Chapter 69: Activation and Deactivation

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Activation and Deactivation

At the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Grass.

The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, flipped through the intelligence report in his hands as he said, "So, the commander of the Konoha forces facing off against us on the other side is Danzo?"

Kitsuchi, who was standing beside him, replied, "Yes. According to the intelligence gathered by our Intelligence Division, the one commanding Konoha’s forces across from us is indeed Danzo."

Iwagakure’s sudden military buildup had forced Konoha to make corresponding deployments.

Of the three members of Konoha’s advisory council, Danzo had been dispatched by the Third Hokage to the Iwagakure front. Koharu Utatane had personally traveled to Sunagakure to negotiate an alliance, while Homura Mitokado had been assigned to oversee the eastern coastline of the Land of Fire and guard against a surprise attack from Kirigakure.

These movements were difficult to conceal, so Iwagakure’s intelligence network had intercepted the information almost immediately.

After pondering for a moment, the Third Tsuchikage asked, "What about the Third Hokage?"

Kitsuchi shook his head. "We don’t have any reliable information at the moment, but word is that he’s still holding down the fort in Konoha."

"Hiruzen really knows how to keep his composure." The Third Tsuchikage chuckled. Then, as though suddenly remembering something, he asked, "Right—have you found the Konoha shinobi who killed Iwamata?"

As the captain of one of Iwagakure’s few remaining Beheading Squads, Iwamata was one of the village’s handful of elite jonin. Naturally, his death had left the Third Tsuchikage both deeply aggrieved and furious.

"According to the information sent back by our spies planted in the Land of Demons, the ones who killed Iwamata were Konoha’s ANBU Team Eleven."

The Third Tsuchikage frowned. "Konoha’s ANBU?"

No matter the village, the identities of its ANBU were closely guarded secrets. Even for Iwagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, uncovering detailed information about Konoha’s ANBU Team Eleven was no easy task.

"Has this ANBU Team Eleven appeared on the battlefield?"

Kitsuchi seemed to have already investigated the matter and immediately replied, "No."

The latest clash between Konoha and Kumogakure had drawn the attention of nearly every shinobi village in the ninja world, and among them, Iwagakure was undoubtedly watching more closely than anyone else.

Thus, from the very beginning of the fighting, Iwagakure had dispatched a large number of shinobi skilled in Earth Style infiltration techniques into the Land of Fire. Acting as independent observers, they had gathered a great deal of firsthand intelligence from the battlefield.

Judging from those reports, Konoha had undoubtedly suffered a major defeat this time.

Every defensive line they had established on the main front had been easily breached by Kumogakure. The losses in both supplies and manpower were staggering.

There were even rumors circulating that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had flown into a towering rage.

The Third Tsuchikage clasped his hands behind his back and smiled. "If Kumogakure keeps pressing its offensive, it probably won’t even take them a few weeks to reach Konoha itself."

Seeing his longtime rival in such a miserable predicament put the Third Tsuchikage in an excellent mood.

More importantly, this battle had completely stripped away the fearsome facade surrounding Konoha, allowing everyone to see clearly that Konoha was no longer the invincible powerhouse that had once dominated the entire ninja world.

Kitsuchi, however, was not nearly as optimistic as the Third Tsuchikage. He shook his head. "After Jiraiya of the Three Sannin arrived, Konoha’s situation on the main battlefield improved considerably. Kumogakure’s offensive has already been temporarily halted."

So far, no one knew why Jiraiya had arrived on the battlefield a full week later than expected. But regardless of the reason, his arrival had successfully brought Kumogakure’s offensive to a halt.

The Third Tsuchikage thought for a moment before saying, "Konoha’s response this time is strange. They’re clearly short on fighting strength at the main front, yet the Uchiha Police Force is nowhere to be seen on the battlefield. That ANBU Team Eleven, which seems to be fairly capable, has vanished without a trace as well. There’s definitely something going on here. Send people to investigate it thoroughly. I want to know why!"

"Yes. I’ll make the arrangements immediately."

In the Land of Fire, inside Kumogakure’s encampment.

After receiving a message from the rear, the two jinchuriki and the Storm Style shinobi Aida exchanged bewildered looks.

There wasn’t much written on the message.

Only three words.

"HALT THE OFFENSIVE!"

Killer B scratched his head and asked the others beside him, "Why would the village send us an order like this?"

Aida, the Storm Style shinobi, shook his head. "This makes no sense at all. We’ve already smashed through Konoha’s main defensive lines. If we stop attacking now, all our previous efforts will have been wasted."

Yugito said, "Could something have happened back in the village?"

Killer B and Aida immediately agreed with Yugito’s speculation. After all, only something like that could have caused the Raikage, who had always maintained such a hardline stance, to issue such an absurd order to the front lines.

Meanwhile, in the Konoha encampment facing off against Kumogakure’s forces.

Shikaku hurried into the command center and announced to everyone inside, "It looks like the Kumo forces have stopped their offensive!"

Hiashi’s younger brother, Hizashi, who was standing nearby, immediately frowned. "They clearly have the advantage. Why would they suddenly stop attacking?"

Jiraiya, who knew more about the situation, said, "Maybe the old man’s strategy worked."

With that, Jiraiya briefly explained to everyone that the Third Hokage had dispatched his directly subordinate ANBU to launch a surprise attack on Kumogakure’s supply depot near the border of the Land of Lightning.

Upon hearing this, everyone sighed.

A mission that involved infiltrating enemy territory and launching a surprise attack on an important facility was extraordinarily dangerous even if the target were merely one of the smaller shinobi villages outside the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

And this time, their target was Kumogakure, whose strength was already no weaker than Konoha’s.

So in everyone’s eyes, even if the mission succeeded, the ANBU who carried it out were unlikely to make it back alive.

The Land of Hot Water.

Alone by the lakeside, Hyuga Kagami was washing up when he removed the dark goggles from his head.

The crystal-clear lake reflected the pure white eyes within his sockets.

Kagami carefully examined his reflection in the water and confirmed that these were indeed the Byakugan. They looked exactly the same as his Byakugan had before he injected the gene serum, without even the slightest difference.

After confirming it several times, he slowly closed his eyes and poured chakra into them.

Then, he abruptly opened them.

In an instant, his eyes shimmered with a brilliant sapphire-blue radiance, as though countless stars were contained within their depths.

At the same time, the entire world in his vision became incomparably clearer. Even the finest patterns in the bark of a distant tree were visible in perfect detail.

"Heh, so this is how it works!"

Hyuga Kagami chuckled softly and let out a sigh of relief.

This unexpected ordeal had turned out to be a blessing in disguise, allowing him to figure out how to activate and deactivate the Tenseigan.

After several attempts, followed by his final confirmation just now, he discovered that the Tenseigan could indeed be temporarily deactivated, much like how members of the Uchiha clan could deactivate their Sharingan.

Even more surprisingly, he discovered that once he deactivated the Tenseigan, the ’Caged Bird’ seal on his forehead became effective again.

This discovery greatly piqued his interest in the ’Caged Bird.’

The Caged Bird Cursed Seal was clearly far from simple. There had to be quite a few secrets hidden within it.

And suddenly, Kagami realized that the ’Caged Bird’ might actually be well worth researching...