would put considerable pressure on oneself.
Not to mention that he retreated with the Third Hokage this time. Just this one move severely depleted Minato Namikaze Chakra and even damaged his foundation. It will be difficult for him to achieve greater things in the future.
On the other side, the Third Hokage struggled to sit up and leaned against a large tree, his old eyes fixed on the scroll that Minato Namikaze was clutching tightly in his hand.
When he saw Wang Hao hand the scroll to Mifune, he specifically instructed the Kage Guard to cooperate with Minato Namikaze to seize it. Presumably, the other four Kage received the same order.
Fortunately, the scroll ended up in Minato Namikaze's hands, which was some consolation.
Without hesitation, he took the scroll from Minato Namikaze's hand, and after confirming that there were no traps on it, he slowly unrolled it.
Upon unfolding the text at the beginning, the Third Hokage's breathing quickened.
Although he was a ninja, he was also quite skilled in Taijutsu. Combined with his own cultivation, he was naturally able to understand the profound and subtle cultivation methods recorded on it. Moreover, it was indeed related to the cultivation tradition of the Ancient Sword Dao, which was of great benefit to him.
"Hiss..."
Just as the Third Hokage was engrossed in reading, a sword aura suddenly appeared out of thin air, shattering the scroll and entering the Third Hokage's body.
In his prime, the Third Hokage would never have allowed such a method to succeed, let alone have it implanted into his body. Unfortunately, he was severely injured and had a large amount of sword energy left by Wang Hao raging inside him. Even if his consciousness reacted, his body couldn't keep up.
Strangely, this sword energy did not harm the Third Hokage. Instead, it calmed the sword energy within him and then transformed into a life energy that merged into his body.
With the support of this life energy, Hiruzen Sarutobi's injuries healed at a visible speed, and he was fully recovered in no time.
That wasn't all. As the sword energy disappeared, a message appeared in his mind and merged into his consciousness before the Third Hokage could react.
Immediately afterwards, the Third Hokage felt as if he had suddenly gained the experience of a Swordmaster who had cultivated for decades, and he even had a feeling that he could unleash the sword energy of Swordmaster master.
"It's a pity you were too impatient!"
Looking at the inheritance scroll that had been shredded into pieces by that sword energy, the Third Hokage did not associate it with any conspiracy or trickery. In his view, that sword energy was obviously a sword energy that Wang Hao had sealed in the scroll for inheritance.
As for the scroll, it was merely torn apart by the gale force of the sword energy burst forth. If he hadn't been in such a hurry and had waited until it recovered before unrolling the scroll, he certainly wouldn't have let it be destroyed.
Unfortunately, it's too late to say anything now!
but...
"Fortunately, we still managed to gain something!"
Looking at the sharp sword energy gathering on his fingers, the Third Hokage revealed a smile.
With that cultivation experience, he was able to obtain the power of a mid-level peak Swordmaster in the shortest amount of time, and when combined with his own strength, his combat power would at least double, or even more.
"Teacher, are you alright?"
Just as the Third Hokage was attempting to gather sword energy, a deep red toad, a hundred meters tall, descended from the sky, followed by several figures leaping down from its head. The three leading figures were none other than the Third Hokage's disciples— the Three Sannin!
Although he won't bring too many people with him to the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, he will still send people to meet him at the border to prevent any unforeseen events.
Currently, his most trusted and most capable disciples in Leaf are undoubtedly these three.
"I'm fine, Tsunade, please check on Minato!"
The Third Hokage realized what was happening and quickly instructed Tsunade to treat Minato Namikaze.
Although Minato Namikaze was not seriously injured, he had severely overdrawn his Chakra. At the last moment, he even swallowed a large amount of soldier pills to exhaust his potential and unleash his Chakra, which enabled him to perform the Flying Thunder God Technique that spanned more than two thousand miles.
This can cause very serious damage to oneself; if not handled properly, it can turn one into a cripple.
Although Tsunade had been arguing with the Third Hokage recently, she didn't hesitate when it came to matters of principle, and she quickly stepped forward to examine Minato Namikaze's condition.
After a long while, Tsunade stood up, glanced at the crowd around her, and gestured for them to step back, leaving only the Third Hokage and her four disciples.
" Minato is not in mortal danger, but his Chakra is severely depleted. Moreover, it seems he forcibly ingested a large amount of soldier pills, further exhausting his potential. Now that his body's essence is damaged, it will be difficult for him to break through to a higher level in the future, and his body will also become weak."
