Chapter 194: Genjutsu Shrouding the Entire Land of Rain

In the end, Nagato still agreed to Deidara's request to head to the battlefield together to fight on the front lines.

Since it was something that could be settled with a single Genjutsu anyway, if Deidara liked causing explosions, then let him blow things up to his heart's content within the illusion!

The surrender of Iwagakure did not cause much trouble for the other four great nations and four ninja villages; the only one cursing up a storm was likely the Daimyo of the Land of Earth—he had ordered Iwagakure to suppress the rebellious Akatsuki, but Iwagakure had surrendered immediately, and now it had become the Akatsuki's branch office in the Land of Earth.

So what was he, the Daimyo, to do? According to the political platform proposed by Akatsuki, the five great nations and five great ninja villages were to be merged—ninja ranks were based more on strength, so even in a unified nation, if Shadow-level ninjas couldn't become the Shadow of a village as before, they could at least land a high-ranking position.

But he, the Daimyo of the Land of Earth, relied entirely on bloodline inheritance; although he had always declared his bloodline noble, he didn't feel he was truly much more capable than an ordinary person. When the time came, a phoenix that had lost its feathers was worse than a chicken, and he might just be finished off directly!

However, this Daimyo of the Land of Earth did not need to worry for long. Uchiha Feiyu descended directly upon the capital of the Land of Earth, and then, with a set of Genjutsu, he rounded up all the high-ranking officials and nobles of the Land of Earth in one fell swoop, naturally including the Daimyo of the Land of Earth.

Subsequently, the Daimyo of the Land of Earth fell silent and stopped speaking out; instead, he became very supportive of Iwagakure's policies and directly announced that the Land of Earth had joined Akatsuki's plan.

The events that had occurred during this period left the ordinary ninjas and commoners of the Ninja World feeling overwhelmed; there were simply too many strange and bizarre things happening.

Akatsuki, which had always insisted on so-called dialogue and peace, was preparing to unify the world; the four great ninja villages and four great nations were preparing to join forces to resist Akatsuki; the 300,000-strong army of the Land of Earth had been wiped out when facing the leader of Akatsuki, with no sign of the living or the dead; Iwagakure had surrendered directly without even fighting...

With so many messy things happening all at once, the surrender of the Land of Earth, compared to these other events, could not even be considered a major matter.

The shadow of war soon shrouded the entire Ninja World, but the mobilization of the four great nations' armies and the alliance of the four ninja villages would also take a considerable amount of time; even though Nagato had already been delayed in the Land of Earth for over a month, the four great nations had still not fully gathered their troops.

And during this time, Uchiha Feiyu's Otsutsuki Pure-blood Clone was also constantly absorbing the "nutrients" brought by the 300,000-strong army, and his strength was once again advancing by leaps and bounds.

Meanwhile, Akatsuki, Iwagakure, and even the Rain Ninja Village of the Land of Rain, had also set up a defensive line on the periphery of the four-nation allied forces; although it was not very effective, it could at least comfort their own minds and prevent some of the four-nation allied forces' ordinary chakra soldiers from running wild and destroying the entire Land of Rain.

In just a few days, the entire Land of Rain was turned upside down, and many citizens of the Land of Rain dragged their families away from the areas where troops were stationed to avoid becoming targets for looting.

However, the Soul power and Qi and Blood power within these soldiers were definitely not a small amount. As soldiers selected from ordinary people, although their chakra talent was poor, after rigorous military training, the willpower and physique of these chakra soldiers far exceeded those of ordinary people.

Even though the main portion of the Soul power and Qi and Blood power was consumed by the main body, the small remaining portion was already enough to make the Otsutsuki Clone's physique even more terrifying.

The few ninjas capable of resisting Uchiha Feiyu's Genjutsu all belonged to Uchiha Feiyu's own people, so there was no need to worry at all.

While the four great nations were preparing, Uchiha Feiyu was improving himself; by the time the four great nations finished their preparations, Uchiha Feiyu's strength had also finished upgrading.

A pale red light rapidly spread out, shrouding the entire Land of Rain. In the eyes of all the ninjas, chakra soldiers, and even ordinary people in the Land of Rain, a three-tomoe symbol appeared.

The reason he had not taken action at the first opportunity during this period was that the actions of the four-nation allied forces were dragging on; it was only until today that all the armies had finally gathered.

Taking a Sharingan Crystal Ball from his hand, the Land of Rain had long since been modified by Uchiha Feiyu himself. The entire country had been transformed into a massive illusion array; it only lacked this one array eye, and the entire illusion array would instantly activate, pulling every ninja in this territory into the illusion.

