At the border of the Land of Fire, while things were busy due to the arrival of Kirigakure, on the northern coast of the Land of Frost, the Kumogakure's forces arrived at the battlefield.
It was a fleet of ships, or rather a naval fleet. Such a large-scale fleet was very rare in the Ninja World.
The power of naval artillery shells is not as good as ninjutsu. The speed of ships is not as fast as Ninjas. Any single Ninjutsu can destroy a large number of ships in pieces. The role of a fleet at sea is basically just a resting place for Ninjas to land.
This has even given rise to a widely circulated joke in the Ninja World: With so much money to spend on a fleet, you might as well spend it on kunoichi. At least you can use them during the day, and you can use them at night too.
Ant-like Kumogakure's Ninjas spread out. Their formation was very scattered, advancing without order, quickly pushing west toward where Iwagakure was located.
Moving swiftly, swamps and woodlands offered no obstacle. Even the poisonous insects and swamp gases scattered throughout could not affect them. The Kumogakure's Ninjas soon received a warm welcome.
Boom!
A Ninja pulled a tripwire and was instantly blown to pieces by the burst of flames and impact.
"Watch out! Explosive tag traps."
The commanding Kumogakure's Ninja gave the warning coldly, then dispatched demolition personnel to handle the traps.
Ordinary explosive tag traps all have tripwires, making them too easy for Kumogakure, skilled in Lightning Release, to detect on the battlefield.
As the battlefield commander, Kitsuchi, didn't expect such simple tricks to stop the enemy's advance. And with the Tsuchikage in a coma and combat power precious at the moment, they had no way to deploy high-level forces for a sniper attack.
But...
Watching the occasional smoke rising in the distance, Kitsuchi knocked the ash out of his pipe against a tree root, lit it, and took a deep breath.
As residents who live on rock, what are they from Iwagakure best at?
The answer is, of course… explosions!
Explosions rang out one after another. A chain reaction detonated the dismantled explosive tag traps together. The continuous roar caused the entire earth to tremble. Scattered flames ignited the dense forest, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.
A little trick: before setting the traps, Kitsuchi ordered members of the Explosive Corps to place clay beneath the explosive traps that would detonate upon contact with air.
The rising wall of fire separated the two sides. The burning ground between them was like a natural barrier.
"Put out the fire!"
Unlike Konoha, which could rely on the Yamanaka Clan's Telepathy Technique to establish communication channels, Kumogakure's Ninjas could only communicate by shouting.
Facing the increasingly chaotic battlefield, they retreated in unison. The Chakra hybrid-powered armored vehicles, developed after years of pouring financial resources into research, were brought out. They easily broke through the forest set ablaze by Iwagakure and advanced toward their designated positions.
"Retreat!"
As the military commander, Kitsuchi had followed his father into battle since childhood. He knew not to push things when the enemy was at a peak. So he ordered a retreat.
The first wave of probing attacks ended hastily. There were no casualties. The Iwagakure's Ninjas, following orders from their superiors, retreated one after another.
And Kumogakure's armored convoy advanced triumphantly, capturing the dense forest that spanned almost the entire northeastern coastal zone of the Land of Frost.
"The Iwagakure fools, scared off by our metal heads, yo~"
Killer B, crouched on top of an armored vehicle, waved his arms and sang odd lyrics in a rap style.
"B, I still think you shouldn't have come to the battlefield with us!"
Darui inside the vehicle pushed open the hatch and climbed up near B. "The people hunting the Tailed Beasts are still stirring. And more importantly, Konoha is also in the Land of Frost!!!"
"Darui, you idiot, you bastard!"
Killer B raised three fingers on each hand and pointed them downward. "Are you still suspecting that Konoha orchestrated this whole thing? Don't forget, they were attacked too."
"But that doesn't mean Konoha can be trusted. How many of our people did they kill in the previous wars?"
