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Because of the continuous explosions in the rear of the Suna ninja formation, the Third Hokage's attack was temporarily halted.
Initially, the Hokage instinctively thought this was the Suna ninjas preparing for a large-scale attack. These continuous explosions couldn't be some small trick, and they were certainly worth being wary of.
However, after a while, he realized that it might not be the case. After the explosions occurred, he keenly noticed that the Suna ninja's command was a bit stiff and malfunctioning.
Had they messed up while preparing for a large-scale forbidden jutsu?
That was also unlikely. After all, on the battlefield, no one would use such a dangerous jutsu without absolute certainty.
So, the remaining possibility… was it not the enemy preparing to attack, but our side launching an attack on the enemy?
But who could have done such a thing? The Leaf Village didn't have any ninjas who could launch such a long-range, large-scale attack, right? After all, there were a large number of Suna ninjas in the way. No one could easily attack from afar like that.
Take Minato Namikaze as an example. Because of jutsu like Flying Thunder God, his attack range was quite wide, but he couldn't be categorized as a long-range ninja. Essentially, his method of attacking by moving his body was still a close-range ninja technique.
Just as the Third Hokage was constantly speculating about the explosions that had just occurred, Minato appeared behind him.
"Third Hokage-sama, those were probably aerial attacks from Shiraishi Haori."
"Haori? Does he have that kind of attack technique?"
Haori surprised the Third Hokage again. Aerial attacks, that was possible.
But if Haori knew this kind of jutsu, why hadn't he reported it during the previous battle arrangements? If he had reported it earlier, they could have definitely arranged this attack in a more reasonable location, where it would have been more destructive.
The Hokage didn't know now that Haori had already bombed the enemy's command center, which was the most reasonable thing to do.
This was the inevitable advantage of aerial reconnaissance. Even with the Byakugan's clairvoyance, aerial reconnaissance was much better for grasping the overall situation and the bigger picture.
Based on the enemy's movements, Haori, overlooking from the air, could easily identify the location of their command center and then throw the attack method down, instead of peeling it layer by layer like the Hyuga clan.
"The user of this jutsu... is probably not Haori but his summoning beast..."
Minato even sweated for Haori. He probably didn't even know what characteristics his summoning beast had. He dared to summon it and fly around openly. He was quite bold.
This bird could bomb. He probably just discovered that, right?
It has to be said that Minato was very insightful. His guess was basically the truth.
As Minato was talking to the Hokage, the explosions were still coming intermittently.
"Minato, let our people attack with all their might. I think Haori might have destroyed the enemy's command system." The Third Hokage pondered for a moment, then made his judgment.
Although they couldn't see what was happening in the Suna ninja's rear, a chaotic and disordered atmosphere was already being transmitted.
Although there was no prior instruction, Haori still performed to the best of his ability. He dropped his bomb on the enemy's command center. Although he was largely lucky, his heart was set on… well, it wasn't dirty, but it has to be said that his idea was quite unsanitary.
The Suna ninja command center was blown to smithereens. Haori, having accidentally discovered the Eight-legged Crow's power, didn't give up attacking the command center. Instead, he went all out and bombed the Suna ninja command center, which was already blown to smithereens, for another half a day.
Haori basically didn't expect to blow up the Kazekage. The Fourth Kazekage, after all, was a Kage-level ninja, the leader of a village. He definitely had the necessary defensive measures and couldn't be easily killed. But it would be nice to blow him up so he was covered in dust.
In fact, Haori underestimated the power of the egg-shaped bombs. Of course, the main reason was that his attack was too sudden. Not only did the enemy not expect it, but even he didn't expect it.
The Fourth Kazekage was caught off guard and blown up directly. It wasn't bad luck, it was deserved. Haori had originally wanted to use a high-altitude object to target his head.
The Kazekage's situation now, although not as exaggerated as being blown up, he was still somewhat injured.
But what exactly was the Kazekage's injury? The ground was already full of smoke from the bombing. The perpetrator, Haori, couldn't see clearly. But it was fine because his main goal wasn't to kill the Kazekage. He just wanted to take advantage of the chaos and completely destroy the Suna ninja's command system.
