The front lines between Konoha and Iwagakure.
" Lord Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade has already announced her succession as the Fifth Hokage in Konoha. Orochimaru, who murdered his teacher, has been declared a top-ranking missing-nin, Konoha will kill him at all costs."
" Orochimaru..." Jiraiya put down the battle report in his hand with a gloomy expression, his fists clenched. Just two months ago, Orochimaru had specifically notified him to return to Konoha, so why did Orochimaru choose to attack the Old Man Third?
Moreover, Tsunade's succession to the Hokage Position was a bit too timely... Jiraiya dared not continue to speculate or conjecture, and was even less willing to continue thinking about it.
He believed that Tsunade wouldn't do such things for the Hokage Position, and he also believed that Orochimaru wouldn't kill the Old Man Third... Orochimaru must have some unavoidable reason. He must ask him clearly next time they meet, even if it means severely injuring Orochimaru!
"Alright, let's not worry about Konoha for now. How's the Iwagakure force doing? Have the scout ninjas we sent out returned?"
"The scout ninjas have all returned to camp. The intelligence we received indicates that the Iwagakure forces are making a small-scale relocation towards the Land of Land of Lightning. Iwagakure's leader, Kitsuchi, deliberately appeared within the scouts' reconnaissance range and stayed there for a considerable period of time. We conclude that this was a deliberate signal from Kitsuchi and Iwagakure."
Jiraiya recalled the Third Hokage's instructions and realized that Ōnoki was unwilling to fight Konoha head-on and planned to take advantage of the Land of Lightning's weakness to plunder. In fact, this was a common phenomenon in the wars Five Great Nations...
Each ninja village possesses a strong foundation and will, making them difficult to destroy. Although the Kumogakure is guided by the principle of military expansion, it has never destroyed any major Kumogakure village during numerous Shinobi World wars. This illustrates the limitations of ninja warfare; it is very difficult to completely annihilate a ninja village.
Therefore, given the extremely slim chance of destroying Konoha versus the absolute certainty of plundering the Land of Lightning and gaining a massive fortune, it's almost self-evident which option Ōnoki and Iwagakure would choose, especially since they could also receive a donation from Konoha.
Although the compensation would likely be wasted after the Third Hokage's death, Iwagakure and Kitsuchi gained no advantage in their direct confrontation with Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, and Konoha's elite forces. Continuing the stalemate would only increase their losses.
However, Jiraiya was in no hurry to make a decision. No one could guarantee that this wasn't a smokescreen by Iwagakure. What if Iwagakure was feigning a relocation and actually taking the opportunity to attack Konoha?
Once his strongest line of defense collapses, Konoha will truly be in danger. Therefore, Jiraiya decided to proceed with caution:
"Starting today, we will dispatch at least three Jonin and twenty Chunin every day, in batches, to the front lines in Konoha and Kumogakure. The pressure they will face is far greater than ours."
Jiraiya sighed wearily. Over the past ten years, his footprints have covered the entire Shinobi World (and he's had girlfriends all over the Shinobi World ), which has greatly diminished his energy. He had only been fighting Iwagakure for a little over ten days, and his body was already on the verge of collapse.
During the Third Shinobi World War, he waged a three-year-long war against the Kumogakure!
"Not now, I'm too old..." Jiraiya picked up his cup of water filled with goji berries and took a small sip...
Konoha Ninja Village )
Naruto patted his bulging belly and let out a satisfied burp, but Gaara beside him didn't have the same enjoyment. The omnipresent Anbu, with their watchful eyes that seemed to be monitoring criminals, made Gaara extremely annoyed, and he wished he could Naruto everything around him!
However, as a prisoner, Gaara obviously had no choice. Allowing him to "play" with Naruto and retain some freedom was already the greatest mercy Konoha could offer.
The mercy bestowed is time-limited, and Gaara's mercy obviously expired very quickly.
" Sunagakure, a genin Genin Sunagakure and the One-Tail Jinchuriki Gaara, come with us."
Two Anbu pinned Gaara's shoulders, one on each side, and issued orders from their superior positions. Their contemptuous attitude reignited Gaara's ferocity.
Kill them! Kill them all!
"You two, let go of Gaara!"
Naruto desperately grabbed one of the Anbu. Although Naruto's Taijutsu had improved significantly after training with Might Guy, his strength was clearly insignificant in the eyes of the Anbu.
Without even using much force, Naruto was forcefully pulled to the ground. The Anbu seemed not to see Naruto at all, and tried to leave while holding Gaara hostage.
You all deserve to die!
Gaara was breathing heavily, yellow sand swirling around Gaara, and even half of Gaara face began to show tanuki-like features, with strange Shira patterns, making him look both beautiful and eerie.
"I love... Luo..."
Naruto stared at Gaara in disbelief, seemingly never imagining that Gaara could become so terrifying, but what was even more terrifying was yet to come.
As Gaara's Chakra surged, the surrounding sand began to respond to Gaara's command, coalescing into two giant sand hands that pinched the two Anbu, as if they wanted to crush them into mincemeat in the next second.
At this moment, Gaara was still in a state between human and tanuki -Tailed Beast, with the tanuki's face appearing and disappearing intermittently, making him look eerie and terrifying.
The two Anbu exchanged a glance, then tacitly pulled out Explosive Tag and stuck them on Gaara, easily dodging Gaara's Sand Hand attack.
boom!!!
The violent explosion nearly shattered Naruto Uzumaki's eardrums, causing Naruto to unconsciously collapse to the ground, staring blankly at Gaara who was transforming into a monster.
"Evacuate nearby residents. One-Tail has gone out of control. Implement the sealing plan immediately."
Actually, there was no need to organize any evacuation. Konoha, having just experienced a major battle, was particularly sensitive. As soon as the Anbu appeared on the streets, the smarter villagers began to flee.
By the time the battle truly began, the streets had been almost completely cleared.
Countless grains of sand swirled around Gaara, expanding ever larger, and Gaara increasingly strayed from human form—his eyes turned into dark gold tanuki eyes, a tanuki tail sprouted from behind his tailbone, and even his arms transformed into tanuki claws...
Gaara Possessed!
"You, all of you, may die!"
Gaara's claws suddenly extended, reaching out with incredible speed to grab the Anbu who had no time to dodge. Gaara, now in his Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, was no longer someone these Anbu could handle.
" Konoha Strong Whirlwind!"
A green figure kicked Gaara's sand away, saving the Anbu from being crushed into mincemeat. Naruto finally regained consciousness and watched as Gaara was kicked away by Teacher Guy. Then Gaara charged at Teacher Guy like a wild beast.
Inside the Hokage's office, Naoki Senju stood beside Tsunade, the two of them overlooking the chaotic battle on the street. The plan to extract the One-Tail Shukaku had officially begun!