With Ryuo, Ziyun's destructive power could reach a new level.
Ziyun then spent half a day traveling to the front lines, where he joined the Third Raikage and the others.
At headquarters in the Hidden Cloud camp, the village's leadership had gathered for a meeting. Ziyun was naturally qualified to attend as well.
"Konoha has sent another 3,000 ninja. What a headache."
The 3,000 Konoha Ninja sent by the future Three Sannin—Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru—were a considerable problem even for the Third Raikage.
All three were Hiruzen Sarutobi's personal disciples, and all were highly talented.
Though none of them had the strength of a Kage Level fighter, they worked exceptionally well together. When they combined forces, they could often unleash strength surpassing that of an ordinary Kage Level fighter.
This had already thrown the balance of the war out of order. After all, the Hidden Cloud Village had very few top fighters.
At present, its only Kage Level fighters were the Third Raikage, Blue B, and Ziyun, three in total.
Blue B was the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki and would not go to the battlefield unless absolutely necessary. At first, the Third Raikage had not wanted Ziyun to go either.
Now that the war had become unbalanced, the Third Raikage had no choice but to let Ziyun give it a try.
"Ziyun, what do you think? Let's hear your thoughts first."
After Ziyun joined the meeting, the Third Raikage was the first to ask for his opinion.
He already regarded Ziyun as his successor. Letting him speak now would also raise his standing among the Hidden Cloud leadership present, making it easier for him to succeed the Raikage later.
In fact, Ziyun's standing among the Hidden Cloud leadership was already very high. Some had already come to regard him as the successor to the Fourth Raikage.
After all, in terms of strength, Ziyun already ranked third in the Hidden Cloud Village, and he was not far behind Blue B in second place.
Among his peers, the Third Raikage's son, Yotsuki A, had been left far behind by Ziyun. Catching up with him in this lifetime would probably be difficult.
"My opinion hasn't changed. Our chances of winning a head-on fight with Konoha are extremely low. Even if we win, it'll be a costly victory. So the best approach is to hold Konoha back and wait for another village to enter the war, or wait for the Hidden Cloud Village's ninja to grow stronger."
Ziyun's opinion remained unchanged.
"The Hidden Sand Village still hasn't made a move. Unless the war starts clearly going one way or the other, I don't think we can count on them."
The Third Raikage felt somewhat helpless. Months ago, the Hidden Sand Village had been stirring on the border of the Land of Fire, and everyone had thought war was about to break out. But now the Third Kazekage had held back instead.
It seemed the Hidden Sand Village wanted Konoha and the Hidden Cloud to wear each other down first, then send out its entire army when the two villages were fighting at their fiercest.
While the snipe and the clam fought, the fisherman profited.
It had to be said, the move was clever. If he were the Kazekage, he would probably do the same.
"So our only option is to start by holding Konoha back. An army marches on its stomach. If we want to slow Konoha down, we need to destroy their supplies. Then they definitely won't dare push deep into our territory."
Ziyun laid out his analysis.
Konoha's wars were much like wars in the real world: they consumed a great deal of a nation's resources.
Food, clothing, and other necessities for the ninja, as well as ninja tools, medical supplies, and explosives, were all indispensable.
If those things were destroyed, Konoha would surely hesitate to continue its fierce assault, giving the Hidden Cloud Village a chance to catch its breath.
"But Konoha's supplies and provisions are far behind the front lines. We'd have to get past their main force head-on. Breaking through to that point won't be easy."
A member of the Hidden Cloud leadership responsible for intelligence frowned as he spoke.
Judging by his appearance, he was probably the father of C, the Fourth Raikage's left-hand man in the original story.
"It's all right. I'd like to go alone and see if I can destroy Konoha's supplies and slow their advance," Ziyun said confidently.
"Ziyun, don't do anything reckless. I won't agree to it."
"Your Speed of the Thunder God is fast, but Konoha already knows its weakness to Sealing Jutsu. If you fall into Konoha's hands, the consequences will be serious."
The Third Raikage somewhat regretted bringing Ziyun to the battlefield.
Ziyun was always coming up with extremely risky ideas. Agreeing to an alliance with Konoha had been his idea too, and he had nearly paid for it himself.
"I knew you'd say that, Uncle Raikage. But I'm not talking nonsense. I've developed a new Ninjutsu this time, and I guarantee Konoha won't be able to do anything to me."
Ziyun smiled. Then he lightly tapped the air with a finger, and a transparent door appeared in it.
Ziyun opened the door and walked through, and his presence vanished completely.
