Chapter 220: The War Begins
"Uchiha Douhuan, does your Konoha intend to start an all-out war with our Cloud Village?" Seeing his two Jinchuriki suffer a major setback at the very first exchange, the Cloud commander, Shee, hurriedly stepped forward and asked.
The giant Susanoo sheathed its swords. Uchiha Douhuan spoke coldly, "By kidnapping a Konoha child within the Land of Fire's borders, wasn't your Cloud Village already prepared to go to war with our Konoha?"
"As the Hokage, do you have the right to declare a formal war between our two countries?" Shee said at this point.
He wasn't wrong. Generally speaking, a formal declaration of war between two countries could only be announced by the Daimyō.
But at this moment, inside the Daimyō's Royal Palace in Konoha, Minamoto Miyuki, at the court assembly, had changed his usual response of "let teacher decide" for all major matters and was now clamoring to go to war with the Land of Lightning!
The ministers repeatedly tried to persuade him, but Minamoto Miyuki seemed dead set on going to war, banging on his chair.
In the end, it was Miura Kazuo who suggested waiting for Uchiha Douhuan's return before making a final decision, which finally calmed the child down.
The reason Minamoto Miyuki had such an uncharacteristically strong reaction was mainly because the person kidnapped was Konohamaru.
Konohamaru could be said to be Minamoto Miyuki's only friend of the same age. How good was their relationship? A little over a year ago, this boy had a sudden whim and secretly tried to grant Konohamaru a noble title. It could be said that if Miura Kazuo hadn't reported it to Uchiha Douhuan, and Uchiha Douhuan and Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't jointly stepped in to stop it, the Sarutobi clan would have produced a nobleman in this generation, the kind with a hereditary title.
It could be said that after Sarutobi Hiruzen was gradually marginalized in the village, Konohamaru's words probably carried more weight in the village than his.
And the Cloud dared to kidnap the "Prince of the Side-by-Side Word" of their Land of Fire. How could this not enrage Minamoto Miyuki?
...
Looking at Uchiha Douhuan's faint, mocking smile within the Susanoo's head crystal, Shee also realized he had misspoken. In the current Konoha, a declaration of war from the Daimyō truly seemed to be a matter of a single sentence from the man before him.
From the current situation, their Cloud Village was already cornered, unable to advance or retreat.
If they fought, their Cloud's Raikage was no match for Uchiha Douhuan, and their two Jinchuriki were like toys in front of his Perfect Susanoo. If they retreated, their Cloud Village would probably have to pay a huge price to withdraw completely. Moreover, the initiative to fight or not was now entirely in the other party's hands.
"Ninjas of Konoha," at this moment, from within the crystal at the head of the Susanoo, Uchiha Douhuan's cold voice echoed across the entire battlefield.
"At this moment, dark clouds have pressed down on our borders! The iron hooves of the Cloud, wrapped in greed and arrogance, are trampling the boundaries of peace, issuing the most despicable challenge to everything we cherish—our homes, our families, our 'Will of Fire' passed down through generations!"
Uchiha Douhuan's voice suddenly rose, carrying the unique sharpness of the Uchiha clan.
"Do they think Konoha will be weak after experiencing pain? Do they think the previous several great ninja wars have already broken Konoha's spine? A grave mistake!"
"Look around you! Look behind you! Look at the gazes of the successive Hokage watching over the village! The First Hokage created peace with supreme power, the Second Hokage laid the foundation with iron-willed wisdom, the Third Hokage protected the flame with benevolence, the Fourth Hokage forged a wall of protection with his life... and I!"
At this moment, every single person from Konoha could see the figure inside the Susanoo, looking at the five golden words "Fifth Hokage" on the divine robe that fluttered without wind.
"Am the Fifth Generation who has inherited this will and power! I am the guardian who flows with the blood of Uchiha and carries the name of Hokage! The Sharingan of the Uchiha can see through illusion, perceive truth, and more so, burn to ashes all invading enemies! The Will of Fire of Konoha has never feared any storm; it will only burn more fiercely in adversity!"
"The lightning of the Cloud? Let them strike! But remember, Konoha's Will of Fire is enough to burn mountains and boil seas! Their arrogance will be shattered to pieces against our will to defend our homeland! Their ambition will be completely... buried by the kunai in our hands and the flame in our hearts!"
