Seeing the growing number of hostile glares around him, Han shivered. "What are you trying to do?"
"Hehe, what do you think? Kick your ass, of course!"
"Let this guy see how strong we really are!"
In an instant, a storm of various ninja techniques surged forward and engulfed Han.
Even as the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, he had no chance against such a relentless assault. Within just a few seconds, dozens of wounds appeared all over his body.
"Damn it! If it comes to this, I'll have to strip and give it my all!"
Han gritted his teeth, turned around, and sprinted toward the Flaming Mountains while shouting, "Roshi, you bastard! When I come back, I'll definitely make you pay… Aaaahh—"
Of course, Han wasn't the only one who couldn't catch the ride. After all, the Flaming Mountains couldn't completely separate the two sides.
Those lacking strength either got captured by the Allied Forces or rushed headlong into the flames and were burned to ashes.
Then, everyone could only stare helplessly at the roaring inferno before them.
Ninjas skilled in Earth Release could pass underground, but the problem was that right on the other side stood Iwagakure's retreating forces. Sending dozens or even hundreds of ninjas over would simply be handing them over as easy prey for Iwa.
As for sealing techniques, such a massive flaming mountain range was far beyond what ordinary ninjas could handle.
"Well then, leave it to me," Seiki quickly stepped forward to the edge of the Flaming Mountains and placed a scroll on the ground.
[Fire Sealing Method!]
The enormous flames across the battlefield, formed from Four-Tails chakra, began slowly getting absorbed into the scroll.
Witnessing this, the Allied Forces erupted in cheers.
"No wonder Master Seiki is amazing; even flames this big can be sealed away!"
"That's obvious! Master Seiki even sealed the Four-Tails itself—what's some flame made from its tails?"
"That Heaven-class sealing technique earlier must've cost him a ton of chakra. Even so, he managed to perform another large-scale Fire Sealing Method. Is Master Seiki actually a tailless Bijuu?"
Seiki retrieved the scroll, stood up, and smiled. "Don't waste time talking like this. They probably haven't gotten too far yet. We should hurry up and chase after them."
As he said that, a flicker of seriousness flashed deep within his eyes.
While crouching halfway down to perform the sealing, he'd also used his Hearing the Sounds of All Things ability to search the area.
Katsuyu served to observe the battlefield and guard against sneak attacks, while Hearing the Sounds of All Things was meant specifically to confirm someone's existence.
Indeed, deep beneath the earth, he had detected Black Zetsu.
In fact, during the Rain Country incident, he had also scoured the battlefield and found not only Black Zetsu but also Yahiko and his companions.
"Last time I could still rationalize it as him secretly observing Nagato, but this time, there's no room for hope anymore!"
Although he didn't particularly fear Black Zetsu, being watched behind his back was certainly never pleasant.
Most crucially, if someone kept their eyes on him, many of his plans wouldn't proceed smoothly.
"Strike first and win, hesitate and perish. Rather than waiting for him to scheme against me, I should take initiative. Only by making him hurt, cry, and fear will he stop focusing his attention on me."
...
Ultimately, this war ended with Iwagakure leaving over four thousand bodies behind.
Of course, the majority of those casualties were hired swords and Rogue Ninja. The actual number of Iwagakure's own losses was under two thousand.
Yet even so, it had already brought Iwagakure unbearable agony.
That was one-tenth of Iwagakure's entire strength before the war began—and now, the proportion could only be even greater.
Inside Iwagakure's war council chamber after the battle.
After freshening up, they no longer looked as worn out and soot-covered as before, but their vigor and resolve seemed utterly sapped. Everyone sat there lifelessly, eyes vacant and expressions hollow.
They had been defeated on the battlefield of Rain Country and suffered a crushing loss here as well. No matter how they viewed it, the future of this war seemed increasingly bleak.
Many muttered a certain name under their breath. Before he arrived, they had actually been in a dominant position all along. Yet once that man appeared, everything turned upside down.
First, Sunagakure—who had long refused to send troops—abandoned its defensive stance; next, the "Half-God," famed across the shinobi no sekai, fell to him; and now, with the sealing of a Bijuu on the frontlines thanks to his overwhelming power, the battle has reached a turning point.
Seiki Shimaseki… truly terrifying!
In the silent, suffocating atmosphere, Magze—who usually took the lead in speaking—couldn't help but ask, "Tsuchikage-sama, what should we do next?"
As soon as he spoke, the Jonin present all turned to look at him with hopeful eyes.
If it was Tsuchikage-sama, surely there would be a way!
Onoki stayed quiet for a moment before finally speaking, "At this point, we have only two options left."
"The first option is to follow Suna's earlier example—retreat behind our defenses, relying on our advantageous terrain and fortifications so Konoha and Suna won't dare push too hard."
Magze hesitated as he asked, "So we just stall for time? What good will that do?"
Onoki answered gravely, "It's about waiting—for an opportunity, for a shift to occur on Konoha's other front!"
For a moment, everyone brightened, suddenly recalling that Konoha wasn't fighting them alone—it also faced Cloud and Mist. But just as quickly, their expressions darkened again.
Come on. If those two couldn't gain the upper hand even when double-teaming Konoha, pinning hopes on them is like praying for a meteor to strike Konoha directly.
As if seeing through their disbelief, Onoki continued, "Though it may seem like we're overestimating Seiki Shimaseki's role, we can't deny the boy is capable of creating miracles. His departure might offer Cloud and Mist a chance to turn the tide!"
"He truly does deserve it!"
"Absolutely possible!"
The others nodded in agreement, naturally eager to support such a view. Otherwise, if Cloud managed to withstand that brat for two whole years, wouldn't they appear utterly pathetic by not lasting even two days?
Onoki lightly tapped the table and went on, "Beyond that, I will personally appeal to Raikage and Mizukage, urging them to temporarily hold off combat until we deal with Konoha. Then we can go back to our all-out brawls later… ahem."
Kitsuchi frowned, "But Father, do you really think Raikage and Mizukage are the kind to listen to reason?"
"Then we watch and wait. If they refuse to listen, we'll have no choice but to take the second path." Onoki narrowed his eyes slightly, his voice growing colder.
"The second path?"
"Abandon the attack on Konoha and strike Cloud Village instead!"
Hearing this, the group of Jonin exclaimed in astonishment:
"Eh? Can we actually do that?"
"Under such advantageous circumstances, there's no way the Leaf would just stop everything, right?"
Onoki shook his head slightly. "You don't understand the Third Hokage. He's always been about stability. If it were up to him, he definitely wouldn't act against Konoha."
"As for attacking Cloud Village, on one hand we need a target to divert internal conflicts, and on the other hand, our Iwagakure's losses must be compensated somehow."
"And not just Cloud Village itself — the small nations located between us and them are also viable targets."
They all got it now — the Tsuchikage was planning to reap the small nations like weeds.
At this moment, hearing they weren't planning to continue targeting Konoha, Xiaobai hiding underground became anxious. He immediately chose someone who looked particularly active and took over their body through mind control.
An ordinary Jonin with no preparation at all naturally couldn't resist Black Zetsu's mind control.
Just then, 'Magze' cleared his throat lightly and said, 'Tsuchikage-sama, may I speak?'
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