At an altitude of a thousand meters, two kilometers east of the Konoha frontline camp, Ōnoki looked at the Konoha ninjas, who were still holding on despite being attacked by the joint forces of Suna and Iwa. His brows furrowed slightly. According to his estimates, with over three thousand enemy forces attacking from both the east and west, even with Jiraiya's considerable strength, the Konoha ninjas could hold out for at most ten minutes before their forces, outnumbered three to one, began to collapse.
At that moment, the Puppet Brigade, positioned behind the Konoha ninjas, would be able to deal a devastating blow. But who would have thought that Suna would expose themselves early?
Under the pitch-black night sky, the immense range of the Magnet Release and Scorch Release techniques had been clearly visible even from a distance of over eight kilometers. Moreover, the Yellow Flash was far stronger than he had imagined!
Relying on his near-godlike mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique, he had forcibly helped the vastly outnumbered Konoha ninjas stall the enemy's advance.
"Konoha really does produce geniuses," Ōnoki sighed, a trace of envy flashing through his eyes.
Compared to Konoha, Iwa hadn't seen someone truly outstanding in a long time.
Kitsuchi was too loyal and upright, his strength was merely passable, and he had absolutely no talent for village leadership. If he were to inherit the title of Tsuchikage, Iwa might quickly start declining.
"A dead genius is worthless. Don't you think so?" A calm and indifferent young voice spoke from Ōnoki's side. The words came from a short ninja wearing an Iwa forehead protector.
"You are right," Ōnoki nodded slightly, his peripheral vision discreetly glancing at the young man beside him, who was not much shorter than himself.
Prodigies weren't exclusive to Konoha.
The Fourth Mizukage standing before him, as well as the ninja behind him—whose forehead protector covered his eyes yet could still clearly sense the entire battlefield while flying alongside his Mizukage—were both rare talents as well.
"Mizukage-sama, Tsuchikage-sama, two minutes ago, a sudden enemy appeared to the south and defeated both Rasa and Pakura. Rasa was seriously injured, and he fled northwest with a lightly injured Pakura," the blindfolded ninja reported softly, relaying battlefield information from kilometers away.
"Just as you said, Yagura, they are an extremely dangerous enemy," Ōnoki fell silent for a moment, then shifted his gaze toward the southern battlefield of Konoha's camp.
Previously, he had set aside Iwa's grievances with Kiri and chose to form an alliance, mainly considering the overall war situation in the ninja world. As for the intelligence Kiri had provided, he had taken it with a grain of salt.
A "normal" Konoha ninja who had inherited Tobirama's jutsu, stolen the techniques of Gengetsu, secretly assassinated the Third Mizukage, incited war between Kumo and Kiri, and escalated tensions between Kiri and Suna?
A venomous snake lurking in the shadows, scheming to pit the ninja villages against each other, so that Konoha could reap all the benefits?
Could that really be true?
Yet, that "normal" Konoha ninja, Kei, had first infiltrated Root and become a Vice Director. Later, just as the Mizukage had predicted, he assassinated Hanzō.
He had even impersonated a Kiri ANBU member, deliberately framing Kiri for the crime.
The credibility of this intelligence had risen to nearly fifty percent in Ōnoki's mind. And now, if that man had indeed appeared on the battlefield, defeating Rasa and Pakura in just two minutes…
Rasa was indeed young and inexperienced. However, with his Magnet Release and Pakura's Scorch Release assisting him, even Ōnoki himself would need to be cautious when facing them.
The facts were in front of him.
Even if he was stubborn, he had to admit that this was a dangerous enemy he had previously overlooked. And perhaps, they were even more formidable and troublesome than Kiri had described!
"If nothing unexpected happens, I believe they will soon appear on the main battlefield. Shouldn't you take Kitsuchi away first?" The young voice rang out once more.
Konoha's high command might have thought their encirclement plan was secret, but how could they possibly hide it from White Zetsu's surveillance?
According to Ōnoki's estimation, the number of Suna and Iwa ninjas launching the surprise attack on Konoha's camp had exceeded the original plan by a full thousand soldiers. Even if Konoha's reinforcements arrived quickly, the sheer difference in numbers meant that the encirclement plan had already failed. Originally, he had only gotten involved to see if he could eliminate an important Konoha figure and escalate the intensity of the war between Konoha, Suna, and Iwa.
But who would have thought he'd end up catching such a big fish?
Someone like Kei actually chose to reveal his strength and personally intervene, just because he couldn't stand by and watch the Konoha ninjas be slaughtered from three sides. He single-handedly repelled Rasa and Pakura.
This was someone who had hidden the deepest, and whom Ōnoki feared the most—a true big fish!
An enemy lurking in the shadows and an enemy exposed in the open were on entirely different threat levels.
Once he witnessed Kei's strength firsthand, all he needed to do was spread word of the man's terrifying past achievements to the other villages. There was no need for he to do anything else.
Iwa, Suna, and even Kumo would naturally begin suppressing, restraining, and even plotting to eliminate him. Even if they couldn't get rid of Kei outright, the shinobi world would undoubtedly become even more chaotic.
With four villages attacking at once, they would limit Kei to the greatest extent possible.
And at that time, Ōnoki's true plan could finally begin.
Kei, having transformed his Sage Mode into a black radiant form, suppressed the glowing effect around his body.
Using the power of [Silent Walker], he concealed his presence and merged into the darkness.
With the Flying Thunder God Technique, he instantly bypassed the front lines and stealthily arrived beneath Ōnoki and the two Iwa ninjas floating in the sky. Looking up at the altitude of a thousand meters, he could now sense it up close—the extremely well-hidden aura of the Rinnegan, as well as the similarly well-hidden presence of a Tailed Beast.
Just as he was about to leap into the sky, he abruptly halted his movement.
Why did these two Iwa ninjas have both the aura of the Rinnegan and a tailed beast? Even though they had gone to great lengths to conceal their uniquely powerful chakra signatures, [Yin-Yang Sage Master]'s enhanced sensory abilities easily discerned them at this close range.
Rinnegan aura, tailed beast chakra, and a short ninja barely taller than Ōnoki...
Kei narrowed his eyes.
He wanted to use his system's ability to check the three individuals' personal status panels, but the one-kilometer distance was simply too far.
Ōnoki, officially listed at only 1.3 meters tall, and Yagura, standing at 1.4 meters, were so tiny in his vision that they looked like mere specks of dust. There was no way he could make anything out from this distance.
Kei fully activated Sage Mode.
He bent his knees, pressed his palm against the ground, and then launched himself upward in a burst of speed, turning into a streak of pitch-black light, rocketing toward the sky!
No matter what Black Zetsu was scheming, killing him first could never be the wrong move.