"Today, we do not fight for conquest, nor for plunder! We fight to protect! We fight to protect the lights under our eaves, to protect the sleeping smiles of every child in the village, to protect this land of the Land of Fire that carries all our laughter and tears!"
"I, the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Douhuan, hereby declare: Where the leaves of Konoha dance, flames will also burn endlessly! And today, we are that raging fire that will incinerate the enemy! I will be with you! My Sharingan will reflect the valor of every warrior; my ninjutsu will open the path to victory for you!"
Uchiha Douhuan drew Swift Thunder from his waist, the tip of the blade pointing directly at the Cloud's direction, the cold light reflecting in his blood-red eyes, letting out a final, soul-shaking roar:
"Ninjas of Konoha! Grip your weapons! Ignite your chakra! Let the enemy witness what is the true power of a Konoha ninja! Today, some of you may die, but victory will surely belong to us!"
"For Konoha—"
As his voice fell, a deafening roar erupted on the battlefield: "For Konoha! Lord Hokage!"
The will to fight, like a prairie fire, instantly ignited the heart of every Konoha ninja.
"What should we do? Are we going to war?" Seeing this scene, an elite Jonin of the Cloud couldn't help but ask Shee beside him.
"We have no other choice now," Shee said with a bitter smile. "Right now, we can only pin our hopes on the Chakra Cannon being able to break through the Susanoo's defense."
"But, Lord Shee, the Chakra Cannon hasn't been tested yet..." the Cloud elite Jonin said with some hesitation. "And if we go to war, our morale..."
This Cloud elite Jonin didn't finish his sentence, but Shee turned his head and glanced at the situation in his own camp. Facing the giant Susanoo that had defeated their two Jinchuriki with a single blow, a flicker of fear flashed in the eyes of most of the Cloud ninjas. Furthermore, the white legion in their camp already seemed restless.
With the racial conflict in the Cloud becoming more and more serious today, in the eyes of these white ninjas, this conflict was entirely their incompetent Black Raikage starting trouble and then being unable to win. Now that a war was about to start, he wanted them, the white people, to lay down their lives. On what grounds?
As a white person himself, Shee had been approached by these white ninjas in the village wanting to promote him as their leader. Shee knew exactly what these white people were thinking at this moment.
However, the current situation didn't seem to allow them any room for hesitation. With the other party clearly unwilling to let them go, their Cloud Village could only brace themselves and accept the battle.
For Uchiha Douhuan, starting a war with the Cloud at this time was not a good choice either. According to the current development speed of the Land of Fire, in at most three more years, their war of unification would be a steamroll. Their Konoha would complete the unification of the ninja world at the fastest speed, thereby allowing the entire ninja world to preserve more effective forces to deal with the potential alien crisis that might arise next.
But now, with the Cloud having openly provoked Konoha, Uchiha Douhuan naturally had no reason to let them off. Firstly, the people of Konoha recognized him as the Fifth Hokage not only because his strength was indeed supreme in all of Konoha, but more so because everyone believed that he, as Hokage, could protect the village well. Now that the Cloud had already reached into their village, and had kidnapped the former Hokage's grandson, if he couldn't make the Cloud pay the price, it would definitely be a huge blow to his prestige in the village.
"Entire army, attack!" Uchiha Douhuan's cold voice echoed across the entire battlefield. The long sword at the Susanoo's waist was drawn, pointing directly at the opponent. In the next moment, the Konoha ninjas behind him, led by Kakashi, launched a charge at the Cloud's formation.
At this time, a figure holding a long staff shot out rapidly, surpassed Kakashi, and arrived beside Uchiha Douhuan's Susanoo. After a series of leaps, he landed on the Susanoo's shoulder.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, turned his head to look at Uchiha Douhuan inside the crystal at the top of the Susanoo and asked, "Douhuan, for that jutsu of yours, do you need me to help you create thunderclouds?"
After confirming that his grandson was safe and sound, Sarutobi Hiruzen's previous worry had been replaced by immense anger. He was the God of Shinobi of his time, after all. When he was making a name for himself in the ninja world, A hadn't even been born. Now the other party dared to directly kidnap his grandson. Did they really think the Professor of Ninjutsu had no temper?
So, the current Sarutobi Hiruzen really wanted to vent his anger in a major battle.
"Heh heh, then I'll have to trouble you, Lord Third," Uchiha Douhuan said with a smile. "After all, I also want to witness the power of the Professor of Ninjutsu's five-element ninjutsu."
