HGBW: Ch. 126

"In the past battles against Ame, Suna, and Iwa, many of you have fought side by side with me. No need for extra words, I won't say more. I'll just say one thing—so long as I still have breath in my lungs, and so long as you still have breath in yours, I dare to snatch people back from the hands of the Reaper."

Tsunade stood at the forefront of a thousand ninjas.

No lengthy speeches, no unnecessary embellishments, but every word she spoke carried an aura of defiance against death itself.

Only Konoha could say such words and have people believe them.

"Do you dare to follow me and crush Suna?"

Tsunade placed a hand on her waist, exuding heroic confidence.

"Yes!" The response was like a thunderclap, shaking the heavens.

Whether they were from noble ninja clans, civilian-born ninjas, or even the Uchiha were all inspired by Tsunade's fearless spirit.

Countless gazes focused on her figure.

"Tsunade."

Hearing her commanding voice and seeing how effortlessly she had raised morale to its peak, even Tanaka couldn't help but be impressed. Truly, she was the future Fifth Hokage.

In the worst of times, when Konoha had been reduced from the strongest village to nearly the weakest due to the actions of the council, when not even a single Kage-level fighter could be relied upon, she had been the one to stabilize Konoha and lead it step by step back to its peak—the strongest woman in the shinobi world.

Had she not suffered from hemophobia and left the village for over a decade, even if Minato had remained the Fourth Hokage, there would have been no place for Hiruzen after the Nine-Tails attack.

This was exactly what Tsunade had spoken of before: strength, prestige, reputation, and achievements.

To stand at the pinnacle of both the Naruto and the One Piece worlds, these four things were indispensable—especially the first three.

"Move out!" With a concise yet rousing command, Tsunade took the lead, flashing forward like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

Behind her, rows of Konoha ninjas followed like a pride of lions.

Even as their forces departed and the training grounds were left empty, the lingering presence of their powerful momentum remained, echoing through Training Ground 1 for a long time.

---

In the Land of Rain, torrential rain poured down relentlessly.

Suddenly—

Boom!

With a deafening crash of thunder, blinding silver streaks snaked across the stormy sky, illuminating the battlefield and revealing shadowy figures darting through the rain like phantoms.

Under the lightning's glow, one could make out the metal forehead protectors on these figures—all bearing the same emblem, symbolizing their allegiance to Suna.

These ghost-like figures moving through the downpour were Suna ninjas.

Despite the deluge cascading from the sky like a broken dam, they carried no rain protection other than a single straw hat on each of their heads. Strangely, though they marched through the storm, aside from their hats being soaked and their shoes gathering a bit of mud, their ninja vests remained nearly dry.

Not a drop of water could penetrate them. It was as if this phrase had been created just to describe them.

"Stop!"

The leading Suna ninja was neither tall nor imposing. In fact, she was rather short and not even male. Yet, the moment she came to an abrupt halt and issued her command, the thousand Suna ninjas, who had been moving like a rain of arrows, all stopped instantaneously without exception.

"Chiyo-sama."

A Suna ninja lowered his voice, his eyes fixated on the middle-aged kunoichi standing ahead.

"Only 100 kilometers more, and we'll reach the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire. Once we leave the cover of the Land of Rain's perpetual storms, our scent will no longer be masked. The Inuzuka clan's dogs in Konoha will definitely pick up our trail."

"Prepare yourselves. The moment the rain stops, eliminate all traces of our scent."

As a veteran of the Great Ninja Wars, Chiyo's experience was unparalleled—especially when it came to battles against Konoha.

Whether it was intelligence on Konoha's ninja clans or their battle tactics, she knew them inside and out.

"Sensor-type ninjas, stay alert at all times. Birds and beasts—nine times out of ten, they belong to the Yamanaka clan."

"Venomous snakes and insects—either they belong to Orochimaru, or they're controlled by the Aburame clan."

"Aside from the Byakugan, I will not allow Konoha to detect us before we engage in direct combat."

Before even stepping into the Land of Fire, Chiyo was already issuing her commands in a methodical and orderly fashion.

No jutsu was ever truly perfect.

After so many encounters with Konoha, Suna had long developed countermeasures against their ninjas' tactics.

The Inuzuka clan's sharp noses could detect the chakra-infused scent of ninjas—so they would use special medicinal scents to mask their presence.

The Yamanaka clan's secret techniques allowed them to invade minds—so they would avoid alerting any birds or animals.

The Aburame clan's parasitic insects, which fed on their masters' chakra and carried a distinct chakra aura, could be sensed by sensor-type ninjas—so they had to remain vigilant.

The only thing Suna had no counter for was the Byakugan.

However, due to the Hyūga clan's former incompetence, even Hiashi Hyūga—the head of the main house—could only extend his Byakugan's range up to six kilometers.

Six kilometers. Was that far?

For an ordinary person, it was quite a distance. But for a ninja, it was covered in the blink of an eye.

Especially for elite jonin from a great ninja village—if they were willing to burn through chakra, their speed could even surpass that of a racing car at full throttle.

Six kilometers? That was a mere one-minute sprint.

For this force of elite Suna ninjas, getting detected at six kilometers was no different from already being at the enemy's doorstep.

As for sensory ninjutsu... Not every sensor-type ninja was on the level of Tobirama, who could detect life energy and chakra signatures thousands of kilometers away without even forming a hand seal.

The vast majority of sensor-type ninjas had a limited range.

For instance, Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura could perceive chakra across dozens of kilometers—an ability almost unheard of in the entire shinobi world.

"Chiyo-sama, forgive my rudeness."

"The Land of Fire is just ahead."

"Surely, you can tell us our actual mission now?" a Suna jonin asked in a hushed tone.

He wasn't the only one. Nearby Suna ninjas all turned to look at Chiyo.

As the vanguard force, they all knew they were marching to war with Konoha—but how exactly would they fight? Where would they strike? What was their objective?

They had no idea.

Ebizō, standing beside Chiyo, gave her a meaningful look.

To prevent leaks, only the two of them and a handful of people in Suna, including the Third Kazekage, knew the details of the mission.

"Mount Jofuku."

Chiyo swept her gaze over the troops and uttered three chilling words.

"Mount Jofuku?!"

At the mention of that name, those who had not participated in the Second Great Ninja War looked puzzled.

But those who had?

Their faces instantly turned pale.

As if recalling a nightmare from the past—one too painful to remember.