Darui pushed past B and walked toward the vehicle's hatch. "And what about that Haruno Sakura? If it weren't for her proposal, how could A-sama have been so heavily wounded and fallen into a coma!"
The dark-skinned men inside the various vehicles stretched their necks, ears perked up eavesdropping on the argument between the two highest commanders.
Just as they were thoroughly enjoying the gossip, clusters of giant tentacles covered with mucus blocked the front viewfinders of each vehicle and began to writhe.
"You bunch of big idiots, big fools! Step on the gas and keep moving forward!!!"
The roar resounded across the entire battlefield, and Kumogakure's men inside the vehicles were shocked and thrown by the voice, crashing onto the metal floors.
On a nearby high mountain, the granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage, also the daughter of Iwagakure's highest battlefield commander Kitsuchi, stood with a group of Ninjas wearing red battle gear and white masks, overlooking the armored vehicles rampaging across the battlefield.
"Kurotsuchi-sama!"
The ground writhed and bulged. An Iwagakure's Anbu rose from below and knelt on one knee before Kurotsuchi.
"Well, have Father's orders come yet?"
The young woman, with an increasingly impressive figure, had a face filled with eagerness. She grabbed the Anbu and shook him when he appeared.
"I'm sorry. The acting commander has ordered a retreat!"
The Anbu, well aware of this princess of Iwagakure's temperament, lowered his head, not daring to meet her gaze.
Sure enough, after receiving Kitsuchi's order, the young woman's face flushed red. "That fool Father! Our troop strength is twice theirs!"
Kurotsuchi, who had been chasing after Sakura all these years, had put serious effort into mastering her village's various Ninjutsu. Her strength had already far surpassed that of an Elite Jonin. She had long been regarded by Onoki as the next Kage.
Some time ago, spurred on by the Five Kage Summit, she had even mastered Iwagakure's signature Earth Release technique… the Ultralight-Weight Rock Technique.
With her ability to fly, combined with Iwagakure's special unit, the Explosion Corps, she could easily annihilate those Kumogakure brutes using her two trump cards: superior troop strength and air combat capability.
Eight hundred thousand versus six hundred thousand. The advantage was hers!
But unexpectedly, after preparing with confidence for battle, after a long wait, she finally received the order to retreat.
At this moment, all of Kurotsuchi's thousand words could only be condensed into one sentence—
'Damn old bastard, do you even know how to fight?'
"By giving up this dense forest, we lose an excellent chokepoint. Are you sure this is really the acting commander of Iwagakure's instruction?" Kurotsuchi stepped forward, grabbed the Anbu's collar, and her expression carried a scrutinizing gaze.
Just then, a hand reached out from the shadows beside her and grabbed Kurotsuchi's wrist. "Don't be willful, Kurotsuchi. Are you thinking of disobeying orders on the battlefield?"
Kurotsuchi turned her head and saw even Akatsuchi's usually simple and honest face had taken on a serious expression.
She could only release the Anbu, snort, and then withdraw from the battlefield with the Explosive Corps.
"I'm sorry. She didn't mean it!"
Akatsuchi apologized to the Anbu, and then the two of them withdrew from the battlefield along the planned route together.
After the main forces of Iwagakure retreated, the battlefields were naturally filled by the mercenaries employed by the Underground Bounty Exchange.
Countless wandering Rogue Ninjas began to roam the battlefield, some gathering intelligence, some hunting targets...
But regardless of their purpose for entering the Land of Frost, their arrival brought even greater chaos to this land. War raged everywhere, and the land was scorched earth.
And after the intelligence spread, a group of figures wearing black robes and carrying red fans on their backs arrived on this battlefield.
"Itachi, are you sure we really have to go..."
Uchiha Inabi, carrying a scroll and fully armed, looked like he had constipation. The reluctance emanating from him was enough to make four or five Uchiha Clan's members angrily awaken their Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Itachi, wearing a flowing kimono, casually rested one hand inside his collar and looked toward the distant direction of Konoha's position. "We need money. And they offered a price. That's all."