HSU: Ch. 291

When Masashi officially began his operations, the long-silent eastern and western war zones of Konoha also started to move. The Land of Grass, after the Third Great Ninja War, once again entered a state of total war.

Unlike the Northern War Zone, the number of ninjas Konoha deployed here was massive in scale. Over the years, Konoha had evolved from a money-guzzling beast of the shinobi world into a continental devouring monster. Its manpower, financial resources, and supplies had all increased to a terrifying extent. This was the confidence behind the Hokage building daring to use the Chunin Exams as bait.

Originally, Konoha's plan was to simultaneously fight four major villages.

Minato personally demonstrated just how aggressive Konoha could be in warfare when even the Hokage got physically involved. His goofy demeanor in front of his fellow villagers and past Hokage was just part of his nature. But so was his mercilessness and heavy-handed strikes toward enemies.

The reason Masashi's plans were able to be carried out so smoothly over the years was largely thanks to Minato's green lights. He needed Minato, and Minato needed him.

They were both getting what they wanted. However, the reason the Western War Zone could amass so many Konoha ninja was because of one person, someone all Konoha ninjas genuinely longed to follow.

Hashirama.

The peace offer sent to Iwa didn't even cause a ripple. From his perspective, that wasn't surprising; it had happened many times during his lifetime.

He didn't expect Iwa to change its stance just because of one letter. The letter was only meant to potentially halt the fighting in time and reduce casualties.

After sending the letter, he began preparing for war.

Since Tobirama wasn't present, he had been working with Muzo to formulate the strategy. Hashirama remarked that he had never seen so many ninja gathered together. This made him both happy and sad.

Happy, because the village had developed so well, everyone's past efforts hadn't been in vain.

Sad, because the more people there were, the harder it was to manage. Ninjas were quick to start fighting, but not so quick to stop.

It wasn't a matter of obedience, once such a massive force moved, front-line command relied entirely on the chunin of each squad. Central orders and intelligence would inevitably lag behind, and during that lag, chaos could erupt.

Hashirama and Muzo's tent was pitched on higher ground. From there, they could clearly observe the movements of the ninjas in the camp.

Hashirama looked down, watching as Konoha's ninjas marched out in an unbroken stream, brimming with fighting spirit, heading toward the Land of Earth.

Oh, and also the ninjas from Kusa.

He didn't have a deep impression of the Kusa ninjas, only remembering they liked to tie thick hemp ropes around their waists, he actually found it pretty hard on the eyes.

"Taka..." Hashirama said, "This time, a lot of people might die."

"Well, that's great news," Muzo instantly perked up when he heard this.

All the effort he'd secretly put into stockpiling gear wouldn't be wasted.

A small warehouse in the village hadn't even been tapped into before Hashirama discovered it.

The result? Confiscated, of course.

As Hashirama said, to win someone's heart, you had to defeat them openly and honorably. That way, they wouldn't keep fighting out of resentment.

Which was why he couldn't understand, what about Edo Tensei wasn't honorable?

With the premium stock gone, Muzo had to rely on mass-produced goods.

Stashing Edo Tensei talismans under Hashirama's nose wasn't easy. He had to mix them in with explosive tags, which really hurt his efficiency.

But hard work paid off, he still managed to stockpile the basics.

Muzo instinctively reached for the scroll pouch at his waist, but to his dismay, couldn't feel anything, being reanimated meant no real touch.

"You really only made explosive tags, right?" Hashirama, seeing his Muzo's movement, felt an ominous chill.

Edo Tensei hurt people's feelings, it automatically came with a hate aura. Back in the day, surrendering enemies would often change their minds and keep fighting just because they saw Muzo.

It had been decades, and he believed anyone who hated Muzo was probably long dead. But if Muzo kept acting like before, a new wave of "we'd-rather-die" types would emerge.

"Saying that really makes me mad," Muzo replied.

For the record, he didn't answer the question, so technically, he wasn't lying.

"Alright, alright... sigh..." Hashirama realized he shouldn't judge his brother with old eyes. He admitted he was wrong. "Well then... stay safe, alright?"

"I'm already dead," Muzo said, thoroughly exasperated. He decided not to stay with Hashirama, who always got mushy when war broke out. He darted off the hill and made his way to his squad.

Before Konoha officially deployed, he had taken over the ANBU.

After analyzing ANBU's state, Tobirama concluded that if Masashi hadn't stepped in to reorganize it, the unit wouldn't even qualify as field support. Once war broke out, it was normal for the intel department to get cursed out by the front lines, but worse would be if ANBU didn't even deserve the insults.

You only get cursed if people expect something from you.

Now that the war had begun, Masashi obviously couldn't lead ANBU himself. So the job fell to Muzo, who had been the very first ANBU commander.

He took over ANBU with ease.

