As the people in the meeting room quickly finalized their mission assignments, two deafening explosions suddenly erupted from outside.
The ground shook violently. A powerful shockwave swept through the camp, knocking down trees in every direction.
The jonin quickly steadied themselves and asked with surprise and uncertainty:
"What's going on? Weren't we told that the Iwagakure forces were still far away?"
"Could it be a spy who snuck in and planted bombs to create chaos?"
Soon after, a disheveled intelligence ninja rushed in to report, "It was [Tailed Beast Ball] launched by Iwagakure from a distance, but fortunately they couldn't aim properly. The casualties are negligible."
Hearing that the casualties were minimal, everyone relaxed slightly.
"What's this supposed to be? A warning shot before battle begins?"
"Hmph! Such an arrogant declaration of war!"
However, Rasa shook his head slightly. "They must have known that Lord Seiki's presence would reduce the deterrent effect of the [Tailed Beast Ball], so they used it early as a psychological attack to demoralize our ninja!"
The intelligence ninja nodded continuously. "Perhaps memories of yesterday's bloody casualties made everyone's mood a bit unstable."
"Truly decisive! Once confirming that the [Tailed Beast Ball] might become ineffective, the Tsuchikage made his decision immediately!" Shimaseki sighed.
Everyone nodded secretly; indeed, such an enemy Tsuchikage would be extremely difficult to deal with.
If it were them, they probably wouldn't have the courage to use up such a battlefield trump card decisively.
Fugaku frowned, "Is there any way to boost morale soon?"
After pondering for a moment, Inoichi shook his head, "A speech might work, but time is too short—we can't do it..."
"I'll handle it." Stepping forward outside, Shimaseki controlled his chakra and spread his voice across the entire area, "Everyone, I am Allied Forces Supreme Commander Seiki Shimaseki. Time is pressing; I'll speak only one sentence..."
In such a short time, he definitely couldn't deliver a long-winded lecture.
At times like this, there's no time for lofty principles or emotional appeals. Just recount past victories—use the most convincing ones to show everyone there's hope for victory!
"In the Cloud Village battlefield, I intercepted their perfect Jinchuriki. In the Mist Village battlefield, I eliminated the [Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist]. At the Amegakure battlefield, I defeated Sanshouo Hanzo and accepted his surrender. Now, I shall lead you to victory—once more!"
Hearing Lord Shimaseki's speech, everyone in the camp was stunned, eyes filled with disbelief.
"Are these achievements real?"
"This sounds too exaggerated. Could this truly be something within human capability?"
"Could Lord Shimaseki actually be a transformed Bijuu?"
Most of them had only heard bits and pieces about Lord Shimaseki's feats before, but now they could compare notes among themselves!
After verification, the entire camp erupted into excitement.
The oppressive gloom lifted entirely, and almost everyone gazed toward that handsome figure with admiration.
"He's unstoppable! With Lord Shimaseki leading us, victory is certain!"
"Lord Shimaseki is truly reliable!"
"The Cloud and Mist Villages lost, even the Demigod of the Shinobi World fell to Lord Shimaseki. How hard could it be to defeat a mere Rock Village?"
"Just a few words from Seiki Shimaseki managed to ignite the crowd's emotions—seeing this, the gathered jonin were deeply shaken.
Such prestige and aura—even a village's Kage might not possess it!
Even though they grasped the logic behind his speech, they knew they could never pull it off!
After all, this was something entirely dependent on one's personal achievements.
Danzo felt both envy and bitterness in his heart. He simply had no accomplishments worth mentioning.
If forced to think of something, would driving the White Fang to his death count?
As for sabotaging his own allies—he did have considerable experience in that area.
Rasa also felt bitter inside. Though he'd greatly contributed to Sunagakure, he knew those contributions alone lacked persuasive power.
Was he supposed to say, "I've mined ores for years and will lead you all toward prosperity through hard labor"?
While everyone was reflecting with admiration, all the ninja assembled and marched forward to the battlefield with great vigor.
...
At the border of the Land of Earth, within the advancing army of ninja:
"He truly deserves to be Tsuchikage! None of us could match such decisiveness!"
"Hehe, Konoha must be in total chaos now!"
"They must have assumed we'd reserve the Tailed Beast Ball specifically for the battlefield. Now they must be stunned beyond words!"
Relishing all the exaggerated praise, Onoki responded proudly,
"That's what strategy is all about—transforming unfavorable factors into favorable ones under specific circumstances!"
"Just like morale. They probably calculated how to use that piece of news to undermine ours, so we struck first..."
Mid-sentence, Onoki abruptly halted, turning his gaze toward the forest ahead.
A dense mass of ninja poured out from the forest—not only maintaining perfect formation but also showing absolutely no signs of low spirits; instead, their morale seemed higher than ever.
"What's going on?" Onoki asked, puzzled. "Do Konoha and Suna's ninja become more excited the more they get beaten?"
A ninja with particularly sharp hearing leaned closer and said, "Tsuchikage, it seems related to that Seiki Shimaseki fellow. I overheard some of our ninja shouting his name as they marched."
"Again him? Why does he show up everywhere?" Onoki's forehead vein pulsed angrily. Now he finally started understanding—and perhaps even sympathizing with—the feelings of Raikage and Mizukage.
It hadn't even been a week, but his blood pressure was already through the roof!
The Cloud and Mist Villages, who had suffered from that brat Seiki for two whole years, were probably already at their breaking point!
Standing opposite Iwagakure, Seiki stepped forward from the crowd, saying, "Tsuchikage..."
This time, however, Onoki didn't feel the slightest desire for pre-battle conversation. He directly issued orders: "Lava Release unit, advance! Fire Release unit, prepare to follow up!"
He wasn't trying to underestimate Seiki but rather feared they might announce Hanzo's defeat before the battle began.
If they started fighting immediately, even if they did spread news afterward, it would easily be drowned out by the sounds of battle.
Hearing Onoki's command, a squad of Lava Release ninja quickly stepped forward.
[Lava Release: Lava Volcanic Eruption!]
As descendants of Iwagakure's kekkei genkai clan, their Lava Release naturally possessed formidable attacking power.
Countless molten rocks surged forward like an inverted waterfall hanging in the sky. Just approaching them slightly created the illusion of suffering serious burns from the intense heat.
"Water Release unit, move up!"
[Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!]
Thousands of Water Release ninjas unleashed torrents of water, almost forming a roaring river as it surged toward the magma waterfall.
Hiss—hiss—
The water vaporized into thick white mist, shrouding the battlefield in a dense fog. From within the haze came the constant sound of cooled magma hardening and crashing to the ground.
Seeing this, both sides immediately deployed their follow-up forces without hesitation.
"Fire Release squad, deploy the Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
"Wind Release squad, unleash the Great Breakthrough!"
Flames and howling winds twisted together, creating fire whirlpools that grew into raging fire tornadoes.
In a battlefield where over a thousand ninjutsu clashed head-on, even Seiki dared not step out casually. He had no choice but to stay put within the formation, directing the battle from there.
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