Chap 37 - Preparations for War.

After a few months, Ryuuji, with the help of his grandmother, was finally able to transform his Mindscape into a physical dimension.

By transforming his Mindscape into an Inner World and using his various Nature Transformations, Ryuuji created what could be called his Inner World.

His body, which is practically a generator of infinite energy, can hold an inner world as big as planet Earth itself, so Ryuuji would never suffer from lack of space and could always take his girls in case he manages to make a multiversal trip in the future.

By setting up a new coordinate for the Red Devils' Seal's teleportation function of his familiars, Ryuuji secured the safest place in the universe as a point of refuge.

In addition to having almost infinite space and continuing to become more "fertile" as Ryuuji's power grows, the redhead can shape his inner world any way he wants.

Currently, Ryuuji's inner world is nothing more than a gigantic training ground, moreover, he is gathering a large amount of Natural Energy in the place to teach to the girls the Sage Mode, but this is still part of his future plans.

Ryuuji, with Hikari in his lap, watched as the girls fight together against Kurama, who despite not being able to finish them due to agility, also didn't suffer much damage when fighting the girls.

"Look there, Hikari-chan… looks like Mom is going to try to use her secret technique. "

Little Hikari looked at her mom and opened her eyes wide.

Benihime jumped up to dodge one of Kurama's tails and brought her left hand to the guard of her katana.

The redhead shaped her chakra and quickly merged Wind and Lighting Release chakra, forming Swift Release chakra.

When Benihime's foot touched the ground, she disappeared and appeared behind Kurama, successfully severing two tails of the tailed beast.

Ryuuji nodded in satisfaction.

Of the group of women, her mother was the one who most adapted to the new way of controlling chakra, to the point where she was able to merge her two Nature Transformations to create a new way of using chakra.

Ryūji blasted his chakra, making his presence felt by everyone.

The fight between Kurama and the girls stopped in the next moment.

"Girls, you've really improved a lot. "

Kushina fell to the ground in exhaustion and looked at Ryuuji carrying Hikari.

"Ne, ne, Ryuu-nii. Let me hold Hikari-chan! "

Benihime didn't let Ryuuji answer and denied it:

" No way. You're all dirty after training, Kushina. Hikari-chan has already showered and can't get dirty with your sweat. "

Kushina pouted cutely, but Ryuuji wouldn't dare disobey his mother when it came to Hikari.

The beautiful little princess looked at Kurama and pointed at the giant fox.

Ryuuji smiled and led Hikari to the fox.

Kurama stiffened its body and stopped its movements.

He would definitely complain to Ryuuji, but remembering the times Mito summoned him and Ryuuji 'prevented' him from running away, the big fox just let out a snort.

" Hikari-chan, do you want to pet this cute fox? "

The little baby just smiled with her toothless mouth, which made all the girls around her gasp.

'Hikari-chan is so cute!' x6

Hikari stretched out her arms and touched Kurama's muzzle, who was looking at the little baby curiously.

In the next instant, Hikari pulled one of Kurama's whiskers hard, causing the giant fox to widen its eyes and direct some malice at the baby.

When Kurama noticed Ryuuji's gaze locked on him, he swallowed hard and was silent as Hikari played with his whiskers.

Morgiana saw this scene and then looked at Mito.

" Mito-sama, it would be easy for you to control Kurama-san's power if he was so gentle with you too. "

Hikari dropped Kurama's whisker and looked at Ryuuji, having completely lost interest in the giant fox.

Kurama let out a huff and responded to Morgiana's words:

" How can Mito use my power when she can't even hurt me in battle? Don't think I'm going to make it easy for you, Mito. "

Mikoto covered her lips and let out a laugh.

"Just like Ryuuji-kun said…Kurama-san is really a great Tsundere. "

Seeing the girls laughing, Kurama let out a huff and started to walk away from the group, heading towards the large forest that Ryuuji created with Wood Release.

Benihime approached Ryuuji and her words brought the entire group's attention to them.

" Why did you come here now, Ryuuji? It's still too early to finish training. "

Ryuuji lightly nodded his head and looked at the group of women:

" The time has come, girls. The war around the continent has reached a point where it is not possible to advance or retreat and it seems that Hiruzen thinks this is a good time to attack us. We need to prepare. "

Mito let out a sigh, but didn't even try to reason with Ryuuji. She knew well what the red-haired boy was thinking.

Kushina put a big smile on her face and started to emit a great bloodlust.

Ryuuji looked at his cousin, who realized what she was doing and calmed down.

" Mom, I'll leave command of the army to you, but I'll remain by your side while I erase my presence. If you need help, just say my name. "

Benihime lightly nodded her head and looked at Morgiana, mikoto and Kushina with a serious face:

" You'll prepare for battle. I'll gather our troops and start preparing. I want you three at the Village entrance in 30 minutes. "

The three girls responded in unison before disappearing from Ryuuji's Mindscape.

