Chapter 534: Toneri Ōtsutsuki Appears
The original Hoshigakure, the Village Hidden in the Stars, was located in the Land of Bears. Within the village, there was a meteorite that the star-ninja referred to as "the Star."
Ishiro only knew that in the original story, this Star was used by the Hoshi ninja to train a certain jutsu. However, the thing seemed to have irreversible side effects, causing fatal harm to the body. At best, it shortened one's lifespan; at worst, it caused sudden death.
Ishiro wasn't even willing to seal a Tailed Beast inside himself or transplant Hashirama cells, let alone use that so-called Star for training.
Therefore, Ishiro had never once thought about seizing the artifact. Naturally, he had also never paid attention to where it ended up.
He recalled that after the Land of Bears was occupied by Iwa, Iwagakure disbanded Hoshigakure, following the precedent they had set with Takigakure.
The Hoshi ninja with passable skills were sent to the Shadow-Akatsuki organization to fill the ranks of its outer members.
Hoshigakure's Genin were too weak for Iwa to bother with, so they were scattered and resettled throughout the Land of Earth, forced to live as civilians from then on. The village's civilians were dispersed to various parts of the Land of Bears.
But in the aftermath, Ishiro never received any intelligence regarding the whereabouts of that so-called Star.
Thinking of this, Ishiro quickly returned to the camp and began arranging for the ANBU to investigate the meteorite's location.
Kitsuchi, Shinya Matsutani, and Deidara, who were in the command center, found it strange. The situation hadn't even fully stabilized, so why was Ishiro suddenly searching for some "Star"?
He had seemed fine just a moment ago. Why had he returned from his short trip looking so preoccupied?
...
On the battlefield with Iwa and Kumo, Ishiro had left with Deidara immediately after finishing off the Fourth Raikage. Ōnoki also returned to Iwagakure shortly after.
Ikura, Han, Rōshi, and the later-arriving Kawakita launched an all-out assault on the Kumo forces.
Kawakita moved to tie down Killer B, while Ikura and the others prepared to engage the retreating Kumo army.
But just then, a squad of roughly one hundred ANBU-clad ninja suddenly appeared from within the Kumo army.
They formed a single line behind the main army and began forming seals in perfect, horrifying unison.
They were all seals for B-rank Lightning Release jutsu, which Ikura's group didn't pay much mind to at first. But soon, the intense chakra fluctuations astonished them.
They were B-rank jutsu, but the chakra fluctuations were no weaker than A-rank.
Why does this feeling seem so familiar? Could it be... Sage Art? Kumo has a hundred ninja who have mastered Sage Art?
Ikura was shocked. He immediately ordered the army to halt its pursuit.
The power of a hundred B-rank Sage Art jutsu was considerable. Kumo established a dense web of lightning between themselves and the Iwa army.
Ikura thought, That was close. He was lucky he stopped the army in time; otherwise, Iwa would have suffered heavy losses.
His eyes narrowed. He gave orders to Kawakita, Han, and Rōshi: "Ignore the Kumo army, and don't worry about the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. First, we leave all one hundred of these Sage Art users behind."
"Han, Rōshi, you just need to stop Killer B from reinforcing these Sage Art ninja. Kawakita and I will handle them."
Kawakita nodded in agreement and, taking the lead, charged into the ranks of the hundred Kumo ninja.
Han and Rōshi also immediately entered their partial Tailed Beast states and pounced on Killer B.
Ikura didn't join the fray immediately. He first arranged for two thousand troops to bypass the hundred ninja and set up a defensive line along their retreat path. Then, he selected a batch of skilled Elite Jonin from the main force and led them into the battle.
The power of Sage Art was indeed great, and these hundred Kumo ANBU were clearly professionally trained.
They didn't know many jutsu, but all of them were offensive, and they executed each one with extreme proficiency. Their hand seal speeds were all excellent, and they could even coordinate to perform combination ninjutsu.
If a troop like this were to face Iwa's regular army, Iwa would likely be decimated in a single exchange.
