Chapter 203 (Patreon)

Night had fallen, and thick clouds covered the moon, allowing barely any light to reach the ground.

The Konoha forces had already relocated their camp to the valley. Under Jiraiya’s command, with Homura Mitokado assisting him, they had completed every preparation for the ambush.

Most of the Konoha shinobi still moving around inside the camp were merely shadow clones. Only a small number of jōnin remained there in person, along with Commander Jiraiya and his disciple, Minato Namikaze.

Time passed slowly until the early hours of the twenty-seventh—the day Kumogakure and Iwagakure were expected to launch their joint attack, according to Konoha’s intelligence.

Several Hyūga shinobi assigned to sentry duty kept their Byakugan active, ready to report the slightest sign of movement.

“Minato, it’s almost time. Get ready.”

Inside the command tent, Jiraiya turned toward his disciple and gave him a final reminder.

Minato nodded.

This was his first time participating in a war, yet he had already been entrusted with a crucial role. Although he could not completely suppress his nervousness, there was also a hint of excitement in his eyes.

The task Jiraiya had assigned him was simple. The moment a large number of enemy shinobi entered the camp, Minato was to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to evacuate every Konoha shinobi who remained inside.

Minato was not the only young shinobi entrusted with an important task.

His girlfriend, Kushina Uzumaki—the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki—had been given an even more critical role.

Once Minato had evacuated everyone from the camp, Kushina, who was waiting in ambush behind the valley, would fire a Tailed Beast Ball directly at it.

The merciless strategy had been proposed by Homura Mitokado. After some hesitation, Jiraiya ultimately agreed to carry it out.

“Kushina, the enemy should arrive soon. Be prepared.”

In the forested highlands behind the valley, Homura led several Konoha jōnin in maintaining a concealment barrier around Kushina, masking both her presence and her chakra.

Kushina nodded eagerly.

This was the first time she would be permitted to use a Tailed Beast Ball in actual combat. Moreover, she would be using it in a battle to defend Konoha. Her eyes shone with anticipation.

“Kurama, I’ll be counting on you!”

To ensure that nothing went wrong, Kushina spoke to the Nine-Tails within her mind.

“Hmph. I suppose I can lend you my strength this once.”

Kushina had already reshaped the mindscape within her seal. Rather than being tightly bound in place, Kurama now remained behind the bars of an enormous cage inside a vast chamber, much like the seal that would later exist within Naruto.

“Uncle Homura, don’t worry. Kurama and I already have an agreement.”

Kushina turned toward Homura and gave him a confident smile.

Homura nodded calmly before looking back toward the valley.

Despite his composed expression, he still felt somewhat uneasy. He had no way of knowing whether Jiraiya’s dangerous plan would truly succeed.

The Konoha shinobi did not have to wait much longer.

From the direction of the Land of Grass, the combined forces of Kumogakure and Iwagakure had already begun moving. Their invasion of the Land of Fire was officially underway.

More than five thousand shinobi had been divided into three separate waves before advancing toward the border.

Possessing the ability to fly, Ōnoki led a vanguard force of two thousand shinobi through the airspace above the Land of Fire.

Neither Ōnoki nor any of the advancing shinobi spoke. Even their footsteps and movements were deliberately restrained to avoid creating unnecessary noise.

As the vanguard, their objective was straightforward.

They were to launch a surprise attack against the Konoha forces stationed near the border. Ideally, they would annihilate the entire unit before anyone could send word of the invasion back to Konoha.

“They’re here!”

Inside the camp, one of the Hyūga shinobi maintaining his Byakugan was the first to discover traces of the approaching enemy.

After alerting his companions, he hurried toward the command post at the center of the camp.

“Jiraiya-sama, we’ve detected the enemy. Their exact numbers are still unknown.”

Without wasting a moment, Jiraiya rose from his seat and left the tent with Minato.

Konoha had discovered the approaching allied forces, but the reverse was also true.

As the distance between the two sides rapidly narrowed, Ōnoki spotted Konoha’s camp from the air. He also saw Jiraiya leading a large group of Konoha shinobi out to confront them.

“Ōnoki! Are you truly going to betray the alliance and start a war against Konoha?”

In full view of the approaching army, Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta and took up position in the open ground before the camp.

Ōnoki did not answer his question.

Instead, he brought his hands together and immediately unleashed Dust Release.

“Jump!”

The moment Jiraiya shouted, Gamabunta, who had already sensed the danger, drove both legs into the ground and leaped aside.

The Dust Release swept through the place where he had been standing, causing an entire section of the ground to vanish without leaving a trace.

Gamabunta’s heart trembled when he saw the missing earth.

That technique was far too dangerous.

Ōnoki’s attack served as the signal for the battle to begin.

The allied shinobi surged forward from behind him and launched their attacks. Some hurled volleys of ninja tools, while others worked together to perform large-scale ninjutsu. Several shinobi charged directly toward Konoha’s camp, willing to risk being caught in their allies’ attacks just to engage the Konoha forces in close combat.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Countless attacks rained down upon the camp.

