Naruto: Pay-to-Win Ninja System

The battle continued.

Konoha's offensive was indeed fierce. Within merely ten minutes,

They advanced over a thousand meters, killing hundreds of Iwagakure ninja.

Meanwhile, Konoha's losses were no more than fifty or sixty men.

That was already a truly remarkable feat!

After all, this was the enemy's home ground—the Iwagakure Village.

For Konoha to fight against thousands of Iwa ninja with less than a thousand troops and achieve such results was truly impressive.

Of course, it was mainly due to their surprise tactics and elite ferocity that they had gained the upper hand.

Soon, when the Konoha ninja were about to push into the heart of Iwagakure, preparing to destroy the symbolic Tsuchikage's headquarters—the spiritual pillar of Iwagakure—

The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, arrived on the battlefield alongside his Personal Guards and elite warriors.

It must be admitted that although Konoha's surprise attack was powerful,

Onoki's strength was no joke either.

Even without considering his unique Kekkei Tota—Dust Release—his overall power wasn't much lower than that of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.

Factoring in the devastating power of Dust Release, he could even have a slight advantage.

But then again, Hiruzen wasn't someone to underestimate either.

Despite growing older and not as strong as in his prime, if he truly unleashed his ultimate techniques and fought to the death,

No one could say for sure who'd come out on top...

Besides, Hiruzen himself had once admitted witnessing Onoki's use of Dust Release.

This alone proved that during past Great Ninja World Wars, the two must have clashed before.

And as village leaders, should they meet on the battlefield, eliminating the enemy commander would bring tremendous strategic advantages and a massive boost in morale.

Thus, both Hiruzen and Onoki would go all out—with no holding back.

Yet until today, both still lived.

This alone sufficiently indicated their strengths were quite evenly matched.

Of course, it was also possible that younger Hiruzen had defeated Onoki, forcing the latter to flee disgracefully.

After all, Onoki possessed both the levitation technique and the long-range, wide-area instant-kill ability "Dust Release." Once he decided to retreat, there was hardly anyone in the shinobi world at that time who could stop him...

But this time, it was different.

Behind Onoki stood the heart of his own village—the Tsuchikage's headquarters—he had nowhere left to run!

"Hiruzen Sarutobi, you bastard!"

"Are you trying to spark another Ninja World War?!!!"

While casting techniques, Onoki shouted furiously.

One after another, gigantic earth golems created by the Earth Release: Golem Technique emerged from the ground, joining the battle and blocking Konoha's advancing forces.

"You scavengers deserve to die even more!"

"No time for words—today, we'll erase Iwagakure from existence!"

Hiruzen roared loudly.

Thinking of Koharu's tragic death and those fallen Konoha ninja,

Anger surged within him; he had no patience to argue with Onoki any further!

[Earth Release: Earth Dragon Flame Stream!]

[Ninjutsu: Thunder-Water Dragon Bullet!]

[Shuriken Shadow Clones Technique!]

[Summoning Jutsu: Monkey King: Enma!]

From Hiruzen Sarutobi and his shadow clones burst forth a powerful jutsu perfected through mastery of chakra nature transformation, instantly overwhelming the entire area.

Dozens of Iwagakure buildings collapsed into ruins.

Don't let the perception of Sarutobi as indecisive within his own village mislead you.

Once on the battlefield, he held nothing back.

If he had been merciful during battle, he wouldn't have survived this long.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi! You're asking for death!"

[Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!]

Witnessing the enemy's unchecked destruction and rising casualties among his people, Onoki nearly lost control.

Recklessly activating Kekkei Tota – Dust Release – without hesitation, he hoped only to cripple these Konoha ninja!

...

It must be admitted — when that old man Onoki flew into a rage, he was truly terrifying.

That almost invincible [Dust Release], with just a simple sweep, took the lives of several Konoha ninjas along its path.

Although using such large-scale ultimate techniques within one's own village could easily harm innocents,

in moments like these, there was simply no time to consider such things.

Thus, Onoki alone forcefully halted most of Konoha's fierce offensive.

Seeing this, Onoki felt a surge of joy.

After all, he had already realized —

the number of Konoha forces in this surprise attack wasn't large at all; surely significantly less than a thousand!

If they could withstand this initial assault and redeploy forces from the west for reinforcement, victory could definitely swing back in their favor!

Even completely annihilating Konoha wasn't impossible!

However, just at that moment,

what happened on the Konoha side left Onoki stunned once again.

The very ninja leading the ferocious attack—the Third Hokage, Sarutobi himself—suddenly halted his assault entirely.

Without hesitation or delay,

he immediately led the group of Konoha ninja in full retreat.

Several hundred Konoha shinobi withdrew from Iwagakure while covering each other's backs,

leaving behind only chaos and wreckage amidst broken walls and ruins.

...

Seeing how decisively Konoha retreated, Onoki was momentarily dazed.

After all, if they had waited just a little longer, until Iwagakure's main forces surrounded them,

this Konoha army would've definitely been trapped without hope of escape!

Yet now, they were gone!

"Has Konoha really begun retreating?"

"Were they perhaps wise to my plan?"

"No, whether they figured it out or not doesn't matter."

"They absolutely cannot be allowed to escape so easily!"

Onoki darkened with rage inside.

Letting Konoha leave so freely? That would mean Iwagakure could forget about its reputation entirely…

He himself might as well give up the title of Tsuchikage…

No matter what, Konoha must pay a heavy price!

Furious, Onoki didn't hesitate.

Immediately, he organized his men and led the Iwa shinobi in pursuit of the fleeing Konoha forces.

He wasn't blind to the possibility that this might be Konoha's "Tiger From the Mountain" tactic.

But at this point, nearly half the village had already been destroyed — there was practically nothing more to lose anyway.

Konoha, on the other hand, probably didn't have any hidden forces left.

Therefore, if he himself could lead several thousand Iwagakure ninjas to wipe out Konoha's main force along with The Third Sarutobi, it would definitely be worth it!

He'd even come out way ahead and make up for today's losses!

How could Onoki not feel tempted?

...

At the same time.

Behind an unremarkable rock south of Iwagakure Village.

Jiraiya and others, who had been lying in wait here, had finally found their chance.

"What's the situation?"

"Reporting to Jiraiya-sama, Shikaku's unit has withdrawn from the western side..."

"Sarutobi's unit has also retreated from the southeast..."

"But there's still a large number of Iwagakure pursuers behind them—over 3,000!"

A ninja from the Hyuga Branch House, his [Byakugan] activated, observed the distance intently as he quickly reported.

Jiraiya asked, "Can you identify the leader of the pursuing force?"

"Not clearly. But that person doesn't seem tall and appears to be flying in the air!"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya's heart leapt with joy:

"Flying in the air? That must be Onoki then!"

"So Sensei Sarutobi and the others really managed to lure out The Third Tsuchikage!"

"Great! It's time we made our move!"

"Everyone, get ready to attack!"

"Remember the orders: If you encounter enemy ninjas, eliminate them swiftly! No unnecessary entanglements, to avoid exposure!"

"Yes!"

With one command, the 'Vanguard Squad' led by Jiraiya immediately launched their assault.

Keeping their presence hidden, they swiftly slipped back into Iwagakure Village once again.

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