Chapter 56: The Entrance of the Yugakure no Sato Leader

Chapter 56: The Entrance of the Yugakure no Sato Leader

Minato Namikaze was filled with intense anger and frustration, but he couldn't refute Chiba's words.

Because Chiba was right—under these circumstances, being severely injured almost always meant certain death.

And in the end, Daigo had willingly chosen to sacrifice himself.

Still, Minato was furious.

If Daigo had died at the hands of the enemy, Minato would have only felt sadness, not anger.

After all, they were enemies; it was a battle of life and death.

But Minato couldn't accept that Daigo died because of the explosive tags Chiba gave him.

Moreover, it was Chiba who had sent him to his death.

Minato, filled with grief and anger, shouted, "Chiba, how can you be so cold-blooded? If you were ever in danger, wouldn't you hope that your comrades would come to save you?"

Chiba sneered, "Cold-blooded? Interpret it however you want. If I'm in danger and die, that's on me for not being strong enough, so don't trouble yourself with my fate.

Also, let me remind you—the battle isn't over yet. Every second wasted here could mean the death of another comrade, and their deaths will be on you, Minato."

After saying this, Chiba used the Body Flicker Technique to leave and rejoin the battle.

Minato, now overwhelmed with regret, realized he had let his anger cloud his judgment. This was not the time to question Chiba.

Minato redirected his anger towards the enemy ninja, fighting harder, killing without concern for whether his target was a commander.

Chiba did the same.

Upon realizing that Minato and Chiba were specifically targeting them, the commanders hid while continuing to issue orders.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya remained the main forces in battle.

Both were covered in blood, relentlessly using their signature jutsus to eliminate the enemies.

Manda and Gamabunta, meanwhile, were no longer facing ninjas but were now fighting the summoned creatures from the Cloud and Yugakure no Satoninjas.

Surrounded by numerous summoned beasts and the combined jutsus of the ninjas, Manda and Gamabunta were on the back foot, forced to fight defensively instead of their initial overwhelming onslaught.

Chiba had his eyes on a particular ninja on the battlefield.

This man, around the same age as Hiruzen Sarutobi, wore the forehead protector of the Yugakure no Sato, and his strength was unlike any other Yugakure no Satoninja.

Chiba grabbed a Yugakure no Satoninja and pointed at the man, demanding, "Who is that man? You have three seconds to answer me!"

The captured ninja, terrified, quickly replied, "He... he's our leader!"

Chiba killed the ninja immediately after receiving the answer.

Chiba squinted his eyes, observing the Yugakure no Sato leader fighting fiercely on the battlefield.

Finally, he had appeared!

Their goal wasn't to capture the Yugakure no Sato. Their current numbers and combat strength weren't enough to wipe out all the Cloud ninjas or drive them out of the village.

So how could they drive the Cloud ninjas out of the Yugakure no Sato and ensure that the village would no longer collaborate with them?

The key was the leader of the Yugakure no Sato.

According to the plan Chiba and Orochimaru discussed, only the Yugakure no Sato could drive the Cloud ninjas out.

The objective was to force the Cloud ninjas out and make sure the Yugakure no Sato would no longer serve as a base for them.

The process was to make everyone in the Yugakure no Sato understand that in a war between the great ninja villages, taking sides recklessly would have catastrophic consequences that a small village could not bear.

Once the Yugakure no Sato understood this, the mission would be considered a success.

Konoha would then declare that it would not hold a grudge against the village for hosting the Cloud ninjas, allowing the Yugakure no Sato to return to neutrality and avoid involvement in the conflict between Konoha and the Cloud Village.

Even if the Yugakure no Sato resumed neutrality, it wouldn't be seen as helping Konoha, and the Cloud Village wouldn't have grounds to accuse them of anything.

At that point, the plan would succeed.

Chiba summoned a snake to inform Orochimaru that the Yugakure no Sato leader had entered the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the Yugakure no Sato leader was filled with grief.

This battle had caught everyone in the Yugakure no Sato off guard.

He had allowed the Cloud ninjas to occupy the village because he knew that the Land of Yugakure no Satowould inevitably become a battleground between Konoha and the Cloud Village.

The Cloud Village promised to protect the village in exchange for letting their ninjas in.

He agreed, hoping that the village could survive the war.

But now, it felt as if there was no protection at all.

He regretted agreeing to the Cloud Village's terms so hastily.

Since the battle began, the Cloud ninjas had shown no intention of protecting their ninjas or villagers.

As he watched his fellow villagers die one by one, the Yugakure no Sato leader was overwhelmed with guilt.

Initially, he didn't want to join the battle because, once he did, the situation would escalate significantly.

Although he allowed the Cloud ninjas to station themselves in his village, he did so for self-preservation. Until now, the Yugakure no Satoninjas had not engaged in any battles against Konoha or Cloud ninjas, hoping not to completely offend Konoha.

After all, even if Konoha were to lose in the future, dealing with the Yugakure no Sato would be an easy task.

But witnessing his ninjas and villagers die, he could no longer stand by.

The Yugakure no Sato leader furiously launched jutsu at the Konoha ninjas, venting his inner rage.

The snake Chiba had sent returned shortly after.

The snake reported to Chiba, "Lord Orochimaru says he cannot break away from his current battle, so he asks you to keep an eye on the Yugakure no Sato leader."

Receiving Orochimaru's response, Chiba observed the Yugakure no Sato leader.

His skills were impressive but nothing extraordinary.

In Konoha, he would barely qualify as an elite jonin.

However, the Yugakure no Sato leader's rich combat experience piqued Chiba's interest.

Engaging the leader would certainly count as keeping an eye on him.

Chiba formed a hand seal and took a deep breath.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Technique!"

Chiba unleashed four fire dragons towards the Yugakure no Satoleader.

The leader reacted quickly and, realizing he couldn't dodge all four dragons, came up with a countermeasure.

"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"

He raised a vertical wall of water from the ground in front of him, blocking two of the fire dragons.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

The leader then used the surrounding water to form a dragon, which he entered, successfully fending off the other two fire dragons.

After dealing with the fire dragons, the Yugakure no Sato leader glared at Chiba.

From the start, he had noticed the very active Chiba on the battlefield.

Even though Chiba had not specifically targeted Yugakure no Sato ninjas, many of them had already fallen at his hands.