More than two hours later.
A led three thousand elite Kumogakure forces, charging to the foot of Mount Raigu like thunder. When he saw the blazing inferno at the ancestral land, his face instantly turned ashen.
"How could this…" A Yotsuki Jonin accompanying him muttered in shock.
A said nothing, his entire body transford into a dazzling blue-white bolt of lightning, instantly rushing into the burning ancestral land.
Collapsed houses, charred beams, scattered tools, and corpses, everything in sight was devastation.
Only the shrine dedicated to the ancestors still maintained a relatively intact structure.
A's gaze was quickly drawn to the writing on the black stone monunt beside the shrine.
"Konoha's Shinichi battalion was here!"
The handwriting was bold and unrestrained, the sword marks cutting deep by nearly an inch, as arrogant as if they intended to tear apart the entire night sky.
And in front of the stone monunt, soone had deliberately placed a photograph.
A's pupils shrank, and he imdiately stepped forward to pick up the photo.
In front of the shrine engulfed in towering flas, more than four hundred Konoha ninja stood arranged in several rows, their expressions varied. And at the very center of the photo was that young boy.
He smiled with unmatched brilliance, as if attending a celebration!
However, in A's eyes, that smile was the most naked mockery toward him, toward the entire Yotsuki Clan, toward the Village Hidden in the Cloud!
"Damn it!!!"
A ripped the photo to shreds, and uncontrollable lightning crackled and flashed around him, scorching the surrounding ground.
It burned out a patch of blackened material.
However, before the anger could fully erupt, it was abruptly interrupted by more urgent news.
"A-sama! Sothing terrible has happened!!"
Several ninjas in charge of communications rushed to his side, their faces ashen.
"The village...the village has been attacked!!"
"What!?" A turned his head sharply.
...
Dawn broke.
The next morning in the Village Hidden in the Cloud, sunlight poured down from the eastern mountain ridge, falling across every corner of the village.
The shelters were opened one after another, and the people walked out in an orderly manner under the ninjas' guidance.
The cleanup work began, and under the ninjas' organization, the villagers were divided into several teams that began moving rubble and clearing debris.
Supplies began to be distributed, food and water were delivered to various places, and people lined up in front of the makeshift dical tents to receive treatnt.
The wounded were classified and treated according to severity, and after being registered, they were sent to different areas in batches.
Several Jonin from the barrier squad were inspecting the barrier nodes and attempting to restore them.
The patrol teams had resud their shifts, the communications squad was repairing the damaged communication lines, and the administrative departnt was beginning to compile reports of damage from various locations last night.
Smoke rose from the chimneys, sparse and scattered, as if everything was returning to normal.
In the distance, atop a high mountain outside the Village Hidden in the Cloud, Shinichi silently watched this scene.
Behind him, all the mbers of the Shinichi battalion stood quietly, no one speaking, silently eating their specially made Military Rations Pills and recovering their strength.
These specially made Military Rations Pills were personally prepared and distributed to everyone by Shinichi before the operation.
Once the pills entered the stomach, they transford into a gentle, warm current that slowly spread from the stomach to the limbs and bones.
Compared to ordinary Military Rations Pills, these specially made Military Rations Pills were faster, gentler, and had a longer-lasting effect.
Most of the team mbers were already used to this. Still, they were amazed once again: their captain's dical Ninjutsu skills were indeed unfathomable; even the Military Rations Pills he made at random had miraculous effects.
Several corpses of Kumogakure ninjas were scattered around them, their blood still fresh. They sped towards the Village Hidden in the Cloud, and the closer they got, the denser the patrols beca.
Those groups that were too large were bypassed, while those that were too small were dealt with quietly. From the mont they set out until now, they have not alerted anyone.
Witnessing all this, the team mbers couldn't help but sigh again. Just how strong was their captain's perception?
Shinichi remained standing there, gazing at the distant village. A glint of glass seed to flash in the depths of his eyes.
After a mont, he withdrew his gaze and turned away.
"The barrier damaged last night has not been repaired yet!"
Shinichi slowly said, "Just as I judged, the Village Hidden in the Cloud's forces are currently in an unprecedented state of weakness. Most of the ninjas on duty are probably just Genin, with very few Chunin and joinin. In fact, these people are not much more nurous than we are."
This was also within Shinichi's expectations. He had roughly estimated the maximum mobilization force of the Five Great Shinobi Countries and Five Great Ninja Villages during warti.
Including the local ninja clans and forces of each nation, the combined force of the Five Great Shinobi Countries and Five Great Ninja Villages was approximately 90,000 (excluding Genin).
This number appears to be 10,000 more than the more than 80,000 ninja troops (The remainder being samurai) in the Fourth Shinobi World War, which took more than ten years to recover and rebuild.
However, the major ninja villages did not actually send out all their forces during that great battle.
For example, the Genin (Lower-ranking ninja) did not participate in the battle, while a group of Chunin (Middle-ranking ninja) and Jonin (high-ranking ninja) were led by village elders and advisors, such as Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado of Konoha, Ebizo of the Village Hidden in the Sand, and Genji of Village Hidden in the Mist, to guard their own bases and prevent Akatsuki from raiding them.
Furthermore, they did not mobilize their respective local forces within their countries.
At this ti, as a nation and ninja village renowned for its martial prowess, and with strong support from the Land of Lightning, the Village Hidden in the Cloud's military strength was closest to that of Konoha. Excluding Genin, the number of Chunin and Jonin was also slightly over 20,000. While the Village Hidden in the Stones had slightly fewer ninjas, the number wasn't significantly less, also reaching around 20,000.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, the Village Hidden in the Sand and the Village Hidden in the Mist are significantly behind in terms of the number of ninjas.
The forr is hampered by population and financial resources, while the latter is constantly embroiled in internal strife due to the blood mist policy. It only slightly improved after the Zabuza incident a couple of years ago, but that was only a slight improvent.
At this mont, the vast forces of the Village Hidden in the Cloud are scattered in various places.
The Village Hidden in the Cloud and other ninja clans of the Land of Lightning deployed more than 10,000 people on the southwestern Konoha front line, and a group was stationed on the northwestern defense line to keep an eye on the movents of the Village Hidden in the Stones. In addition, 3,000 people were taken away by the third Raikage and A, so almost all the available troops were drawn away.
Thus, at this ti, the Village Hidden in the Cloud was in an unprecedented state of emptiness, with only a few hundred Chunin and Jonin combined.
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