Chapter 301: The Three-and-a-Half-Day War (Part 3)
D-0, 39 minutes after the attack began.
A massive hole was smashed through the roof of Red Rock Castle.
Dust filled the air, and women's screams echoed everywhere. Dana stood up as debris rained down from his body.
According to the layout of a Daimyo's castle, the top floor should be the Daimyo's bedroom.
However, only a few servants and a noblewoman who looked to be in her forties were present.
Although panicked, the noblewoman remained seated, glaring furiously at Yotsuki Dana, who had descended from the sky like an immortal.
"Who are you?! How dare you trespass into Red Rock Castle!"
Dana ignored her. His "Pulse" Vision was only an aid; he still needed his eyes to identify specific people.
The surroundings were filled with panicked servants. The environment indeed looked like a Daimyo's bedroom. This woman might be the Daimyo's wife.
The noblewoman continued to shriek, "You traitor! Someone! Arrest this man!"
But no one stepped forward.
"Someone! SOMEONE!"
Like a madwoman, she grabbed a nearby vase and smashed it at Dana. It hit him with a muffled thud.
"Noisy!"
Dana frowned. He extended a hand toward the woman, using magnetic fields to pull her toward him. Although not as powerful as Bansho Ten'in, subduing an ordinary person was effortless.
The terrified woman found her neck grabbed.
"Where is the Daimyo?"
The woman remained frantic, trying to scratch Dana's face.
This hysterical madness surprised Dana slightly.
He applied a little pressure, and the woman went limp. He tossed her aside.
Something's wrong...
But Dana had no time to investigate why the Earth Daimyo's wife was so crazy. Seeing the target wasn't on this floor, he punched through the floor and continued downward.
BOOM!
"Attack!"
"Help!"
Dust rose, wood and stone flew. The centuries-old Red Rock Castle crumbled like a stack of blocks.
After smashing through seven floors consecutively, Dana finally found the man wearing the fan hat in a secret underground chamber.
Inside the dark room, an old man wearing the Daimyo's hat looked in terror at Dana descending from above. Seven Iwa ninja guards stood around him, extremely tense.
Dana looked at him. The Earth Daimyo was a semi-public figure, and the Cloud had portraits of him.
"Yotsuki Dana! You dare attack the Daimyo's Palace! As the Prince Thunder of the Land of Lightning, how can you do such an absurd thing?!"
The Daimyo seemed to want to scold Dana with words, but his Iwa guards couldn't withstand the pressure.
An Iwa ninja couldn't hold back and threw three kunai in a triangle formation at Dana. However, to his shock, the kunai slowed down as they approached Dana, finally stopping less than five centimeters from his pupils.
Magnetic Field Control!
The kunai slowly turned around. Under the horrified gazes of the guards, they shot back faster than they came, pinning two ninja dead.
So weak...
Dana was surprised. Was this the level of Iwa ninja protecting the Daimyo?
He raised his hand. Several thin laser beams shot from his fingertips, easily piercing the brains of several guards, leaving only one alive.
Dana "pulled" the Earth Daimyo into his hand, then said to the despairing Iwa guard, "Tell Onoki: if he doesn't want the Earth Daimyo to die, bring Blue Bee back intact."
Finished speaking, Dana looked up. Carrying the Earth Daimyo, he flew back up through the holes he had made, returning to the sky.
After being taken into the air, the Earth Daimyo dared not struggle, clutching Dana's hand in terror, afraid of being dropped.
"If you have a way to contact Onoki, you'd better tell me soon. It'll keep you alive!"
Having a hostage meant ensuring the other side knew, or it was meaningless.
The Earth Daimyo stammered in panic, "I don't know! Don't kill me! What Onoki does has nothing to do with me! Don't kill me!"
It had been nearly an hour since the attack began. As time ticked by, the chance of Blue Bee being safe grew lower.
Moreover, the Earth Capital had been caught off guard, but Iwagakure would likely send reinforcements soon.