The chakra within the 300,000-strong army was not particularly strong. The gap in the amount of chakra in the Ninja World could be as vast as heaven and earth; the chakra volume of Uzumaki Naruto alone could exceed that of thousands of Jonin, tens of thousands of Genin, or over 100,000 chakra soldiers.

However, even though the Land of Rain had developed quite impressively in recent years by catching the tailwind of Akatsuki and the Universal Chakra Plan, when it came down to it, due to environmental factors and the small size of the country, the entire Land of Rain only had a population of a few million.

"Finally, they have all gathered... The speed of these armies' movements is just too slow!"

At the very top of the four-nation allied forces, Uzumaki Nagato stood with his arms crossed, standing at an altitude of several thousand meters, while he controlled the surrounding air to bend and refract, concealing his figure.

This one push had brought in another one or two million troops; the number of soldiers alone was nearly a quarter or a third of the entire country, and the destructiveness to the Land of Rain could be imagined.

And this Ninja World War had finally completely kicked off, as the armies and ninjas of the four nations had all invaded the Land of Rain.

Standing in the sky, Uzumaki Nagato poured his own chakra into the Sharingan Crystal Ball in his hand, sensing all the ninjas controlled by his chakra, when he suddenly raised his eyebrows slightly and let out a soft "Hm":

"Hm!? To think there is actually a fish that slipped through the net?"

"Then next, it's time for the real main course!"

Especially those ordinary soldiers who were not ninjas; not only did they require more resources, but the transport of materials was far less efficient than for ninjas, so naturally, foraging from the enemy was the easiest way.

This one or two million-strong army all had to eat, drink, and relieve themselves!

Those even more monstrous than him, such as the Nine-Tails and Senju Hashirama, had chakra within them that was only more, not less, than the 300,000-strong army, so adding all this chakra together, for Uchiha Feiyu's Otsutsuki Clone, could at most be considered a small supplement.

Unless one possessed the mental power of a Mangekyo capable of resisting Genjutsu, even a Shadow-level ninja would absolutely not be able to withstand this Small Tsukuyomi Genjutsu. And according to Uchiha Feiyu's calculations, although the number of ninjas and chakra soldiers who came to the Land of Rain was large, there were simply no true powerhouses among them.

The current Uzumaki Nagato, as a Six Paths puppet controlled by Uchiha Feiyu, had a sensory ability that was only slightly inferior to Uchiha Feiyu himself. Through the Sharingan Crystal Ball, he clearly sensed that, apart from a few ninjas who already belonged to Uchiha Feiyu's subordinates, in the direction of the Rain Ninja Village, there was actually a ninja who had broken free from the control of the Genjutsu.

Feeling somewhat intrigued, Uchiha Feiyu immediately focused his attention on the Land of Rain through the relay of Uzumaki Nagato.

Land of Rain, Rain Ninja Village.

The pale red light flowed in from the sky. The ninjas left behind in the Rain Ninja Village were almost instantly controlled, but in the high tower at the very center, inside a certain pitch-black cocoon, a white-haired ninja with his eyes closed suddenly opened them.

"Hm!? What is going on? Such strong mental power... Is someone using Genjutsu?"

"Ugh... Fortunately, this mental fluctuation woke me up... Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have completely withered away and died in ignorance..."

With a rip, the black cocoon on the outside was torn open by a large hand reaching out from the inside, and a middle-aged ninja with a bare upper body, looking quite sturdy, stepped out.

This middle-aged ninja was none other than the current leader of the Rain Ninja Village, Hanzo of the Salamander!

As for why he looked much younger than his age, and the scene of breaking out of the black cocoon and being reborn, it was naturally all because of the butterfly effect brought about by Uchiha Feiyu back then.

Uchiha Feiyu had once visited the Rain Ninja Village to inquire about information on Akatsuki, and on a whim before leaving, he had given Hanzo of the Salamander a portion of the poison art inheritance from the Book of Demonic Inheritance.

Those inheritances, in addition to the original ones, also contained some of Orochimaru's improved ideas, among which was the idea of using the habit of certain poisonous insects to cocoon and be reborn, allowing oneself to also develop this ability to cocoon, thereby completely reconstructing one's own body structure and transforming the deadly poison within the body into a spiritual medicine.

Without a doubt, for Orochimaru to have such an idea, he must have been inspired in part by Uchiha Feiyu; after all, there were quite a number of various Heavenly Silkworm Arts in martial arts novels, many of which were related to medicine.