"Then you'd better watch closely," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, dismissing his summon, Enma, then his hands flew up and down.
"Shadow Clone Technique!" Another Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared in a puff of smoke on Uchiha Douhuan's left shoulder. Then, Sarutobi Hiruzen's main body and his shadow clone each formed complex seals.
"Composite Ninja Art: Storm Flame Dragon!"
"Composite Ninja Art: Thunder Water Dragon Bullet!"
The seals for these two ninjutsu both exceeded 80, but Sarutobi Hiruzen completed the seals within three seconds.
From the shoulders of the Susanoo, a flame dragon wrapped in gales and a water dragon shimmering with lightning rushed out, charging towards the Cloud's formation.
The advantages of wind fanning the flames and water conducting lightning were displayed to the fullest at this moment. Before the two armies clashed, the Cloud's military formation had already suffered heavy casualties under the attack of these two combination ninjutsu.
At the same time, a massive amount of steam rose up, slowly gathering in the air.
"Not good! Stop him quickly!" Seeing this, Shee was greatly alarmed. Uchiha Douhuan's Lightning Release: Kirin, which had earned him great fame on the Kirigakure battlefield during the Third Great Ninja War, had faintly held the title of the strongest Lightning Release over the years. The Cloud, who had always been unconvinced, had naturally collected a lot of intelligence on this jutsu.
Therefore, they naturally knew what this water vapor slowly gathering towards the sky meant.
"Steam of this scale, once it forms a thundercloud..." Shee's face was extremely ugly. Under the threat of Lightning Release: Kirin, the losses caused to their army by those two combination ninjutsu were not a big deal.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was truly worthy of being called the Professor of Ninjutsu. The traces left on him by the years might have only made his movements less agile than in his youth, but his ninjutsu proficiency only grew stronger with age.
"We must stop him," at this time, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, who had been beaten back to her original form by Uchiha Douhuan's slash and had suffered considerable injuries, came to Shee's side after receiving brief treatment from a medical-nin, her face extremely grave. "Otherwise, if that jutsu really takes shape, I'm afraid less than one in ten of our army will survive."
"You Cloud Village people have provoked an enemy you absolutely cannot afford to provoke," inside the seal space, Matatabi let out a long sigh and said.
To be honest, from the brief exchange just now, Matatabi knew she was by no means Uchiha Douhuan's match. The last time she felt so helpless was when Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were catching Tailed Beasts all over the world. When she faced that Wood Style Great Buddha, it was just like this time, completely unable to fight back.
"I'm sorry, Matatabi," Yugito Nii took a deep breath. "But we must stop him."
"Alright," Matatabi nodded, letting Yugito enter the Tailed Beast state.
At this time, Gyūki and Killer Bee had also recovered their state. The two Tailed Beasts roared and charged towards Uchiha Douhuan's Susanoo again.
"Douhuan?" Seeing the two Tailed Beasts rushing over, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was maintaining the combination ninjutsu, frowned slightly.
But Uchiha Douhuan just smiled lightly and said, "Lord Third, you continue. They won't have a chance to affect you."
Uchiha Douhuan's gaze sharpened. After sending Sarutobi Hiruzen to a high rock pillar, the Susanoo cracked its knuckles and strode towards the two Tailed Beasts.
Facing the striding Susanoo, Matatabi attacked first. Like the swiftest ghost, she flashed and instantly shot out from Douhuan's left side. Her enormous body displayed incredible flexibility. Two giant tails made of pure ethereal blue flames wrapped around the Susanoo's leg joints and waist like nimble snakes. The blue flames made a sizzling sound, attempting to dissolve the Susanoo's chakra defense.
Uchiha Douhuan smiled slightly. The Susanoo's massive body did not lose balance due to the Two-Tails' entanglement. Instead, it took a sudden step to the right, and the earth collapsed with a boom. At the same time, the Susanoo's left-hand sword, Futsunomitama, did not slash, but instead, with its tip facing down like a giant stake, it stabbed fiercely at the flaming cat tail wrapped around its left leg with a shriek that tore the air!
"Roar—!" Matatabi let out a sharp, painful roar.
Futsunomitama, wreathed in lightning, accurately pierced the base of the flaming tail. The lightning and the ethereal blue flame clashed violently and exploded, forcefully blowing off that tail. The binding force immediately loosened.
...
(End of chapter)
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