At the border of the Land of Fire, in a desolate, forgotten place.
"That is all the information regarding Obito Uchiha," White Zetsu reported to Madara.
"I see. His relationship with Rin Nohara is quite complex... and his best friend is Kakashi?" Madara fell into a deep silence, his mind already spinning with ways to exploit these connections.
"However, Madara, you must be exceptionally careful. Konoha's genius, Tianyuan, has also arrived on this battlefield," White Zetsu warned.
From what White Zetsu had gathered across the various fronts, Tianyuan's strength was nothing short of terrifying. He might even be more formidable than Madara or Hashirama Senju were in their prime.
"So he's here too," Madara murmured. "That is somewhat unexpected. Still, since Rin and the others are present, we should move quickly to conclude this matter."
"How do you plan to do it?" White Zetsu asked curiously.
"Perhaps the Three-Tails we captured earlier can finally be put to use." Madara's gaze was chillingly indifferent.
"Oh." White Zetsu nodded, though he was still a bit confused.
"Come. Let us arrange the next steps." Madara and White Zetsu vanished from the area.
Traveling from the Land of Water to Konoha required a journey by sea. After a considerable amount of time, the Kirigakure fleet finally completed the voyage and made landfall on the shores of the Land of Fire.
To the south of the Land of Fire, there were no other major nations separating it from the Land of Water. The Land of Waves was nearby, but it didn't truly sit between the two great powers. Consequently, the Mist ninjas were able to bypass the Land of Waves entirely.
"So this is the soil of the Land of Fire." The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, looked out over the terrain and took a deep breath. "It truly is vastly different from the Land of Water."
"Lord Mizukage, what are our orders?" Ao asked as he stepped forward.
"Our orders?" Yagura gave a cold, detached smile. "Gather the village's shinobi. We begin a full-scale assault on Konoha."
"Understood, Lord Mizukage!" Ao replied instantly. The surrounding Kirigakure Jonin nodded in agreement.
With over a thousand shinobi having landed in the Land of Fire, they needed to finalize their strategy for the march on Konoha. Before long, the massive Kirigakure force began pushing deep into the enemy territory.
At that moment, Konohagakure was locked in fierce struggles on three other fronts against three different villages. Their internal defenses were bound to be stretched thin. For Kirigakure, this was a golden opportunity.
Unfortunately for the Mist ninjas, their optimistic assumptions were quickly shattered. Reinforcements from the other fronts arrived sooner than expected to intercept them.
While Kirigakure held a numerical advantage, Konoha possessed two truly terrifying individuals: Tianyuan and Minato Namikaze.
The duo's Flying Thunder God Technique made life a living hell for the Mist ninjas. Tianyuan was particularly devastating. In every engagement, he personally eliminated dozens of Mist shinobi, leaving them zero chance of escape.
It wasn't just the Flying Thunder God Technique that made him so deadly; Tianyuan's Taijutsu had reached a horrifying level. Even the Third Raikage would have found it difficult to contend with him.
Crucially, Tianyuan possessed a "cheat" known as the Eight Inner Gates. He could open the Gates without suffering any of the usual physical backlash. In the past, he had relied on Senzu Beans for recovery, but now he possessed Super Regeneration. He could heal from such injuries without even needing to consume a Senzu Bean.
Of course, no one had yet pushed him hard enough to force the use of the Eight Inner Gates. He also hadn't utilized the power of Susanoo or Wood Release, yet even without them, the world was becoming increasingly aware of his monstrous strength.
Near the border of the Land of Fire, the Kirigakure forces found themselves pinned down by Konoha, unable to advance or retreat.
Inside a command tent at the Konoha camp.
"We have successfully halted the Mist ninjas for now. We can continue to whittle them down with small-scale strikes. With our main force holding them here, they won't dare make any bold moves," Minato Namikaze explained.
Since a large army was blocking their path, the Mist ninjas didn't dare send small squads deeper into the Land of Fire. In wartime, anyone caught sneaking into enemy territory was executed immediately, regardless of their reasons. Besides, a small group of shinobi wouldn't be able to achieve much on their own.
"I agree with that assessment..." Tianyuan nodded.
"Is there any way we can completely destroy their main force?" Shikaku Nara asked. While maintaining a stalemate was better than losing, the pressure of fighting a war on four fronts was taking a toll on Konoha.
Supplies weren't the issue; the Land of Fire had deep enough pockets to sustain the logistics. The real problem was the number of shinobi. Their ranks were not infinite. Every ninja had different aptitudes, and training even one took years of hard work.
This was why every village felt the sting of losing a shinobi, especially a Jonin. Jonin were the backbone of a village's strength. While Genin and Chunin could be produced over time, reaching the rank of Jonin required innate talent that decades of training couldn't replace. Jonin represented the ultimate divide in talent, to say nothing of those at the Kage-level.
"Shikaku, that's impossible for now. The Mist ninjas have switched to small-unit tactics. They likely know Tianyuan is here," Minato replied with a wry smile.
Tianyuan's overwhelming strength acted as a deterrent to the other great villages, but it also caused them to shrink back and avoid large-scale battles. They were clearly afraid of being wiped out in a single stroke by him.
"Maybe we could just go and destroy the Kirigakure headquarters," Tianyuan suggested calmly.
"Tianyuan, stop joking," Minato said with a sigh. "There are a lot of Mist ninjas here, but the bulk of their forces are still back at their main camp. Even for someone like you, trying to destroy an entire village's army single-handedly is far too dangerous."
Even the most powerful shinobi had limits to their Chakra, and when facing an army of thousands, that limit was the deciding factor.
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