Nestled within the rugged mountains of the Land of Earth, the Stone Village, with its layers of high mountain passes, relied on its natural defenses. In the past, its ability to protect its borders was unmatched among the Five Great Ninja Villages.
However, this very terrain, while hindering external communication, also severely impacted internal transportation.
The basins formed by clusters of peaks, along with the snowmelt from the high mountains, meant their land wasn't as barren as the Land of Wind's, but it was far from fertile.
The succession of Stone Village's three Tsuchikages had been stable, and without powerful factions like Danzō, Gold Horn, Silver Horn, or the Second Mizukage threatening the Kage's position and siphoning off power, Stone Village was the most stable and united, but also the least vibrant.
Aside from the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, the Ninjutsu lineages capable of producing Kage-level powerhouses were only passed down within the Tsuchikage's line. The lack of internal competition, along with the monopoly on resources and knowledge, seemed to have left Stone Village in a state of lacking successors after Onoki.
These factors combined meant that while Stone Village was adept at defending itself, it lacked the ability to make advancements externally.
And after two Tailed Beasts fell into the hands of the Sand Village, Stone Village struggled even to maintain its status as a top-tier ninja village.
"The mission quotas for the Land of Stone have been almost entirely taken by the Sand Village. With the Land of Rain blocking us, the village can't receive resource aid from Konoha. If not for the Daimyo and the nobles' wealth already secured, the village would be in an even more difficult situation right now."
In the Tsuchikage's office, Onoki sat high in his chair, anxiously reviewing documents.
"Kitsuchi's proficiency in Fire Release is still far too lacking. It seems I can't count on him learning Dust Release. The youngest of this batch of newly promoted Jonin are already nineteen. While there's still room for improvement at this age, their remaining potential is not much. Sigh...
Why do talents always emerge in Konoha and Sand?"
Onoki looked at the bright sky outside the window, feeling a sense of gloom.
He didn't know how much more time the enemy would give his village to develop.
The previous Great Ninja War had seen Stone Village, Konoha, and Mist Village suffer heavy losses, but Cloud Village, and especially Sand Village, which he feared the most, had their main forces intact. With two years of recovery, they would likely be even stronger.
Onoki feared that one day the Sand Village might march on their gates and annihilate Stone Village.
However, with Stone Village's natural mountain defenses, no matter how strong the Sand Village was, it would take a considerable amount of time to break through. By then, Konoha and the other ninja villages wouldn't stand idly by. Onoki, though worried, still felt somewhat confident.
Until...
"Boom!"
One of the tall, formidable peaks that served as Stone Village's natural defense was suddenly erased by an attack.
Like a giant deity, a colossal figure swung a massive sword, leveling the peak in an instant. It left behind a flat expanse covered in rubble, forming a wide canyon with the surrounding mountains.
"What... what is going on!"
Onoki's face was filled with horror. He used the Light-Heavy Rock Technique, allowing his small body to fly out the window into the sky.
Beyond the canyon, through the dispersing dust and smoke, a fully prepared Sand Village army was advancing towards the Stone Village, led by two Jinchuriki clad in the full forms of their Tailed Beasts.
Onoki was all too familiar with the giant ape-like creature with four tails among them.
Because just two years ago, the Four-Tails Son Gokū had been on their side.
"Sand Village, why are they attacking so suddenly!"
Onoki's eyes widened in disbelief. Then, his gaze slowly shifted upwards, filled with apprehension and fear, before quickly firming. He looked at Qingshui, who was wearing the Big Ivan Puppet Armor.
He didn't know how the Sand Village had managed to quickly train the Tailed Beasts, which they had only acquired less than two years ago, into effective Jinchuriki weapons, nor how the Fourth Kazekage had brought an army of thousands here.
But Onoki knew very well that the opponent was an enemy!
Even if they were incredibly powerful, for Onoki, who firmly believed in the Will of Stone, as long as there was a sliver of a chance, he would continue to fight.
As the Tsuchikage, no matter how strong the enemy, as long as Stone Village was behind him, he would stand firm like an unyielding stone, never retreating.
"Come on, Sand."
Onoki's expression was grim. He opened his palms, facing each other, and a dazzling white light appeared.
"Stone Village ninjas, prepare to face the enemy!"
His powerful voice echoed throughout the Stone Village.
