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"Ramoi, is your squad on purge duty today?"
"Yes, and it's in area A3."
"A3 area for purge duty? Last time, Ilan-senpai's squad encountered trouble there, and I heard their bodies were returned, victims of the Leaf's Raijin."
Hearing that his friend was assigned to such an ill-fated location, the Cloud ninja immediately became worried.
"What will you do if you encounter the Leaf's Raijin?"
"If, if it happens, it happens. Even if I die, I won't let him look down on the resolve of a Cloud ninja!"
Ramoi's face was determined, though his tone and legs trembled slightly. As an average chūnin, he had been hearing about the Leaf's Raijin slaughtering numerous people these days, sending many bodies to the border of the Land of Hot Water.
Even the corpse collection units hadn't gone for a few days, and the bodies had piled up like a small mountain.
Three thousand Cloud ninja have died over this period, a total of three hundred ninjas, a number that even made the Third Raikage grind his teeth in frustration.
"Otto brother, is there any way to change the mission?"
After thinking for a while, Ramoi still couldn't overcome his fear. He wasn't afraid of death, but dying at the hands of the Leaf's Raijin seemed pointless; so many had died by his hand over the months, and nothing had changed.
"The missions are already assigned, what else do you want?"
"What are you guys talking about?"
A commanding voice startled them, and when they turned around, they saw A of the A and B combination. The ninjas panicked a bit and quickly responded, "We... said nothing!"
A glanced at them, then warned, "Complete the mission properly. In the Cloud Village, we only recognize death in battle, even I am not an exception!"
He had overheard Ramoi wanting to change his mission and initially wanted to severely punish him to teach him the consequences of desertion.
But A reconsidered. Fear of the Leaf's Raijin wasn't unique to Ramoi. Over the past three months, over a hundred bodies had been returned, and rumors of the Leaf's Raijin as a grim reaper's scythe hanging over the Cloud ninja's necks had spread. Punishing Ramoi wouldn't change the overall morale.
A headed towards the Raikage's tent, knowing they needed to change their approach quickly.
Inside the Raikage's tent, along with his father, were two other Jōnin, who had been following the Third Raikage for a long time and held nearly as much authority in the village as a village elder.
"Father, we can't keep going like this. We should initiate the final battle."
A spoke directly to the Third Raikage, "Our sensory ninjas are inferior to those of Leaf Village in terms of bloodline and secret techniques. We've been dragged around by them this whole time. That Uchiha bastard's reputation is only growing. If this continues, even if we start a decisive battle, we'll be at a disadvantage."
In the past few months, over four hundred Cloud ninja had died compared to an estimated two hundred from Leaf.
The death ratio was over 2:1; continuing like this, the Cloud would be slowly bled dry by that Uchiha bastard.
And since their sensory ninja couldn't match Leaf's Byakugan and other secret techniques, they couldn't even locate that Uchiha bastard.
Once, A and Killer B had tried using another Cloud ninja squad as bait, but once they were slightly out of range, that squad was killed by the Uchiha bastard within minutes, and he even escaped right in front of them.
Afterward, A and Killer B hurriedly pursued, but thankfully, Killer B's inner Eight-Tails warned them just in time, or they would have been surrounded by Leaf ninja.
"Wait a moment, A."
The tent fell silent for a while before a Cloud ninja entered, holding a report from the Cloud Village, and handed it to the Third Raikage, "Raikage-sama, this is a message from the village elder."
"Hmm, I see."
The Third Raikage read it and then passed it around. It eventually reached A.
It was intelligence from the Land of Rice Fields. Stone ninja had tentatively attacked with three hundred ninja, but were repelled by Sasori, who killed many of them.
And the village elder had already sent reinforcements; even if the Stone ninja increased their forces, he wouldn't let them cross the Land of Rice Fields.
"Let's prepare for the final battle as A suggests."
The Third Raikage's voice was firm, his fists cracking with determination: "We must take down Konoha in the final battle, A, keep an eye on Killer B, and watch out for that move from Uchiha Yōichi."
