Chapter 558: Battlefield Changes

Western Land of Grass.

In a forest near the Land of Earth, four Iwagakure Ninja were cautiously patrolling the surroundings.

Although the Iwagakure Ninja Force had not suffered significant losses in their battles with the Konoha Ninja Force, the Iwagakure high command had ordered them to consolidate their forces and try to lure the Konoha Ninja towards the Land of Earth.

Therefore, the Iwagakure Ninja Force had basically withdrawn to the west, bordering the Land of Earth, adopting a primary strategy of preserving their strength.

“I really don’t know what the higher-ups are thinking. Our Iwa Ninja Force is strong and well-equipped, so why do we keep retreating in the face of Konoha?” an Iwagakure Chunin complained when he saw that the surroundings were calm.

He was very dissatisfied with Iwagakure’s current war strategy. Since the war began, Iwagakure had basically only used a tenth of its strength, constantly hiding its true power.

In his opinion, let alone deploying ten thousand troops, sending out five thousand Ninja Force while Konoha was being attacked by Hidden Mist on its home soil would have been enough to take down Konoha amidst the chaos.

Yet, the higher-ups remained indifferent, allowing Kumogakure and Konoha to oppress them.

“Perhaps they want to lure the enemy into the Land of Earth, and then use the terrain of the Land of Earth to eliminate them more easily,” another, fatter Iwagakure Ninja chimed in.

“They are too cautious. Now that all countries are fighting each other, this should be the best time for our Iwagakure to become the strongest Ninja Village.”

Clearly, he also had quite a few complaints about Iwagakure’s current war strategy.

After all, having the strength to counterattack or even crush the enemy, yet constantly retreating, was truly frustrating.

“Everyone, say less. The higher-ups have their own considerations. We just need to execute orders well,” Sumazhi interjected, trying to mediate.

Unlike the two Iwagakure Ninja who were complaining about the higher-ups, Sumazhi, though also feeling frustrated, trusted the higher-ups.

It was a simple truth: if Iwagakure gained profit, the Iwagakure high command would gain far more than ordinary Iwagakure Ninja.

Therefore, the Iwagakure high command must be even more eager for victory than them.

After Sumazhi spoke, the atmosphere within the squad immediately quieted down. Although they were all old friends with a good relationship, Sumazhi was different from the other three; he was a Special Jonin and also the squad leader.

It was fine to joke around normally, but when executing missions on the battlefield, there still had to be a distinction between superior and subordinate.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Suddenly, a series of Kunai cutting through the air was heard, and Kunai suddenly shot towards them from all directions.

Only then did the Iwagakure Ninja realize that several Konoha Ninja had appeared around them at some unknown point.

Sumazhi was incredibly surprised. He had just patrolled very carefully, and there should have been no one. Could it be that they had used some sophisticated Ninjutsu to hide nearby from the very beginning?

Without time to think too much, Sumazhi quickly used Chakra to enhance his body and dodge.

The attack came too suddenly; he simply had no time to form hand seals and use Ninjutsu to block.

Pfft!

Although the three Iwagakure Chunin also tried their best to dodge, there were too many Kunai and they were too fast. Soon, their bodies were riddled with Kunai, and they fell to the ground, incapacitated.

“I can only retreat,” the pain from his wounds made Sumazhi frown slightly as he quickly formed hand seals to gather Chakra.

He hadn’t completely dodged the Konoha Ninja’s sneak attack and had sustained some injuries.

Therefore, Sumazhi had no intention of immediately avenging his teammates or fighting to the death with the Konoha Ninja.

The enemy not only had a numerical advantage but were also in peak condition. Staying would be suicide.

“Earth Release: Fissured Earth Palm!”

Sumazhi concentrated Chakra in his palms and slammed them onto the ground.

Rumble!!!

Under the effect of Earth Release Chakra, the ground rapidly split open, and chunks of earth and rock shot rapidly towards the Konoha Ninja.

At the same time, the cracking ground also stirred up a cloud of dust, obstructing their vision.

Whoosh!

Sumazhi took advantage of the Konoha Ninja’s dodging to use Body Flicker Technique to distance himself, fleeing without looking back.

He wanted to bring the intelligence about the Konoha Ninja back.

However, Sumazhi, who was constantly fleeing, did not notice that the “Konoha Ninja” who had ambushed them only pursued for a short while before stopping in place and watching him disappear into the distance.

Once Sumazhi’s figure completely vanished, the “Konoha Ninja” merged into the ground one after another, disappearing into the forest.

This scene occurred not only in the western part of Land of Grass but also in the southern part of Land of Grass where the Konoha Ninja were stationed.

However, in southern Land of Grass, it became Iwagakure Ninja ambushing Konoha Ninja.