Many Konoha shinobi failed to evade in time and were struck. However, instead of leaving corpses behind, their bodies burst into white smoke and disappeared.

“They’re shadow clones! Stay alert!”

After realizing that many of the Konoha shinobi were merely clones, Ōnoki immediately warned the allied forces below.

He continued battling Jiraiya in the air while avoiding the Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet jointly unleashed by Jiraiya and Gamabunta.

“Jiraiya, you used yourself as bait. Aren’t you afraid you won’t make it back alive?”

Ōnoki’s expression darkened as he spoke.

“Hahaha!”

Jiraiya laughed without the slightest trace of fear.

“Goodbye, you stubborn old man!”

After saying that, Jiraiya pushed off Gamabunta’s back and simultaneously released the Summoning Jutsu.

Gamabunta vanished in a burst of white smoke, leaving Jiraiya falling through the air.

At that moment, Minato flashed into existence directly behind him. Beads of sweat covered his forehead.

Using the Flying Thunder God Technique repeatedly within such a short period to evacuate so many people had placed an enormous strain on the young Minato.

He placed his right hand on Jiraiya’s shoulder.

Before Ōnoki could unleash another Dust Release technique, both master and disciple vanished.

Ōnoki’s attack struck empty air.

He lowered his gaze toward the battlefield and watched as the remaining Konoha shinobi continued disappearing into clouds of white smoke. His expression became increasingly grim.

It was a trap.

They had walked straight into a trap prepared by Konoha.

But what were the Konoha shinobi planning?

Ōnoki and the allied forces did not remain confused for long.

Only a few breaths after Jiraiya and Minato disappeared, a colossal chakra beast shrouded in orange-red light appeared several hundred meters ahead of them.

Kushina, now in her complete tailed-beast form, crossed the remaining distance with a single leap and landed directly in the middle of Konoha’s abandoned camp.

Then, under the horrified gazes of the enemy shinobi, the Nine-Tails opened his enormous jaws.

“Run!”

Ōnoki immediately recognized both the Nine-Tails and the terrifying technique it was preparing.

He rushed to the front of the allied forces, brought his hands together, and poured his chakra into Earth Release. He intended to create as many defensive barriers as possible to weaken the Tailed Beast Ball.

One earthen wall rose from the ground.

Then a second.

Then a third.

Ōnoki continued creating more walls, racing against time. He had to erect as many barriers as possible before the Tailed Beast Ball was released and buy the allied forces enough time to escape.

At Kushina’s request, Kurama had assumed direct control over the complete tailed-beast transformation.

As he gathered chakra for the enormous Tailed Beast Ball, his gaze swept across the rising earthen walls. Disdain filled his crimson eyes.

Did those shinobi truly believe a few walls of earth could stop his Tailed Beast Ball?

It was nothing more than the desperate struggle of a group of ants.

Kurama’s nine tails rose high behind him as an enormous sphere of purple chakra rapidly formed above his open jaws.

The sphere continued expanding until it was nearly as large as Kurama’s entire body.

Such an immense concentration of chakra caused every shinobi present to tremble, regardless of whether they belonged to Konoha or the allied forces.

Standing at the rear of the camp, Jiraiya wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Even he had been frightened by the enormous Tailed Beast Ball Kushina and Kurama had created.

Kushina, isn’t this a little excessive?

At this rate, a single blast might wipe out every last enemy.

With that thought, Jiraiya could not help turning toward Minato. A trace of sympathy appeared in his eyes as he looked at his disciple.

Minato, however, did not notice his teacher’s gaze.

His attention remained completely fixed on Kushina’s transformed figure and the terrifying mass of chakra suspended in the air.

Finally, under countless gazes filled with anticipation, shock, and terror, the Tailed Beast Ball finished charging.

The enormous sphere began compressing under Kurama’s control, rapidly shrinking until it became a dense purple-black orb.

The surrounding space distorted beneath the pressure radiating from it, yet Kurama remained completely unaffected.

He closed his jaws around the compressed orb.

The next instant, the immense energy erupted inside his mouth before being released all at once.

A blinding white light illuminated the entire valley.

A catastrophic beam of energy burst from Kurama’s mouth and tore across the battlefield.

The eight earthen walls standing in its path were obliterated one after another, yet the beam’s power was barely diminished.

Its range was just as terrifying as its destructive force.

Aside from a few exceptionally fast experts and a small number of fortunate survivors, none of the fleeing allied shinobi managed to escape the blast.

Ōnoki flew high into the sky once again.

His face turned deathly pale as he watched the earth below convulse and the mountains for miles disappear behind a rising sea of smoke.

How were they supposed to fight against this?

Konoha did not merely possess Kizaru.

It also had a perfect Nine-Tails jinchūriki.

At that moment, Ōnoki bitterly regretted ever launching this invasion.