Naruto: Starting as Tsunade's Desk Mate

Page 68

Upon seeing that Konoha had laid an ambush ahead, Onoki immediately flew to the Sensory Team and shouted, "Sensory Team, what are you doing? You didn't even detect that there are so many people ahead?"

The squad leader, who had been scolded by Onoki and was feeling quite deflated, still gritted his teeth and explained, "Our sensory techniques have been constantly activated, and we really haven't sensed any ambushes ahead. I think it must be that these Konoha ninjas have trained in a special technique that blocks our sensory ninjutsu."

The squad leader's judgment was correct. The Konoha Wood Release ninjas practiced concealment techniques developed by the Konoha Technology Research Department after studying White Zetsu, which are impossible to detect with ordinary sensory ninjutsu.

Onoki didn't want to listen to the Sensing Squad Leader's excuses. He flew directly to the front of the battlefield and used Dust Release to instantly turn the forest in front of him into atoms.

Minato immediately appeared, ready to exchange blows with Onoki. Onoki's Dust Release attacks were incredibly powerful, and Minato was worried that he would cause heavy casualties to Konoha.

Onoki was naturally wary of Minato, a speed-type ninja. He flew several degrees higher, creating distance between himself and Minato, preparing to launch a ranged attack.

Minato Namikaze was incredibly clever. The moment he saw Onoki take off, he realized Onoki's intention. He immediately put his hands together and used Wood Release. Two wooden dragons rose into the air, and Minato stood on top of the wooden dragons, looking incredibly cool.

Seeing Minato's reaction, Onoki immediately launched an attack, shooting a white beam of light directly at Minato and Mokyu after a brief charge.

However, Minato's reflexes were incredibly fast. The instant Onoki charged up his power, he controlled the wooden dragon to dodge in mid-air. Onoki's Dust Release was easily dodged by the wooden dragon's stylish mid-air change of direction.

Onoki began moving the beam of light in his hand up, down, left, and right, but Minato deliberately manipulated the wooden dragon to perform various serpentine maneuvers in the air, dodging wildly. Onoki was so overwhelmed by the skill that he gritted his teeth and unleashed his ultimate move—Dust Release: Limit Separation Technique.

In the original timeline, this attack, supported by Tsunade's massive chakra reserves, destroyed all twenty-five Susanoo of Madara Uchiha.

However, he couldn't hit Minato Namikaze. After all, the Flying Thunder God Technique is a bug-level skill. He flashed back to the ground, directly avoiding Onoki's ultimate move. Then, he clapped his hands together, and two more wooden dragons appeared.

Minato is now a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast, known for his massive chakra reserves. He can continuously use the Wood Dragon Technique, but he doesn't believe that Onoki can continuously use Dust Release.

Young people always have an easy time beating old men; they can simply use the strategy of wearing down the old man. It all comes down to stamina and chakra recovery.

Chapter 143 Onoki vs. Minato

Onoki floated in mid-air, his brows furrowed as he sized up the blond young man below. He cursed Tobirama Senju inwardly, thinking that he had nothing better to do than research this bunch of messy ninjutsu, each one more difficult than the last.

"Konoha's Golden Flash, I really don't want to fight you."

Onoki sighed, "Anyone would be worried if they saw a ninja like Minato Namikaze."

Upon hearing Onoki's words, Minato smiled gently, already holding a specially made kunai in his hand. He said in a clear voice, "I have long admired the Third Tsuchikage. To avoid unnecessary casualties, why don't the Iwa ninja retreat here?"

Upon hearing Minato's words, Onoki's expression immediately turned sour. What kind of reputation did he have in Konoha? The reputation of being captured by An Yan? He felt that Minato was mocking him in a sarcastic way, so he immediately stopped talking and began to attack.

Faced with a ninja like Minato, Onoki immediately chose to use Rock Clone Technique to distract him, and then used the Weighted Rock Technique in combination with the Rock Fist Technique to directly punch Minato Namikaze.

