Chapter 216: Peace and War

West River Road, Leaf Main Camp.

"Lord Shi Liu Ye, the army has fully assembled and can launch an attack at any time."

Shi Liu Ye, following Shisui's orders, took command of the army stationed at West River Road, facing the Rain Hidden army forty li away.

"No rush, what's the situation in the River Country and the Grass Country?"

Before departing, Shisui had already instructed Shi Liu Ye that someone would inform him of the next moves in secret, and he should act according to the orders, so he was not eager to attack.

"They only caused minor harassment, not a large‑scale attack; they must be waiting for us to make the first move."

"Then let's satisfy them; we'll help draw Rain Hidden's attention!"

Shi Liu Ye's mouth twitched slightly; the condition was met, it was time to act.

"Relay my command: the army will attack in three successive waves, coordinating group ninjutsu. Remember, without my order, even if you breach Rain Hidden's defenses, you must not pursue."

"Understood!"

At Shi Liu Ye's single command, the army responded swiftly; thousands of ninja, led by the jonin of each unit, began a coordinated attack.

The Leaf's massive troop gathering could not be hidden from Rain Hidden, who had already prepared.

But when Leaf ninja gradually entered their sight, they still felt panic.

After so long of standoff, they finally met on the battlefield.

Rain Country is a flat plain, its terrain similar to Fire Country, with almost no defensible terrain; both sides quickly met on the plain.

As soon as the Leaf army appeared, a massive volley of kunai bound with detonation talismans rained down on the Rain Hidden army.

The common folk of Rain Hidden Country are poor and have never seen such a display, but most leading jonin have lived through the original war and know Leaf ninja are well‑equipped and can stay calm.

"Don't panic; even Leaf ninja have limited detonation talismans. Charge forward! For the homes behind us!"

The Leaf are invaders; this is the consensus among all Rain Hidden ninja.

Among them are many orphans of the Second and Third Ninja World Wars, who clearly understand the harm these people will bring to the citizens of Rain Country after entering.

"For the Village! For our families!"

Rain Hidden's war resolve was firm; under the barrage of Leaf's three‑round detonation talismans, two‑round group ninjutsu surged forward.

The Leaf leading jonin, aware of the attack's purpose, ceased throwing detonation talismans after the test, and both sides immediately engaged in close‑quarters combat.

The melee lasted from day into night; Leaf ninja rotated continuously, while Rain Hidden, in numbers, average strength, equipment, and logistics, were far inferior, and within a single day many defenses became precarious, forcing them to repeatedly request reinforcements.

"How is it? Any signs of the Xiao organization?"

"No one wearing red clouds and black robes has appeared."

Shi Liu Ye frowned and sighed, "These people can hold their breath so well. Fine, continue the attack tomorrow, focusing on eliminating any living force of Rain Hidden, and do not breach the defenses on your own."

"Understood!"

The high‑intensity war lasted ten days; Rain Hidden struggled increasingly, barely holding the lines each time by exhausting themselves. Fortunately, the Leaf's detonation talismans seemed to have been exhausted on the first day, so the assault lost its intensity and their casualties finally began to drop.

Requests for aid had already been sent back dozens of times, and Rain Hidden even redeployed ninja from the other two directions here to resist the Leaf.

This meant that Rain Country's north and south defenses were virtually undefended.

The River Country and Grass Country ninja forces seized the opportunity to breach Rain Hidden's defenses, rushing from north and south straight to Rain Hidden Village. The two nations' ninja plundered everywhere, committing every possible evil; for a time, Rain Country's north and south were in utter lament, deepening the east‑garrisoned Rain Hidden's hatred of the invading Leaf.

"Hmph, damned things, bully the weak and fear the strong; they're just a band of marauders!"

Shi Liu Ye also learned of the two nations' ninja deeds and felt deep contempt.

"Lord Shi Liu Ye, if the two nations' ninja attack the village from north and south, Rain Hidden's troops will surely lose morale. Should we launch a full assault tomorrow?"

"No rush, probe again tomorrow, and always stay informed about the River Country and Grass Country ninja."

"."

The people in the tent were puzzled, but they obeyed the command, knowing they must comply.

On the eleventh day, both armies still clashed on the battlefield; the resentful Rain Hidden resistance was especially fierce, but the Leaf's ninja assault was too swift, and massive ninjutsu prevented Rain Hidden from gathering in groups.

Lacking troops, they dared not charge recklessly any longer, resorting to passive defense, essentially a trapped beast still fighting.

The defenses were breached repeatedly, then retaken, and this region has already claimed far too many lives.

"Why must we endure this? Why are they invading us? I just want to live peacefully. Why won't these great nations even grant us that? Must small nations be bullied like this?"