However, Ikura was prepared now. And with a Kage-level shinobi like Kawakita plunging into their ranks to disrupt their formation, the overall situation was developing in Iwa's favor.
Kawakita dashed left and right among the hundred Kumo ninja, dodging their Sage Art with his footwork, his blade reaping a life or two with every occasional swing. His speed and agility were far beyond what the Kumo ninja had imagined, and their powerful Sage Art jutsus had great difficulty hitting him.
Even when multiple Kumo ninja coordinated their attacks, on the rare occasion Kawakita couldn't dodge, he only needed a few slashes of his sword to disperse the attacks.
The Elite Jonin Ikura had selected attacked from the perimeter, preventing the Kumo ninja from focusing all their efforts on Kawakita. Likewise, because of Kawakita's presence, the Kumo ninja couldn't focus on dealing with the Iwa ninja on the outside.
If any Kumo ninja threatened his Iwa subordinates, Ikura would strike in time to suppress them.
As a result, the number of Kumo ninja was decreasing at an extremely rapid rate.
It wasn't long before the Kumo ninja couldn't hold on, especially because of that red-haired kunoichi who was casting Fire Release in row after row.
This kunoichi was too terrifying. The Kumo ninja who died at her hands were even more numerous than those who died at Kawakita's.
Furthermore, she and Ikura had blocked the Kumo ninja's retreat path from both sides. Several times, Kumo ninja tried to break through, only to be stopped by her.
On the other side, the Kumo commander, who had already retreated far away, was desperately calling for Killer B.
The Fourth Raikage was dead. If Killer B also died in battle, Kumo would be completely finished. With only Darui left, Kumo would fall into the same desperate predicament as Suna before Rasa's death.
Killer B tried multiple times to break through Han and Rōshi's blockade to reinforce the Sage Art ninja, but he was beaten back every time.
Seeing that the Kumo ninja were about to be wiped out, Killer B finally let out a roar of fury and, with great reluctance, turned to follow the main Kumo army.
After Killer B left, Han and Rōshi joined the siege. With two Jinchūriki joining the fray, the battle ended quickly. Of the hundred ninja capable of using Sage Art, not a single one survived.
The Riori Uzumakis, arranged in their dense, orderly formations, looked left and right. Seeing no more enemies, they lowered their hands, which had been ready to form more seals.
Then they all started chatting among themselves about how fun it was to cast Fire Release in ranks.
The scene instantly became chaotic.
Ikura rubbed his head and gave Shiden a look. Shiden smiled, stepped forward, and had Riori dispel her Shadow Clones.
A long time later, with the help of the shark pack, the Iwa ninja retrieved all the Kumo corpses that had sunk into the sea. After cleaning the battlefield, they began an orderly withdrawal.
Ikura had considered pursuing the Kumo army to maximize their gains. But just a moment ago, he had received a piece of intelligence: Kiri had finally made landfall.
From the very beginning, Kiri had received Iwa's invitation to attack Konoha, but they had never truly dispatched their troops. The Kiri army had remained in the Land of Water. For them to mobilize now... Ikura wasn't naive enough to think Kiri was here to help Iwa.
Kawakita said to Ikura, "Kiri's landing position is very strange. They didn't go to the Land of Fire. Instead, they landed in the Land of Moon."
"Are they planning to attack the Land of Lightning?"
Ikura replied, "I'm more afraid they're coming for us. We need to speed up our retreat. None of us are in good condition; this is not a good time to clash with Kiri."
Kawakita nodded thoughtfully.
Unlike Kawakita and Ikura's worries, Ishiro wasn't concerned at all.
Regardless of which side Kiri chose to support now, this battle was already over.
Kiri might want to change its stance, but they had already lost the best opportunity. They hadn't intervened while Iwa was entangled with Kumo and Konoha. Intervening now was too late.
It didn't matter if Kiri was hesitant or had a last-minute change of heart. As long as Iwa didn't get greedy and overextend, Kiri wouldn't dare to turn on Iwa in the short term.