Organized by Kitsuchi, the panicked Stone Village ninjas quickly assembled and prepared for battle in the shortest possible time.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
Missiles, each trailing a brilliant tail flame, flew out from the Sand Village army, continuously smashing towards the sky above the Stone Village.
"Earth Style: Earth Prison Rock Wall!"
Stone Village ninjas, led by Kitsuchi, formed hand seals and pressed their hands to the ground, channeling their Chakra.
With the Tsuchikage's building as the center and the surrounding mountain cliffs as nodes, jagged stone pillars rapidly grew, forming a cage that enveloped the main body of the Stone Village.
As Chakra was channeled, diamond-like transparent crystals rapidly grew within the stone pillar network, forming a barrier that protected the Stone Village.
Missiles bombarded the barrier, blackening its surface and causing cracks, but with the concerted effort of the Stone Village ninjas, the barrier was quickly repaired.
"A decent defensive barrier. It seems Stone Village acquired a lot of Sealing Jutsu legacies during the Uzumaki Clan's extermination. No wonder they can stably control the Tailed Beasts' power for the Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki."
Qingshui's gaze was calm as he observed the barrier rising below, commenting.
Aside from the newly established Rain Village, the other Five Great Ninja Villages had enough foundations to erect barriers to protect their villages, though most of the time they were useless.
Konoha's barrier, in the original timeline, whether it was Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Obito, or Orochimaru, they knew its loopholes and could enter and exit freely. Even during Pain's invasion, it didn't serve much purpose.
Sand Village was even more straightforward; Yura, who was in charge of the village's defense, was actually a spy for Sasori. The barrier was as good as nonexistent, and without even appearing, Deidara had already captured Gaara.
The other three Great Ninja Villages didn't have many scenes in the original work, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist.
After all, they were the Five Great Ninja Villages, the five strongest forces in the ninja world. The protective barriers defending their villages varied in strength, perhaps some were weak, but none were nonexistent.
"Without the support of the vast chakra of Tailed Beasts as an energy source, the chakra of these Stone Village ninjas alone cannot unleash the full strength of this barrier. Miss Ayane, let's add some fuel to the fire with a Tailed Beast Bomb."
Baki's figure emerged from the head of the colossal One-Tail Avatar, speaking to the massive Four-Tails beside him.
"Understood."
A clear, cold, mature female voice responded. Uzumaki Ayane's gaze, through the Four-Tails' chakra cloak, fixed hatefully on Stone Village.
When she was young, she personally experienced the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools and the near annihilation of the Uzumaki Clan.
Konoha was too busy dealing with other countries, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had his own agenda, so they didn't offer assistance to the Uzumaki Clan, but they didn't join the other countries in attacking either.
Sand Village, being the furthest away and the slowest to react, coincided with the death of the Second Kazekage and the critical moment of the Third Kazekage's ascension. They couldn't intervene even if they wanted to; they missed the opportunity entirely.
As for the other three great nations' ninja villages, they all acted in unison to obtain the inheritance of the sealing jutsu for controlling Tailed Beasts.
Therefore, these Uzumaki survivors harbored an unquenchable, deep-seated hatred for Stone, Mist, and Cloud Villages.
Two deep purple chakra spheres rapidly gathered at the front of the mouths of the two Tailed Beasts.
After a surge of immense energy, they shot out like cannonballs, following the path of the missiles in the sky, smashing into Stone Village's protective barrier.
"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
A bright white beam of light also shot out from Onoki's palm at this moment, tracing a straight line and precisely piercing through the two Tailed Beast Bombs.
He had been prepared to deal with Qingshui and the two Tailed Beast Jinchuriki for a long time.
Dust Release possessed the ability to decompose everything into atoms, making it extremely lethal. However, in the end, it was still a ninjutsu performed through chakra.
The two Tailed Beast Bombs were also pure energy bodies condensed from chakra. When the two collided, the decomposing properties of Dust Release couldn't be fully utilized.
But it still had an effect.
A world-shaking explosion sounded outside the barrier.
At the center of the explosion, the dazzling light almost transformed into a small sun.
As the light gradually dimmed.
Onoki did not retract his hands, his expression grave. Looking at the two Tailed Beasts in the distance, who were once again charging Tailed Beast Bombs, he formed hand seals again, gathering Dust Release.
Dust Release was extremely lethal, but its charge-up time was quite long because the amount of chakra required was also immense. Even Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, needed time to gather chakra before he could unleash it.