Onoki moved incredibly fast, but Minato was even faster. His massive rock fist slammed into the ground, causing destruction akin to a superhuman punch. Dust billowed everywhere, but Minato was nowhere to be seen.

Before Onoki could retract his fist, a golden light flashed, and Minato appeared behind Onoki's side, delivering a Rasengan directly to Onoki's lower back. Onoki's expression froze, and he immediately turned into rock—a Rock Clone.

Behind Minato, Onoki suddenly appeared, floating in the air. A transparent cube-shaped barrier enveloped Minato. Onoki smiled and was about to activate Dust Release: Particle Style. However, in just the time it took for the skill to wind up, Minato turned into a golden light and disappeared.

Before his battle with Onoki, Minato scattered dozens of specially made Flying Thunder God kunai around the battlefield, which allowed him to move in any direction in an instant.

After shifting his position, Minato immediately launched an attack. He used shuriken in combination with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique to create the effect of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to One. Thousands of shuriken directly attacked Onoki. However, Onoki simply stretched out his hand, and a circular light circle appeared. He blocked the light circle in front of him, and all the shuriken instantly turned into atoms and dissipated when they touched the light circle.

Minato frowned slightly, his body vanished instantly, and the next moment Onoki's Dust Release attacked the spot where he had been, but he missed.

Next, Onoki kept changing his flight position, continuously shooting out small dust releases with both hands. Strands of white light kept chasing Minato's figure, and the continuous explosions kept changing the terrain of the battlefield.

The two attacked and defended with incredible speed. Minato attacked, defended, and dodged at an extremely high frequency. At first, Onoki could keep up with the pace, but as the pace quickened, he gradually felt the strain.

Suddenly, Onoki paused, a sharp pain shooting through his lower back—his old back injury had flared up again.

Onoki immediately clutched his lower back and simultaneously raised his position to create distance between himself and Minato, lest Minato take the opportunity to attack him.

However, Minato keenly seized this moment of pause and immediately threw out several Flying Thunder God kunai, sealing off the space above, below, and around Onoki.

Despite the excruciating pain, Onoki immediately used Earth Release: Rock Giant. He was instantly enveloped by a massive rock giant, and for a moment, no one could find his location.

The rock giant swung its arms left and right, knocking down all the Flying Thunder God Kunai. Minato Namikaze smiled and said, "Since you piloted the Gundam first, then I'll pilot the Gundam too."

Minato Namikaze clasped his hands together, and a giant immediately rose from the ground beneath him, resembling a samurai—this was the Wood Release: Wood Human Technique.

The 100-meter-tall wooden figure was far superior to the rock giant, which was only tens of meters tall. In just one exchange, the wooden figure smashed the rock giant's head.

The rock giant's body kept writhing, seemingly trying to heal itself. However, Minato manipulated the wooden golem to lift the rock giant high, improvising a scene of tearing a Japanese soldier apart with his bare hands. The ninjas fighting around the battlefield gasped in shock at this sight; the Yellow Flash of Konoha was far too ruthless.

The instant the Rock Giant was torn apart, Onoki, who was hidden inside the Rock Giant's body, suddenly appeared. He used Dust Release: Zero Frames, and a white light directly engulfed the wooden golem's head, instantly turning the wooden golem into a headless samurai.

Onoki's attack was extremely insidious, even Minato didn't expect it, but unfortunately, Onoki hit Minato's shadow clone.

The next moment, the samurai reached out and grabbed Onoki. As a product of chakra control, the wooden doll actually had no weaknesses, and cutting off its head did not affect its movements at all.

The moment Onoki was grabbed by the wooden golem, he knew he had lost. Minato Namikaze's Wood Release, supported by chakra, had become somewhat as powerful as Hashirama Senju's. The moment they made contact, most of Onoki's chakra was absorbed by the wooden golem, leaving him unable to fight any longer.

Once Minato confirmed that he had captured the real person, he immediately stepped forward and used several sealing techniques, employing the same method that An'an had used to seal Onoki last time. This consistent approach made Onoki roll his eyes.

