Chapter 120: The Final Strike Against Kirigakure

Orochimaru frowned: "If I remember correctly, the Land of Wind has a population of 30 million, the Land of Lightning has 55 million, and the Land of Earth has 60 million. Our Land of Fire has the largest population, having just surpassed 100 million."

"How could the Land of Water have 80 million?"

Yamanaka Chujiu smiled: "Because of war."

"The Land of Earth has been invaded by Cloud Ninja, the Land of Lightning has been ravaged by Rock Ninja, and the Land of Wind has been devastated by Konoha Ninja and Rock Ninja."

"As for our Land of Fire, it has been repeatedly ravaged by the four great ninja villages; the border regions have almost all been burned to white earth."

"The small buffer states between the five great nations are even more miserable; the Land of Grass, the Bo Country, and the Land of Whirlpools have all been destroyed..."

"With so many countries ravaged by the flames of war, vast uninhabited areas have appeared. Surely the people living on those lands weren't all wiped out, right?"

Orochimaru already understood: "Except for the Land of Rain, which is sandwiched between the three great nations, people could freely leave the other countries. They would migrate to places without war where they could fill their stomachs..."

"The Land of Water!"

There are few countries that have not been affected by the flames of war: the Land of Water, a nation of ten thousand islands isolated in the sea; the four countries of You, Ghost, Ice, and Snow to the northwest; and the three countries of Tea, Spring, and Wave in the extreme south.

But the northwest is barren and bitterly cold; the locals themselves cannot even get enough to eat, so refugees would only starve to death if they went there.

The three southernmost countries are separated by the Land of Fire; let alone ordinary people, even ninja find it difficult to pass through the Land of Fire to reach them.

Only the Land of Water—as long as one can get a boat, one can cross the vast ocean and arrive without restriction.

As everyone knows, an archipelago nation may have barren land, but the marine resources must be extremely abundant, capable of supporting a large population.

It is precisely because of this massive population influx that Kirigakure did not collapse under the Blood Mist Village policy.

That is a terrifying elimination process where half die upon graduation, two-thirds die upon advancing to Chunin, and only one in a hundred survives to become a Jonin.

Not only were the Mist Ninja not wiped out, but they were actually able to assemble an army of ten thousand.

From this, one can see how terrifying the potential of the Land of Water is, and Yamanaka Chujiu has set his sights on this potential.

Orochimaru was persuaded; he began to believe that the population of the Land of Water really was 80 million, or perhaps even more.

Suddenly, he realized that the plan to attack the Land of Water seemed a bit risky.

Yamanaka Chujiu comforted him: "Orochimaru-sensei, you are overthinking it."

"The populous Land of Water and the strength of Kirigakure are simply not the same thing."

"The Blood Mist Village policy is not for nothing!"

"The bottom-tier farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, and small merchants of the Land of Water are squeezed until they can't breathe by the nobles and ninja. They will not support Kirigakure, nor will they obstruct our Konoha's actions."

"Hmm..."

Yamanaka Chujiu suddenly revealed a strange smile: "If I were to be ruthless, I might even be able to make this massive population supporters of our Konoha."

For the first time in his life, Orochimaru shuddered: "You brat, are you trying to poke a hole in the sky?"

Yamanaka Chujiu shook his head: "Not piercing the sky, but overturning the earth..."

"Tsk, it's still too much trouble!"

"Don't worry, Orochimaru-sensei. Unless it's a last resort, I won't use that move. After all, it's only Kirigakure."

Orochimaru did not want to talk to this student anymore. Ever since this brat mentioned wanting to destroy a nation, how many shocks had he, a leader of the Sannin and a world-renowned Shadow-level Ninja, already endured?

Forget it, forget it.

Whatever.

Orochimaru decided that from now on, he only wanted to deal with Karatachi Yagura and the occupation of the Bo Country.

As for Yamanaka Chujiu and the Land of Water, he wouldn't care anymore!