The frequent small-scale ambush incidents gave headaches to the leaders of both Ninja Forces, who believed the other side intended to reignite a major war.

“These Konoha Ninja are too cunning! They don’t dare to enter the Land of Earth, only daring to assassinate near the border!” Retsuishi slammed the desk in the tent with a displeased expression.

As the captain of the Iwagakure Demolition Squad, he was one of the top figures in all of Iwagakure, yet now he could only watch as one piece of unfavorable news for Iwagakure after another arrived, feeling extremely angry.

But Retsuishi truly had no good solution, because the Iwagakure high command’s decision was to defend, to play dumb, and to lure the enemy deep in.

“Let’s consult the higher-ups. This can’t go on. Many people in the force are quite resentful,” Iwakura suggested.

Retsuishi nodded. He had already had this idea.

Either retreat directly to the Land of Earth and hunker down, carrying out the ‘cowardly’ strategy to the end. Apart from losing some face in the Ninja World, there wasn’t much else.

Or directly engage the Konoha Ninja Force in battle, fight hard. If they won, they would gain fame. If they lost, they could continue to play dumb.

Retsuishi felt that both of these options were better than staying in limbo at the border as they were now.

“Don’t send out any Ninja from the Demolition Squad recently,” Retsuishi remembered something and cautioned.

As he also served as the battlefield commander, Retsuishi had basically handed over the authority of the Demolition Squad to Iwakura, the Demolition Squad’s vice-captain.

While the death of fellow village Ninja was painful, if the casualties were elites from his Demolition Squad, Retsuishi would feel even worse.

The Ninja of the Demolition Squad were truly the elite of Iwagakure, and every member was cultivated with a large amount of resources.

Iwakura nodded.

On the other side, Jiraiya had just returned to the battlefield from the Land of Rain not long ago, and unexpectedly, such a headache-inducing situation occurred.

“If I didn’t see their headbands, I would have thought we were fighting Hidden Mist Village. How did Iwagakure’s assassination skills become so formidable?” Jiraiya looked at the latest battlefield intelligence with some confusion.

Iwagakure counterattacking was reasonable, and harassing in small squads was also a normal battlefield strategy, but the actual level of performance displayed was very unfamiliar to Jiraiya.

He wasn’t fighting Iwagakure on the Land of Grass battlefield for the first time. Didn’t he know what assassination tactics Iwagakure excelled at and what their level was?

Compared to squad assassinations, Iwagakure was more skilled at legion combat.

Even a Ninja of Jiraiya’s level would be in great danger if surrounded by the Iwagakure Ninja Force.

During the Second Shinobi World War, Jiraiya almost died at the hands of the Iwa Ninja Force, leaving him deeply impressed by the Iwa Ninja Force’s legion combat capabilities.

“Is it possible that Iwagakure’s reinforcements have arrived?” Minato Namikaze thought for a moment and stated his conjecture.

“Perhaps Iwagakure specifically trained a Ninja Force skilled in using Earth Release for assassination during the truce.”

Jiraiya showed a thoughtful expression.

Minato Namikaze’s words were not without reason. Earth Release had its unique advantages for ambushes and assassinations, as it allowed for burrowing.

“In that case, we need to consider the possibility of a large-scale attack by the Iwa Ninja Force next,” Jiraiya said, putting down the intelligence.

Iwagakure’s reinforcements had appeared, so Iwagakure’s stance was very clear: Iwagakure was going to fight Konoha to the end.

According to conventional thinking, harassment would be followed by a large-scale attack on the fatigued enemy.

“Next, I will join the patrol squads to clear out incoming Iwagakure Ninja,” Minato Namikaze volunteered.

With his Flying Thunder God Technique, he had strong mobility, and Minato Namikaze also possessed strong sensory abilities. Even if he couldn’t arrive in time to save Konoha Ninja, he would very likely avenge them, making him the most suitable candidate to resolve the harassment crisis.

“I’ll leave it to you, Minato,” Jiraiya trusted Minato to solve the problem.

Immediately after, Jiraiya quickly contacted the Konoha high command, reporting the latest intelligence while also requesting a sensory squad to the battlefield.

A major battle might occur on the Land of Grass battlefield next, and he needed to be fully prepared.

… … … …

Morning, Konoha Village.

Shisui woke up and first prepared breakfast for himself and Zoroark.

Since Zoroark had grown significantly larger after evolving, Shisui was worried he wouldn’t eat enough, so he greatly increased the portion of Zoroark’s breakfast.

After the human and the fox finished breakfast, they went to Obito’s house as usual, planning to call Obito to go to the South Border Forest for training together.

Before arriving at Obito’s house, Zoroark specifically used a Genjutsu to maintain the appearance of Zorua.