"Minato Namikaze, your teacher isn't An Yan, is he?"

Onoki immediately asked, and Minato Namikaze smiled and nodded in agreement. Onoki immediately felt terrible. As the strongest in Iwagakure, he couldn't even beat An'iwa's apprentice, let alone compete with An'iwa again.

Onoki lamented once again the lack of successors in Iwagakure. Such a large village had very few capable juniors. In contrast, Konoha was full of talent. There were the First, Second, and Third Hokage, and in the middle, there were Yasuo, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Sakumo Hatake. Below them, there was the new generation like Minato Namikaze. If any one of them were picked out and placed in Iwagakure, they could all become Kage. But all of these people were gathered in Konoha.

"Heaven really does favor Konoha!"

As Onoki expressed his feelings, Minato Namikaze smiled silently, simply lifting Onoki high to show everyone.

The impact of the highest leader of the ninja village being defeated and captured alive in a one-on-one battle was enormous. The morale of the Iwa ninja plummeted immediately, and they lost all will to fight.

The Fourth Tsuchikage, Kyoto, immediately declared a ceasefire and withdrew. Iwagakure quickly followed the Tsuchikage's orders and began an orderly evacuation.

Minato did not order a pursuit, but instead ordered the battlefield to be cleared and the wounded treated.

The two groups set up camps on the border between the Land of Birds and the Land of Earth, and stood in a standoff.

(Family members, I'm out of drafts. From now on, I'll have to write as I go each day, and only two pages a day.)

Chapter 144 Iwa Ninja retreats

In the days that followed, there were some minor border skirmishes between the two sides. Everyone was waiting: the Iwa ninja were waiting for the Kumo ninja and the Kirigakure ninja, and the Konoha ninja were waiting for reinforcements.

Two days later, news came from the other two battlefields. First, the Mist Ninja were unsurprisingly driven back by Uchiha Kagami, who was sent by Konoha. The Uchiha clan was renowned, so it was only natural that they could achieve this. However, the Cloud Ninja were a bit hard to understand. How could Orochimaru have wiped them out by himself? The Cloud Village is not a small ninja village.

Upon receiving news that Orochimaru had single-handedly destroyed the Hidden Cloud Village, the Iwa ninja leadership immediately convened a meeting to discuss what to do in the current situation.

From the perspective of the Iwa ninja, Orochimaru alone, with a bunch of strange summoned beasts, wiped out almost all of Kumogakure. Iwagakure and Kumogakure were evenly matched in strength. If Orochimaru could destroy Kumogakure, he could destroy Iwagakure too. So why bother fighting? If they didn't stop fighting, Iwagakure would be finished once Konoha was free to intervene.

Konoha's strength is simply too great now; it would be utterly crushed with the slightest touch.

After internal discussions, the Iwagakure ninja decided to send an envoy to the Land of Birds to talk with Minato Namikaze on the other side.

Minato warmly welcomed the Iwa ninja envoys. He was delighted to learn that the Iwa ninjas wanted to coexist peacefully. However, there was some disagreement between the two sides regarding the conditions for returning Onoki. The Iwa ninjas naturally wanted to leave without paying anything and simply take Onoki with them. However, Minato, standing on Konoha's side, did not allow the Iwa ninjas to act in this way.

The war was started by you Iwa ninja, and now you want to take people away without paying anything in return. If you are allowed to take people away, wouldn't it be even more justifiable for you to launch an attack without declaration of war next time? There will be no cost to you anyway.

After a day and a night of wrangling between the Konoha and Iwa ninja, the Iwa ninja finally agreed to exchange a group of seventeen Jonin specializing in Earth Release techniques to help Konoha repair the road for three years. This finally secured Konoha's agreement. After contacting Konoha remotely to ask for their opinion, Minato Namikaze released Onoki once again.

Being captured by Konoha once again dealt a heavy blow to Onoki, especially since Minato was clearly still young, only in his early twenties. This made Onoki feel that he had no successor, and he became increasingly dejected.