...
On the northern coast of the Land of Moon, Kisame, Terumī Mei, and Nagi Minazuki stood together.
Behind them was the massive Kiri army, standing in silence, awaiting Kisame's command.
After standing for a long time, an ANBU member quickly approached Kisame from a distance and handed him an intelligence report.
Kisame sighed after reading it. "Iwa has withdrawn its army."
Terumī Mei was also a bit regretful. This time, Kiri had deployed all its elites, leaving only Suigetsu Hōzuki to guard the village, all in the hopes of making a big move.
Kiri's best-case scenario for this war was: Iwa cripples Konoha or Kumo, and then Kiri strikes, crippling one of Iwa's main armies. Ideally, they would kill one or two of Iwa's Kage-level shinobi in the process.
At that point, Iwa would be forced to retreat, and Kiri would seize the opportunity to form an alliance with Konoha and Kumo.
Riding the momentum of a great victory, Kiri could take the position of alliance leader. Given that Kiri's Kage-level combat power now surpassed that of Konoha and Kumo, this wouldn't be difficult.
After the war, the alliance of Kiri, Konoha, and Kumo would definitely have the upper hand against a heavily damaged Iwa. And as the leader of the alliance, Kiri would, in an instant, achieve its resurgence.
Unfortunately, Iwa was more cautious than expected and hadn't trusted Kiri.
All their fantasies had been shattered.
Nagi Minazuki said, "Lady Mizukage, since Iwa has withdrawn, should we proceed to the Land of Fire as planned?"
This was Kiri's backup plan: if Iwa pulled back in time and didn't expand the war, they would maintain the current peace and continue to follow behind their "big brother" Iwa, contenting themselves with the scraps.
At this point, Terumī Mei said, "We could also go to the Land of Lightning. Kumo suffered heavy losses this time, and something seems to have happened to the Fourth Raikage."
"Kumo is at its weakest right now. We could probably gain more benefits by going to the Land of Lightning."
Their opinions differed, so both looked to Kisame.
Kisame thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to the Land of Fire. Although Konoha didn't lose much in this battle, they don't have the courage to go all-in."
"Konoha will probably just make a show of force and then gracefully choose peace."
"Kumo, on the other hand, while they have heavy losses, is filled with hatred right now. If we go there, we might provoke a large-scale battle."
"Moreover, the Tsuchikage is still in a standoff with Konoha, so Konoha's main pressure is still from Iwa. But Kumo only has to face us. Going to the Land of Lightning might not be to our advantage."
Terumī Mei considered the personalities of Konoha and Kumo ninja and finally nodded.
With the decision made, the Kiri army quickly left the Land of Moon and changed course for the Land of Fire.
...
In the Land of Fire, at the Konoha army's camp, Kakashi had already received the message from Kumo.
His expression was extremely ugly. He said to Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, "The Fourth Raikage is dead. He was killed by the Tsuchikage himself."
"Raidō Namiashi's previous perception of someone using the Flying Thunder God to come and go from the Iwa camp... it must have been the Tsuchikage. He used the lull in our battle to go to the Kumo battlefield."
Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Hiashi Hyūga.
Hiashi Hyūga's expression wasn't good. It was a branch family member of his Hyūga clan who had risked getting close to the Iwa camp to confirm that the Tsuchikage was still present.
This was a direct slap in the face.
If Kakashi and the others had known Ishiro had left, they might have launched an all-out assault on the Iwa army.
But it was too late to say anything now.
Kakashi didn't intend to blame Hiashi. He said directly, "With the Fourth Raikage dead, we will have to face Iwa's blade alone."
"What do you all think? Will Iwa choose to continue the fight, or will they quit while they're ahead?"
As he spoke, Kakashi looked pointedly at Shikaku Nara.
As it turned out, Shikaku's previous judgment had been correct. Iwa's main target this time was indeed Kumo.
Shikaku was silent for a long time before speaking. "I believe the Tsuchikage probably won't expand the war any further."
"Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to send Uchiha Sōkai and Uchiha Izumi back to Iwagakure."
