Chapter 304: The Three-and-a-Half-Day War (Part 6)
D-1, 12 hours after the attack began.
The Three-Nation Alliance, composed of Wind, Fire, and Earth, had conspired to attack the Cloud's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Blue Bee. After the attack, they swiftly moved to start a full-scale war.
On the western front of the Land of Lightning, the long-ambushing Iwa vanguard troops, through a secret agreement, passed through the perpetually neutral Land of Iron and engaged local Cloud forces in the Land of Rice Fields.
On the southern front, the Konoha surprise attack force, led by Sakumo Hatake, crossed the border into the Land of Hot Water.
Surprisingly, the Cloud forces didn't put up fierce resistance at the borders. Instead, they chose to retreat.
Troops in the Land of Rice Fields retreated into the Land of Hot Water. Troops on the Fire-Hot Water border retreated deeper into the Land of Hot Water.
Konoha and Iwa forces were greatly encouraged, believing their series of schemes had worked. They thought the Cloud's forces were too dispersed, forcing them to shrink their defensive lines.
Even the endless bombardment on Konoha became much sparser.
They didn't realize that the Cloud's retreat route was guiding them in a specific direction.
On the other side, the Third Kazekage, having returned to Sunagakure overnight, braced himself to wrap up the Second Joint Chunin Exams.
Suna was remote, and the audience comprised mostly ordinary people. The vast majority didn't know that a war sweeping the entire ninja world had quietly begun.
The luxurious lineup of guests for the exams had completely disappeared.
Onoki and Sakumo Hatake had gone back to fight. Yotsuki Dana naturally left too. Even the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, had received news and departed for Kirigakure.
As for the contestants, the Cloud and Rain teams had run off overnight carrying their luggage; they didn't even return to Suna after the third round. The Mist contestants were packed up and taken away by Yagura—they left with the least psychological burden since they didn't win any rankings anyway.
But the Third Kazekage still had to fake a closing ceremony. As for finding the world in chaos once they left the village? Not Suna's problem.
Secretly, the Third Kazekage was already gathering troops.
As part of the Three-Nation Alliance, Suna naturally wanted a slice of the pie. Deploying troops later than the other two villages was one of the conditions for his participation.
Although the guests and contestants were gone, the Third Kazekage stood on the high platform and began his speech: "I declare the Second Joint Chunin Exams... a complete success..."
This voice carried more than a hint of irony.
Just as the Three-Nation Alliance thought they were advancing triumphantly, they didn't know the Cloud's counterattack had already begun.
16 hours after the attack began.
After searching the Fire Capital all night without result, the Cloud settled down. Though they "settled down," they didn't hide. They patrolled openly in the capital and the Daimyo's Palace.
Strangely, Konoha didn't seem to want revenge. Reportedly, only a small number of Konoha ninja were watching from outside the city.
The Third Raikage stood atop the Daimyo's Palace, watching the sun rise in the distance. Not sleeping for a night was no issue for him.
Estimating the time, lightning crackled around his body.
Alright, I'm awake.
Without needing orders, the time had come. Eighty-one Cloud elites appeared beside the Third Raikage.
"Move out!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The Cloud ninja occupying the Fire Capital vanished as blurs, relieving the citizens. Rumors of Cloud ninja being brutal and warlike had kept them terrified all night.
Moving at high speed, a sinister voice came from the Third Raikage's small slug.
"Hehehe, Raikage-sama, the 'Mud Palace' Plan is ready. We can start anytime. It will definitely give the Konoha people a surprise."
The Third Raikage looked around. Faintly, Konoha ninja appeared on the flanks, seemingly intending to intercept. The Third Raikage used Body Flicker to appear instantly, splitting a glasses-wearing Aburame ninja in half with his axe before the insects could even emerge, leaving a scorched corpse.
"Arriving in about an hour. Get ready."
D-1, 22 hours after the attack began.
Konoha, Hokage Building, Intelligence Division.
"How is the situation with Sakumo-sama?"
"They have pushed deep into the Land of Hot Water. The Cloud doesn't dare to engage."
Before Shikaku Nara could say anything, someone reported:
"Sir! The Third Raikage in the capital has moved! He's leading a team toward Konoha! Interception units along the way cannot stop them!"
Someone exclaimed, "Do they want to storm Konoha by force?"
Shikaku said, "Impossible. They only have a few dozen people."
Even with many elites on the front lines, Konoha still had thousands of ninja, various barriers, and secret techniques. How could it be easily stormed?
"What if there is massive Heavenly Transfer support?"
"Konoha isn't easily taken down unless the Cloud is stupid enough to send all their remaining forces into the Land of Fire."
D-1, 24 hours after the attack began.
The Third Raikage led his team, cutting through thorns and obstacles, arriving outside Konoha. From a distance, they saw ninja gathering outside the village, ready to repel the Cloud.
Inside the wooden walls, black smoke rose—the result of yesterday's bombardment.
The Third Raikage took the lead, and the Cloud ninja behind him scattered.
The small slug transmitted a message.
"Raikage-sama, this is Minetarou. Arriving immediately."
"You came too?"
"Hehe, Dana-sama once called me a War Scientist. How can I live up to that name without stepping onto the battlefield? Besides, I really want to see my concept used in actual combat."
