"Whew..."
Didaze looked at the Clay Bomb in his hand and let out a long breath, his gaze gradually firming.
He had already tried it. Fire Style could detonate Clay Bombs, but it also made them more unstable!
Even at his current level, Didaze could not control Fire Style precisely enough to detonate the Clay Bombs.
They were more likely to misfire, and it was nowhere near as smooth as detonating them with Lightning Release.
But Didaze still intended to keep improving. After all, if he did not do this, his Clay Bombs would always have a weakness.
Once he grew stronger, the opponents he encountered could hardly all be incapable of Lightning Release. If he still had this enormous flaw then, he would surely die without a burial place.
"Lord Didaze, Lord Kitsuchi has asked you to come to his tent!"
Just as Didaze was about to continue practicing detonation with Fire Style, a ninja suddenly arrived to deliver the message.
"Hmm? Are we going on the offensive?"
Didaze had long since prepared to attack, but Kitsuchi had never issued the order.
As he thought, Didaze hurried toward Kitsuchi's tent.
"Didaze, come. Let's discuss how to attack!"
When Didaze entered the tent, he saw Kitsuchi, along with Han, Kōdo, and the members of the Explosion Release Corps.
Of course, there were also some ordinary Jonin.
"How to attack?"
Didaze was a little puzzled. What was there to discuss? Couldn't they just do what they had done before?
"Our scouts reported that Konoha has already retreated several dozen li. Although we can indeed advance a considerable distance, the place they've fallen back to has a natural barrier."
"And Orochimaru has placed a large number of snakes along the narrow passage. If we attack rashly, even if we win, we'll suffer heavy losses."
Kitsuchi sighed. He had sent scouts to investigate, and after looking, they had said a frontal assault had no chance.
The place they occupied happened to be a narrow passage, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
"A natural barrier?"
"Leave it to me! The army can move out. I'll destroy the narrow passage!"
Didaze spoke up directly.
"You... are you confident?"
Kitsuchi looked at Didaze and asked.
"Relax. I still have plenty of hidden moves I haven't used. Don't worry. Just move the army out, and I guarantee the narrow passage won't hold us back!"
Didaze spoke with a smile.
"Then let's move out!"
Gari spoke up from beside them, and the Explosion Release Corps began voicing their agreement!
Han, standing nearby, also nodded. He had no objection to what Didaze had said.
"Since none of you object, we'll do as you say..."
After thinking for a while, Kitsuchi also felt it was feasible. After all, Didaze's destructive power spoke for itself.
Didaze's destructive power really was no less than that of a Tailed Beast.
"The entire army moves out in half an hour!"
Kitsuchi emerged from the tent and issued the order to those outside.
"Yes, Lord Kitsuchi!"
The ninjas answered, then quickly began packing their things, waiting for Kitsuchi's advance in half an hour!
Time soon passed, and Kitsuchi was ready to advance.
"Big Brother Han, sorry for the trouble, but come with me!"
Didaze molded a Clay Giant Bird, then extended an invitation to Han.
"Me?"
Han was a little confused. What did Didaze need him for? Even though his Tailed Beast had immense destructive power, once he fully transformed into the Five-Tails, it would be difficult for him to get away unscathed.
"I'm not going there to clear a path... I'm going to crush Konoha head-on!"
Didaze smiled at Han.
He had absolute confidence against these remaining battered remnants of Konoha's forces!
"Since you're so confident, I'll trust you this once. Let's go!"
Han laughed heartily, his opinion of Didaze rising a little further.
Didaze controlled the Clay Bird, carrying Kōdo and Han swiftly toward Konoha!
Kitsuchi also led the army toward Konoha!
"It really is easy to defend and difficult to attack..."
From the sky, Didaze looked down at the place, which connected to an important passage into the Land of Fire.
"I'll go first!"
"C2: Dragon!"
Didaze directly expended thirty percent of his chakra, molding ten Giant Dragons!
The Giant Dragons swiftly dove toward the ground!
Boom!!!!!