After thoroughly inspecting the area and confirming that their Third Tsuchikage was alright, the Iwa ninja left behind seventeen Jonin specializing in civil engineering.

After receiving Onoki, the Iwa ninja didn't try anything clever or make any underhanded moves. They simply led the main force back obediently.

The seventeen Jonin left behind by Iwagakure followed Minato Namikaze's orders and diligently began repairing the road from the Land of Wind to the Land of Fire. What awaited them next were the roads from the Land of Fire to the Land of Lightning and the surrounding small countries.

Food and lodging provided, no salary, several years' worth of work, just do it.

With the retreat of the Iwa ninja, everything in the Land of Wind gradually returned to normal. Under Minato Namikaze's command, the entire country underwent orderly changes, building roads, planting trees, and preventing sand and water damage. With the vigorous construction efforts of Konoha Village, the Land of Wind improved at a visible speed. The common people of the Land of Wind praised the Konoha ninja one after another, completely losing the initial sense of alienation.

The common people never care who their superiors are; they only care about whether they are doing well or not. After the Konoha ninjas arrived, the changes in the environment of the Land of Wind were visible to the people, so they gradually began to support the Konoha ninjas. In addition, Minato Namikaze's succubus-like charm quickly attracted a large number of fans.

The Root ninjas of Konoha acted swiftly, immediately beginning a census of the population of the Land of Wind, and then selecting a large number of eligible children to study at the newly established ninja academy in Konoha's branch. At the same time, teachers sent from Konoha headquarters arrived simultaneously.

In the past, Sunagakure was unable to effectively recruit and train all the talents of the Land of Wind due to funding issues, so they could only take the elite route. But Konoha is different. Konoha is rich and powerful, and can train anyone with ninja talent, or at the very least, use them as cannon fodder.

Konoha was carrying out similar work in the Land of Lightning as in the Land of Wind. Konoha ninjas were clearing mountains and rocks, building bridges and repairing roads. Orochimaru was in charge of the overall work, directing the ninjas sent from Konoha headquarters to carry out various infrastructure projects. Similarly, Orochimaru was awarded the title of the First Raikage of Konoha. However, unlike in the Land of Wind, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning had his entire family killed in a fire, so the various affairs of the Land of Lightning had to be temporarily handled by Orochimaru of the Konoha branch.

The daimyo of the Land of Lightning and the daimyo of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind both pretended not to know about the death of the daimyo of the Land of Lightning, and were more honest than the other. The daimyo of the Land of Water had not yet reacted because the news was blocked in the surrounding areas due to the recent war. The daimyo of the Land of Earth reacted much more strongly, and directly issued a statement denouncing Konoha for rebellion and scolding An Yan and other Konoha officials.

How could An Yan tolerate this? He directly used the Titan spaceship to remotely launch a medium-to-long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, sending the entire Daimyo family of the Land of Earth to meet the Sage of Six Paths. Iwagakure dared not speak out against this act of anger.

Konoha also took action to either incorporate or eliminate the smaller countries between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, and between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, to ensure that no second armed group existed within Konoha's sphere of influence.

At the border of the Land of Water, the Uchiha and others, seeing that the Kirigakure ninja had not appeared for quite some time, chose to contact the Konoha headquarters to inquire about the opinion of the highest leader. An'an directly ordered them to withdraw their troops. Under the system of the ninja villages, every battle is not a simple battle; for ninjas, it is to carry out one or several high-level missions. The Uchiha and others staying at the border of the Land of Fire means that Konoha will continue to pay them.

Throughout this large-scale operation, An Yan kept a close eye on the movements of the Land of Water, primarily focusing on the movements of Uchiha Madara. Satellites flying overhead continuously monitored the area surrounding the Land of Water around the clock.

However, to An Yan's surprise, Madara Uchiha remained obedient and did not choose to undergo his ultimate transformation when his lifespan was about to end. This disappointed An Yan, who had hoped to have a grand battle against Lu Bu, but now it seemed that the opportunity was gone.

