Hiding in the sand, splitting into many places, starting with Arkham

Shimizu patted Rasa's shoulder and then comforted him, saying:

"By connecting the forearm with a prosthetic puppet limb that can receive simulated biological signals, even if the hand seal effect is not as good as before, at least it can guarantee the stability of normal life. When there are other solutions, or after you can retrieve your soul, I will use the Creation Rebirth Technique to help you restore your hands again.

If enough chakra metal can be put into the puppet to replace the meridians in the prosthetic limb to circulate chakra, then your strength can at least recover 70 to 80 percent, so you don't need to worry too much for now."

Hearing that he could still recover 70 to 80 percent of his strength, Rasa felt a little better.

That way, he could at least retain strength close to the Kage level, without too much of a gap.

Even if it requires expensive chakra metal, Rasa doesn't have much else, but he has a lot of money, with plenty of sand gold!

Unfortunately, Rasa's hands are now sealed, and most of his strength is damaged. Before he can create a prosthetic puppet limb with chakra metal, he is no longer suitable to reappear on the battlefield.

"Block the information about Rasa's hands being sealed. Publicize all other details of this battle. Also, send a message to Elder Ebizo, requesting that he transfer a group of people as soon as possible to assist us in occupying the rear.

Even high-grade ninja school students are fine, it's a good opportunity for them to gain experience. The main force continues to advance. With Konoha suffering a major defeat this time, they will be unable to organize a large-scale resistance in a short period of time. We can take this opportunity to take all of the western Fire Country into our possession."

Shimizu looked at the corpses of Hiruzen Sarutobi and other Konoha powerhouses taken away by the Sealing Squad, and instructed Ebizo.

The loss of the five thousand main force troops was not significant. With the abilities of ninjas, they can directly advance now, and maybe even gnaw off a portion of the Konoha ninjas taken away by Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

"The Third Hokage is dead. Konoha Village, what will you do this time?"

......

......

"What should we do now? Orochimaru?"

In a hidden forest, Jiraiya leaned dejectedly against a rock, looking at his most trusted companion with hopeful eyes.

From childhood to adulthood, Orochimaru was the smartest and most talented among them. His analysis of the situation and the choices he made were the most reasonable in hindsight.

Even now that he can suppress Orochimaru in strength after opening Sage Mode, Jiraiya still relies on Orochimaru.

Because Jiraiya is inherently someone who doesn't want to be a leader and doesn't want to shoulder responsibility.

Orochimaru looked at the rising bonfire in front of him, fiddling with the pile of fire with a dead branch in his hand. His narrow eyes were filled with contemplation, and the firelight reflected on the face of the next Hokage appointed by the Third Hokage before his death, faintly revealing a bit of sadness.

He is not yet the person in the original timeline who has made up his mind to sever all ties and relentlessly pursue eternal life and truth.

No matter how much he is transformed or how rational he is, the current Orochimaru is still a person, not a snake.

The bond between the Sannin and the Third Hokage began to be cultivated and established when they were young. Hiruzen Sarutobi has not done anything to disappoint Orochimaru or make Orochimaru feel dissatisfied.

Now, before the Third Hokage died, he took the initiative to stay behind to cover him and others to retreat, and also passed the position of Hokage to Orochimaru.

This instead makes it impossible for Orochimaru to sever this bond in the future.

"Just like when the Second Hokage died in battle, the young Hiruzen-sensei relied on Danzo and a group of classmates to secure the position of Hokage, unite all the forces that could be united in the village, and win the First Ninja World War."

Sunagakure is indeed very strong, but Konoha has not reached the point of despair.

The Third Hokage is dead, but the Sannin and several other old powerhouses are still there, and the younger generation Minato Namikaze has also grown up. With so many powerhouses, they can still defend Konoha.

But these forces need to be united.

And Jiraiya is very important at this time.

Now that the Third Hokage is dead, Jiraiya, who can enter Sage Mode, is the strongest individual combat force in Konoha, and many things in the future cannot be done without him.

