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Konoha, Hokage's Office.
A ninja belonging to Konoha's intelligence division was reporting the latest situation on the front lines to the Third Hokage.
"Currently, the battle between Konoha and Amegakure has basically come to an end. The two sides have reached a state of silence and ceasefire. Amegakure's leader, Hanzō, is ready to surrender. I believe they will send a messenger to Konoha soon."
This was good news. The Third Hokage thought for a moment and said, "We'll acknowledge a ceasefire with Amegakure. Tell the command on the front lines not to try to invade Amegakure anymore. Just defend strictly. If Hanzō really sends a messenger seeking peace, let them come."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"As for the battle between us and Sunagakure, Lady Tsunade is currently leading the front lines against Sunagakure. At this stage, although we're still at a disadvantage in terms of troops, the situation has shifted from defense to offense. The battlefield has moved from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rivers, and it is gradually approaching the border of the Land of Wind."
"Very good…" The situation with Sunagakure was also improving. Sunagakure's enemies weren't only Konoha. They also faced strong pressure from Iwagakure in the north. At this stage in the war, Sunagakure's war potential was almost completely exhausted.
According to Konoha's strategy, they were resolving the war in the order of West, then North, then East. The first target was Sunagakure, and they also deployed three lines of defense accordingly.
Currently, only the Sunagakure front was trying to attack. The other two lines of defense were in a defensive posture.
Of course, because the north line had to face the powerful Kumogakure and Iwagakure, Konoha had the most troops on this front. To counter the powerful attacks from the two enemies, Konoha would also occasionally counterattack. As for the Kirigakure front to the east, they were currently in a completely defensive position.
The Third Hokage was considering whether to pull out troops and concentrate on the Land of Wind, to defeat Sunagakure in one decisive strike.
However, just as the Hokage was about to speak again…
"BOOM…"
A sound of an explosion that wasn't very loud, it's as if some giant had let out a muffled grunt, came out of nowhere. In peacetime, this kind of sound wouldn't matter. But now, during the tense war, every little thing mattered. This kind of sound could mean that Konoha was being invaded!
The Third Hokage immediately jumped up from his seat!
"What's going on?"
Four ANBU ninjas who were guarding outside instantly appeared in front of the Hokage!
"Hokage-sama!" The intelligence ninja who had been in the office from the beginning pointed to a bookshelf filled with scrolls.
They saw a standing scroll, which was suddenly burning for some unknown reason. It quickly turned to ash, and then the two scrolls next to it, which weren't even touching, caught fire.
Hokage-sama glanced at the number code under the scroll and immediately said to the ANBU, "The Konoha barrier, zone fifty-nine!"
…
Time rewind a few minutes ago!
"Anyway, let's back up a bit first, then back up some more. The range of this technique is still unknown. We have to ensure our safety," Kushina said to Haori.
"Understood, Teacher Kushina." Actually, Haori knew this without needing Kushina to tell him. He had no intention of getting close to this technique that was still in the experimental stage. He cherished the second chance at life.
They continued to retreat, then retreat further, until they reached the lake behind them. Now they were about 300 meters from the scroll. This was the limit. If they retreated any further, the scroll would be outside of Kushina's chakra communication range.
"Are you ready? I'm going to start!" Kushina looked down at Haori. She had already raised her hands and was ready to form hand seals at any moment.
Haori nodded. The results of months of work depended on whether they met the design requirements.
The speed of a Jōnin's hand seals was a basic requirement. Kushina's hand speed was very fast. Almost the moment Haori nodded, her hands started moving, then immediately stopped.
Haori's strength was good. He stared at the scroll without blinking. Then he saw a spherical black curtain rapidly expand outward from the giant scroll as its center.
"No good, run!" The speed at which this dangerous toy was expanding meant it might soon reach Haori's location!
However, before he could take two steps back, Kushina grabbed him.
"Calm down, it's over."
In Kushina's eyes, the spherical black curtain rapidly expanded to a range of 200 meters. Then, after maintaining its size for two or three seconds, the curtain, along with everything within its range, was sucked back to the center of the sphere!
Then, the curtain disappeared like a soap bubble.
It disappeared without a trace… How was that possible? When the curtain appeared, it had formed a black sphere with a diameter of 200 meters. Half of the sphere was above ground, and half was below ground. Ignoring the part above ground, there was a perfect semi-spherical depression below ground!
A rumbling sound of water came from the lake as it started to rapidly flow into the large pit…
"The experiment is successful," Haori said calmly, as if the person who had just turned to run wasn't him.
"Yes, the seal technique experiment is successful, but we're in big trouble." Kushina said quietly.
Yes, she was in trouble again.
Because they were afraid that this immature experiment might have unintended consequences, they had deliberately chosen the location to be on the outer edge of Konoha, right next to the village barrier.
But the effect of this Inner Four-Symbols Sealing Technique was very good. It was a sealing technique that could completely erase the space within its range of effect. This was an irreversible, unbreakable sealing technique. Never mind the sealed items, after the technique ended, even the scroll that contained the technique vanished without a trace.
This meant that a large part of the Konoha barrier within the range of the sealing technique was destroyed.
In the empty air, a semi-transparent glass-like barrier appeared, with a hole knocked out of it.
There was no doubt that this large dome barrier had been partially damaged by the Inner Four-Symbols Sealing Technique.
Well, hopefully it was just a partial destruction, not a complete destruction.
Kushina and Haori stood on the water, silent for a long time.
Chemically speaking, ninjas are organic matter, and they are not soluble in water or gasoline, so they can stand on water.
(ShixT9: I don't know what this means)
Then, the Third Hokage, with four ANBU ninjas, also came to the surface of the water.
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