As they spoke, the eleven Heavenly Transfer bases across the Land of Lightning, having rested and prepared all night, launched simultaneously as agreed.
BOOM...
Rainbow lights were endless. Countless delivery pods fell like rain. Panic ensued inside Konoha, people thinking it was another bombardment.
Shikaku shouted inside the village, "Don't panic! We are prepared! They can't get in! Set up the barriers immediately!"
Numerous Four Violet Flames Formations rose again, protecting key areas of Konoha.
However, this time, the delivery pods didn't land inside Konoha. Instead, they flew to the outskirts, landing about a hundred meters outside the village walls in groups of four, with equal spacing. Nine groups in total, covering the front and back, even behind the Hokage Monument, vaguely encircling Konoha.
Minetarou walked out of a pod with excitement. As a research ninja with mediocre combat skills, he had spent most of his life inside the Cloud. He never expected to step on Konoha's soil one day.
"Quick, quick, quick!"
After a night of preparation, the pods were filled with everything needed. The landing Cloud ninja only needed to do one thing.
Jointly execute the Thousand-Machine Construction Technique.
In a few breaths, a jaw-dropping sight appeared.
Nine gigantic fortresses rose from the ground, looking down on Konoha. Each fortress was a reinforced concrete structure; ordinary ninjutsu could only chip off pieces. They were majestic and precipitous, bristling with spikes outside and labyrinthine inside—easy to defend, hard to attack.
Each fortress was much, much taller than the tallest building in Konoha.
Standing atop the Hokage Building, Shikaku Nara was shocked and incredulous. "Impossible! Fortresses of this scale! And nine of them! What does the Cloud want to do?!"
Soon, they found out.
In the next moment, the earth shook between the nine fortresses. Massive walls, tens of meters high and wide enough for two horses to run abreast, rose up. These walls connected the nine fortresses, completely enclosing Konoha within them.
Because materials were taken on the spot, deep trenches formed on both sides of the walls, creating moats.
The grand structures spoke of the changing times. This ability to instantly alter terrain was something only heard of from the God of Shinobi in the past. Unexpectedly, its reappearance was used against Konoha.
Cloud ninja entered the fortresses, and more troops kept arriving via Heavenly Transfer. The rainbow lights decorated Konoha like fireworks.
Konoha was besieged to death.
Massive amounts of ninjutsu, kunai, and explosive tags utilized the height advantage to fly easily into Konoha. Some powerful Cloud ninja even dared to jump directly from the heights into Konoha, rendering the barriers that relied on the wooden walls useless.
Even with Shikaku's superior intellect, he hadn't expected the Cloud to be capable of this.
Their own village was surrounded by enemy fortifications?
"Quick! Destroy those fortresses and walls at all costs!"
They thought they were the defenders, but they turned into the attackers breaching a siege!
Large numbers of Konoha ninja braved the rain of kunai and ninjutsu from the fortresses, suffering heavy casualties to reach the foot of the wall.
The closer they got, the more they marveled at the grandeur of the walls and fortresses. It was hard to imagine this was completed instantly.
A squad of a dozen Earth Release specialists assaulted the base of the wall, executing a joint jutsu with tacit understanding.
"Earth Release: Mobile Core!"
The earth shook. Countless thick stone pillars rose from the ground, tilting and twisting a section of the wall hundreds of meters long, causing collapses in many places.
Against the incredibly heavy reinforced concrete fortresses, the effect wasn't as good, only crushing some rocks and cracking the base.
Although losses were heavy and it was only a small section of the wall, it proved they had a way to break this unreasonable blockade.
"Using this method against ninja... the Cloud guys are truly...!"
However, before they could celebrate, white smoke puffed over the collapsed wall section. The fallen debris seemed to reverse in time, being sucked back into place. The stone pillars from the Mobile Core jutsu also returned to the ground and vanished.
In a blink, the hundreds of meters of wall were repaired.
The Earth Release ninja stammered, speechless. "This... how is this possible..."
Their destruction speed wasn't even as fast as the enemy's repair speed?
Behind the wall, several Construction Ninja wiped sweat from their foreheads. Although they just had to place the blueprint and slap the ground to release the jutsu, the chakra consumption was real.
Fortunately, with Katsuyu transferring chakra between companions, their pressure was much lower.
Standing atop the fortress behind the Hokage Monument, Minetarou watched the wall collapse and repair in the distance.
His few remaining hairs danced in the wind as he pushed up his glasses excitedly.
"Hehehe! The 'Infinite Fortress' tactic completed by Dana-sama and me... isn't so easily broken! Hahahaha!!"
Rainbow lights arrived one after another. More and more Cloud ninja were transported over, joining the Infinite Fortress defense system.
The Third Raikage was also quite satisfied. Minetarou asked timely, "Raikage-sama, what next?"
"No rush. Keep them trapped. Oh right, call for bombardment. Blow up those four faces on the Hokage Monument for me first! Then send someone to shout: Hand over Blue Bee!"
Inside the Hokage Building, Shikaku, whose face was already ugly, suddenly remembered something. He turned to look at the map of the ninja world hanging in the room.
The most conspicuous marker was a small red flag with the Konoha symbol, representing the elite surprise attack force led by Sakumo Hatake.
Its position was already deep in the Land of Hot Water, and due to the Cloud troops avoiding battle, it was advancing rapidly toward the Land of Lightning.
"Oh no!!"