He was referring to the jutsu Yōichi used to break his arm, which had a penetrating power even more terrifying than a Tailed Beast Bomb. If Killer B transformed into the full Eight-Tails, he was likely to be hit by it.
This time, A needed to protect Killer B and engage that Uchiha bastard, preventing any disturbance to Killer B.
"I understand, Father."
"After continuous probing, we can almost pinpoint the Leaf camp. Our ninjas' sacrifices will not be in vain."
Another Cloud Jōnin spoke, noting they had gradually narrowed down the possible locations of the Leaf camp after marking fifteen areas and continuously sending squads for purge and scouting missions.
"Go prepare, A. Let out all your pent-up rage on the battlefield."
"I understand, Father."
A was ready to teach that Uchiha bastard a lesson.
Meanwhile, at the Leaf side, the situation was the complete opposite.
The longer time dragged on, the higher their morale soared. Recently, mission squads even chased after Cloud ninja to kill, all because of the Leaf's Raijin in that battlefield.
Thanks to Uchiha Yōichi, Cloud ninja were scarce around their camp. Any stray Cloud squads that slipped through were quickly dealt with.
In the tent, Kurenai peeked in but only saw Yugito and sighed, "Yōichi-sensei isn't here again."
Then, speaking to the silent Yugito, she said, "Haven't you figured it out yet? You should just follow Yōichi-sensei honestly. He's usually easy to talk to, but when he gets angry, no one can stop him."
"I'm serious. Last time I didn't complete a mission, he hung me from a tree and then with a whip—"
"Do you really want to be beaten like that?"
Kurenai was animatedly speaking when she suddenly heard a familiar voice at the door, causing her face to stiffen.
Then, seeing a calm Yōichi, Kurenai quickly acted cute, "Yōichi-sensei, I was just trying to persuade her."
"Persuasion is useless. She doesn't have a choice."
His words made Yugito flip over in anger, but seeing Yōichi's face, her chest heaved with fury before she lay back down.
She had cried enough over the past few days and had secretly vowed not to cry anymore.
Unable to return to the Cloud Village and lacking the courage to kill herself, Yugito remained in Yōichi's tent, occasionally walking around the camp but largely confined.
"Forget Yugito for now. What you just said, do you want me to treat you that way in the future?"
"Heh, Yōichi-sensei, I have a mission. I'll head out now!"
With that, Kurenai hurriedly ran past Yōichi, who didn't stop her. His recent experimentation with ninjutsu had drained him, and he needed to rest.
After the Master of Dreams ability disappeared, Yōichi had his shadow clone secretly return to Konoha to bring out the starstone.
For the past three months, during every break, Yōichi would leave the camp to a secluded area to absorb the starstone's chakra.
Other than raising his body temperature, absorbing the starstone's chakra offered no other benefits. Even if it radiated a bit during absorption, it would dissipate afterward.
The Star ninja had cultivated for hundreds of years, and the Third Star Shadow, who lived during the Warring States Period, was even older than Hashirama. He also absorbed starstone chakra with no issues.
Moreover, Yōichi had personally experienced the enhancement of the Sharingan's chakra by the starstone. Although most of the starstone's chakra had been absorbed by Godzilla, a small portion was absorbed by his Sharingan.
After three months of daily absorption, his three tomoe linked together last night, evolving into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Intense emotional changes are one method for the tomoe to advance to the Mangekyō, but not the only one; the Sharingan is a type of chakra produced in the brain, corresponding to changes in the eye organ.
Rather than being mere changes in the eyes, it's more about the stimulation of this unique chakra.
Thus, even without the Sharingan, the ability to use Susanoo after awakening the Mangekyō remains, though the release of dōjutsu requires the eye organ.
The chakra of the starstone and the Uchiha clan's unique chakra are somewhat related, allowing Yōichi's Sharingan to strengthen upon absorbing the starstone's chakra.
Three months of absorption directly advanced his Sharingan to the Mangekyō.