"Although those two were not in good condition, they could have still been of some use here. Especially with their bizarre dōjutsu, any tactical plan we make would have to account for their presence."
"But the Tsuchikage sent them back. Subconsciously, he never intended to have a decisive battle with us."
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others thought about Shikaku's words and felt they made sense.
But... why?
This was the perfect opportunity for Iwa to cripple or even annihilate Konoha. They even had the perfect pretext: seeking justice for Lord Danzō.
Why would they give up such a golden opportunity to attack?
If Itachi Uchiha had been present, given his personal experience and his judgment, he might have been able to guess at a few things. After all, Ishiro had let him go once before.
But Itachi Uchiha was not qualified to attend Konoha's high-level meetings.
Finally, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. "Let's withdraw the army for now. Pull back from the border, and don't clash with Iwa lightly. Then, we'll wait for Iwa's reaction."
Kakashi didn't object. He was somewhat silent. Was his very first battle as Hokage going to end with such an anticlimax?
...
Following the retreat of the Konoha army, the war initiated by Iwa to "seek justice for the Sixth Hokage Danzō" came to a temporary halt.
The shinobi world immediately fell quiet, with all sides trying to gather intelligence to gain the upper hand in the coming negotiations.
Ishiro wasn't in a hurry to negotiate peace with Konoha. Right now, neither his high-end combatants like Ōnoki and Sōkai, nor his "cheat code" Akino Atsumi, were in peak condition.
Ishiro needed to give them time to recover. Only when they were fully restored would he have the confidence to force Konoha to sign even harsher terms.
Besides, Ishiro had something more important to deal with right now.
Before the war, his disciple Chiga had been extremely useful. Locating all the Hyūga clan members was very important for Iwa, especially those scattered in the surrounding areas. Every Hyūga member represented a Konoha recon squad. Under Chiga's guidance, Iwa had precisely eliminated over a dozen of them. The purpose was clear, the efficiency high, and the losses minimal.
Chiga had also provided the intel on Itachi Uchiha, which was even more critical. A Kage-level shinobi hiding in the shadows was a huge threat to Iwa.
But after the war broke out, Chiga became less useful. All she could do was boredly update the distribution of Hyūga members and hand it over to the Iwa army's commander.
But just as Chiga was bored out of her mind, her eyes suddenly went wide with an expression of disbelief.
"This... this is impossible," Chiga muttered to herself.
In her sensory space, a human figure had suddenly appeared.
Chiga analyzed it and thought, This should be from the Hyūga clan, not the Uchiha clan.
The figure had appeared from thin air. Then, Chiga sensed him rushing toward Konoha.
When the person reached Konoha, he lingered near the village for a long time before returning the way he came.
He didn't enter Konoha? Chiga found it odd.
There were many Hyūga members within Konoha, so Chiga could still roughly determine the village's perimeter. This Hyūga ninja was still a good distance from Konoha; he definitely hadn't entered the village.
After a long while, this Hyūga member returned to the place where he had first appeared, and after a moment, he disappeared again.
Chiga's eyes widened. "He really disappeared. It wasn't my imagination."
She stood up, subconsciously wanting to go to that location and check.
But she quickly came to her senses. She had to report this to Ishiro-sensei. Perhaps Ishiro-sensei had her monitor the Hyūga clan precisely because he was waiting for this person.
However, Ishiro had been busy, first fighting Konoha, then Kumo, and had no free time.
It wasn't until Konoha retreated and the tense atmosphere of battle finally faded that Chiga found the chance to report this to Ishiro.
The moment Ishiro heard Chiga's first sentence, he leaped up from his stool, completely ignoring the many other people in the room.
Forgetting all about Shinya Matsutani and the others, he thought excitedly, A mysterious Hyūga ninja suddenly appeared in Chiga's blood-sense space? And then suddenly disappeared?
Toneri Ōtsutsuki... I've finally been waiting for you!
...
In the Land of Fire, in the new camp set up after the Konoha army's retreat.