He then appeared several dozen meters away.
Just as he had demonstrated the ability to Blue B, Ziyun showed the power of the Door-Door Fruit to the Third Raikage and the Hidden Cloud leadership.
In fact, Ziyun could enter the Door-Door Fruit's alternate space much faster, but he had to slow down for the demonstration so the Hidden Cloud leaders could see it clearly.
If Ziyun really moved at full speed, few people would probably be able to see how he entered the alternate space. They would simply think he had vanished.
The visual effect would probably be much like the Flying Thunder God.
"A... a door to an alternate space appeared!"
"Is... is that Space-Time Ninjutsu??"
"Ziyun, did you really invent that?"
After seeing the ability, the Third Raikage and the Hidden Cloud leadership reacted much as Blue B had.
First came utter shock, followed by a surge of ecstasy!
If it was Space-Time Ninjutsu, it could indeed catch Konoha completely off guard!
After all, the only thing that could counter Space-Time Ninjutsu was another Space-Time Ninjutsu!
But there were very few ninja in the entire Shinobi World who could use Space-Time Ninjutsu now!
After Tobirama Senju died, no one in Konoha had been able to learn his Flying Thunder God Technique.
This proposal was indeed worth a try.
"All right, Ziyun, go and try it. But I'll say it again: the moment you spot danger, abandon the mission and keep yourself safe."
The Third Raikage agreed to let Ziyun try.
He figured Konoha probably had no way to deal with Space-Time Ninjutsu.
"Don't worry, Uncle Raikage. I know what I'm doing." Ziyun nodded, quite confident in the Door-Door Fruit.
"Should we send a sensor ninja with you, so you can find Konoha's supplies more easily?"
At that point, C's father also made a suggestion.
"No need. Bringing someone along would be a bit of a burden. I can find them myself."
Ziyun rejected the suggestion. His Observation Haki and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit had now fully merged, giving him a frighteningly large sensing range.
If he wanted to, Ziyun could expand its range to cover an entire ninja village, though the expenditure would be considerable as well.
Unless someone had sage-level sensing abilities, they were probably not as powerful as Ziyun's Observation Haki.
Ziyun then vanished and set off to find the location of Konoha's supplies.
With his current abilities, it was quite easy for Ziyun to get around Konoha's main force of 6,000 ninja.
Whether he used the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Nine-Tailed Fox or the Door-Door Fruit, he could achieve that result.
But to save time, Ziyun chose to use the Door-Door Fruit and travel there through the alternate space.
Inside the alternate space, Ziyun could turn into lightning and move at full speed without having to worry about being discovered by Konoha Ninja and putting them on guard.
Within the Land of Frost, Ziyun searched for Konoha's camp.
Corpses lay everywhere he looked.
Although this war appeared to be a struggle between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire, the actual battlefield was not within either country.
The battlefield had been placed within the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost, which lay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.
That was how war worked. Great nations could ravage small nations as they pleased, and the small nations did not dare complain.
Who told you to have such small fists and so little strength?
The weak were prey to the strong, and the fittest survived. No matter the world, it was an eternal truth.
Konoha currently held the advantage, so the main battlefield was concentrated in the Land of Frost, closer to the Land of Lightning.
Inside the Door-Door Fruit's alternate space, it was possible to see the outside world, but people outside could not sense the Door-Door Fruit's space.
After spotting the Konoha forces led by Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, Ziyun activated his Observation Haki.
That allowed Ziyun to search freely for where Konoha's supplies were hidden.
"What's going on? Why do I keep feeling like someone's watching me?"
Tsunade rubbed the back of her neck. It felt cold.
"There really are a lot of people watching you... Who told you to be so..."
Hearing Tsunade's words, Jiraiya could not help looking at her stunning figure, which even her ninja uniform could not conceal.
"Get lost! If I'd known, I wouldn't have healed you. You could've spent the rest of your life in a wheelchair."
Tsunade shouted angrily and struck Jiraiya with a Monstrous Strength Fist, sending him flying more than ten meters.
Tsunade somewhat regretted healing Jiraiya. Now that he had recovered, the man was as shameless as ever.
"Tsunade, you're right. I keep feeling like someone's watching me too, but I don't know where it's coming from. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."
Orochimaru agreed with Tsunade because the back of his neck felt cold too.
But Orochimaru also thought it unlikely. This was Konoha's main camp. What bastard would be bold enough to break into it?
Besides, the camp was heavily guarded, with sensor ninja keeping watch around the clock. If anyone had come, they would have been discovered long ago.