Chapter 307: The Three-and-a-Half-Day War (Part 9)
D-1, 30 hours and 12 minutes after the attack began.
The Three-Nation Alliance forces encountered resistance far exceeding previous levels on all fronts.
On the Southern Front in the Land of Hot Water, the Konoha surprise attack force encountered the Number One Genius of the Ninja World, Yotsuki Dana. Fighting alone against a 2,000-man elite force, he was repeatedly "pushed to the brink," yet Konoha swore to take him down.
On the Western Front in the Land of Hot Water, more than three hundred elites in black cloaks with red clouds engaged in a fierce battle with the Iwa vanguard. Yotsuki Arashi, Hiroto Uzumaki, Konan, and Nagato served as the core force. However, under Onoki's terrifying Particle Style and supreme comprehensive abilities, the Cloud suffered significant losses.
As for the Suna vanguard, they were ambushed by the Rain Village by a lake on the northern side of the Land of Rivers. The outcome was still undecided.
Behind these three battlefields, a more critical battle had entered a white-hot phase.
Kumogakure—or rather, the entire Land of Lightning—had dedicated almost all of its Heavenly Transfer Technique capacity to this location.
Konohagakure, which was now completely surrounded.
Konoha had organized several assault teams, braving the rain of bullets and jutsu from the magnificent walls and fortresses, desperately trying to destroy the Cloud's fortifications.
However, after multiple attempts, they had to admit a despairing reality.
Their destruction speed was truly slower than the Cloud's construction speed.
In the most effective attempt, a reinforced concrete fortress was completely shattered by Earth Release. But before they could celebrate, it was restored to its original state in the blink of an eye.
Lacking intelligence, Konoha simply couldn't understand the mechanism behind the Cloud's terrifying construction capabilities.
Just collapsing or smashing the fortress was meaningless. The "Thousand-Machine Construction Technique" only required chakra and materials.
Even if the fortress collapsed, the materials were still there. Repairing it according to the original blueprint wasn't hard at all. They would have to move all the reinforced concrete away to cause even a little trouble for the Construction Ninja behind the wall.
Ninjutsu, explosive tags, and Heavenly Transfer bombardments never stopped. Except for the areas protected by the "Four Violet Flames Formation" like the Hokage Building, most of Konoha had been razed to the ground. Civilians in the underground shelters trembled in fear.
Initially, Konoha could rely on numerical superiority to charge the walls several times. Under Might Duy's leadership, they even briefly occupied two fortresses. But as more and more Cloud forces were air-dropped in, Konoha was continuously compressed.
The most infuriating part was that after finally capturing a fortress and intending to use it as a base to turn the tide, the fortress would suddenly collapse without warning—clearly dismissed actively by the Cloud ninja.
By the time the Third Raikage led reinforcements to drive the Konoha ninja away, the fortress was rebuilt.
Gradually, the Cloud ninja completely suppressed Konoha. Powerhouses like the Third Raikage had charged into the village several times, wreaking havoc. Aside from Might Duy, who dared to stall him briefly, no one could last a single round.
Minetarou was so excited he didn't sleep all night. Through this precious practical experience, he was constantly deducing what improvements the "Infinite Fortress" tactic needed in the future.
"If the fortifications came with their own weapon systems, that would be great. Also, the shape of the wall is a bit too simple; next time, build curved surfaces with arcs... Passageways can be built under the wall to facilitate internal movement..."
The Third Raikage charged into Konoha again, caused chaos, and retreated safely to the fortress. He asked a subordinate, "Are they still unwilling to hand over Blue Bee?"
"No response so far. Blue Bee-sama might not be in their hands."
Konoha, Underground Root Base.
While the battle raged above, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado found Orochimaru, who was still buried in his lab.
"Orochimaru, how can you still calmly do research...? Don't you know Konoha is in chaos?"
Orochimaru replied calmly, "I didn't receive orders to fight on the surface. But surely you two didn't come here just to lecture me."
Koharu's face was grim. "Orochimaru, Konoha is in a crisis of survival. The Fourth Hokage is fighting fiercely far away and hasn't sent news for a long time. They are too deep in enemy territory. We have an important question for you."
Orochimaru looked up, annoyed.
Homura asked gravely, "According to previous records, you applied to study the 'Edo Tensei' (Impure World Reincarnation) from the Scroll of Seals, correct?"
Orochimaru grinned. As expected, the village was desperate enough to use this forbidden jutsu.
"I did apply."
Koharu asked nervously, "Then... have you mastered that jutsu?"
The two elders looked at Orochimaru with hope.
They never imagined Konoha would be pushed to this extent. With large numbers of elites and the Hokage thousands of miles away, they were trying every method to turn the tide; otherwise, Konoha faced the risk of being wiped off the map after this war.
At this point, taboos and ethics didn't matter!
