Led by Hiruzen, more than three thousand people were marching in a grand procession out of Konoha Village.
The combat personnel and civilians were completely mixed together.
It seemed to be done in order to ensure the safety of these civilians.
Many of these civilians had lived in Konoha for decades and were deeply attached to it.
Quite a few were reluctant to leave, some covered their faces and wept, some muttered curses under their breath, and some just stood there blankly, refusing to move.
The scene was quite a spectacle.
The combat personnel didn't rush them, patiently waiting for the civilians to leave first.
Standing atop Konoha's walls, Rengoku watched the grand migration of over three thousand people with great interest.
Tsunade stood beside him and asked, "When are you planning to make your move?"
Rengoku shook his head, "In this situation, too many civilians would die."
"I don't mind being the executioner, but that would hurt Konoha's reputation, and that's bad for the village's future expansion."
Tsunade didn't know what kind of move Rengoku was planning, but it would definitely be some kind of wide-range attack. If he really acted now, all these civilians would die.
Her expression was conflicted.
She didn't want Hiruzen and his people to get away so easily, but she also didn't want the civilians to die along with them. After all, she was a medical ninja.
Rengoku looked up slightly, "If you really can't wait, there's another way."
"Bring your granduncle Tobirama back with the Impure World Reincarnation. He'd definitely wipe them all out."
At the mention of Senju Tobirama, Tsunade's temper immediately flared.
Glaring down at the ninjas below, her eyes gleamed with killing intent, "Let him keep lying there. I'll do it myself."
Rengoku shrugged indifferently, "Don't worry too much. There aren't that many places they can hide with such a huge group."
"From their direction, they're probably heading for the Daimyo's mansion."
"Let Hiruzen walk a little farther first."
"We'll stabilize Konoha first. By now, this news should've already spread to every other village's offices."
"The Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki isn't with them anymore, so someone else might be even more anxious than we are."
"And besides," He added, "If you plan to act personally, you'd better take care of your own problem first."
———
Just as Rengoku had expected, within only a few days, Konoha's situation had spread far and wide.
The strongest reaction came from the Land of Lightning's Kumogakure.
[Raikage's Office]
Ay had just finished reading the report in his hand. [T/N: I am using 'Ay' instead of 'A' because 'A' is also an article so it can be confusing at times.]
Slamming his palm on the desk, he made a deep, booming sound.
Thankfully, they'd recently replaced his desk with a sturdier one. Otherwise, it would've collapsed again.
"Konoha actually split apart! What on earth is Uchiha Rengoku thinking?"
The Raikage had suffered several setbacks at Rengoku's hands before, so now, seeing him seemingly make such a foolish move,
he couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious.
Beside him, Dodai had already finished reading the intel as well and began to think deeply.
When the first report came in, they had mobilized all of Kumogakure's spies in the Land of Fire to investigate, and unbelievably, this outrageous news turned out to be true.
Hiruzen, with two to three thousand people, had indeed left Konoha and was now moving toward the Daimyo's mansion.
"The intel checks out. With that many people, there's no way it's fake," Dodai said, setting the tone.
"It's possible that Uchiha Rengoku did this just to seize power from Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"And, more importantly, it looks like Uchiha Rengoku isn't afraid of an attack from us."
The Raikage's eyes lit up with sudden clarity.
"So what you're saying, Dodai, is that Rengoku is confident he can handle all four of our villages at once?"
Dodai shook his head. "It's possible he only needs to deal with two."
He pointed southward, toward the sea, where Kirigakure lay.
"Uchiha has a close relationship with Yagura of Kirigakure. It's highly likely that the Mist will support the Uchiha Clan."
The Raikage frowned, thinking it over.
He had to admit, Dodai's reasoning made sense.
Dodai continued, "Also, the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki is still in Konoha."
"We don't know how powerful it is right now, but the Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan can definitely suppress Jinchuriki."
The Raikage stood and walked toward the window, frustration evident on his face.
"We've relied too much on Jinchuriki," Dodai said knowingly, seeing where the Raikage was looking.
In that direction lay the Kumogakure training ground at the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, where Killer B was training.
The Raikage knew Dodai was right.
But training Jinchuriki was the fastest and most effective way for a ninja village to raise top-tier fighters.
Everyone knew the Raikage was strong, but no one could replicate him.
Not everyone was born with that kind of talent.
Training even one jonin took years, let alone a kage-level powerhouse.
And now, out of nowhere, the Uchiha Clan had three Mangekyo-level elites.
That meant, at the highest level, Kumogakure had completely lost its advantage.
On top of that, the Raikage had lost one arm, meaning the old days of the "A and B combo" charging alone into enemy territory were over. If they tried that now, they'd definitely get caught.
"Gather more intel," the Raikage said quietly, "Let's see how the other villages react."
He glanced at his mechanical arm.
Though this advanced prosthetic fully met his daily needs, it couldn't restore his fighting power.
That fact weighed heavily on his mind.
After all, he was in his prime, he should have been at his strongest. Instead, he'd lost an arm.
It was a huge blow, and one that had weakened Kumogakure's top-end combat strength.
So now, they had no choice but to act carefully.
———
[Iwagakure]
[Training Field]
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
Deidara framed his hands together, a sphere of white light appearing in his palms.
BOOM!
A dazzling flash burst forth, instantly punching a perfectly round, transparent hole through the target in front of him.
Deidara collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, but his eyes were full of excitement.
"Old man, I did it! HAHAHAHA!"
He burst out laughing wildly.
Deidara, ever the self-proclaimed genius, had thought mastering Dust Release wouldn't take long.
But reality proved otherwise. He had been training day and night for half a year, and only now had he managed to use it successfully for the first time.
For him, that was way too slow.
He hadn't been out to play for far too long.
As Deidara lay on the ground laughing, Onoki floated over to the target with his hands clasped behind his back.
He examined the hole left by the jutsu.
The edges were perfectly smooth, a sign that Deidara's chakra blending was extremely precise.
While Deidara thought half a year was too slow, Onoki thought it was incredibly fast.
And not just fast, excellent.
He remembered that it had taken him four full years to learn Dust Release himself, and even after mastering it, his chakra ratios had been off. The edges of his Dust Release were rough and uneven.
Though Deidara was only thirteen and his chakra reserves limited,
that would change with age. With such natural talent, this minor flaw was nothing.
Thinking back to Deidara's outstanding performance during the recent mine battle, Onoki felt deeply comforted.
It seemed Iwagakure had a worthy successor after all.
"You took this long to succeed, and you're proud of it?", Onoki said bluntly.
"You can only use Dust Release once before you're out of chakra, what good is that?"
Though he felt gratified inside, he didn't show it.
Deidara was so arrogant that if Onoki praised him, he might fly straight to the sky.
Besides, it had been decades since Onoki himself had learned Dust Release, and Deidara had no idea how long it had taken him back then.
"Hmph!", Deidara grumbled. His chakra reserves were indeed low,
and compared to his clay bombs, Dust Release consumed an absurd amount of chakra.
Onoki wasn't wrong, but Deidara didn't want to hear it.
"Just wait," he said, "Once I improve this technique, I'll be able to use it multiple times."
Onoki chuckled softly.
Ninjutsu wasn't something that could be "improved" just like that, especially not a bloodline elimination technique that combined three chakra natures.
Just then, an ANBU arrived to summon Onoki.
As he left, Onoki said casually, "Fine then, let me know when you've improved Dust Release."
Then he followed the ANBU to handle village affairs.
Deidara sat up, scowling, "The old man dares to look down on me? Hmph!"
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