And so, an eerily quiet atmosphere descended once more between Konoha and Kumogakure, as if both sides were secretly plotting to defeat the other.
While undercurrents were swirling on the Kumogakure battlefield, the Konoha and the Iwagakure were locked in fierce combat on the Iwagakure battlefield.
Both sides were so eager to beat each other senseless that they wanted to smash each other's brains into a dog's head; they were constantly at odds.
"Charge! Everyone, charge! Kill those bastards from Iwagakure!"
On the battlefield, a sound from an unknown source spurred the Konoha Ninja to charge relentlessly towards the Iwagakure forces. After this sound appeared, the Konoha Ninja's morale soared, and their attacks became even more ferocious.
"Let's go too! We are the proud Iwagakure! We can't lose to those guys from Konoha! Let Konoha see the strength of Iwagakure!" In contrast to Konoha, the Iwagakure side was constantly boosting their own morale.
For a time, the two sides were engaged in fierce fighting. Although their battle affected the situation on the battlefield, the final outcome would depend on the result of the two strongest fighters.
"Boom!"
In the center of the battlefield, where Jiraiya was fighting Kitsuchi, huge clouds of dust were rising from time to time, and the loud roars caused by the release of Ninjutsu could be clearly heard.
Judging from the current state of the battle, Jiraiya holds the advantage.
This is normal, though. Despite Jiraiya's apparent weakness against Setsugetsu, he remains one of the strongest Shinobi World and is not afraid of Iwagakure's Kitsuchi at all. He doesn't even need to use his ultimate trump card— Sage Mode.
He simply used his solid Ninjutsu and Taijutsu in combination to basically overpower Kitsuchi Tu.
One moment he'd use Earth Release, the next Fire Style, and then he'd combine it with Summoning Technique. His versatile and sophisticated fighting style left Kitsuchi feeling utterly helpless, unsure of how to effectively counter him.
From the constant seas of fire and rocks that appeared on the battlefield, which made Kitsuchi jump and dart about, one could tell that Kitsuchi was in a terrible state.
Honestly, even though he's also Kage Level character, Kitsuchi shouldn't be this frustrated when facing Jiraiya.
But Jiraiya's style really restrained him.
It should be noted that 70% of his strength comes from Earth Release, and the remaining 30% comes from taijutsu ( Taijutsu ).
Such a ninja who specializes in Earth Release can perform very well when facing other Kage Level powerhouses.
Unfortunately for him, he was facing Jiraiya, who was also skilled in Earth Release techniques.
This meant that, apart from a few Earth Release unique to Iwagakure, other Earth Release Technique were not very effective against Jiraiya.
His Taijutsu, which weren't particularly outstanding, were even less effective against Jiraiya.
The fact that Jiraiya could summon several Toad with different abilities made his Taijutsu attacks look like acrobatics.
Not to mention that Jiraiya himself had extensive experience in Taijutsu combat.
Therefore, Kitsuchi was quite helpless in front of Jiraiya.
However, amidst all this bad news, there is one piece of good news: although his style is countered by Jiraiya, it's impossible for Jiraiya to defeat him quickly. After all, Jiraiya's Earth Release is incredibly tough and resilient.
He was able to steadily defend against Jiraiya's numerous attacks using Earth Release.
Therefore, although he couldn't defeat Jiraiya, he could at least hold him off.
If they can hold off Jiraiya, it will be a significant victory for Iwagakure.
Because at this moment, Iwagakure already had other plans to defeat Konoha. This attack was just a pretext.
That's right, Kitsuchi Tu's intention in confronting Jiraiya was to create an opportunity for his elite troops to launch a surprise attack on Konoha.
According to Iwagakure's intelligence, due to the departure of Wood Release user Kōki Itō, there are no other powerful ninjas on Konoha's front lines at this time, and Konoha's main force is tied up on the battlefield, so Konoha's rear is currently in a vulnerable state.
Therefore, they specially organized an elite force of several hundred men, composed entirely of Elite Jonin from Iwagakure, with the mission of raiding the logistics camp located behind Konoha's position, leaving Konoha's ninjas without supplies and laying the foundation for Iwagakure's victory.
Unfortunately, Kitsuchi didn't know that although Kōki was no longer in Konoha's territory, there was still a powerful but unknown Kage Level shinobi.
But by the time Kitsuchi found out, it was already too late.
And so, while Kitsuchi was entangled with Jiraiya, the elite Iwagakure force that he had placed so much hope in had already launched a surprise attack on the edge of Konoha's position.
"That was easy. We arrived at the vicinity of the Konoha camp in no time. We didn't encounter any strong obstacles along the way." At this moment, an elite Iwagakure ninja said with a relaxed expression after looking at the outline of the Konoha camp.
"That's normal. Right now, Konoha is being attacked by us and Kumogakure together. And I heard that Kumogakure is doing a good job, driving the Konoha people back step by step. Even the Green Demon who defeated our two Jinchūriki has been transferred to the Kumogakure battlefield to help. So it's only natural that we're so relaxed right now."
"That's true. It's a good thing that the Green Demon left, otherwise our operation wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
It seemed they were talking about someone who had left a deep impression on the Iwagakure Ninja, and a hint of fear flashed in their eyes as they spoke.
"Alright, let's not talk about these discouraging things. We're currently on a mission to raid Konoha. If we succeed, we'll wipe away the humiliation the Green Demon brought us. Then we'll be heroes of Iwagakure." A member of the Iwagakure, who appeared to be the unit captain, spoke up. His words immediately dispelled the fear in the eyes of the Iwagakure Ninja, instead invigorating them and filling them with excitement.
"The captain is right. If we succeed in this mission, we will be heroes of Iwagakure."
Thus, inspired by the Iwagakure captain's inspiring words, all the Iwagakure members became extremely serious, their entire bodies radiating a chilling aura.
Then, under the command of the unit captain, they immediately rushed towards the location of the Konoha Village's position.
Such a large-scale operation by the Iwagakure elite force was naturally observed by the Konoha Ninja remained behind, and they reacted very quickly, sounding the alarm.
"Those bastards from Iwagakure have launched a surprise attack, so everyone get into battle mode and hold Iwagakure off!"
Despite saying that, the Konoha Ninja were still filled with fear. This was because most of the ninjas in the camp were currently fighting the enemy on the battlefield, including the only Kage Level ninja Lord Jiraiya.
Even with thousands of ninjas currently stationed in the camp, this large number of ninjas cannot completely stop the Iwagakure elite forces' plan to sabotage logistics.
Therefore, when the Konoha Ninja in the Konoha camp saw the menacing elite Iwagakure troops, despair appeared on their faces.
"It's over. Our position, our logistics units, are all gone. Even our battle with Iwagakure has come to an end at this moment," a Konoha Ninja who had sensed the danger muttered to himself.