Konoha was making such a big commotion over there; how could the Iwa shinobi stationed at the Land of Fire border not know about it?
But what could they do even if they knew?
Because Ōnoki had recalled three thousand shinobi to ambush the Third Raikage, the number of Iwagakure shinobi at the frontlines now was actually less than five thousand.
So what could they possibly do when faced with a roaring army of Konoha shinobi — led by Hoshiyomi and his all-star lineup?
The answer: nothing.
They couldn't even get a message out before being completely swallowed whole by Konoha's offensive.
As for retreating to inform Ōnoki? That was even more of a joke.
Under the combined surveillance network of the Uzumaki and Hyūga clans, acting as a living super radar, who could possibly escape detection?
And even if someone somehow did — who could outrun Hoshiyomi flying through the air or Minato flashing through space with Flying Thunder God?
In less than two hours, the roughly three-to-four-thousand Iwagakure shinobi stationed in the Land of Fire were completely annihilated.
There was simply no contest — when every member of Konoha's "dream team" unleashed a single high-level jutsu, the battlefield was instantly erased.
The Iwagakure shinobi could only feel pure despair.
Still, they did manage to serve some purpose before their deaths:
their battle with Konoha at least alerted the rear scouts, who raced day and night to deliver the message — finally managing to get the news back to Ōnoki by the next morning.
...
"B-Bad news! Tsuchikage-sama, terrible news!"
The door to Ōnoki's office burst open with a loud BANG, an Anbu agent panting heavily as he interrupted Ōnoki's rare moment of rest.
Ōnoki sighed, putting down the teacup he had just lifted.
"You again? Fine, what is it this time?"
The Anbu shinobi gasped for breath before blurting out:
"We just received intel — Gekko Hoshiyomi is leading five thousand Konoha shinobi straight toward Iwagakure!"
Ōnoki's first reaction was…
That's it?
Five thousand Konoha shinobi?
What was there to be afraid of?
Even though Iwagakure had lost about a thousand shinobi fighting the Third Raikage, they still had over thirteen thousand in total.
If Hoshiyomi was only bringing five thousand men, wasn't that practically a free meal?
But seeing Ōnoki's nonchalant expression, the Anbu slapped himself on the cheek in frustration and quickly added:
"That's not the point, Tsuchikage-sama! The problem isn't the number of troops — it's who's leading them!
According to the front-line scouts, Konoha has sent out nearly all of its top fighters.
Along with Konoha's Silver Moon, Gekko Hoshiyomi, the following have been spotted:
White Fang Sakumo Hatake,
The Cold Prince Orochimaru,
The Mad Ghost Jiraiya,
The Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze,
Konoha's New Sprout, Nawaki,
and Konoha's Sunset, Shinku Yuhi!"
As the Anbu rattled off this long list like he was reading from a menu, Ōnoki froze — his teacup slipped from his hand, shattering on the floor — and he didn't even react.
His first thought: Konoha has this many famous strong people?!
His second thought: Are they insane? They sent all of them?! Aren't they afraid someone will attack their village while they're gone?!
His third thought: Wait… I crippled Kumogakure, Sunagakure already allied with Konoha, and Kirigakure formed a pact with them too… so actually, no one's left to attack their home.
His fourth thought: Hold on — even with this entire lineup gone, Konoha still has the Third Hokage, Tsunade, plus the Hyūga and Uchiha clans guarding the village. They really have no reason to worry at all!
Ōnoki's mind went blank.
What the hell—?!
He suddenly realized that in all these years of war, Konoha hadn't lost a single major powerhouse.
None of the old legends had died, and new prodigies were popping up one after another.
Does Konoha manufacture geniuses wholesale or something?!
Ōnoki, internally screaming:
Help! I'm being targeted by Konoha's entire all-star lineup! What do I do?! Urgent — need answers fast!
He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.
No, no — calm down, Ōnoki. You've been a legendary shinobi for decades. You've sat in the Tsuchikage's chair for years. You can't panic. Stay calm. There has to be a way out of this…
"Sigh… you're supposed to smile when you play games, hehe, always smile when you play games…"
"Smile my ass!"
After being completely overwhelmed for a long while, Ōnoki finally managed to regain a little bit of composure.
With trembling hands, he lifted an imaginary cup of tea to calm his nerves before speaking hoarsely:
"Pass down my orders!
Iwagakure is to enter maximum wartime alert!
All civilians are to be evacuated to the shelters — immediately!
Every available shinobi is to gather and leave the village with me to face the enemy head-on!
Tell Han to be battle-ready at all times, and send someone to recall Rōshi — no matter what it takes.
This war… we must hold the line!"
By the end, Ōnoki was practically roaring.
When he finished, he glanced out the window, fell silent, then rose into the air and flew out of the Tsuchikage's office — heading straight home.
At home, his wife and daughter-in-law were playing with his young granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, while his son, Kitsuchi, watched with a warm smile.
When Ōnoki entered, Kitsuchi was startled and quickly stood up.
"Father, what are you doing back here?"
Ōnoki waved him off.
"There's no time to explain.
Take Kurotsuchi, your mother, and your wife to the shelter — right now.
None of you are to come out until this battle is over, understand?"
Kitsuchi's eyes widened in alarm.
"Is it really that serious? Who is the enemy that has you this tense?
Besides, I'll fight with you on the front line—"
Ōnoki suddenly shouted, voice booming like thunder:
"I said go! Why are you still talking back?!
Are you disobeying your own father now?!"
The sudden outburst made little Kurotsuchi, who had been happily playing, burst into tears.
Hearing her cry, Ōnoki paused — then sighed deeply.
Floating slightly off the ground, he gently placed a hand on Kitsuchi's shoulder.
"Go. Quickly.
If I don't make it through today's battle… you'll become the Fourth Tsuchikage of Iwagakure."
After saying this, Ōnoki said nothing more. He turned and left without a word. Despite his extremely short stature, he appeared impossibly tall in Kitsuchi's eyes at that moment.
...
By the time the five thousand Konoha shinobi arrived in the central region of the Land of Earth, Ōnoki had already led the Iwa shinobi to prepare for battle outside Iwagakure.
Next to him were the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Rōshi, and the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han. Both their expressions were equally grave. Everyone was silently waiting for the arrival of the Konoha shinobi.
Just as everyone was growing anxious and restless, a black dot moving at high speed suddenly appeared in the sky.
Hoshiyomi speed was considerably faster than that of the five thousand Konoha shinobi. Looking down at the dense crowd of Iwa shinobi below, Hoshiyomi felt no fear or trepidation.
Having advanced to Master-level swordsmanship, both his strength and his mindset were far ahead of the current era's powerhouses. It could be said that he now had no concern at all for so-called human wave tactics.
Therefore, Hoshiyomi made no attempt to conceal his presence. He descended directly from the sky and landed gracefully right in front of the Iwa army!