Inside the Mizukage's office building, in the conference hall.
Yusuke sat at the head of the table. Yagura stood beside him, spreading out a map of the border between the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning on the table.
On it were drawn the current ninja troop deployments of Kumogakure.
"They assembled ten thousand ninja in just two days?" Yusuke narrowed his eyes, examining this unusual situation.
Kumo certainly had no shortage of ninja. However, if the Raikage were to simply mobilize ten thousand ninja to deal with Kiri, even if he could fight them to a stalemate, the Cloud Village's interior would inevitably be left vulnerable.
The Raikage wasn't a fool. He wouldn't make such a fatal mistake.
"Are you absolutely certain that all of these ten thousand ninja are from the Cloud Village?" Yusuke asked again.
"Well..." Yagura and the others hesitated.
After all, from the intelligence they had gathered, those people were indeed wearing the uniforms of Kumo ninja.
"Three." Yusuke said, his eyes narrowing slightly, "At least three hidden villages have joined this ten-thousand-strong ninja attack force. Konohagakure will certainly be involved. Although they suffered a major defeat last time, it doesn't mean they won't dare to secretly send troops to aid Kumo. The fates of these two hidden villages have long been intertwined."
"And to simply have the Leaf Village send five thousand ninja, and the Cloud Village send five thousand ninja — these two hidden villages certainly wouldn't be that foolish. There must be a third village involved, perhaps even a fourth. My initial assessment is that it's the Sand Village."
He lightly tapped his finger on the location of Sunagakure on the map.
After all, it couldn't be mere coincidence that Pakura came to investigate the situation in Kiri. Yusuke didn't believe Suna wasn't involved in this.
"Yagura, how are those cursed seal ninja progressing?" He asked.
"Three thousand ninja have successfully received the cursed seal formula. Furthermore, five hundred have initially mastered the second stage, and one hundred have completely mastered it!" Yagura reported emphatically, taking a deep breath.
Inwardly, he was filled with admiration for Yusuke.
This powerful cursed seal formula could elevate a chunin's strength to that of a jonin. Moreover, if they could activate the second stage, their combat power would soar to that of an elite jonin. The combat power of those elite jonin would even approach that of a Kage!
Furthermore, there were over ten thousand doses of this cursed seal formula! If all ten thousand people could develop the power to the second stage, it would completely dominate the entire ninja world!
Yusuke nodded slightly. Having five hundred out of three thousand ninja develop the cursed seal power to the second stage was already quite impressive.
After all, the power of the cursed seal couldn't be developed to the second stage easily. A success rate {of complete mastery} of one-sixth was already remarkable.
Moreover, Yusuke had made an initial estimate. Out of ten thousand cursed seal formulas, at most only 1,500 people could develop to the second stage of the cursed seal. Of these 1,500, perhaps only 300 to 400 could fully master it.
The power of the cursed seal wasn't something that could be casually activated to its full power.
"Good. Deploy all three thousand cursed seal ninja to the border battlefield. Since Kumogakure wants to play, let's play with them to the end. We'll see who destroys whom first."
As the situation escalated, Yusuke's face grew serious. Everyone in the room could feel the tightly contained killing intent in his gaze.
If anyone dared to threaten the lives of Kiri's inhabitants or the Land of Water, they would face the Death God's fury!
Yusuke had another objective for this upcoming war, as he did for all battles: the battlefield was the fastest place to elevate one's strength.
For a genin to reach chunin level through normal training would take at least two to three years. But on the battlefield, even if they merely survived in the cracks, it would take at most two to three months!
After all, their minds are constantly under high pressure! They hone themselves through repeated life-and-death situations! Only then can their chakra achieve powerful breakthroughs!
Train soldiers for a thousand days, use them for an hour. It's time for this batch of cursed seal ninja to be tempered on the battlefield!
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After leaving the Mizukage's office building, Yusuke went to the top floor of the ANBU building.
Upon finding Pakura, he asked directly without preamble, "Pakura, how many ninja did your Sand Village send to support the Cloud Village?"
With just one sentence, she was startled!
How did Yusuke know about this? This was top-secret information! She had never said anything about this matter. She hadn't even let slip the slightest hint to Tsunade and the others.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Pakura said through gritted teeth, "My village and Kumo have been historically opposed. How could we possibly send ninja to them?"
She couldn't admit it even if it killed her! She absolutely couldn't admit it!
"Not going to tell the truth, huh?" Yusuke smiled lightly, "Well, we still have some time before dawn. Are you really not going to tell me the truth?"
"What I'm saying is the truth!" Pakura insisted stubbornly.
Yusuke slowly closed the bedroom door. Then he walked step by step towards her.
"You really don't want to tell me?" He said with a smile on his face.
"You... what are you going to do?" Pakura became frightened and kept backing away, "What I'm saying... is the truth!"
Yusuke continued walking towards her.
"I'll ask you one last time. I want to hear the truth."
By now, Pakura had been cornered against the bedroom wall. Yet she still defiantly replied, "What I'm saying... is the truth! You — Eh? Ah...???"
Then her mind went blank.
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[ Ding! Pakura is confusedly angry towards you for making her betray her village! Congratulations, host has gained 200,000 Villain Points! ]
The next morning, in Pakura's assigned bedroom.