His heart really couldn't take it...

Anyway, this brat has a conscience and wouldn't sabotage his own teacher, so let him do as he pleases.

The Konoha ninja army split into two.

Orochimaru led a main force of over seven thousand ninja to cross the sea and attack the Bo Country, engaging in a head-on battle with the four thousand Mist Ninja led by the Fourth Mizukage.

Yamanaka Chujiu led eight hundred Konoha ninja to "cross the river in white clothes," disguising themselves as sea merchants from the Land of Whirlpools, and entered the waters of the Land of Water from the south.

Under the guidance of Suikazan Fuguki, the Konoha ninja's level of disguise was extremely high, and very few Mist Ninja could detect any issues.

When those extremely sensitive Mist Ninja did discover problems, the subtle changes in their emotions would be detected by Yamanaka Chujiu, and they would immediately be invaded by Thought Threads, eventually becoming living puppets to add to any of Konoha's surprise attacks.

The voyage, which had its thrills but no real danger, lasted for two days, and Yamanaka Chujiu arrived at the main island where Kirigakure was located.

This island was vast in area with rugged and steep terrain, and it was shrouded in thick fog all year round. The unique geographical environment built a special defense system that made other ninja villages shrink back.

The overly perfect geographical advantage shaped Kirigakure's unique sense of security.

During wartime, Kirigakure would actively seek to fight on two fronts, or even three, and would always go all out, never considering the possibility of being attacked all the way to the Land of Water.

Whether in times of peace or war, the internal strife in Kirigakure never ceased.

No matter how intense the fighting was on the front lines, the mutual slaughter in the rear could not stop.

Now, Yamanaka Chujiu had arrived with the Konoha ninja!

Six Mist Ninja living puppets were sent out to infiltrate Kirigakure for reconnaissance.

Just as previously expected, the Mist Ninja had been hollowed out, and the forces guarding Kirigakure were severely insufficient.

The Elder Genji, who guarded the village, was advanced in age; let alone fighting, even walking was quite difficult, and he could only handle official business in his own home.

The Mizukage Building was overseen by the up-and-coming Mist Jonin Terumi Mei, while the Demon Zabuza, who was responsible for patrolling Kirigakure, was the same age as Yamanaka Chujiu.

In other words, the decisive battle that would determine the fate of Kirigakure was actually being commanded by three ninja under the age of 16, who were also serving as the core combat power.

According to the intelligence from the living puppets, Yamanaka Chujiu boldly approached Kirigakure, and only stopped to carefully observe the village once his Mind Severing Realm had enveloped more than half of it.

Finally, he confirmed that the timing for the surprise attack was not only ripe but unprecedentedly perfect.

He did not gather the eight hundred Konoha ninja, but instead directed each squad to move to designated positions via Communication Snake and issued tasks to each squad.

Some squads were responsible for creating chaos to distract the attention of the Kirigakure guards.

Some squads were responsible for raiding the Mizukage Building to control the hub of Kirigakure and cut off external communications.

Some squads were responsible for raiding the residence of Elder Genji to kill the only elder capable of uniting the Mist Ninja.

Although Yamanaka Chujiu admired this old man, he still requested to kill him without hesitation, rather than taking him prisoner.

Because: one man's hero is another man's enemy.

He had come to destroy a nation, not to form a friendly alliance!

With Terumi Mei and Zabuza as the core targets, Yamanaka Chujiu mobilized four hundred Konoha Ninja to launch a surprise attack, and brought out all his Living Puppet units to strengthen the assault.

It was imperative to achieve a one-hit kill, giving Kirigakure no chance to struggle.

Yamanaka Chujiu personally led the final eighty Konoha Ninja to stand by outside Kirigakure, ready to support any combat squad at any time and deal with emergencies.

"That is the plan; does anyone have any questions?"

"No!"

"Then let's move!"

"After this battle, there will be no more Kirigakure in the Ninja World!"

"Kill!!"