After leaving Ryūryaku, Asuka did not choose to return to Konoha. A clone had sent him intelligence recently, leading him to decide to return to the Hidden Mist to take a look.
After swapping with the clone, he immediately learned the specific details of the intelligence.
It turned out that the Third Mizukage, seeing Sunagakure and Konoha locked in a heated battle at Mount Kikyo, also wanted to get a piece of the action. However, unlike most people, the Third Mizukage's target this time was Sunagakure.
This choice left Asuka's face full of question marks. Although in the original story, the Hidden Mist and Sunagakure did have a war during the Third Great Ninja War, the current situation was that Konoha was single-handedly bearing the attacks of the Four Great Ninja Villages and was already in a precarious state.
Instead of seizing the moment to intensify the attack on Konoha, he chose to attack Sunagakure. Asuka could only say that as expected of the Third Mizukage who created the Blood Mist Village, his unpredictable maneuvers were impossible to guard against.
However, Asuka didn't plan to refuse. Firstly, he had indeed been a bit bored lately, and more importantly, he had recently discovered some anomalies in his mutant gene bank and was looking for an opportunity to verify his suspicions.
Asuka's mutant gene bank contained all the genomes he had extracted from the Mutants captured by Colonel Stryker. Every segment of gene was the result of his careful selection; even those seemingly useless "trash genes" were included in the bank only after his repeated deliberation.
It wasn't that these abilities weren't strong enough—it was just that Asuka's current strength had reached the pinnacle. Combined with the fact that the Ninja World was already filled with all kinds of miraculous Ninjutsu and Bloodline Limits, these Mutant abilities seemed a bit redundant. But Asuka knew in his heart that if these abilities were placed in an ordinary world without superpowers, even the most inconspicuous "trash ability" would be enough to significantly increase an ordinary person's survival rate.
Bringing his thoughts back, Asuka's gaze fell on the gene bank within his body. Recently, the gene bank had been unusually "quiet," like a lazy cat that had eaten its fill, lacking any of its former vigor when absorbing energy. Last time, with the help of the Phoenix Force, he had packed most of the Ryūryaku energy from the Ryūryaku ruins into the gene bank, which had unlocked all the lower-level Mutant genomes.
However, the remaining high-level genomes were like domestic cats with spoiled appetites; they would occasionally absorb a lazy breath of Ryūryaku energy and then show no further movement. After all this time, Asuka had only managed to unlock the Phantom Cat genome, which left him feeling somewhat melancholic.
He could understand them not moving when energy was insufficient before; but now, when the Ryūryaku energy was so abundant it was almost overflowing, these genomes remained dormant, which was baffling. After repeated reflection, Asuka helplessly speculated: to awaken these high-level genomes, perhaps in addition to sufficient energy, he needed to find the specific types of energy they each preferred.
This wasn't just a simple guess. While experimenting with a forbidden technique he had stolen from Konoha, Asuka had summoned the Reibi and involuntarily absorbed some Dark Chakra. To his surprise, he found that the progress bar of a long-dormant genome in the gene bank had actually moved slightly.
Asuka compared and verified this several times, finally confirming that after absorbing Dark Chakra, the unlocking progress of that genome was indeed slowly increasing. It was this discovery that solidified his hypothesis that "different genomes prefer different energies." And the Third Mizukage's order to attack the Land of Wind this time happened to give him a perfect opportunity—he was going to target the Ichibi Shukaku, extract its Tailed Beast Chakra, and verify his theory.
...
Soon, Asuka conveyed the Third Mizukage's orders to the Hidden Mist members. Although they were equally confused and clearly couldn't understand why they should turn to attack Sunagakure at this critical juncture, under the long-term high-pressure rule of the Hidden Mist, they had already developed the habit of strict obedience. Despite their doubts, no one raised an objection; they simply responded in low voices and turned to carry out the orders.
Quickly, the Hidden Mist side withdrew some elite Ninja from the battlefield besieging Konoha, and together with newly supported reinforcements, a large-scale invasion force was rapidly assembled. Asuka personally took command, leading this grand army as they marched majestically toward the Land of Wind.
The army marched toward the Land of Wind, and after several days of travel, they finally arrived at the scheduled time.
When the scenery before them changed from the lakes and mountains of the Land of Water to an endless, vast desert, many Kirigakure Ninja immediately showed expressions of discomfort.
Having grown up in the moisture-rich and humid climate of the Land of Water, they were long accustomed to damp air and sufficient water. Now, suddenly stepping into this desert with its scorching sun and dryness that could almost suck all the moisture out of a person, the intense temperature difference and sense of dehydration made them feel miserable all over.
The reason why Sunagakure Village was the poorest among the Five Great Ninja Villages was rooted in the unique desert climate of the Land of Wind. The harsh natural environment kept the population of the Land of Wind the smallest among the Five Great Nations; vast stretches of barren desert separated the sparse oases, making even the daily travel of ordinary people exceptionally difficult, let alone developing commerce.
Even now, trade between the various villages in the Land of Wind still primarily relied on the primitive transportation method of camels. In such an environment, the fact that Sunagakure Village could secure its position as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages with limited resources was a testament to the tenacity and strength of the Sand Ninja.
Asuka was in no hurry to attack. He ordered the Hidden Mist members to set up camp on the spot and first adapt to the harsh climate of the Land of Wind.
On the boundless yellow sands, the busy figures of the Hidden Mist army did not escape a pair of sharp eyes in the sky—it was a Scaled Feather Falcon unique to the Land of Wind. Its gray-brown feathers blended with the sand dunes, and its wings flapped almost soundlessly.
It circled high in the air, taking in the dense crowd of Hidden Mist Ninja below, then stopped lingering. It suddenly tucked its wings and sped away like a gray-brown arrow in the direction it had come from.
A specialized leather bracer was fitted on a Sand Ninja's arm, with faint Chakra marks remaining on it.
The Scaled Feather Falcon landed steadily on the bracer and let out a short cry. The Sand Ninja immediately leaned down and, following the custom of the Sunagakure reconnaissance units, condensed a faint amount of Chakra at his fingertips, gently touching the hidden information core behind the bird's head. A stream of information instantly flooded into his mind through his fingertips. His originally calm face suddenly tensed, his pupils contracted sharply, and his face turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.
After quickly writing the intelligence on a blank scroll, he rushed downstairs to report to his superiors.
Soon, another bird took flight from the rooftop.
Information about the Hidden Mist invasion spread among the Sunagakure high-level officials. After their deliberation, they decided to deploy Pakura to the border to resist the foreign enemy.
Once Asuka confirmed that the Hidden Mist members had adapted sufficiently so that their combat effectiveness would not be affected, he decided to launch a formal attack on Sunagakure.
At first, the Kirigakure Ninja were unstoppable, capturing large swathes of Sunagakure territory.
But this momentum did not last long, as it was broken by the arrival of a single Ninja.
Scorch Release—Pakura!
The famous Bloodline Limit Ninja of Sunagakure Village, her mastery of Scorch Release was superb, capable of directly evaporating the moisture in a human body and turning enemies into mummies.
Pakura's arrival greatly encouraged the Sand Ninja, and they soon organized a sizable defense force to resist the Hidden Mist's offensive.
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