Recalling the two nations' ninja burning, killing, and looting at home, and watching familiar comrades fall one by one, someone understood that the Leaf ninja army before them was a force they could not resist even with all their strength.

The desperate cries gradually spread across the battlefield; the leading jonin fell silent, but what could they do?

With family behind them, they had nowhere to retreat.

"Ka Mi, please bring hope to this weeping land!"

Boom— amid despair, the wind rose sharply, and a pure white figure spread its wings from the west, paper fragments fluttering down like snow or feathers.

"Angel?"

Under the dim sky, a figure hovered; regardless of friend or foe, everyone looked up at that silhouette and its pure white wings.

"It's Angel Lord! Angel Lord has arrived!"

A ninja burst into tears, watching that person with excitement.

And their cheers all told the Leaf ninja that enemy reinforcements had arrived.

Hovering over the battlefield was Xiao Nan, staring at the Rain Hidden corpses below, her eyes filled with unmasked rage and sorrow.

"Leaf!"

The twin wings trembled, and a barrage of paper shuriken shot down from above.

Under the jonin's command, the Leaf ninja army hurriedly deployed Ten‑Thousand Mile Earth Flow Wall and Great Breakthrough Defense, but the sky‑borne attack was too agile; Xiao Nan's paper shuriken were mixed with many detonation talismans, and the battlefield erupted with booming and wailing.

On the Leaf side, there were hardly any flying ninja, leaving them helpless against high‑altitude Xiao Nan.

Fortunately, the ninja on both sides intermingled, and Xiao Nan soon curtailed the bombing.

Leaf division jonin quickly received Shi Liu Ye's withdrawal order.

"Angel? Finally here. Yang Zhe, lead a ninja unit to cover the front‑line army's withdrawal from the battlefield."

"Yes!"

ShiLiuye watched XiaoNan spread her wings in the sky, a flash of battle intent crossing his eyes, but he soon shook his head helplessly and made no rash move.

The Leaf army withdrew, and XiaoNan watched the Leaf ninjas keeping watch on her from afar, ultimately not giving chase.

Both sides called a halt to the fighting and returned to their camps to rest.

The Angel's appearance clearly affected both sides' morale, but ShiLiuye paid no attention to it; he was more concerned with the situation of the ninja forces of the other two nations.

"Lord ShiLiuye, urgent military report!"

The next day, ShiLiuye did not issue an attack order; both sides unusually rested through the morning, and after lunch the intelligence from the two nations finally arrived. ShiLiuye looked up, awaiting the messengers with expectation.

"Yesterday at four p. m., the River Country army was ambushed on the road to Rain Hidden Village. The assailants seemed to include a jinchuriki; eight hundred ninja troops were nearly annihilated by a Tailed Beast Orb attack. According to the report from the River Country ninja who escaped, after the Tailed Beast Orb three ninjas dressed in red clouds and black robes pursued them—those are the three's characteristics."

ShiLiuye hurriedly took the report and glanced at it; from a single look he recognized the leader as the Jiaodu who had fled from his hands before, while the other two—one seemed to be Hidan, and the masked man might be the Fourth Mizukage under control.

It matches the intelligence sent by Orochimaru.

"This is intelligence from the Grass Country: yesterday at five p. m., the Grass Country ninja force passed through a city, then resupplied on the spot, and after emerging were ambushed by Rain Hidden. Of nine hundred ninjas, only a dozen or so escaped back."

Calling it on‑site resupply was really just burning, killing, and looting; ShiLiuye knew this well, and regarding the two nations' plight he could only say, "They got what they deserved."

"Hm?"

ShiLiuye took the report for a closer look; the attackers were again three people. One turned out to be the Leaf traitor Orochimaru, another controlled a multitude of puppets—likely Xie, and the last was the leader of Dawn, Pain.

"Pain, its instantaneous destructive power rivals a Tailed Beast,"

After reading the report, ShiLiuye couldn't help but frown.

Orochimaru and Xie's strength was respectable, and the nine hundred ninjas could have escaped some, but they ran into Pain. He seemed to wield an extremely terrifying large‑area destructive ninjutsu, turning nearly a thousand Grass Country ninjas into mush in an instant.

"The power of the Rinnegan, able to achieve this level,"

"Commander, the Grass Country and River Country ninja forces have suffered such heavy losses they can no longer fight. Dawn's people will soon gather strength against us. Should we strike immediately and deal with the Angel first?"

Listening to the battle report, everyone inside the tent felt a fine sweat bead on their foreheads.

They were unsure of the others' strength, but they knew the jinchuriki and Orochimaru all too well; if those two showed up, the difficulty of this battle would rise further.

