Chapter 306: The Three-and-a-Half-Day War (Part 8)
D-1, 27 hours after the attack began.
Southern Front, deep in the Land of Hot Water.
Amidst the chaos, Yotsuki Dana, clad in Sage Lightning Armor with several thunder drums floating behind him, was exceptionally conspicuous in the dark night. He looked more like a deity than a mortal.
Um... if ninjas had the concept, they would think he looked like a Gundam.
With a tap of his finger, several laser beams shot out, striking down Konoha ninja hiding behind trees.
For Dana, who possessed "Pulse" Vision, hiding was meaningless.
The 600 Cloud troops behind him were mainly there to prevent the Konoha ninja from abandoning group combat and scattering completely, and to ensure he didn't accidentally get teleported away by Sakumo Hatake or Minato Namikaze.
If all the Construction Ninja hadn't been sent to his Old Man, Dana would have wanted to build a wall here too, trapping all the Konoha ninja inside.
Initially, regarding Dana single-handedly blocking the 2,000-man surprise attack force, the Konoha ninja's reaction was: Today is the day we make our names!
This was the Cloud's number two figure, the future successor. If they took him down, they would have won half the war.
The entire ninja world could breathe easier for the next few decades.
The temptation was too great.
Even Sakumo felt that paying a heavy price would be worth it if they could kill Dana here.
And then... then there was nothing.
Over a hundred people had died so far, and they were still trying to figure out how to injure this guy.
With the Sage Lightning Armor covering his entire body, hurting Dana through his defense was incredibly difficult. Kunai were useless.
Standard weapons and ninjutsu were also ineffective. He wasn't easy to hit. The only things that could truly work were powerful Taijutsu or close-quarters combat.
Among the enemies Dana had encountered, only two and a half had this ability.
Sage Mode Jiraiya counted as one. Although his Taijutsu wasn't great, as a fellow Sage Mode user, he could do it, and the two toads on his shoulders were formidable.
Madara Uchiha naturally counted as one.
Yeah... getting hammered by Madara really hurts.
Sakumo Hatake counted as half. When Dana first mastered the Sage Lightning Armor, Sakumo had once shattered his arm armor with a slash, drawing blood. But back then, the armor wasn't perfected.
Dana felt that the current him wouldn't have his defense broken so easily.
But right now, Dana was doing his best to avoid contact with Sakumo and Minato.
He didn't want to be fighting and suddenly get teleported to some random corner of the world. That would ruin his entire plan.
Or getting marked with a Flying Thunder God seal—gaining two sticky plasters would also be troublesome.
He couldn't be bothered to catch them either; they were hard to catch.
So most of his attention was actually on these two. His Pulse Vision monitored their movements in real-time. Once they threw any projectiles, whether ordinary or special kunai, they would be instantly destroyed by the thunder drums' lasers. Dana's reaction speed could keep up perfectly.
Wherever he went, if there were any projectiles stuck in the ground, he destroyed them first just in case.
As for the 100+ dead Konoha elites... honestly, they were just collateral damage.
He needed to carefully control the intensity of the battle to prevent the vanguard force from giving up on besieging him entirely.
He had to give them a glimmer of hope, but keep it just out of reach.
If these two thousand people scattered, the trouble would be ten times greater. They were deep in the Land of Hot Water, traditional Cloud territory.
Assuming three-man squads, that would be nearly 700 squads. Scattering so many people across the Land of Hot Water and Land of Lightning would have unimaginable consequences.
"Sage Lightning Art: Multiple Thunder Dragon Technique!"
Several lifelike giant thunder dragons flew from Dana's hands, roaring as they charged into the crowd, instantly swallowing over a dozen Konoha ninja.
"Use Wind Release together! Wind beats Lightning!"
"Wind Release: Great Vacuum Sphere!"
"Wind Release: Great Kamaitachi!"
"Wind Release: Great Cast Net!"