Knowing that the three of them weren't very good at this, Tsunade summarized Minato Namikaze's current situation in simple and easy-to-understand language.
Honestly, Minato Namikaze was incredibly reckless. Not only did he consume a large amount of soldier pills, overdrawing his potential, but he also pushed his Chakra to its limit. With both of these combined, it's already quite remarkable that he didn't die immediately.
Upon hearing this result, Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze's teacher, was greatly alarmed. Without even saying goodbye, he picked up the unconscious Minato Namikaze and used the Reverse Summoning Technique to head to the sacred Mount Myoboku.
Tsunade is Leaf's best medical ninja. Since even Tsunade doesn't have a good solution, bringing Minato Namikaze back to Leaf won't make any progress. Now, we can only place our hopes on the sacred Mount Myoboku.
Hopefully, there is a cure there.
The Third Hokage didn't say much about this, but instead frowned and fell into deep thought.
He knew very well that the previous battle had not caused much damage to Wang Hao and the Swordmaster of the Land of Iron, and they would certainly not let it go so easily.
It seems likely that another fierce battle will follow.
He was not afraid to fight against the Land of Iron. No matter how powerful Wang Hao was, he, who possessed the power of the entire Leaf, would not be afraid of him.
However, the war was not just a matter between the two sides. If things went wrong, other countries might also join in, which would lead to the Third Great Ninja War.
Although Leaf was the ultimate victor in the Second Great Ninja War, they themselves were severely wounded.
With many skilled warriors dying, although some young people have risen to prominence, this generation of young people has not yet reached their peak. Starting a war at this time is not a good thing.
Unfortunately, the decision-making power was not in their hands; they could only passively face the enemy.
The Third Hokage, preoccupied with the battle, failed to notice the unusual expressions on Tsunade and Orochimaru's faces. Tsunade glanced at the Third Hokage's body, which, despite being stained with blood, showed no obvious injuries. Recalling Minato Namikaze's recent dire situation, a hint of disdain crept into her eyes.
Given the Third Hokage's current condition, returning from the Land of Iron would be no problem at all; there was absolutely no need for Minato Namikaze to Flying Thunder God Technique.
The Third Hokage's dedication is evident!
Orochimaru smiled mysteriously, but didn't say anything more.
Anyway, Minato Namikaze wasn't his disciple, so whether he lived or died or was crippled was none of his business.
Moreover, he also wanted to see if a half-crippled Minato Namikaze would still be valued by his teacher, and whether he would be pushed into the position of Fourth Hokage as Dan-kun had predicted, becoming a puppet Hokage.
After pondering for a long time, the Third Hokage quickly gave the order, commanding the ninjas in Hidden Leaf Village to advance towards the border of the Land of Iron. He then swiftly organized the ninjas stationed along the border to unite in preparation for a possible attack from the Land of Iron and Wang Hao.
The counterattack from the Land of Iron and Wang Hao arrived just as the Third Hokage had predicted, and even faster and more swiftly than he had foreseen.
However, Wang Hao did not carry out any sneaky assassination; instead, he openly led a group of Swordmaster and a thousand warriors to attack.
"You despicable scoundrel, Hiruzen Sarutobi! You failed to assassinate me in the Land of Iron, and then stole the supreme Sword Dao inheritance of my Land of Iron! Today, I, Wang Hao, will fight you to the death!"
As soon as the two sides met, Wang Hao roared angrily, taking the initiative.
"A fight to the death!"
"A fight to the death!"
The numerous Swordmaster and the thousand-strong samurai legion following behind roared in agreement, all glaring at Hiruzen Sarutobi with furious and murderous eyes.
"Hmph! Nonsense! Your Land of Iron wanted to dominate the Shinobi World, so you launched a sneak attack and ambushed us while we were holding the Five Kage Summit. Now that the ambush failed, you've resorted to such a clumsy excuse to start a war. Aren't you ashamed?"
And I will fight you to the death!
The Third Hokage snorted coldly and roared in response.
He would never admit to having attacked Wang Hao before, as that would put him in a very passive position.
I believe the other four great ninja villages won't admit to this either. Once all five villages have a unified story, who will believe the words of the Land of Iron?
"A fight to the death!"
Many Leaf ninja roared in anger, clearly believing the Third Hokage's words.
After all, the Third Hokage was one of their own, and also their leader, so naturally they had to trust their leader.
"If that's the case, then let's fight!"
Without further ado, Wang Hao charged forward with his sword, followed by numerous Swordmaster and a legion of thousands of warriors.