Before him now stood the combat team he'd hand-picked from the ANBU, less than a hundred people. Among them were former Root members like Torune and Fū.

"Let's go, time to work." He waved his hand and led by example, dashing forward.

The group surged out of the main camp alongside the larger army but quickly broke away and disappeared into the endless sea of grass. Though they were also heading for the Land of Earth, his squad took a route far from the main force. Because what they were about to do... was exactly what ANBU had done during the First Great Ninja War.

Even though he had fewer than a hundred men under his command, the entire ANBU back then didn't have much more than that.
He even felt he was commanding a well-equipped force.

This was where the advantage of being reanimated really showed. He didn't need to eat, sleep, or rest, and he couldn't get tired or injured.

Unfortunately, the rest of the ANBU were all living people, they did need rest. Even so, after just a day, he had already led the ANBU into the Land of Earth. By modern ANBU standards, "ANBU work" meant stealth and secrecy. But the moment Muzo discovered the first town, he charged in.

It was a small town, but as a border outpost, it at least had a watchtower. The land here still had some vegetation, though not the sea of grass deep enough to bury a person like in the Land of Grass. Trees were sparse too.

So, when he charged in so blatantly, he was clearly seen.

With the speed and style of his flashy run, the guards in the watchtower definitely weren't mistaking him for a civilian.

Dozens of Iwa ninjas quickly rushed out from the town. As ninjas, their eyesight was sharp, and they immediately spotted that the charging figure, charging like a wild boar, was wearing armor.

The remains of Ōnoki and Kitsuchi had already been returned to Iwa by Hashirama, back in the Land of Grass. So even if Iwa wasn't fully informed about Konoha's situation, they at least knew a few high-profile Edo Tensei individuals were now active on the battlefield.

At minimum, they knew two had shown up in the Land of Grass, Hashirama and Muzo.

This intel had quickly reached the lower units throughout Iwa.

The Iwa ninja's first thought was, We're screwed! We can't win!

Their second reaction was to unleash jutsu.

One of them turned back and ran toward the town. The others began, in classic Iwa ninjas fashion, using combination earth jutsu.

With a rumble, the ground began to shift.

Far behind, the ANBU who had only just emerged from the forest could only see Muzo diving headfirst into the rising terrain, heading straight into the colossal Earth Release technique transforming the landscape.

They were left with a string of questions:

Was the founder really that reckless?

Aren't we called the ANBU?

Are we actually just a suicide squad?

Boom!

With a deafening crash, Muzo's strength shattered the ground beneath his feet, launching him into the air. Midair, he used the massive boulders thrown by the Iwa ninjas as stepping stones and ran across them.

A stone wall suddenly rose in front of him.

He smashed straight through it and emerged into the open sky again. Grabbing a huge chunk of stone from the wall, he hurled it with full force at the Iwa ninjas, now close enough to see their facial expressions. Using the wall that hadn't fully collapsed yet, he kicked off it, caught up with the "projectile" he had thrown, stepped onto it, and plummeted down toward the Iwa ninjas at an even higher speed.

As his shadow loomed over them, the Iwa ninjas stopped using jutsu and scattered in panic.

They could conjure a small mountain with their earth jutsu, sure, but getting flattened by a rock this big would still turn them into paste.

The boulder crashed down. Dust and smoke billowed everywhere. The unstable terrain, already damaged by the earlier jutsu, began splitting apart into full-on landslides. The tremors were so strong that even Iwa ninjas back in the town could feel it.

So could the ANBU still rushing toward the scene.

They were all wondering the same thing: their founder ran way too fast. Would there be anything left for them to do?

Muzo didn't concern himself with how his temporary subordinates were feeling. Truth be told, they didn't quite suit him, he still missed his old comrades. But even though he liked using Edo Tensei, he would never use it on his old friends.

So, he'd handle this himself.

Bursting from the smoke cloud, he smashed straight into a squad of Iwa ninjas. Limbs and body parts flew everywhere.

The lead ninja was killed instantly. His Hardening Technique didn't help at all, because Muzo himself was basically the most ridiculous blunt instrument in the shinobi world.

And if he missed? No problem. He'd just grab and tear. Whatever he caught, he ripped apart. The strength of a Senju berserker was still unmatched in the entire shinobi world, even now.

By the time he charged the next squad, there weren't any intact corpses left behind. More Iwa ninjas were pouring out of the town. No wonder this village was known for its overwhelming numbers, even a border town had this many ninja.

Muzo looked toward the town, eyes lighting up at the sight of even more Iwa ninjas. Forming a cross-shaped hand seal, he created shadow clones that crossed paths with him, heading toward the enemy squad he had originally targeted.

He himself changed direction and charged toward the town, holding a kunai in each hand, each kunai bearing a dangling tag that fluttered in the wind.