"Sunagakure sent a full three thousand ninja to Kumogakure, and Konohagakure sent over three thousand as well. No wonder we didn't detect this information in advance." Yusuke mused.
He stood naked before the glass window, a steaming cup of coffee in hand, gazing down at the bustling Kirigakure below.
"Pakura, your Sand Village is quite clever — coordinating with the Leaf Village and transferring ninja through the Land of Fire's rear areas. It would've been very difficult for our Mist Village to uncover this information."
Sprawled on the bed, Pakura only let out a soft huff, unwilling to move. The intense night had left both her spirit and body utterly exhausted.
If Yusuke hadn't bathed her a few hours ago, she wouldn't have had the courage to do it herself.
This man was a physical monster! He'd forcibly extracted the intelligence he wanted from her. She hated herself for failing to keep the secret — she'd truly let her village down.
Yusuke smiled when he saw her pouting face. After admiring her exposed figure, he controlled himself and approached her.
Placing the coffee cup on the nightstand, he climbed onto the bed and turned her over, kissing her irritated lips.
"I told you earlier. No one can keep secrets from me. No one at all."
"Hmph!" Pakura glared at him angrily, giving his waist a light pinch. She knew it wouldn't hurt him, much to her frustration.
"Have a good day." Laughing at her futile attempt, Yusuke rose from the bed after giving her another kiss, "Don't miss me too much. I'll return later to reward you for the information."
With a wink, he donned his clean clothes and left.
Shortly after, Tsunade and Mikoto entered.
By then, Pakura had put on white pajamas, resigning herself to spending the rest of the day in bed. She felt utterly defeated. The only small comfort was the coffee Yusuke had left behind.
"Pakura, are you alright?" Mikoto asked softly, noticing her friend's distracted gaze toward the glass wall.
Tsunade remained silent, outwardly calm but inwardly irritated by her noisy new neighbor.
Looking at the two concerned women, Pakura sighed. She began to tell them about Konoha, Suna, and Kumo's plan to launch a joint war against Kiri.
'It's no longer a secret…' She sighted in her toughts, 'Besides, the great war will break out soon. Yusuke already knows everything.'
"What? The Sand Village, our Leaf, and the Cloud Village have joined forces? They've formed an army of ten thousand ninja?" Tsunade frowned, her voice low, "Isn't this a direct declaration of war against the Mist Village?"
"All the ninja from Suna and Konoha have infiltrated Kumo's forces," Pakura said through gritted teeth, "On the surface, it appears to be just the Cloud Village waging war against the Mist Village..."
"But now Yusuke knows this secret, doesn't he?" Tsunade asked.
"...Yes." A light blush colored Pakura's cheeks as she recalled revealing the information to him.
To think that she had faltered in the face of a threat — the threat of him stopping what he was doing. Honestly, it was embarrassing that a ninja of her caliber had succumbed to that.
"Pakura, this isn't your fault." Mikoto said softly as she sat down beside her.
She understood Pakura's feelings at this moment — the desire to hate and deny the sensation, yet being unable to.
As for Tsunade, she inwardly hoped for Kumo to defeat Kiri this time. However, even if they could overcome the Mist Village, defeating Yusuke would be utterly impossible!
This man... he was too powerful! His terrifying strength, mysterious and unpredictable abilities, and countless trump cards were overwhelming.
Even Tsunade had begun to entertain the absurd idea that the Cloud Village would suffer a crushing defeat.
Moreover, in her heart, she believed this absurd idea might very well become reality...
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Two days passed slowly.
Yusuke almost hadn't appeared at the ANBU headquarters during this time. Yet, the less he showed himself, the more Tsunade and the others sensed something was amiss.
This time... it seemed he might truly teach Kumogakure an unforgettable lesson!
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On the border between the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning.
"Hahahahaha! This time, we will easily slaughter Yusuke Kamizuki!"
Inside the frontline camp tent, the Fourth Raikage, A, was laughing wildly, full of vigor and confidence.
Ever since he obtained such terrifying power from Orochimaru, his ego had inflated to new heights. Upon returning to the village, he had even tested his combat prowess against Killer B!
Now, even Gyuki was shocked by A's combat power.
His body could easily withstand the explosion of a Tailed Beast Ball, and the power of his punches was comparable to one. It could be said that the current Fourth Raikage was like a walking Eight-Tails — perhaps even more powerful!
After all, he also possessed a vague but potent supressing ability within his body. This ability was, of course, the power of Hashirama's Wood Release chakra.
Inside the tent, the Fourth Raikage was joined by two members of the Uchiha clan. The pair stood out with their pale faces and an aura of violence surrounding them.
These clan members had endured intense mental torture from Orochimaru, awakening their Mangekyo Sharingan as a result.
"Our Uchiha clan has sixty half-shadow ninja this time, plus the two of us providing cover among them. We will completely annihilate the ninja of Kirigakure!" The leading Uchiha's voice was filled with cold determination.
Their purpose for being here was simple: Kill!
Their highest order from Fugaku was to kill everyone from Kirigakure — to slaughter indiscriminately without revealing their identities.
If their identities were exposed, they were to use all their strength to eliminate those Kiri ninjas who discovered them, even if it meant trading life for life.
This was the manifestation of Fugaku Uchiha's vengeful fury.
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