Chapter 346: Cunning Onoki

Inside the giant tree, Uchiha Yoru and Uchiha Madara fiercely battled each other. Under the lightning style chakra mode, Uchiha Yoru's speed was extremely fast, gradually gaining the upper hand.

"Madara, it seems you've really aged, even at the peak state of your reanimated form."

Uchiha Yoru swung the Kusanagi Sword, constantly mocking, while the ever-proud Uchiha Madara, who had only ever been angered by Hashirama, had never been so humiliated.

"You insolent youngster!"

In the physical combat that ensued, a flash of cold light passed, and the Kusanagi Sword was sheathed. Uchiha Yoru's assault continued relentlessly, his fists striking powerfully, while Uchiha Madara stoically received each blow.

"Now, it's a battle of taijutsu!"

Filled with a fighting spirit, Uchiha Yoru turned into a streak of lightning, dashing through the forest in fierce battle. Uchiha Madara, already a blur from his rapid movements, was struggling to keep up. Despite calmly applying all his life's learnings, in terms of sheer power and speed, he was utterly defeated. The opponent's experience was formidable, leaving him no chance to exploit any weaknesses.

"In terms of taijutsu, I, Uchiha Madara, acknowledge you as the strongest."

The aftermath of their battle destroyed countless trees and rocks. Facing the reality of his situation, a sense of admiration appeared on the proud Uchiha Madara's face, and he sincerely complimented his opponent. He, Uchiha Madara, had always been a graceful loser.

"Next, let's fight using only the Three-Tomoe Sharingan!"

Uchiha Yoru's eyes, filled with arrogance, gradually morphed into the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. This infuriated Uchiha Madara, who saw it as the youngster seeking to completely dominate him. But after his anger, Uchiha Madara smiled and even laughed heartily.

"Ha ha, worthy of being the second person after me, Madara, in Uchiha history to awaken the Rinnegan. You have the right to be arrogant!"

Uchiha Madara's eyes also transformed into the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. The two looked at each other, seemingly understanding each other's thoughts. After a clash, they both retreated, quickly forming hand seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

Two terrifying seas of fire appeared instantly on the battlefield, colliding like a massive flood.

With a loud explosion, the flames burst forth, illuminating the heated faces of both.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Release Song Tech Jutsu!"

The copying ability of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan was fully displayed by both, nearly simultaneously forming seals and releasing identical ninjutsu.

However, Uchiha Madara, keen-eyed, noticed something. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, clearly seeing that Uchiha Yoru's hand seal speed was half a beat faster, indicating a superior control and application of chakra.

"Ninjutsu, I, Uchiha Madara, acknowledge you as the strongest! Now, what about genjutsu?"

In the next moment, Uchiha Madara's crimson three-tomoe Sharingan trembled, instantly launching a terrifying genjutsu. Similarly, Uchiha Yoru's crimson eyes also trembled, and both entered a battle within the world of illusion.

Boom boom boom~

The terror of the distant Ten-Tails is unimaginable. Coupled with the presence of Obito, it momentarily suppresses everyone.

As the horrific aftermath of the battle between the two sides unfolds, most of the Ninja Alliance begins to evacuate or, rather, more ninjas gradually lose their will to fight.

Such battles are not of this dimension. What does it matter if they determine a victor?

Yet those ninjas loyal to the Daimyo and filled with rage seeking vengeance continue to fight.

Unfortunately, they face the combined might of the Konoha, Sand, and Mist, the three great ninja villages, with countless elite bloodline ninjas.

"Ten-Tails!"

In the sky above, Deidara rides a giant white clay bird, his eyes blazing with fervor as he fixates on the fearsome Ten-Tails below, his face flushed with excitement.

"If I could blow up the Ten-Tails in front of tens of thousands of ninjas, my art will surely spread throughout the ninja world."

Deidara, in a frenzy, reaches directly into his tool bag and takes out a large chunk of white clay, then starts to swallow his explosive clay greedily.

"Inject all the chakra, it's still not enough! I need to use the curse mark!"

Muttering to himself, since joining forces with the Konoha, Uchiha Yoru has placed a curse mark on every member of the Akatsuki, a shortcut to boosting power for the impending great ninja war.