And if he wants to get Tsunade's support, at a time when the Third Hokage has died and Konoha is in danger, as long as Jiraiya stands on his side, then Tsunade's position can also be easily pulled over.

Minato Namikaze, as Jiraiya's disciple, will definitely follow Jiraiya's footsteps, and the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki is Minato Namikaze's girlfriend, and the Jinchuriki's attitude will also play an important role in many cases.

In other words, as long as Jiraiya can firmly support him, then more than half of Konoha's high-end combat power will be united.

As for the remaining old guys, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado can try their best to win over. Danzo is the one Orochimaru is most worried about, but with the overall situation set, enough to suppress Danzo, and Konoha is indeed in the most critical moment, no matter how unwise Danzo is, he will not start an internal fight at this time.

With these cards in hand, with a little more layout and operation, Orochimaru believes that with his ability, even if it is difficult to win against Sunagakure led by Shimizu, he still has a certain grasp of defending Konoha.

"I believe you, Orochimaru! I will definitely try my best to persuade the others in the village!"

Jiraiya said firmly.

......

......

The news of the Third Hokage's death quickly spread.

With so many Sunagakure ninjas witnessing it, the speed at which this matter spread was extremely fast.

For a time, the ninja world was shaken.

How many years has it been since a Kage died in battle?

The last time was when the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage died together in the Second Ninja World War. The time before that can be traced back to the Second Raikage and the Second Hokage in the First Ninja World War, who died one after another in the Kin-Gin Rebellion.

Today, the Third Ninja World War has only been going on for less than a year, and another Kage has died!

Hiruzen Sarutobi is the first of the Third Generation Kage of the five major ninja villages to die in battle.

"That monkey is dead?"

Ōnoki, sitting in the Tsuchikage's office, felt a headache coming on as he read through the latest intelligence reports.

Why are you so useless, Hiruzen Sarutobi?!

The death of the Third Hokage was a huge blow to Konoha, and it would also affect Iwagakure, which had formed an alliance with Konoha.

To say nothing else, Konoha's weakness meant that Iwagakure would have to bear greater pressure.

While cursing Sarutobi Hiruzen for being useless, Ōnoki also immersed himself in the intelligence report and began to read it carefully.

"What the hell! Single-handedly fighting Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Sannin Jiraiya and Orochimaru at the same time? And three thousand Konoha elites?"

Ōnoki sat up straight and read it again, making sure he hadn't misread.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was also his old opponent, and the strength of both sides was evenly matched, making it difficult to determine who was superior.

Sunagakure had the strength to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen, and might also have a way to kill him.

"In order to preserve the main force, he took the initiative to cover the rear and eventually died at the hands of the Sunagakure army and the Lava Release user Shimizu, the Scorch Release user Pakura, and the Magnet Release user Rasa, Sunagakure's three Kekkei Genkai ninjas. The old monkey did the same thing as his teacher."

Ōnoki read the intelligence report over and over again, and finally came to two conclusions.

With Konoha's current strength, it was likely that they would not be able to defeat Sunagakure unless other variables appeared.

However, Konoha's foundation was strong after all, and Orochimaru was also a resourceful person. If Konoha fully defended in a tortoise-like manner, then Sunagakure would not be able to gnaw it down easily.

The two sides still had a fight to fight, but Sunagakure was definitely the dominant side.

Another conclusion was that Shimizu's strength had surpassed that of their current Five Kage by a large margin and could not be resisted by a single Kage.

"This kid's strength should not have reached the level of Uchiha Madara back then. However, even after this year ends, he will only be sixteen years old, and he will have several years to grow. It is hard to guarantee that he will not reach Madara's level."

This guy must be eliminated!

If another Uchiha Madara appears, this time, there will be no second First Hokage to stop him!

Then all the other ninja villages will suffer!

Although this guy was already very strong, so strong that even the ninja world overlord like Konoha sacrificed a Hokage and still could not eliminate him, it was precisely because of this that an alliance was needed!

However, he still had to think about how they should deal with it if that guy appeared on the battlefield fighting Iwagakure.