Konoha entered a phase of rapid development. After effectively controlling the armed forces of the three major powers, An Yan firmly established himself at Konoha headquarters, mobilizing resources from the three countries for mutual benefit. This led to a dramatic increase in development speed, far surpassing what Konoha could achieve previously with only the meager annual allocation from the Daimyo.

Chapter 145 Sealing Black Zetsu

That year, the new generation of the Konoha Twelve were born one after another.

Time passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, Minato Namikaze, that young boy, had become a father.

On the day Kushina Uzumaki gave birth, the entire Hidden Leaf Village was on high alert. Fortunately, Obito did not have the opportunity to turn evil, and the news of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's birth was not leaked out of the Hidden Leaf Village. Kushina's information was kept highly confidential. Without any internal traitors, the Hidden Leaf Village only needed to guard against the possibility of the Nine-Tails going berserk due to Kushina's childbirth.

With An Yan on guard, the mere Nine-Tails was nothing to worry about. Naruto was born smoothly, and Kushina's delivery was seamless without any surprises. Moreover, the Uzumaki clan has a strong vitality; after giving birth, they were as good as new and could walk immediately, which amazed An Yan.

An Yan had already confirmed the death of Uchiha Madara when Uchiha Sasuke was born. After all, it is well known that Uchiha Sasuke was the reincarnation of Indra. If Uchiha Madara had not died, Uchiha Sasuke would not have been born.

Of course, the most fundamental reason why An Yan was so certain that Uchiha Madara was dead was that he had already seen Uchiha Sasuke. An Yan had now achieved a high level of expertise in the field of souls and could see at a glance that there was a huge power hidden in Uchiha Sasuke's body. He only needed a key to control this power.

An Yan suspected that this power might be a backup plan of the Sage of Six Paths. He should control the key to this Yin power, so that he could use it to interfere with and observe human affairs in the Pure Land, and at critical moments, give his son's reincarnation a power boost.

Similarly, An Yan observed Ashura's chakra in Naruto Uzumaki. Ashura's power was also confined in a certain mental space, waiting for the Sage of Six Paths to intervene and release this power.

With An Yan's current strength, he could have easily used the separation power of the Yama Blade to separate Naruto and Sasuke's powers, but he didn't do so immediately.

As we all know, chakra can carry memory information. An Yan suspects that Sasuke and Naruto's cheat codes, Yin and Yang powers, are part of the Sage of Six Paths' chakra, essentially making them incarnations of the Sage of Six Paths.

As the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura, even if Naruto and Sasuke were on the verge of death and about to unleash their past lives' power, they should have seen Indra or Ashura instead. However, they saw the Sage of Six Paths instead, which is very abnormal.

An Yan suspects that the Sage of Six Paths is now living in the bodies of his descendants in a special form, just like the God and the Celestial Venerable in the world of Lord of Mysteries. Orochimaru in the original timeline also did something similar, living in the bodies of Anko and Sasuke in a special form called the Cursed Seal.

The Sage of Six Paths doesn't look like a good person. After all, his first appearance in the original work was when he suddenly floated out of half of Madara's body. Just thinking about it is terrifying.

Since the Sage of Six Paths could easily communicate with Sasuke and Naruto, he could certainly communicate with Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. By extension, the ninja world would not have been in chaos for a thousand years.

For a thousand years, the Sage of Six Paths neglected his son, only intervening when Madara Uchiha was about to succeed. Why? For world peace? Obviously not, because the Infinite Tsukuyomi would infringe upon the Sage of Six Paths' interests.

The things that are linked to the Sage of Six Paths' interests are the nine tailed beasts and the chakra of all the ninjas in the ninja world. An Yan has reason to believe that, given the Sage of Six Paths' level of power, he may exist within every descendant ninja who possesses chakra.

After Sasuke Uchiha was born, An'yan discovered Indra's chakra and confirmed Madara Uchiha's death. After Kushina gave birth safely, he couldn't wait to set off for the Land of Water.