Facing the Fourth Kazekage head-on was the Hokage's job.
After unleashing several orders of magnitude of egg bombs, Haori finally turned to attack other targets. But the Suna ninjas, having seen the power of this thing, weren't stupid. They immediately ran away on the ground, trying to avoid it. But unfortunately, most ninjas' legs couldn't outrun a bird's wings!
Even if they could outrun the bird, Haori's goal had been achieved. After blowing up the command center, his second goal was to completely disrupt the enemy's formation.
Whether it was blown up or the enemy running around on their own, the result was the same. They were in disarray. Once the enemy was in disarray, that was the Leaf Village's opportunity.
From now on, in terms of the casualty exchange rate between the two sides in this war, the Suna ninjas were already in a terrible state. Because no matter how chaotic the Leaf Village was, they could at least ensure that their ninjas operated in squads of four.
But the Suna ninjas were being bombed and chased, and many ninjas couldn't find their units. They had to guard against aerial attacks while facing the Leaf Village's squad-style attacks alone. The result was tragic. Many Suna ninjas couldn't withstand a round of attacks from a Leaf Village squad and fell.
The enemy couldn't launch effective counterattacks. The final outcome of this war began to head towards what the Leaf Village hoped for. The scales of victory were tilting towards the Leaf Village.
Considering that any flying device has a limited supply of eggs, Haori estimated that the Eight-legged Crow's attack method was quite chakra-consuming. Therefore, after bombing the main strategic target and disrupting the enemy's formation, Haori stayed on the enemy's head, maintaining a period of panic, and then transmitted a message to the command center.
"I have largely destroyed the enemy's command system and completely disrupted their rear formation. The Kazekage's specific situation is unknown, but the Suna ninjas won't be able to launch an effective counterattack in the short term."
The command center was silent for a moment, stunned by Haori's achievements in just a few minutes.
If they could transmit emoticons with sound, they would definitely send Haori a confused face.
If they remembered correctly, your mission, Shiraishi Haori, was reconnaissance, right? But the work you're doing now, there's no way you could say it's the result of reconnaissance, right?
Now, let's talk about Haori.
"Haori is a Chunin, right? Can you show some Chunin spirit? Last time you bombarded the tailed beast, this time you bombed the Suna ninja command center? Are you the Suna ninja's nemesis? How are other Chunin supposed to live?"
In fact, Haori was able to achieve such great results largely due to the advantages of surprise attacks and air raids. Surprise attacks, needless to say, the enemy would be caught off guard. Air raids have obvious advantages on the battlefield. A jutsu with the same power, for example, a Fire Release, if you spit Fire Release at the enemy from the front, and if you spit Fire Release at the enemy's head from directly above, the effects are completely different.
The Eight-legged Crow's egg bombs, if fired horizontally like cannonballs, wouldn't have the same power as dropping them vertically.
Although Haori described his achievements like this, most people in the command center were skeptical. They definitely heard the continuous explosions, but did Haori really blow up the enemy's command system?
Fortunately, there was Tsunade, who trusted Haori. She knew that although he was young, he wouldn't talk nonsense at this time.
"Confirm with Haori again."
Tsunade's face was serious. If they had really destroyed the enemy's command, it would be an incomparable advantage for the Leaf Village. But while she was serious, her actions… well, she was a girl at heart, even at her age. Tsunade habitually bit her thumb nail when issuing orders.
This was probably her habit when thinking.
The command center asked Haori to confirm his achievements again. Almost simultaneously, Haori repeated what he had just said. Now, Tsunade was able to believe him.
But before Tsunade could make any tactical adjustments, Haori sent another message.
"Tsunade-sama…" The ninja in charge of reporting to Tsunade opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
"What is it? Just say it!" Tsunade frowned and scolded him. What was there to hesitate about now?
"Chunin Shiraishi Haori, who is on reconnaissance duty, just reported that he is going to launch an air raid on Suna Village…"
Tsunade: "..."
Take back what you said. Haori wouldn't talk nonsense, but he would act recklessly!