Night was falling. Konoha ninja were busy setting up tents and establishing the new camp.
Kakashi summoned Itachi Uchiha, who was disguised as an ANBU, to his side. He wanted to ask about the Akatsuki organization Itachi had infiltrated.
Kakashi and Itachi weren't familiar with each other. Kakashi was only very close with Shisui Uchiha, and had often heard Shisui speak of Itachi.
But later, on the issue of how to deal with the Uchiha clan, Kakashi, Itachi, and Shisui had been in different camps.
Shisui had it better; he was only tricked by Hiruzen Sarutobi into killing one clansman.
Itachi, on the other hand, was the representative of the faction that wanted to resolve the Uchiha problem with force.
That night, while Itachi hadn't been the main force behind the Uchiha massacre, many had still died at his hands.
Therefore, Kakashi and Itachi had no shared history to reminisce about.
Walking with Itachi in the woods outside the camp, Kakashi got straight to the point. "Itachi Uchiha, tell me the detailed intelligence on the Akatsuki organization."
Itachi, wearing his mask, nodded. "Lord Hokage, the village already knows the member composition of Akatsuki."
"I'll explain the difference between the 'Akatsuki' and the 'Shadow-Akatsuki'."
"The Shadow-Akatsuki's core members are made up of S-rank rogue ninja like myself."
"The outer members are comprised of most of the ninja from the former Land of Rain and Land of Rivers, as well as some of the stronger ninja from the small and medium villages destroyed by Iwagakure."
"The core members of the Shadow-Akatsuki don't actually participate in the organization's decisions. The only one who truly decides the organization's strategy is the leader, Nagato."
"In the 'Akatsuki,' however, the three leaders, including Nagato, discuss the organization's strategy together."
"The reason they are split into two organizations, I believe, is due to the different ideals of Nagato and Yahiko."
"Both men are idealists. They founded both organizations for the same purpose: world peace."
"It's just that Yahiko's Akatsuki wishes for people to achieve mutual understanding, while Nagato's Shadow-Akatsuki wants to use overwhelming military deterrence to force peace upon the world."
Itachi paused, giving Kakashi time to digest this. After Kakashi nodded, Itachi continued, "The reason neither organization has made any major moves in recent years is because of the Tsuchikage."
"The Tsuchikage set a goal for them: to govern the newly acquired territory in the Land of Wind according to their own ideals."
"My guess is that if Yahiko and Nagato cannot improve the lives of the civilians in that part of the Land of Wind, they won't even begin to think about unifying the shinobi world."
Hearing Itachi's description, Kakashi had a completely new understanding of Akatsuki.
Previously, Kakashi had been completely mystified by the difference between the two organizations. And his impression of both had always been "mysterious" and "powerful."
After becoming Hokage, the two organizations, which occupied the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain, put immense pressure on Kakashi.
Every time he looked at a map of the Land of Fire and saw that massive organization on its border, an organization with numerous Kage-level shinobi, Kakashi couldn't sleep soundly.
When Konoha recently deployed its full strength, Kakashi's greatest fear was that someone would attack them from behind.
And the easiest one to do that was Akatsuki.
If Konoha hadn't been so desperate and short on manpower, Kakashi would never have left the village's safety to chance.
Look at Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri. Kitsuchi, Darui, and Mangetsu Hōzuki had not left their respective villages.
Kakashi then asked, "Itachi Uchiha, is it possible to sabotage the relationship between Akatsuki and Iwagakure, and then have Akatsuki establish ties with our village?"
Itachi shook his head. "Impossible. I once used genjutsu on an Akatsuki member and learned a piece of intelligence."
"The Tsuchikage and Konan, the only female leader among Akatsuki's three heads, may be in a political marriage."
Kakashi's body shuddered. His voice trembled as he asked, "Is that intelligence accurate?"
Itachi replied, "It's highly credible. It is not a secret within Akatsuki."
Kakashi stared out into the darkness, toward the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers. His heart sank.
(End of Chapter)
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you