Weird black patterns spread all over his body, and as more powerful Senjutsu chakra is infused into the clay chakra, Deidara becomes increasingly manic and excited.

"Haha, the people of the Konoha are right, the power of the explosion will increase as the ninja gets stronger, so I can't die! I want to live to be an old turtle with Jiraiya, and when I reach Jiraiya's age, the power of C4 will definitely surpass my own suicide bombing, no! I'm going to use this immature technique now!"

Below, those involved in the battle notice Deidara's movements, among them Gaara cries out in alarm: "Everyone, be careful of Deidara's bomb! Set up a barrier!"

Even Gaara, a person of pillar strength, shows a solemn face, indicating the absolute power of Deidara's bomb surpasses even the Tailed Beast Bomb.

In the sky, Deidara on his white clay bird vomits out a massive amount of clay, which transforms into a giant Deidara and lands with a boom, nearly matching the Ten-Tails in size.

Uchiha Fire Formation

A fiery red barrier appears instantly, trapping the Ten-Tails and facing the explosive clay head-on.

At this moment, the increasingly manic Deidara doesn't care that he's still inside the barrier, and shouts wildly: "Art is an explosion! Ha!"

And below, Obito, standing atop the Ten-Tails, looks coldly at the clay bomb, "Deidara!"

"C0·Patrick Star!"

Deidara shouts excitedly, a name personally given to this jutsu by Lord Uchiha Yoru, fusing all his chakra into the clay to create a bomb with nearly the same power as his own suicide bombing.

And the stronger he becomes in the future, the more powerful this bomb will be.

However, in the next moment, the giant clay Deidara deflated like a balloon, instantly shriveling up. Just as everyone was puzzled, they suddenly saw a black sphere inside the giant absorbing all the tremendous chakra.

Immediately afterward, the black sphere began to crack and emit a blinding light, which in the next moment flickered upon the earth.

Boom~

Many ninjas were shocked and stared dumbfounded at the terrifying clay bomb.

A dazzling white light, swallowing even the Ten-Tails, rose up. The white light seemed to take the shape of a human figure, with two small arms.

As the ninjas saw the dazzling white light, the booming sound of the explosion followed.

At the same time, the terrifying sound of the explosion further shattered the Uchiha Fire Formation, completely breaking it the next moment.

Boom~

The aftermath of the explosion swept across the entire battlefield like a hurricane, causing smoke and dust to billow instantly.

"Ha-ha, art is an explosion; this is my art!"

Deidara, although weakened in the dust, still madly shouted, shocking Kakuzu who witnessed this scene.

"Deidara, this kid, actually has such terrifying ninjutsu."

With the power of this self-destruction, not to mention five hearts, even ten would not escape the blast.

"What a terrifying ninjutsu."

Minato, watching the bomber Deidara he saved, was secretly shocked by the explosive power, which was terrifying enough to level any ninja village.

Fortunately, he had placed a Flying Thunder God mark on Deidara and saved him from within the barrier at the last moment.

"Too reckless."

Watching Deidara's self-sacrificing behavior for the sake of art, the Fourth Hokage Minato couldn't help but murmur.

It was Deidara's obsession with art that granted him such powerful strength at a young age.

Roar!

The Ten-Tails' roar dispersed the surrounding smoke, revealing the true form inside, shocking the many ninjas.

The Ten-Tails evolved again, standing upright with its tails morphing into claws, and its head featuring only one eye, one ear, and one mouth.

Its aura underwent a drastic change, and with a roar, it gathered an even more terrifying Tailed Beast Ball.

"Be careful!"

"Fourth, let's move this Tailed Beast Ball together!"

Tobirama, the Second Hokage, seeing the terrifying Tailed Beast Ball, solemnly said to the Fourth Hokage Minato.

"Okay!"

Minato didn't waste words, knowing there wasn't much time.

The battlefield in the distance also underwent a tremendous change with the appearance of the Ten-Tails.

The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, looked at the fearsome Ten-Tails and then in the direction of Uchiha Madara, a struggle apparent in his eyes.

"Grandfather, it's time to make a decision."

Kurotsuchi clearly understood her grandfather's dilemma. Ōnoki, with a grave expression, said, "Kurotsuchi, once we make a choice, there is truly no turning back."