After hearing this, Tsunade almost tripped and fell. Air raid Suna Village? Was he kidding?
"Stop him immediately! His mission is reconnaissance. Doesn't he know what reconnaissance is supposed to be like?!" Tsunade immediately said.
Stopping Haori was inevitable. She already felt that Haori was completely acting recklessly. As the saying goes, like teacher, like student. Was this kind of occasional off-the-rails behavior taught to him by Kushina?
"That… Tsunade-sama, he flew away before we could give him specific instructions."
The ninja who was transmitting the message also looked constipated.
At this time, Haori had indeed begun to fly away from the battlefield and was flying towards the direction of Suna Village, according to the position on the battle map.
If the commander of the battle now was the Third Hokage or someone else, Haori wouldn't dare to do this. After all, it was a bit like abandoning his reconnaissance mission. For a ninja, this was the most unforgivable thing.
But the commander on the battlefield now was Tsunade. Who was Tsunade? That's right, she was one of them. So, it didn't matter too much.
Besides, Haori was just a small part of the reconnaissance effort. It wasn't like the Leaf Village couldn't do reconnaissance without him. How could that be? Do you think the Hyuga clan are just decorations?
And Haori could also see that the war on this front had basically reached a conclusion. Since that was the case, it didn't matter if he was there or not. So, why not go to the enemy's rear and cause some damage?
Objectively speaking, Haori's thoughts actually made some sense.
Objectively speaking, Haori's actions were actually a form of suicide.
But he ultimately followed his heart and became a ninja who was like the wind (crazy), who could leave and act on a whim.
Tsunade was angry, but more than that, she was helpless. Let Haori go. Hopefully, he would return safely. After all, there was no way to stop him now.
And Tsunade was too focused on Haori. Most of her energy had to be focused on commanding the entire battlefield.
...
Attacking Suna Village was never part of the Leaf Village's strategic objectives.
If it were a war between the Leaf Village and the Suna ninjas, then they would naturally love to wipe out the Suna ninjas. But now, it was a war with five or more sides. At this time, it would be strategically inappropriate, even brainless, to invest a lot of combat power and face huge casualties to completely wipe out one enemy.
The Land of Wind was one of the five great nations. No matter how incompetent the Suna ninjas were, they were still one of the strong ones. If they launched a large-scale attack on Suna Village, they would inevitably face their desperate counterattack. Imagine that scene. The Leaf Village didn't want to bear the consequences.
The Leaf Village needed a Suna ninja who would submit to them, not a Suna ninja who was wiped out. Because even if they wiped out the Suna ninjas, winning against them didn't mean they would win the entire war.
Even if they really destroyed the Suna ninjas, without them, it would mean that Iwa could free up its hands and attack the Leaf Village with even greater force.
Who wanted to do this kind of thing, working for others and harming themselves for the benefit of others? The Leaf Village certainly wouldn't do it.
So, to summarize the Leaf Village's objectives for this battle: completely subdue the Suna ninjas and then make them obediently go to the north to resist Iwa. Don't keep running around in the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire.
The Kazekage was also on the battlefield now. For the Leaf Village, it would be great if they could capture the Kazekage. That would make it easier to achieve their goals.
Speaking of which, a large-scale attack on Suna Village wouldn't work, but what about a single-person infiltration? An aerial infiltration?
It should be fine.
After thirty seconds of intense thought and reaching the conclusion that this plan was very feasible, Haori reported his request to attack Suna Village to Tsunade. Then, without waiting for her to respond, he turned around and flew away.
If anyone asked him why he was so off-the-rails and casual, he would answer that Kushina taught him to be this way.
But Haori's actions were all for the sake of the Leaf Village's overall situation. He had no selfish intention of testing the Eight-legged Crow's power.
To prevent the Suna ninjas on the battlefield from having the means to inform the village, Haori first flew a distance towards the Leaf Village, giving the enemy the illusion that he had returned. Then, after disappearing from the enemy's sight, he immediately increased his flight altitude, circled the battlefield, and then flew towards Suna Village.
When he needed to be careful, he was very careful.
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