… …

"Father, according to what you and Uncle Turai said before, should we ally with Sunagakure this time and seize Konoha's land?"

Inside Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage A put down the dumbbells and asked the Third Raikage.

The Third Raikage was silent for a few seconds before he said:

"Sunagakure is a bit too strong, so strong that it exceeded our expectations. If we help them, Konoha will indeed be defeated, and we can indeed swallow a lot of benefits, but if Sunagakure becomes stronger, I am afraid it will leave future troubles. What we swallow now may have to be returned with interest at that time."

"Then we… …"

"Hmph, Sunagakure must be suppressed and defended against. I also want that share of Konoha's benefits. If I give up such a good opportunity to take advantage of the fire, your father will not be able to sleep at night.

By the way, how is Bee's situation now?"

"He and Gyūki have already become friends and have the potential to become a perfect Jinchūriki. He is still training on Turtle Island and should be able to come out soon."

Speaking of his sworn brother Killer Bee, a heroic smile appeared on the Fourth Raikage A's rough face.

"My Lightning Release Chakra Mode has also been completed. Even the Flying Thunder God Technique, I am confident that I can catch up within a certain distance. When the new generation of A-B combination joins forces, even if we encounter that Lava Release user Shimizu from Sunagakure again, we… …"

"Can't win."

The Third Raikage interrupted his son.

"I know, but I will definitely not be as embarrassed as Orochimaru and the others. If Bee becomes a perfect Jinchūriki, in the Tailed Beast Mode, both his attack power and resistance to blows will be very strong. In a head-on contest, he may not be worse than you, Father.

Even if that guy cracks Konoha's Flying Thunder God Technique, my speed is enough to keep up with him and entangle with him, dragging Bee to support me. In terms of abilities, Bee and I are more suitable to deal with that guy than others."

The Fourth Raikage A clenched his fists and said confidently.

He felt that when Killer Bee finished his training and could fully control the Tailed Beast Transformation, even if they could not win against Shimizu, the two of them could rely on their respective characteristics to cooperate with each other. Even if it was difficult to defeat Shimizu, it would be enough to contend with him.

The death of the Third Hokage was shocking news in the ninja world. All forces would investigate in depth and understand the process of the matter, understanding how exaggerated Shimizu's strength was.

Everyone was thinking about how their ninja village should deal with such an enemy if they encountered him.

Except for Kirigakure.

Not because they were allies of Sunagakure, but because they had just experienced a crushing defeat.

The Fourth Mizukage Yagura looked indifferently at the two corpses covered with white cloth and the remaining members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, all covered in scars.

"I'm sorry, Fourth Mizukage, we didn't expect that Uchiha Fugaku would actually… …"

"There's no need to say more."

Yagura waved his hand and said indifferently.

"I already know the process of this matter."

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen lowered their heads even further.

"Select new users for the Hiramekarei and the Longsword Nuibari as soon as possible. Our war with Konoha has not ended. Sunagakure has already eliminated the Third Hokage, reducing the pressure on us, so we cannot be outdone by them.

You still have a chance to make up for your mistakes. Take the corpses out and don't disappoint me."

"Yes!"

The five Swordsmen carried out the two companions who were killed by Uchiha Fugaku and closed the door.

Sensing that the Swordsmen had gone far away, Yagura turned around, pressed a mechanism on the table, opened the secret passage behind the wall, and went down.

In the spacious underground cave secret room, Uchiha Madara, with a hunched figure, was leaning on a hard couch, with tubes connected to his body, leading directly to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

At this moment, compared to two years ago, he had aged a lot and looked like he would die at any time, relying entirely on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

"Madara-sama, presumably your plan has been implemented perfectly, right?"

A lump of wriggling black mud crawled out of Yagura's body and said hoarsely.

"The plan has changed. Uchiha Fugaku did activate the Mangekyō Sharingan according to our layout, but his bonds with Konoha Village have not been severed. He still has a wife and children left in Konoha.

So we can only use the backup plan."

Uchiha Madara opened his eyes and said.