Dana flew outside the Earth Capital.
"Requesting support. Temporary Transmission Structure. Coordinates (462, ...)"
"Request received. Authority: Highest. Temporary Transmission Structure preparing... Elder Yotsuki, this is the last Temporary Transmission Structure. We cannot replenish it in the short term."
"Understood. Launch according to plan."
"Received!"
A few minutes later, just like before, under the massive financial power of the Cloud, another temporary Heavenly Transfer base rose on the desolate hills of the Land of Earth.
Dana knocked the Earth Daimyo unconscious and stuffed him into a delivery pod.
He instructed the researchers:
"Send him back to the village. Guard him strictly."
Watching the pod carrying the Earth Daimyo fly away, Dana walked into the launch base himself.
"Dana-sama, your destination?"
"Coordinates (098, 023)."
"Understood! ...Calibration complete. LAUNCH!"
Dana turned into a beam of light and vanished into the sky.
D-0, 1 hour after the attack began.
On a nameless seaside cliff.
"Don't think you can escape!!"
Onoki flew in, his giant rock fist radiating unparalleled power, smashing Blue Bee into the earth. The cliff shattered, and house-sized boulders fell into the sea, raising massive waves. The terrifying commotion made the ocean even more turbulent.
Because Sakumo Hatake and Minato Namikaze had teleported multiple times and were low on chakra, the main attackers were now Onoki and the Third Kazekage.
Blue Bee spat out a large mouthful of blood. He tried to stand up but finally couldn't hold on any longer and fainted.
Onoki panted heavily in the air.
"What a tenacious opponent!"
Even Onoki marveled at Blue Bee's will. This Eight-Tails Jinchuriki had held out alone against the combined attacks of three Kages for nearly an hour.
Although the Jinchuriki's resilience and durability were important, Blue Bee's willpower played a crucial role.
The Third Kazekage manipulated Iron Sand to wrap up the unconscious, bloodied Blue Bee and asked, "What now?"
Sakumo said, "News from Konoha: The Third Raikage led a team into the Land of Fire. Also, Konoha is under attack by the Cloud's Heavenly Transfer Technique."
The Third Kazekage noted, "Sunagakure is safe for now. It seems tens of thousands of clients still make the Cloud hesitate. No news from the Wind Capital either."
Onoki added, "I also received news. The Earth Capital was attacked. The attacker was Yotsuki Dana. He arrived in the Land of Earth at an impossible speed somehow... But similarly, the Cloud's forces have been stretched thin. They launched Heavenly Transfer at least three times to try and support the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. All were elite forces. The Cloud now has many elites scattered across the ninja world..."
Onoki was silent for a moment, then said, "Gentlemen, the war has fully begun. Proceed according to plan! Farewell!"
With that, Onoki flew away on his rock.
The Third Kazekage wrapped up Blue Bee, fed him a special poison, and left impatiently. Although it sounded strange, he still had to go back and organize the aftermath of the Joint Chunin Exams.
According to the plan, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki would be kept by him temporarily—a promise Onoki made to persuade Suna.
Sakumo looked at Minato. "Minato, I'll trouble you with that side. You going alone actually has a better chance."
Minato's expression was complex. "I understand."
D-0, 1 hour and 5 minutes after the attack began.
Kumogakure, Raikage Building.
Yotsuki Arashi was nervously checking the map. With both the Third Raikage and Yotsuki Dana away, the pressure on him was immense.
Although he could communicate with them in real-time via the golden slugs, many specific tasks still fell on his shoulders.
"Arashi-sama! Large numbers of Iwa vanguard troops detected to the west! Over 3,000! They charged in from the Land of Iron defense line! Our forces in the Land of Rice Fields are at an absolute numerical disadvantage!"
"What?!"
3,000 people right off the bat?! You call 3,000 people a vanguard?! Iwa really has too many people!
This number, this speed... it was definitely premeditated.
"Damn Land of Iron... So they sided with them after all..."