However, the fact that even Orochimaru himself had not adopted this line of cultivation thinking showed just how slim the chances of success were, not to mention that it was merely an inspiration and framework of Orochimaru's, with many, many problems still needing to be solved.

But for Hanzo of the Salamander, no matter how many problems needed to be solved on this path of poison arts, he had no other choice.

As a poison human who had been implanted with the poison glands of a salamander since childhood, Hanzo of the Salamander's strength had already begun to decline continuously due to his age and the long-term presence of the poison glands in his body. The poison art scroll left behind by Uchiha Feiyu could be said to be his only way out.

Relying on his own insight as a Shadow-level ninja, his understanding of various poisons, and the shallow accumulation of the Rain Ninja Village, Hanzo of the Salamander had stumbled and started on this path of poison art cultivation.

It was also fortunate that his natural constitution was vastly different from ordinary people, making him a perfect match for the poison arts, and coupled with a bit of serendipity and luck, he had not died halfway, but had instead reached the final step.

Having reached the step of breaking the cocoon and being reborn, Hanzo of the Salamander's life form had already surpassed that of an ordinary ninja, and coupled with his original Shadow-level strength, after undergoing nirvana once, he finally possessed the ability to resist this wide-area Genjutsu.

However, if it were not for the mental interference of this Small Tsukuyomi Genjutsu, Hanzo of the Salamander might never have been able to break the cocoon and be reborn in his entire life, but would have died silently inside the cocoon shell; from this point of view, his luck was truly not bad.

And it was precisely because of this that his performance attracted Uchiha Feiyu's attention. Uchiha Feiyu transmitted the Four Primordial Treasure Boxes to Uzumaki Nagato, controlling this puppet to manipulate the Genjutsu array to harvest within the Land of Rain, while he himself, after a spatial fluctuation, arrived directly at the Rain Ninja Village.

At this moment, Hanzo of the Salamander took a tour around the Rain Ninja Village, but his heart grew increasingly surprised. Although the actions of the ninjas in the Rain Ninja Village did not seem strange, Hanzo of the Salamander had already discovered that these ninjas had long since fallen into an illusion; it was just that the illusion and reality were perfectly consistent, which was why they appeared normal.

"What a terrifying Genjutsu... It has controlled the entire Rain Ninja Village... No, it might be the entire Land of Rain..."

Hanzo of the Salamander's expression became increasingly serious. Just then, his gaze shifted, and he saw a ninja walking out of the high tower.

The high tower of the Rain Ninja Village was the place where Hanzo of the Salamander resided. The status and position of any ninja who could enter and exit the high tower could not be low, and the ninja walking out at this moment was one of Hanzo of the Salamander's deputies, a rare Elite Jonin of the Rain Ninja Village, and one who was proficient in Genjutsu at that.

"Nanami, this guy, has also been controlled? Let me first try to see if I can help him dispel the Genjutsu!"

Hanzo of the Salamander stretched out his hand, and a wisp of purple mist, like a flying arrow, pierced directly toward his deputy, entering his body in an instant.

This is a type of poison that Hanzo of the Salamander concocted using toxin chakra, which damages one's own Qi and Blood while significantly stimulating mental power.

It is said that every medicine has three parts poison; conversely, it can also be interpreted that all poisons can be used as medicine, provided the ratio of the poison is well-regulated, as even so-called deadly poisons can become useful medicinal agents.

"Ugh, urgh, ah!"

The strange toxin penetrated his body; the ninja named Nanami widened his eyes, clutched his throat, and let out groans of "oh" and "ah," his eyes bulging as the skin all over his body began to turn Kurenai, and after trembling for a moment, it turned a ghastly pale color.

At the same time, his eyes, which had been somewhat listless, suddenly shone with a brilliant light, the veins on his forehead bulged, and he clutched his head, appearing as if he were about to break through the Genjutsu.

However, just at this moment, three Tomoe suddenly appeared in his eyes, and after the Tomoe rotated for a moment, they faded away; Nanami, who had been on the verge of breaking through the Genjutsu, just stood there blankly for a moment before returning to his original state.

The only difference from the previous situation was that the ninja Nanami was now weak in breath, and his legs were even trembling slightly as he walked.

"Even Nanami cannot break through the Genjutsu? With the mental power stimulated by the poison just now, Nanami in his explosive state was already equivalent to a Shadow-level expert specializing in Genjutsu, and with the toxin chakra entering his body, it was also equivalent to an external force intervening to disrupt his chakra... Even in this situation, he cannot wake up... Is there anyone left in the entire Land of Rain who is still conscious?"

(End of chapter)