After the Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyō, Yōichi's chakra also enhanced, roughly doubling from before.
With the advancement from the three tomoe to the Mangekyō, Yōichi also discovered the two Dōjutsu residing in his eyes.
His left eye housed Ishimikumari.
His right eye housed Yamarinomikoto.
The right eye, symbolizing the deity of everlasting life, had the power to eliminate death. Anything it gazed upon thrived, representing the deepest desires of Yōichi.
The left eye was more akin to harboring a disaster god, with powers similar to a curse, rapidly weakening an enemy's body. Yōichi could precisely control which body part was affected.
There was also a third Dōjutsu, Susanoo.
He tried using Susanoo last night; instantly, a ten-meter-tall half-skeleton of Susanoo formed outside his body. As Yōichi increased his chakra output, the skeletal Susanoo gradually became armored.
However, he quickly deactivated Susanoo as releasing large amounts of chakra was painful, though tolerable for him.
The Raiton Chakra Mode already required continuous chakra release, so Yōichi was accustomed to it, and armored Susanoo was within his endurance.
Still, frequent use of Susanoo put a significant strain on the eyes. Without actual experimentation with integrating Hashirama's cells, Yōichi decided to minimize its use.
In the dream space, Mina had experimented with integrating Hashirama's cells over two hundred times, eventually devising three plans.
Now, they just needed to obtain Hashirama's cells in reality. However, Hashirama's remains were well-guarded by Konoha, likely accessible only to the Hokage and top village officials.
Once back, Yōichi planned to find an opportunity. He already had the synthetic method for Hashirama's cells; now, he just needed the cells themselves.
"Yōichi-dono!"
Someone outside the tent called, and Yōichi sat up and walked out. The messenger ninja, seeing Yōichi, quickly said, "Commander has summoned all Jōnin to assemble."
"Understood."
Yōichi responded and headed to the command tent.
Soon, all Jōnin gathered at Sakumo's tent, though four were missing—not because they hadn't come, but because those four Jōnin had already died on the battlefield.
"Now that everyone's here, I'll get straight to the point. The Cloud ninja are launching a major attack. It seems they've discovered our camp and are now heading this way," Sakumo said with a grave expression. "At least a thousand men, and we don't know if the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki is among them, but we can't let them get close. That's why I've already ordered the ninja corps to assemble here to stop them!"
As he spoke, he pointed to a spot on the map, a slope that had been chosen as the defensive position because it was an excellent spot for staging a defense.
"All mission teams are disbanded to join the ninja corps, except for the teams of Yōichi, Sarutobi, and mine. Imamura-kun, you might need to take command."
Sakumo continued, maintaining only three Jōnin teams, each composed of six Jōnin and several outstanding Chūnin.
These three Jōnin teams were tasked with countering the more powerful Cloud ninja, such as the Third Raikage and the A and B combination. If these formidable opponents breached into the Leaf's ninja corps, it would result in a horrific slaughter.
Imamura nodded in agreement: "Don't worry, Sakumo-kun."
"Yōichi-kun, about the Two-Tails..."
"I've taken precautions; the Cloud won't get a living Two-Tails Jinchūriki."
Yōichi stated, having left a Flying Thunder God seal on Yugito and arranged for people to watch her in the camp. If the Cloud managed to rescue her, they wouldn't escape his pursuit.
"That's good to hear. Everyone, be careful on the battlefield."
With those words from Sakumo, the final battle was set to begin.
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"Shizune, wait here for me; just wait for my return."
"Lady Tsunade, where are you going? The ship leaves in three hours."
"Tickets or whatever don't matter; we're not short on money now. If it expires, we'll just buy another!"
Tsunade said, planning to leave. Ever since that Uchiha brat left, she felt a weight on her chest, as if a stone was pressing down.
"It's all because of that brat. Why did he tell me such things, making it impossible to relax even while traveling."
After all, it was the village her grandfather founded. She decided to go back and have a look. If things got really bad, she could ask the slugs for help. This was the most Tsunade felt she could do.
(End of Chapter)