Faced with this grave decision, Kurotsuchi showed a rare seriousness, "Grandfather, you are the Third Tsuchikage, the most outstanding in the history of Rock Village. I believe in you."

Seeing his granddaughter's determined smile, the Third Tsuchikage's face gradually softened into a smile.

"The current situation is clear. The likes of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Yoru are the decisive factors in this battle; it seems I have no other choice."

Looking at Kurotsuchi, Ōnoki's eyes revealed determination.

"Though the Ninja Alliance is strong, Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara are still outsiders."

As if foreseeing the future, the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki declared firmly, "Kurotsuchi!"

"Present!"

"Fire the signal flare!"

"Yes!"

Boom! Boom! Suddenly, signal flares burst in the air above the chaotic battlefield, changing the expressions of the Rock Village shinobi.

"Lord Raikage, be careful!"

"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"

The Fourth Raikage, A, was suddenly pushed aside by a guard, a sense of impending doom rising in his heart. Instinctively, he turned into a bolt of lightning to dodge, and only then did he hear the guard's warning shout.

However, as the Fourth Raikage looked back, he was shocked and saw only dazzling white light. A huge cube emitting white light, and within the large square barrier, all life was disassembled into atoms under the flashing white light.

These were the elite of Cloud Village, yet unexpectedly they were backstabbed on their own.

"Ōnoki!"

The Fourth Raikage, A, roared in anger, while Ōnoki, who released the jutsu, declared from afar, "Rock Village announces the overthrow of the Daimyo's rule and joins under the rule of Uchiha Yoru!"

Thunderous sounds ensued.

In the blink of an eye, the Rock ninjas rebelled on the battlefield, signaling the prelude to a complete collapse.

"Rock ninjas!"

"Damn it, the Rock ninjas have betrayed us!"

The Ninja Alliance immediately descended into chaos, while the morale of Konoha soared as they excitedly shouted, "Kill!"

With the betrayal of the Rock ninjas, terrifying earth-style ninja techniques were unleashed, causing explosive destruction.

"We, the Grass ninjas, declare our allegiance to Lord Uchiha Yoru!"

"Our own, we Grass ninjas firmly embrace the will of Lord Yoru and overthrow the rule of the Daimyo!"

Witnessing such a powerful ninja village as the Rock Village betray, many smaller, already anxious villages became even more panicked.

Especially after the Grass Village turned in the midst of battle, the Ninja Alliance quickly collapsed.

"Damn it, we're done too! The Fourth Raikage used smaller villages as cannon fodder while his Cloud Village stayed back, damn it!"

"Our Sun Village declares allegiance to Lord Uchiha Yoru, firmly opposing the Daimyo's rule..."

As the Rock Village turned in the middle of battle, countless smaller villages quickly followed suit.

After all, life was hard for these small villages, and now with no Daimyo, they saw no point in continuing; they were not the Daimyo's dogs.

Only the ninjas nurtured by the Daimyos remained loyal.

"Onoki!"

At that moment, the Fourth Raikage almost spit blood in anger, while the Third Tsuchikage Onoki in the sky directly and furiously accused the Fourth Raikage.

"As the commander of the Ninja Alliance, you used countless smaller villages as cannon fodder for the sake of one Cloud Village, I deeply detest such actions!"

The Third Tsuchikage Onoki then firmly addressed his own Rock ninjas.

"These Cloud Village villains, who have plagued the ninja world for years, are nothing but looters and bullies! I firmly adhere to the policy against the Konoha Village's tyranny, these Cloud Village villains are inherently violent, criminal, calamitous, chaotic, and disruptive..."

"So, I've decided to adopt Lord Uchiha Yoru's policies in Cloud Village, enslave these villains, and declare them the lowest class in the ninja world! Rock Village ninjas, kill the Cloud ninjas!"

The Third Tsuchikage Onoki, as the longest-living Kage, shamelessly changed sides, infuriating the Fourth Raikage and shocking many.

While claiming to follow Lord Uchiha of the Night's will, he also decried the inherent vices of the Cloud Village, essentially finding a scapegoat.

After all, at the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Uchiha Yoru declared his stance.

In the end, these villains are just a pie in the sky for the ninja world.

After all, the Daimyos had slaves, a privilege of the nobility, and branding the villains as slaves indirectly implies that in the future, ninjas would be the nobles of this world.