But Edo Tensei wasn't something any random ninja could master, especially not on short notice. So they rushed to find Orochimaru.
"I have indeed grasped the basics."
The elders visibly relaxed.
But Orochimaru added, "I know what you're planning. However, the Second Hokage probably hadn't perfected Edo Tensei back then either. Although it can pull the dead back from the Pure Land, it cannot restore their full strength from life. Accurately speaking, their strength will be minimal. I was just preparing to improve it."
The current Edo Tensei was likely even worse than the version Orochimaru used during the "Konoha Crush" in the original timeline—where Hiruzen Sarutobi fought the First and Second Hokage alone and held his own, nearly cementing his title as the "Strongest Hokage."
The only advantage was probably that if fighting for Konoha, the caster wouldn't need to forcibly constrain them.
The elders exchanged a glance and said, "No matter. With the First Hokage's power, even a fraction would be precious to the current Konoha."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. Sure enough, these two old fossils wanted to summon the First Hokage with Edo Tensei.
It wasn't hard to guess.
Homura took out a sealing scroll. "You already have the First Hokage's cells. Here is hair from the Second Hokage and Hiruzen."
Orochimaru took the items and smiled. "I haven't used it in practice yet. It will likely take some time to prepare. And I can probably only control two bodies for now."
The elders discussed briefly and said, "Then awaken the First and Second Hokage. Hurry. Konoha is suffering massive losses every minute."
Given the urgency of the war, the two hurried off elsewhere.
Orochimaru fell into thought. His current unparalleled, taboo-free research conditions were based on Konoha's existence. Naturally, he didn't want Konoha to fall.
From a dark corner of the lab, a shadow slowly emerged.
"Hehehe, seems your Konoha is desperate?"
Orochimaru asked, "What does that have to do with you?"
Black Zetsu replied, "Naturally, it matters. If Konoha is wiped out, it will be hard for you to complete our transaction."
"Did you get what I wanted?"
Black Zetsu took out a jar containing two pure white eyeballs—a pair of precious Main Family Byakugan.
With Konoha beaten into this state, the Hyuga Clan probably wouldn't realize a Main Family member was missing until after the war.
Orochimaru reached out to take it, but Black Zetsu put the jar away.
"I got what you wanted, but you don't seem ready yet."
"I've learned Edo Tensei. If you want, I can teach you now."
Black Zetsu laughed sinisterly. "No, no, no. I said before, learning Edo Tensei was just the first step. The current Edo Tensei is far from meeting my requirements. You need to continuously improve it. That perfected Edo Tensei is what I want to trade for."
Black Zetsu slowly melted into the darkness, his voice echoing, "But after all, he is the God of Shinobi. summoning him should help your Konoha somewhat... You'd better hurry. If you're too slow, it will be too late..."
Orochimaru frowned in thought but ultimately decided to start preparing Edo Tensei.
D-2, 34 hours after the attack began.
Western Front.
The battle entered the next phase.
Under the Cloud ninja's fearless assaults and exquisite coordination, the Western Front successfully blocked the Iwa vanguard's advance. But they paid a heavy price. The 300 men were reduced to about 200, though they inflicted seven times that many casualties on Iwa.
Konan's infinite explosive tags and Hiroto's super-large-scale ninjutsu yielded significant results. However, Iwa had many powerhouses, especially Onoki. In terms of top-tier combat power, no one could check him.
Even with Nagato, Onoki was merely distracted. Under Particle Style, no one survived.
Nagato even tried using Chibaku Tensei, but Onoki, having seen it in the Eastern Archipelago, knew the key was the black sphere and blew up the core with Particle Style immediately.
At the critical moment, the Western Front troops called for air support via the red slug. The Heavenly Transfer base, fully supporting the siege on Konoha, squeezed out some capacity to send fresh troops and conducted a bombing run.
Overall, however, the Cloud side remained extremely strained.
Even though Iwa wasn't known for individual quality, the absolute numerical disadvantage couldn't be fully offset.
After the initial clash, both sides pulled back slightly, gaining a brief respite.
Southern Front.
Things were more dramatic on Dana's side.
The Konoha surprise attack force besieged Dana for hours with zero results. Sakumo Hatake finally received news from Konoha amidst the chaotic battlefield thousands of miles away.
Learning that Konoha was besieged and in imminent danger, no matter how unwilling he was, he had to order a retreat to reinforce the main base.
Seeing the Konoha force retreat, Dana naturally pursued.
Sakumo ordered Minato to return to the village first via Flying Thunder God, while he stayed behind to cover the retreat.
Konoha, Hokage Building.
To save themselves, the high command had broken a certain taboo.
Orochimaru earnestly carved seals on the floor, a drop of cold sweat rolling down his face.
First-time use meant unfamiliarity with many things; he had to do everything personally, consuming a lot of time and energy.
The two elders waited anxiously beside him. In the corner of the secret room, two living sacrifices were tied up.