Sakumo threw a handful of kunai, mixed with two black throwing knives. This immediately attracted laser fire from the drums, but due to the sheer number, one black knife successfully approached Dana. However, it still had to pass the projectile deflection barrier.
Seeing the knife reach Dana's side—after multiple tests, they had figured out the range of his deflection ability—Sakumo hesitated no longer. From several meters away, the moment he teleported, he infused chakra into his blade, extending the edge by meters, and slashed viciously.
However, Dana moved half an inch. In terms of reaction speed, he believed he didn't lose to Sakumo or Minato. Catching him off guard might work, but with most of his attention on them, he wouldn't be touched easily.
Glancing at Sakumo, Dana ignored him and turned to trouble other Konoha ninja.
Another failed surprise attack. Sakumo's expression was grave. Konoha's casualties were mounting, and before the battle started, he heard there was trouble at the main camp in Konoha...
Not knowing the situation there, he hesitated.
He wanted to change tactics: abandon targeting Dana and disperse to advance. Launching scattered infiltration operations against the Land of Lightning from all directions was one of the backup plans prepared earlier.
Seeing the people around him wavering, Dana thought, I need to give them a little confidence.
Just then, Fugaku Uchiha threw several kunai from a blind spot. Using the exquisite Uchiha Shurikenjutsu, the kunai collided mid-air, changing trajectories.
Actually, these fancy tricks couldn't break Dana's projectile deflection field. Even if they passed the deflection, they couldn't break his defense.
But Dana deliberately moved a few inches and temporarily deactivated the deflection control.
Then, to everyone's shock, Fugaku's fancy shuriken actually broke through the mysterious ability that had baffled the Konoha ninja and struck Dana.
And as luck would have it, it hit the gap between the fingers of the hand holding the staff.
The seemingly invincible Dana dropped his staff on the spot. Clatter! He hurriedly bent down to pick it up.
While picking it up, Dana deliberately spread his fingers, letting everyone see the blood.
"Close call. One second later and it would have healed."
His acting skills should be passable. Quit while ahead; overacting would ruin it.
Just this one moment gave the Konoha ninja hope.
"Look! That guy can be hurt by projectiles! As long as the technique is exquisite enough! This guy has limits!"
"He's injured! A hand injury will definitely affect his combat! Everyone, hold steady!"
"Uchiha Shurikenjutsu is awesome!!!"
Several Uchiha clan members were also greatly encouraged. As expected, we have to rely on the great Uchiha!
I could do that too!
Fugaku felt a sense of unreality. Something felt off.
But I really seemed to have hurt Yotsuki Dana?
After so many years, facing this guy multiple times—even directly during the Night of the Purple Moon—he had never even scratched him.
Today, he broke his defense!
While he was dazed, Sakumo appeared in front of Fugaku with a Body Flicker, solemnly handing him a large handful of black throwing knives.
"Fugaku, you throw these. I'll coordinate with you. Only Uchiha Shurikenjutsu can break that guy's strange ability. I'm counting on you; you are the key to this battle!"
With that, Sakumo flickered away to find opportunities elsewhere.
Before Fugaku could put away the knives, Minato also appeared beside him.
"Fugaku-senpai, these are my Flying Thunder God kunai. Throw them when you find a chance. Uchiha Shurikenjutsu is truly amazing! I'll coordinate with you!"
Fugaku: "..."
Is Uchiha Shurikenjutsu really that amazing? How did I not know?
D-1, 27 hours and 30 minutes after the attack began.
"Amekage-sama, Suna vanguard troops discovered ahead. Numbering around 1,500."
Kayo, deployed here, said with concentration.
"Distance?"
"32 kilometers."
Hanzo paused, then cracked, looking at the little girl beside him in shock. "How much?!"
Kayo thought he didn't hear clearly. "Uh, now it's about 31.5 kilometers."
"...What is your sensory range?"
What kind of god-tier sensory distance is this?
With someone like this, what battle can't you win? You can ambush whoever you want!
Are Great Ninja Villages this terrifying...?