If he continued to fight against Tailed Beasts whose chakra could almost infinitely regenerate, he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.
Therefore, Onoki was currently doing his best to stall for time, to buy time for the Stone Village ninjas below.
"The Ninja Academy is currently in session. We've gathered all the elite class ninja students from the six grades. Once the barrier is closed, Dong Siren, along with Demon Leech and Firelight, you three will use the secret passages to escort these future pillars of the village away as much as possible."
"Other secret passages leading outside the village will have Jonin leading the younger Genin and the village's key inheritances to safety."
As the crisis descended, Kitsuchi suppressed the panic in his heart with all his might, urgently issuing orders.
He and Onoki were the cornerstones of the Stone Village ninjas. Only they had enough prestige and ability to make reasonable arrangements at this moment, unite the majority of their strength, and preserve a spark of hope.
"Have all civilians been evacuated to the shelters? Good. If we can successfully defend the village, they will be safe. If not, we can only hope that the Sand ninjas won't indiscriminately kill ordinary people."
"Have the ninja units finished assembling? Never mind, it's too late. Notify the barrier division to prepare to withdraw the defensive barrier. When they have Tailed Beasts and we don't, we cannot sustain the consumption of passive defense against Sand. We must immediately gather our forces for an assault to stop the Tailed Beast Bombs and the long-range enemy projectiles."
Kitsuchi's voice was urgent.
The attack from Sand Village was too sudden; Stone Village was caught completely off guard and couldn't possibly gather all its forces to resist and counterattack in such a short time.
But regardless, Stone Village was still a great ninja village with depth. Its mobilization capabilities were quite good, and the overall quality of its ninjas was not bad. With the cooperation of Onoki and the protective barrier, a force that included most of Stone Village's strength had been assembled.
As the Stone ninjas ceased their chakra output, the defensive barrier finally neared its collapse and then shattered with a roar.
Thousands of Stone ninjas, under Kitsuchi's command, formed their formations, each unleashing joint ninjutsu as they defended against the incoming attacks and charged towards the Sand army.
"Here they come."
Oyakata En pushed up his glasses, lowered the faceplate of his reinforced Puppet Armor, and began to direct the Sand army to react.
This was a training battle, with the primary objective being to test the strength of the two Tailed Beast Jinchuriki and to provide training for the younger ninjas.
Therefore, the ones charging at the forefront were the two Jinchuriki, each encased in the complete body of a Tailed Beast's external force.
When Tailed Beasts charged head-on into a ninja army, the destructive power and charge capability they unleashed surpassed most Kage-level powerhouses.
The charge capability of turret-type ninjas was not as strong as the thick-skinned Tailed Beasts, and the kill range of high-speed ninjas was not as wide as that of Tailed Beasts.
The Stone ninjas were horrified to discover that Sand Village intended to directly confront them!
Even though Stone Village had been severely weakened, with thousands of casualties, at the hands of Qingshui during the last Great Ninja War, they could still muster over ten thousand ninjas at this time to defend their base.
And Sand Village, by all appearances, only had three to four thousand people. Even with two powerful Tailed Beasts leading the charge, this approach would undoubtedly result in heavy losses.
How could they dare?
A thought quickly flashed through the minds of many Stone ninjas.
But they no longer had time to ponder.
The long-range puppet army manipulated by the Puppet Masters advanced first, followed by ninjutsu-type ninjas, launching a comprehensive assault on the Stone ninjas.
Sand Village ninjas clad in Puppet Armor acted as the vanguard, leading the Sand forces in a direct charge against the enemy formation.
Most of the Elite Jonin equipped with the enhanced Puppet Armor remained in the village, preparing to intercept Konoha alongside Sasori.
Qingshui only had two.
But regardless, these were still powerful combat units with strength approaching Kage-level.
In addition to them, there were nearly a hundred Jonin and Special Jonin wearing the advanced version of the Puppet Armor, and over a thousand Chunin and Special Jonin equipped with the standard Puppet Armor.
The gear they wore was enough to elevate their strength by a full tier.
This was equivalent to nearly a hundred Elite Jonin, several hundred Jonin, and nearly a thousand Special Jonin.
As for the regular ninjas and the young ninjas serving as training fodder, they were truly just there for experience.
Under such a formidable Sand army, the Stone Village formation crumbled at the first touch!
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