In the distance, a fiery red sun rose from the purple mist, emitting a dazzling light. The golden glow opened the fog curtain like a mythical giant hand and everything suddenly became clearer.
After running for a long time, the Leaf ninja army finally arrived at the battlefront. On the left, there was a mountain range that seemed to be cut off by a sharp sword. And on the right, there was a big river that was flowing from the distant terraced high mountain.
On the level ground ahead, Suna and Iwa troops were on the left and right sides respectively. They had been waiting here for a long time. Obviously, they had similar thoughts as Nara Shikaku.
The two countries’ allied forces wanted to take advantage of their military prowess and defeat the Leaf army in one fell swoop to cross the Kikyo Mountain and head straight to Konoha. Shikaku’s decision to launch the squad combat mode was to make them retreat.
Activating his Sharingan, Uchiha Tonan stood at the center of the army and looked into the distance. In the sky above the Sand army, a man with his hands folded in front of his chest was standing on pitch-black iron sand. Iwa’s Onoki was even more aggressive. He was floating in the air and looking down at the people below.
It was evident they came out in full force. Onoki glanced at Shikaku and the others in the Leaf army and said with a sigh. “It seems like Konoha has truly declined. At a glance, the commanders are all juniors.”
Sandaime Kazekage snorted, “Among Konoha Sannin, one is dead and the other two defected. Their Hokage is old. It seems there’s no suspense on who’ll win in this war.”
Onoki glanced sideways at him and leisurely said, “Don’t take it lightly. It’s, after all, Konoha. If there’s a powerhouse, we should attack together.”
Sandaime Kazekage didn’t take Onoki’s words seriously. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulders, “It doesn’t matter.”
At this moment, Shikaku took a deep breath and shouted, “Lords from Iwa and Suna, are you sure you want to start a war despite the treaty of alliance?”
Onoki was about to reply with a few high-sounding words but he was interrupted by the Kazekage. “No need to bother. The intelligence shows they have less than ten thousand people. Let’s act promptly to avoid running into something unexpected.”
Onoki agreed and shouted, “Attack.”
Following the command, the Suna and Iwa ninjas rushed toward the Leaf army.
Shikaku spat out a mouthful of morbid qi and shouted, “Don’t rush forward blindly. Don’t mess up the formation. Let’s go, everyone.”
After his instructions, the Leaf ninjas also rushed forward. At the same time, Yamanaka Inoichi walked over to Shikaku and placed his hand on his forehead. He used his clan’s Mind Body Transmission Technique to transmit Shikaku’s instructions to the minds of every Leaf ninja present.
The distance between the two sides gradually reduced. They had already reached the range suitable for attack ninjutsu. At this time, Sandaime Kazekage shouted, “Wind Style Squad.” In the next moment, Suna’s momentum slowed down and then the Wind Style Squad rushed in the front and began to make identical hand seals.
A loud shout was heard on the battlefield. “Wind Style – Vacuum Waves.” When the Wind Style Squad began to make hand seals, Shikaku hastily instructed in his mind: “Water Style Squad”. As the transmission was real-time, Konoha’s formation changed instantly. “Water Style – Water Formation Wall.”
From Suna’s direction, countless air bullets flew toward the Leaf army. At the same time, Konoha’s Water Style Squad spat out water in front of them. The water splashed on the ground and a water wall, more than ten meters high, rose from the ground.
The air bullets hit the water wall, sounding like explosions. The water splashed everywhere but the attack failed. Shikaku asked Inoichi with his mind: “Are the other Yamanaka clan members ready?”
Inoichi replied: “They are ready.” Over a hundred Yamanaka clan ninjas began to make hand seals and aimed at a target. In the distance, Sandaime Kazekaze frowned and said, “Not good, that’s Konoha’s Yamanaka clan.”
Onoki was not perturbed. He stroked his beard and said, “I’ve been prepared for this. Earth Style Squad, attack.” The Stone ninjas ran to the front and quickly made hand seals. “Earth Style – Great Mud Wall.”
Just before the Mind Transfer Technique was activated, a mud wall that was tens of meters high appeared between the two armies. The Yamanaka clan’s ninjutsu released right at this time and with the clash, in an instant, over a hundred Yamanaka clan members collapsed on the ground.
Shikaku’s expression did not change. He quietly asked in his heart: “How long until they wake up?”
“About five minutes.”
Shikaku nodded and realized that the two armies were about to meet. That Great Mud Wall was collapsing rapidly because no chakra was injected to maintain it. He shouted in his mind: “Akimichi clan, follow the plan. Remember to not roll in a straight line but a curve.”
Immediately after he spoke, the Akimichis rushed forward and used the Human Boulder technique. The Human Boulder slammed on the Great Mud Wall that had no chakra support and a big hole was created in it.
“Now!”: Shikaku yelled in his mind. Then, over a hundred fire-style ninjas rushed forward and made hand seals simultaneously. “Fire Style – Great Fireball Technique.” The great fireball hit the mud wall, and the water contained in it evaporated instantly.
The wall then hardened into an earth wall. At the same time, the Nara clan, who followed closely behind, made hand seals and called out, “Shadow Imitation Technique.” Lines of black shadows rushed forward and passed through the big hole in the earth wall.
It was only at this moment that Tonan noticed the sun was behind the Leaf army, making everyone’s shadows longer. They were using the sun’s position to increase the length of the Nara clan’s Shadow Imitation Technique. And when the Technique passed through the earth wall, it borrowed the shadow of the earth wall to increase its length again.
“It’s a very good military strategy but how did he take the enemy’s reaction into account?” Tonan looked meaningfully at Shikaku.
After the Nara clan’s Shadow Imitation Technique passed through the earth wall, it controlled the frontline enemy ninjas behind the earth wall. Then, the Akimichi clan’s Human Boulders rolled into the crowd and wreaked havoc. After a lap, they rolled back from the big hole into the earth wall.
Tonan narrowed his eyes slightly. He was very happy with Ino-Shika-Cho’s performance. In his eyes, such distinctive ninja clans were very high-quality food. These were all treasures.
“It’s my turn to take the stage now.” Tonan would never deviate from his original plan. The current Leaf army could not have too many casualties because he hadn’t gained the acknowledgment of most of them yet.
He recalled there were three ways to gain acknowledgment—emotional, belief, and strength.
He had used emotional acknowledgment the most and had the most profound experience in it. To gain this kind of acknowledgment, the best way was to take advantage of people’s fears and worries and then seize the emotional void to enter their hearts.
Similarly, the best way to gain strength acknowledgment was to step forward when others discovered that their strength was not enough. The battlefield was the best place to gain this acknowledgment.
As for how to set up the battlefield persona. He could simply take inspiration from Uchiha Madara.