Obito and Charizard did not notice anything unusual.

“Hehe, Old Charizard, why don’t you fly me over? I’m too lazy to move after eating,” Zoroark chuckled, requesting.

“Your wings are cool and handsome; flying must be really exciting.”

Hearing Zoroark praise him as handsome, Charizard instinctively puffed out his chest and raised his head, swallowing back the words he was about to refuse.

People who praised him as handsome were discerning and good people, destined to live meaningful lives.

“Roar!”

Charizard stood in front of Zoroark, flapped his wings and flew up, then proudly pointed to his back with a claw, signaling Zoroark to jump on.

Zoroark lightly leaped, landing on his back.

The moment Zoroark jumped onto Charizard’s back, Charizard’s expression subtly changed, and even his flapping wings stopped for an instant, almost causing him to fall.

Feeling the heavy weight on his back, Charizard was full of questions. How could such a small Zorua be so heavy?

“Roar.”

Charizard took off with effort, indicating that Zorua needed to lose weight.

He had carried Zorua before, but back then, he felt very light, completely different from now.

Charizard felt that Zorua had gained at least seven or eight times his weight.

However, Charizard was quite curious how Zorua maintained his figure; he had gained so much weight but didn’t look rounder.

“Damn it, you’re my Nin-Beast!” Obito envied, watching Charizard fly away with Zorua.

He had long wanted to fly in the sky riding on Charizard.

However, Charizard had always refused to yield, stating that he wasn’t the kind of dragon that could be ridden, so Obito had to temporarily give up.

After all, forcing Charizard to fly him was too dangerous. Obito suspected Charizard might intentionally fly high and then drop him.

Although he might catch him midway to prevent him from dying, the process would definitely not be pleasant.

“Shisui, you spoil Zorua too much. You should use Genjutsu to hypnotize him into doing more training,” after arriving at the South Border Forest, Obito deliberately shared his cultivation insights with Shisui in front of Zoroark.

Obito knew Shisui wouldn’t do that; he just wanted to annoy Zoroark, who always caused him trouble and even rode his unrideable Charizard in front of him.

“I’d rather not,” Shisui politely declined, looking at Obito with a hint of pity.

Zoroark was not a magnanimous fox. Obito saying that would surely lead to Zoroark playing tricks on him.

“Damn it, you, this inherently evil Obito, are corrupting the kind Shisui! Do you want a beating?!” Zoroark couldn’t sit still.

If Obito’s ‘not treating himself as human’ attitude infected Shisui, that would be terrible.

“Just you?” Obito said dismissively.

As long as he was serious, Zorua’s Genjutsu had almost no effect on him.

And besides Genjutsu, Zorua had no other notable abilities.

“You can’t call Charizard to help,” Obito added.

If Zorua invited, his rebellious dragon might excitedly join in to beat him.

“Against you, why bother with all that?” Zoroark indicated that one fox was enough.

Zoroark’s attitude made Obito suspicious.

He knew Zorua’s strength; where did he get the confidence to fight him?

“Could it be that his strength has broken through?” Obito thought to himself.

The cautious Obito activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

If he stumbled against Zorua, that would be truly embarrassing, after all, this was an unevolved Pokémon.

Kakashi, who had just arrived, heard the conversation between the human and the fox and showed a thoughtful expression.

Although Zorua could be a bit silly sometimes, he was generally intelligent and wouldn’t actively seek a beating.

“Obito is going to have bad luck,” Kakashi confirmed in his mind.

Thinking of this, Kakashi calmly took out his camera, wondering if he could seize the opportunity to take some new good photos to threaten Obito.

But to Kakashi’s regret, Zoroark’s first strike was too strong with his superior intelligence. With Genjutsu interference and high-speed movement for a sneak attack, he had Obito pinned to the ground in less than a minute, failing to create an interesting scene.

“Huh? No, how…?” Obito looked utterly bewildered.

Although he was a bit careless, Zorua’s strength was simply too abnormal.

If he had this strength without evolving, he’d be unstoppable after evolving.

Obito wanted to report to Muzuki that there was a Pokémon cheating here!

“Stop teasing Obito,” Shisui smiled helplessly, telling Zoroark to stop.

“He wanted to lead you astray.”

Zoroark canceled the Genjutsu, revealing his evolved form.

Obito: … …

People who play with Genjutsu are all twisted, except for Shisui.

“As expected,” Kakashi was not surprised.

Zorua dared to directly confront Obito; he must have evolved.

Coupled with Zorua’s proficiency in Genjutsu, Kakashi immediately knew that Zoroark had used Genjutsu to disguise himself.

PS: There’s one more chapter coming, but it will be a bit late. I recommend reading it tomorrow.

New month, let’s start strong with diligent updates!