Night Assault

"Lord Sheng, your suggestions are excellent. I’ll give them serious consideration…"

Inside the command headquarters, the conversation continued. Sarutobi Hiruzen’s gaze toward Gu Sheng had already become extremely approving.

Gu Sheng had done his homework before coming to Naruto. Before entering, he had even taken the time to return to the modern world and specifically find quite a few books on modern and contemporary warfare.

Based on his fragmentary knowledge of Naruto, he had analyzed the situation, fabricated a rough background scenario, and even posted online asking for advice. The all-powerful netizens were formidable and had given him plenty of useful suggestions.

Now, he was borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha, leaving Sarutobi pleasantly surprised again and again. Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Nawaki all looked at him in shock. Even Chu Xin was no exception.

She knew Gu Sheng’s background well. She knew exactly how lazy he usually was. Yet this fellow had somehow transformed into a military expert, analyzing everything with perfect clarity. Had someone possessed him?!

"Lord Orochimaru! Lady Tsunade! We’re under attack! The Sunagakure Shinobi army is here again…"

A frantic cry suddenly came from outside the door. It was followed by an alarm even more urgent than the previous one. Before much time had passed, a series of thunderous tremors erupted. The shockwaves from powerful ninjutsu had actually reached the command room, which meant the front line had most likely already been breached.

"Sunagakure Shinobi… Damn it!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen abruptly rose to his feet and shook out his haori. "Orochimaru! Tsunade! Organize the army. This time, we’re leaving the Sunagakure Shinobi here for good."

He was furious as well. Were the Sunagakure Shinobi really going to keep pushing their luck endlessly? He had only just arrived at the front line, and they had already pulled something like this. They were deliberately provoking him!

"Yes~~"

Orochimaru and Tsunade shouted together before flashing out of the command room. Countless masked members of the ANBU rushed in from outside and surrounded the Third Hokage.

"To the battlefield!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was concise. Not one of the many ANBU made a superfluous movement. They flashed away and vanished from the spot, while Sarutobi moved even faster, already gone before his voice had faded.

No one specifically assigned Gu Sheng and the others a mission. Or rather, organizing the troops was the priority at a time like this. Assigning tasks to three nobodies with insufficient prestige would only waste precious time.

"Let’s go~"

Gu Sheng moved as soon as the thought occurred to him and called out to Chu Xin and Nawaki. The three of them quickly left as well. Since they had been ambushed in the middle of the night, there was little point in remaining in the command room. The orders issued there might not even reach their own people in time. They were better off heading to the battlefield immediately.

The moment the three of them left the command room, a Fire Release technique exploded in front of them. Three enormous creatures came into view, locked in battle: a giant purple snake and a colossal white slug working together against a monster covered in countless patterns, resembling a yellow tanuki.

"Ha ha ha ha ha~~~~~~"

The enormous tanuki kept letting out strange laughter. It seemed extremely excited to have been allowed out.

"Bunpuku! You should have let me out long ago."

The tanuki—One-Tail Shukaku—laughed loudly at his Jinchuriki, Bunpuku, within his consciousness.

"Shukaku! Remember what I told you. Drive back the Konoha people and force them out of the Land of Wind. That’s all."

Shukaku’s Jinchuriki was an old monk who had an excellent relationship with Shukaku and believed in "love." Yet at this moment, he somewhat regretted handing this battle directly over to Shukaku. As a believer in "love," he did not want his hands stained with blood. But the Kazekage’s words had been correct: Konoha had invaded the Land of Wind.

After thinking it over, he could only choose to evade the issue and let Shukaku act.

"Got it, Bunpuku. I agree."

Shukaku had instinctively wanted to argue, but Bunpuku was very close to him and was a Jinchuriki who put him at ease. He did not want to sour their relationship, so after thinking for a moment, he agreed. Besides, they were still far from the border of the Land of Wind. He could have a good time this round.

"Orochimaru, why did you summon me to deal with this kind of creature? This is a tailed beast! Sacrifices—I want more sacrifices!"

Manda shed its skin to evade Shukaku’s Magnet Release Sandstorm, then roared furiously at Orochimaru.

"You can eat as many of these attacking Sunagakure Shinobi as you want."

Orochimaru pointed toward the densely packed Sunagakure Shinobi forces below. Their sudden assault had inflicted heavy losses on his troops. With the Third Kazekage leading the charge and the Jinchuriki directly releasing the tailed beast, they had caught Konoha completely off guard, and Konoha’s outer defensive line had nearly collapsed across the board.

More precisely, in the short time since Konoha had achieved a major victory, the enemy had already driven them back to the command headquarters. He was in charge of everything tonight, and this was truly a disgrace beyond measure!

"Lady Tsunade, this Shukaku seems to have a Perfect Jinchuriki!"

While Manda complained to Orochimaru, Tsunade and the Slug were also communicating. Unlike Manda, there was only one Slug in Shikkotsu Forest from beginning to end: the Slug Sage. The one Tsunade summoned was merely one of its divided clones.

The Slug’s knowledge naturally surpassed that of ordinary people. It could sense that the Shukaku before them was a Jinchuriki capable of bringing out the tailed beast’s full power. Such Jinchuriki were exceedingly rare. Although Shukaku was currently controlling the body, Bunpuku’s consciousness had not fallen dormant.

A Perfect Jinchuriki could use the tailed beast’s full power. Combined with a human’s ability to control that power, such a Jinchuriki was far stronger than a purely wild tailed beast.

"A Perfect Jinchuriki?"

Tsunade did not quite understand. Hadn’t Jinchuriki only appeared after the establishment of the ninja villages? How could there be such a thing as a Perfect Jinchuriki? But after hearing the Slug’s explanation, her expression grew even grimmer. The creature before them was far more difficult to deal with than a simple rampaging tailed beast.

"Lord Sheng! What should we do?"

The three of them fought their way forward, dealing with numerous enemies before finally reaching the stalemated battlefield. On the eastern highlands, an extremely swift expert was battling the Third Hokage. Iron sand and the shockwaves of various ninjutsu continuously spread through the surroundings.

The Third Hokage’s combined ninjutsu possessed tremendous power. The man facing him should be Rasa’s master, the Third Kazekage. He relied almost exclusively on Magnet Release, but his ever-changing control of it went back and forth with Sarutobi Hiruzen’s techniques. He truly lived up to his reputation as the strongest Kazekage in history.

The Third Kage of each of the five villages had quite a reputation. Some had even been given the title of strongest in history. Of course, Konoha’s claim was a joke. When Sarutobi faced the First Hokage, the man let him use both hands—True Several Thousand Hands—and Sarutobi still could not make him move even half a step.

The Third Mizukage had little presence. As for the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, he was the most long-lived of the Third Kage. He had survived all the way until after Naruto became Hokage.

The Third Raikage was someone capable of withstanding a tailed beast with his body alone. He was said to possess absolute defense and the strongest attack.

As for the Third Kazekage, although he had been killed by Sasori of the Red Sands, Sasori would have had no chance against him in a head-on fight if he had not launched a sneak attack. As the first person to fully master Magnet Release, his strength ranked among the very best of all the Kage.