Chapter 86 - 86 (1/2)

While Orochimaru was busy mobilizing the troops, Ryo recalled what information he had about the Village Hidden in the Rock.

The Earth Country's land was simple, mostly formed of desolate Rocks. The village was built within a barrier made of those natural rock walls.

Therefore, the village was surrounded by natural hazards and known for its solide defence.

Different from other countries, the relationship between the Earth Country and the Village Hidden in Rocks was very harmonious. The Daimyōs and Tsuchikages respected each other and had great cooperation. That made their losses in the 3rd World War minimal in the original timeline.

Their battle style was mainly revolving around initiating with the Explosion Squad, and then followed by the rest of the Ninjas using Earth Release to create favorable conditions for the following Taijutsu based fighting.

Konoha's Ninjas had no edge over the Rock Ninjas. Their defences were strong, and most of their Ninjas were proficient with Earth Release. On the other hand, the Nature Release that Konoha Ninjas were most proficient with was Fire Release, and that wasn't particularly efficient against their defences.

If the only problem was this, that wouldn't make Konoha get in such a disadvantage on its own. The hardest thing for Konoha's Ninja's to face was the Explosion Squad's initiation.

As expected from Orochimaru, his pre-battle mobilization speech wasn't that impassioned. Still, it had the power to reach Konoha's Ninjas hearts.

Looking at the over 5000 Konoha Ninjas' reaction, a fanatical expression rose on Ryo's face, and he saw a glimpse of the charming effect of Orochimaru's words.

After the speech, Konoha's Ninjas set off, and the Rock Ninja's also noticed their movement. The 3rd Tsuchikage led his own army to resist Konoha's attack.

The two sides met upon a hill, with Konoha occupying the higher terrain. Ryo used his perceptive abilities to locate the explosion squad.

”Orochimaru, you dare to come?! Aren't you afraid that we would kill more of your men?”

Facing Onoki's provocation, Orochimaru licked his lips in his signature way, and the revealed his wicked smile.

”Disgusting! [Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu]!”

”[Summoning: Triple Rashomon]” Faced with his enemy's attack, Orochimaru didn't wasn't fl_u_s_tered and went straight for defense.

The power of Onoki's attack was so devastating that it took out two of the Rashomons.

The Rock Ninja's saw that their Kage went straight into action, and they went in to engage the enemy as well. The 1st to appear was the Explosion squad, the one that caused Konoha many losses in lives.

”Well? Aren't you going to rescue your men?” During their 1st few battles, Orochimaru definitely protected his men. This time however, he showed no signs of being willing to move in.

This was abnormal, making Onoki feel puzzled and worried.

On the other side, Ryo was long awaiting for the Explosion Squad's attack. Most of them mainly relied on their long-Range attacks to place Explosive Clay at a distance.

Ryo 1st started by sending out his Lightning Hound to destroy the clay explosives. Then, because Konoha's men were up hill, Ryo used his geographical advantage, and made a large waterfall the increase the scope of his Lightning Release attack, causing the 1st wave of Explosive Clay to misfire.

”Captain, there seems to be something wrong their on Konoha's side!” Said a member of the Explosion Squad.

”They are on high ground, it's normal for the 1st wave to misfire, carry on!”

The members of the Explosion Squad trusted their captain and were convinced by his words. They proceeded immediately for the second round of explosions.

While they were onto that, Ryo was preparing his own Jutsu, the Rasengan with the Lightning Nature Transformation added to it.

As he demonstrated in Orochimaru's tent, by injecting Lightning Chakra, the Rasengn gradually turned into a Lightning Sphere, which had a sparkling electric sparks.

Ryo then entered Sage Mode, injecting the Lightning Sphere with Senjutsu Chakra, while continuing to alter its structure.

Ryo continued injecting it with Lighting Sphere, and finally, the amount of that Chakra injected altered the Rasengan's quality completely. The electric sparks of the Lightning sphere started to converge slowly.