The ten Giant Dragons exploded simultaneously, the earth-shaking blasts resounding throughout the Land of Grass!
Even the Grass Ninja far from the battlefield heard the deafening sound.
"The valley's much wider now... That should do it. Next up is..."
Didaze's goal was to widen the valley. Inflicting casualties was not what he was after.
"Damn it, that explosive brat is here!"
Hearing the earth-shaking explosions, Orochimaru's expression instantly turned pitch-black.
He had placed many snakes here. That one attack from Didaze had probably wiped them all out!
"Everyone, assemble immediately!"
Shimura Danzō hurriedly began gathering the ninjas. The only thing worth celebrating was that Didaze had not inflicted many ninja casualties and was instead widening the valley.
"The valley's wider now. Next, you'll have nowhere left to run."
Previously, dedicated sensory ninjas had watched the narrow passage in the valley, so Didaze had released his Clay Bombs from high in the sky, a great distance away.
Now the valley was more than twice as wide. Didaze could enter from any number of places, and the sensory ninjas would have difficulty locating him!
"Orochimaru's already out?"
Didaze looked toward Orochimaru. His primary target this time was Orochimaru.
As for Shimura Danzō? What a joke. He was one of their own. Whoever else Didaze killed, he could not touch a single hair on Shimura Danzō's head!
"Self-destructing puppets!"
Didaze molded nine self-destructing puppets, modeled after Didaze, Kōdo, and Han. These nine puppets split into three teams, and Didaze molded three Clay Giant Birds for them.
Then the birds began wheeling around, and soon the Konoha ninjas below could no longer tell which was the real Didaze!
Didaze wanted to place his Clay Bomb a little more accurately and make it more lethal!
"C3 No. 18!!"
Didaze mixed in a large amount of his chakra, and an enormous puppet instantly appeared!
"This..."
Feeling the explosively unstable Explosion Release, even Han's normally impassive face showed unmistakable shock!
He could not understand how Didaze controlled it. It was like using fire to ignite gasoline. If it were him, a violent explosion would occur immediately!
"This... is practically a work of art!"
Kōdo gazed at Didaze's C3 No. 18 with admiration all over his face. He saw the beauty of C3 No. 18.
"This is the strongest control I've ever seen. Even Lord Tsuchikage falls short of you. You'll definitely be the strongest Tsuchikage someday..."
Kōdo looked at Didaze's back, his eyes filled with gratification.
"Go!"
Didaze threw out Number 18. The already enormous C3 No. 18 swelled in the wind until it was even as huge as Orochimaru's Manda!
Looking at C3 No. 18 in the sky, Orochimaru's face was also filled with horror!
"No choice... Manda, take my place and die for me this once!"
Orochimaru felt that taking this head-on would mean certain death. Even the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique would be useless!
"Manda!"
Orochimaru immediately summoned Manda!
"Orochimaru, you still haven't given me the sacrifices from last time, and you have the nerve to summon me again?"
Manda looked at Orochimaru with displeasure, only to find that the other party said nothing.
A little puzzled, Manda then looked in the direction Orochimaru was facing.
The corners of Orochimaru's mouth lifted slightly, and his body turned into a puddle of earth and disappeared.
He intended to have Manda withstand this attack for him!
After all, with an explosion of this magnitude, without someone to take the blow in his place, he feared he would be blown to death even if he ran!
"Explode!!"
Seeing Manda appear, Didaze could not be bothered to worry about anything else. Every kill counted!
Once I blow Manda to death this time, let's see where you'll find another summoning beast this powerful to die in your place, Orochimaru!
"Orochimaru, you ＆%*&"
Manda felt only a burst of intense light and heat, then turned to curse Orochimaru!
But he discovered that Orochimaru had long since disappeared!
"Damn beast... You really thought you were the boss!"
Watching the violent explosion around Manda, which Manda absorbed in its entirety, Orochimaru felt a certain amount of regret.
After all, a summoning beast that powerful was not easy to obtain.
But then Orochimaru weighed it against his own life and felt that his life was more important after all.