"No need, no need, Hiyasu-sama, you're too kind."
Might Duy had never been treated like this before. He felt completely out of place, almost wanting to run outside and do a thousand push-ups just to calm himself down.
"It's fine, Duy-san. Shiken has already arranged everything. You can relax—unless something truly unexpected happens, it won't come to you to take action."
Hyūga Hiyasu patted his chest as he spoke.
To put it nicely, Might Duy was here as a stabilizing presence.
To put it bluntly, he was here to die.
The kind of death where a single battle decides everything—
Greatest contributor + fallen hero.
Just one of those titles alone was enough for Hyūga Hiyasu to treat him like his own father.
Hyūga Wataru: I've never seen you treat me like that.
And Shiken too—honestly, why didn't he bring this great figure home earlier?
"Hiyasu, the Cloud Village army is advancing again."
Yamanaka Inoichi came over to inform them.
"Alright. Minato, let's go—we'll stir things up behind them again."
Hyūga Hiyasu stood up, intending to repeat their old tactic.
"No, Hiyasu. Shikaku wants you all at the front line."
"What? The old plan isn't working anymore?"
"…Well, if a plan lasts two years, that's already a huge win."
Hiyasu was confused at first, then quickly accepted it. He led everyone toward the battlefield and soon found Nara Shikaku and Jiraiya, both wearing grave expressions.
"Shikaku, Jiraiya-sensei, what's going on?"
"Hiyasu, look ahead."
Hiyasu activated his Byakugan and looked forward.
"…What the hell—cannons?!"
His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Wasn't this supposed to be a ninja war? Since when did cannons enter the picture?!
"Cannons? Hiyasu, you've seen this kind of weapon before?"
Nara Shikaku asked, puzzled. As far as he knew, this should be the first time such a weapon had appeared in the ninja world. But Hiyasu sounded far too familiar with it.
"You can think of them as catapults with a hundred times the power. There's no way we can block them head-on. We have to strike first."
A hundred times the power…
Shikaku frowned deeply.
"Minato, can you deal with those cannons?"
"There are quite a lot of them, and I don't know what they're made of. Destroying them directly might be difficult."
Minato Namikaze spoke honestly—raw destructive power wasn't his strong suit.
"But I can eliminate their operators."
If the target was people, that was another matter entirely.
Anti-personnel weapon: Minato Namikaze, online.
"Good. In a moment, Hiyasu will lead a squad to create an opening for you. Remember—those cannons must not be activated."
"Yes."
"Yes."
Hiyasu and Minato accepted their orders and immediately began preparations.
"Jiraiya-sama, lead the Earth Release unit to defend against the Cloud Village's long-range attacks as much as possible. Also, try to find a chance to test the actual power of those cannons."
"No problem. Leave it to me."
Jiraiya's expression was equally grim. He knew that if they failed to hold this wave, the entire defensive line could collapse.
...
"A, you must protect B at all costs. This cannon is different from the others. Only B's chakra can fully activate it—and it may very well be the key to winning this war."
Dodai carefully instructed the future Fourth Raikage, A.
If the ones outside were cannons, then this one could only be called a super cannon— a weapon that only a jinchūriki could operate.
The Two-Tails jinchūriki was already too old to handle such a demanding task.
But fortunately, the Cloud Village still had Killer B—the most outstanding Eight-Tails jinchūriki in its history. Even as a teenager, he could freely use tailed beast chakra.
"Dodai-sama, leave it to me, fool, ya fool!"
If only he were mute, that'd be even better.
"Dodai-sama, don't worry. I'll protect B."
The young A stood there, his face full of determination.
"Mm."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several explosions echoed from the front lines.
"Damn it—it must be those Hyūga again. They've spotted our setup and are causing trouble."
At the mention of the Hyūga clan, Dodai gritted his teeth.
For a commander, the worst possible situation was having all your plans exposed right before the enemy's eyes.
And the Hyūga could literally see everything.
All his carefully crafted strategies were rendered useless.
"Hold this position. I'll go oversee the front lines."
"Yes!"
...
On the main battlefield—
"Super Expansion Technique: Human Bullet Tank!"
The Akimichi giants charged forward as usual.
The Cloud Village forces weren't about to back down. All kinds of ninjutsu and ninja tools rained down toward these massive targets.
"Eight Trigrams: Rotation!"
Spinning figures suddenly appeared in front of the Akimichi giants, deflecting all incoming attacks.
After blocking them, they leapt onto the giants' shoulders.
"Hiyasu, thanks!"
"Chōza, it's nothing. Are you ready? This position should be about right."
"No problem."
"Minato, get ready."
"Got it."
Minato immediately curled into a ball. Akimichi Chōza grabbed him in one hand, leaned back, lifted his front foot slightly—a perfect pitching stance.
"Go, Minato!"
Whoosh—
A powerful gust of wind blasted against Minato's face.
But his eyes remained locked on the Cloud Village cannon position ahead.
Now!
Dozens of kunai were thrown out in an instant.
"Ninjutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
Jiraiya: See? I told you the technique I invented is amazing! Hiruzen-sensei, Orochimaru, Tsunade—they just didn't appreciate it. Minato, as expected of my best student, you've proven my technique's worth!
...
Cloud Village cannon position—
"Faster, faster!"
"Adjust the parameters! Do it exactly as trained! The Akimichi giants are huge targets—don't tell me you can't hit them!"
"Captain, look—that is…?"
"Just some kunai."
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Cloud ninja captain sliced all the incoming kunai out of the air.
"Captain, you're ama—"
Before he could finish, a thin line of blood sprayed from his neck.
A blond-haired ninja appeared behind him, wearing a bright, sunny smile.
"Thanks for the help. If those kunai had gone too far, it would've been troublesome."
What followed was Minato Namikaze's hunting ground.
Where the kunai landed—a flash of light appeared.
Under the sunlight, it wasn't yellow—it was golden.
A golden flash.
The flash appeared—and vanished—and people fell.
In just a short moment, not a single Cloud ninja remained alive at the cannon position.
Watching from afar, Dodai's heart trembled.
How could anyone possibly win against that? What even is this?!
"Dodai, stay calm. This technique is called Flying Thunder God. And as it happens, the previous user died at the hands of our Cloud Village."
Seeing Dodai shaken, the Third Raikage quickly reassured him.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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