Dodai stepped in timely to change the subject. "Amekage-dono, the battle matters more."
Hanzo coughed. "You're right. Since we have such powerful sensory capabilities, why don't we set an ambush by the lake 5 kilometers west? My Rain ninja specialize in Water Release. Hiding in the lake is no problem, while most Suna ninja are weak against Water Release. In that case, even 500 against 1,500 shouldn't be a big problem."
Whether out of friendship or interest, the Rain Village naturally stood firmly with their Big Brother Cloud in this war.
Big Brother was honorable, even remembering to send back his three adopted children when trouble struck.
As a staunch ally of the Cloud for years, Hanzo knew deeply what kind of power the Cloud possessed. He felt the Three-Nation Alliance couldn't win, so the Rain Village naturally wouldn't waver.
Moreover, the Alliance's main target wasn't him, and the battlefield wasn't in the Land of Rain. He had no worries and knew how to choose.
Bringing 500 village elites to ambush here was to intercept the Suna vanguard.
This was the only task the Third Raikage gave Hanzo.
This wasn't the Land of Rain, but the Land of Rivers. In the early stages of the Second Great Ninja War, Suna didn't take the Rain seriously and A-moved their vanguard through, only to get wrecked. It became a laughingstock in the ninja world—the only time a Great Village lost to a small village.
This led to a series of chain reactions, like low morale and budget cuts from the Daimyo.
This time, they seemed to have learned their lesson, choosing to bypass the Rain Village, entering the Land of Fire from the Land of Rivers, then moving north to the Land of Lightning battlefield.
However, under Kayo's terrifying sensory ability, they were still found by the Rain, and an ambush was set on their inevitable path.
Dodai said, "The Third Kazekage is likely among them. We cannot be careless."
Hanzo scoffed. "Third Kazekage? An old rival. Leave him to this old man!"
D-1, 28 hours after the attack began.
Western Land of Hot Water.
300 Cloud elites in black cloaks with red clouds faced off against the 3,000-man Iwa vanguard.
A tenfold numerical disadvantage didn't scare these people.
If Dana's mission on the southern front was to "stall," then here on the western front, it was a solid "blockade."
So the battle here was exceptionally fierce.
Yotsuki Arashi, full of "Will of Lightning," took the lead, charging into the crowd and firing the first shot of the battle.
"Heavy Tank (Elbow Bolt)!!!"
Then he immediately stripped off the black cloak with red clouds.
The Iwa troops weren't afraid either; several people immediately engaged him.
Hiroto followed closely, opening with three large-scale ninjutsu.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique!"
"Wind Release: Great Cast Net!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"
Wind blew, fire burned, and the earth moved, throwing a large number of Iwa ninja into disarray.
Flying in the sky, Onoki sneered. A genius, but a pity he's about to die.
He raised his hands, forming a cone, aiming at Hiroto.
"Particle Style: Atomic..."
A somewhat familiar voice rang out from below.
"Bansho Ten'in! (Universal Pull!)"
"WHAT?!!"
Onoki suddenly fell like a kite with a cut string.
"The brat from the sea last time! You joined the Cloud!"
Although the Particle Style missed, two Cloud ninja were unfortunately hit and turned into dust.
Its terrifying power chilled everyone's hearts.
Truly, all living beings are equal...
While Onoki was tied down by Nagato, Konan flapped her wings in the sky, flying over the heads of the Iwa troops.
Explosive tags fell like rain.
Kitsuchi jumped out from the crowd. "Regarding ninjutsu scale, I have some experience too! Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation!"
In the Cloud formation, the earth shattered. A volcano-like structure rose from the ground, spewing massive rocks and debris. Cloud ninja scattered to dodge, causing some chaos.
Hiroto's expression remained unchanged. "Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Massive amounts of water poured into the crater, extinguishing the dangerous jutsu.
Kitsuchi raised an eyebrow. "Interesting!"
"Earth Release: Mobile Core!"