"Then, tomorrow we launch the final offensive; I'll handle the Angel."

Dawn's forces have already acted, so he can act without hesitation.

"Yes!"

The crowd rejoiced; they would finally witness the power of the Uchiha.

Early the next morning, the Leaf army mobilized, and Rain Hidden received the news quickly.

"Lord Angel, the Leaf army has launched another attack."

XiaoNan shifted, turning into sheets of white paper that flew out of the tent and reassembled in the sky, spotting the Leaf ninjas appearing in the distant formation.

This Leaf formation differed from previous assaults; it was loose, with front, back, left, and right all spaced apart.

Meanwhile, here in Rain Hidden, although XiaoNan was not commanding, the Rain Hidden army still quickly gathered and prepared its defenses.

As the two armies drew near, the Leaf side first hurled a massive barrage of ninja tools—sheets of shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags raining down on Rain Hidden.

Seeing this, XiaoNan swooped down swiftly; paper shuriken and explosive tags also fell from the sky into the Leaf army.

Boom­ing sounds rose and fell, and countless kunai shot toward the sky, all easily evaded by XiaoNan; the aerial enemies heavily suppressed the Leaf ninjas.

But the battlefield was vast; even XiaoNan could not cover every area.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Chain Wave!"

Just as XiaoNan dodged the scattered shuriken below, a gust of wind surged upward from below, and XiaoNan instantly evaded, though the attack's purpose was not aimed at her.

The wind blade sliced through, her wings instantly scattering, and XiaoNan fell from the sky.

ShiLiuye, who had been waiting for a long time, drew his sword and rushed toward XiaoNan's neck; a flash of silver light, and a snowflake instantly blossomed at XiaoNan's shoulder.

"What a pity."

The blood‑red paper rode the wind away, its destination unknown; ShiLiuye watched the reassembled‑winged XiaoNan with a hint of regret.

"Do all Uchiha only do such unsavory deeds?"

ShiLiuye's three jade talismans reminded XiaoNan of someone, and she couldn't help but speak.

"."

"Shi?"

The two armies tangled together; if he struck down, his own men would also be wounded.

Seeing ShiLiuye silent, XiaoNan lowered her eyes slightly, rose in altitude again, and the next moment countless attacks rained down like droplets.

Meanwhile, Rain Hidden Village.

A figure stepped through the water from outside the village and easily slipped into Rain Hidden Village; the village, being on guard against outside foes, seemed especially empty.

"Do Nagato and XiaoNan live in this place?"

Zilaoye stared at the gloomy sky and the cold steel towers, feeling especially conflicted.

He had thought the three had long since perished in some clash, yet these events were tied to Danzo, and the other two, having endured the pain of losing family, had somehow grown to this point.

"Fate really loves to toy with people."

In November, the Rain Country's precipitation should have been lighter than usual, but Rain Hidden Village seemed unaffected; the rain's biting cold made Zilaoye shiver.

Zilaoye concealed himself, wandering the village to gather information; unexpectedly, he soon learned from villagers' chatter where the Angel often stayed.

His ninja instincts gave Zilaoye doubt, but after a moment's thought he still slipped into that building.

The path was completely unobstructed, with no guards at all.

Until a familiar face appeared before his eyes.

Zilaoye's pupils contracted as the complex‑faced figure said, "Are you Miyan, or Nagato?"

"Miyan? That type died long ago. Of course, the one standing here is no longer Nagato; I am Pain, I am a god!"

"What did you say?"

Nagato's cold words left Jiraiya in disbelief.

"It's nothing. I simply went through war, and that kind of pain is enough to make an ignorant and foolish child grow up."

Jiraiya's expression was heavy; Nagato saying such things was enough for him to understand what kind of environment the other had been living in all these years.

"What about Konan? You drew me here — is there something you want to say to me?"

"Konan has gone to the front lines, to repel Konoha's invasion.

As for why I lured you here, you should ask yourself that, Teacher Jiraiya. Coming to Amegakure at a time like this — is it to gather intelligence for Konoha, or to eliminate the Akatsuki?"

"No, I came to stop the war!"

"Stop the war? Ridiculous. Teacher Jiraiya, the war has already begun. The seeds of hatred were sown long ago across this cursed land — as far back as when Yahiko died!"

Jiraiya paused, fell silent for a moment, then sighed softly, "I'm sorry."

"No, Teacher — I am grateful to you, for not listening to Orochimaru's suggestion and killing us back then.

You gave me the chance to experience all of this, to evolve from human to god. I have clearly comprehended it all, and I will use my power to bring true peace to this world!" (End of chapter)