" Yes! "

Benihime looked at Ryuuji and Hikari and spoke again:

" Can you tell me your thoughts on this Konoha attack? "

" Apparently, Hiruzen wants his favorite disciple to gather merit so he can run for the position of Hokage in the future, so Orochimaru must lead the Konoha army, which must not exceed 5,000 shinobi. "

Benihime's eyes widened.

" F-Five thousand? Our troops barely add up to half that amount! Are you sure you won't interfere in this battle? "

Ryuuji smiled and continued to tell him about his plans:

" Don't worry…Orochimaru thinks that to win this conflict he needs to position his troops on our lands, but that will be exactly what will decree a crushing defeat for him. "

For the next few minutes, Ryuuji recounted different battle plans to even out the battlefield, making Benihime's eyes glow with battle hunger.

Meanwhile, Konan watched Ryuuji with stars in her eyes. She couldn't wait to grow up and fight alongside her older brother.

Hearing Ryuuji's words, Mito just accepted things as they are.

She felt sad knowing that so many men and women would lose their lives because of this war, but she knew that if there was anyone wrong with this story, it wasn't Ryuuji or the Shinobi of Uzushio.

…

On one of the edges of the Land of Fire, Orochimaru was leading a group of nearly six thousand Konoha shinobi. The yellow-eyed man looked at the vast ocean in front of him and smiled.

" Support Squad, approach me! "

In the next instant, five shinobi appeared in front of orochimaru.

" I need you to do what I've taught you. I'll not tolerate mistakes. "

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama! " x5

Orochimaru lightly cut his palm and let the shinobi take a drop of his blood. In the next instant, Orochimaru and the shinobi made a sequence of hand seals.

" Summoning Technique! " x6

Around the small gathering of Konoha shinobi, six giant snakes appeared, with a purple snake larger than the others appearing in the center of them.

" Orochimaru, what is this? Did you bring all these humans as a sacrifice for me? "

Orochimaru smiled and answered his summons:

" Manda, don't be silly. Can't you see that they are Konoha's mates? I need a favor from you. "

Manda hissed loudly as he looked at Orochimaru.

" I'm not seeing the sacrifices necessary for you to ask favors for me, Orochimaru. "

" Don't worry about it, Manda… the place where we'll go will be full of the most varied sacrifices. I'm sure this will pique your interest. "

Manda looked at Orochimaru before confirming:

" Very well, Orochimaru. It better be true, otherwise I'll kill you. "

Orochimaru laughed, as if he didn't mind his summoning threats.

" Manda, I need you and your friends to take us to the Land of Whirlpools. "

" Very well, but don't think I'll carry any foolish humans besides you. "

…

Thanks to the snakes' agility in moving across the ocean, the Konoha army reached the western edge of the Land of Whirlpools within hours.

When Orochimaru's feet touched the soil of Ryuuji Country, he looked at his army and began to command them like an experienced general:

" Prepare camp.

Sensor Ninjas, I want you to create a perimeter around the camp and gradually extend the range of perception. I also want 50 Jounin to gather some Chunins and set traps in a 10 kilometer perimeter. "

Orochimaru looked at the Jounin beside him and smiled.

" Kukuku. Dan-kun, I want you to just rest and prepare for your role. You're the crux of this operation, don't forget that. "

Dan Kato nodded his head positively:

" You can trust me, Orochimaru-sama. I'll make Konoha triumph! "

Orochimaru nodded and began to watch the place as the shinobi set up camp.

…

Benihime, who was beside Ashina and Arashi, was staring at an extremely detailed map of the country.

The redhead pointed to the beach located on the west edge and began to speak:

" This is where they're setting up camp. Your numbers are twice ours, but we already have a way around it with quick action. "

Benihime looked at her father, who had rejuvenated thanks to Ryuuji's help.

" Dad. Me, you and Morgiana-chan will act as a riot squad. The three of us are the strongest fighters and we can create a big mess in their camp. "

Ashina looked at the map and his mind quickly identified what his daughter wanted.

" I see…you want to destroy the network of perception they've built. I think Arashi will need to work with Kushina to lock them in one place, right? "

Benihime smiled and waved as he looked at his brother, who after a year of intense training, was no longer the lean man with no muscles.

" Onii-sama, I want you and Kushina-chan to gather the best Barrier Fuuinjutsu users. You need to trap most of the Konoha army in the tightest possible spot. "

Arashi smiled and started to leave his seat to get ready.

" You can leave it to me, sister. "

Benihime looked at the girl behind her and spoke again:

" Mikoto-chan, you already realized what your role is, right? "

Mikoto looked at Benihime and her red eyes began to spin at high speed, until she started to change shape, turning into a pair of pinwheels with bent ends.

" I will, Benihime-oneesama! "