area51novel Chapter 286 War Mobilization Order
Chapter 286 War Mobilization Order
Chapter 286 War Mobilization Order
Menma's earth-shattering statement about "unifying the ninja world" stirred up a tidal wave in Tsunade's heart.
She stood there, her chest heaving violently, her mind a complete mess.
That simple yet incredibly weighty concept, "a nation," repeatedly challenged her decades-long, ingrained understanding.
"No...that's not right!" Tsunade shook her head violently, her golden hair swaying with her movements as she tried to shake off the thoughts that were disturbing her mind.
She struggled to find the right words to refute Menma: "Using war to destroy other countries and forcibly unify them will only bring more pain! Countless families will be torn apart, children will lose their parents, and ninjas will sacrifice themselves in vain... That's not peace; that's hegemony built on piles of corpses!"
She became increasingly agitated as she spoke, as if she had found a foothold in her beliefs, and her voice rose considerably: "My grandfather, Hashirama Senju, ended the Warring States period not through destruction and conquest! He used his magnanimity and strength to subdue his strongest opponent at the time, Madara Uchiha! It was the Senju and Uchiha clans who put aside their millennia-old blood feud and jointly founded Konoha! Other ninja clans saw hope and joined in! This is a... a peace based on understanding and reconciliation!"
When she spoke of how her grandfather had subdued Madara Uchiha, Tsunade's eyes hardened again, which seemed to be her most powerful argument against Menma.
She took a step forward, her gaze fixed intently on Mianma:
"Do you know how many of my grandfather's brothers died at the hands of the Uchiha clan during those years when the Senju and Uchiha were enemies? And how many of Madara Uchiha's brothers and clansmen died at the hands of the Senju clan? Just their adult brothers alone were almost all killed or wounded! That kind of deep-seated hatred is much more profound than you can imagine!"
"But in the end, they let go! They chose to jointly establish Konoha, giving future generations a future where children no longer have to go to the battlefield at a young age! Isn't this peace, created by setting aside hatred and working together, more precious and lasting than simply relying on force to wage war and forcibly crush everything?!"
Her words carried a sense of pride and conviction in her grandfather's great achievements.
However, faced with her impassioned speech, Menma was not moved at all; instead, she smiled slightly.
"Let go of hatred?" Menma shook his head. "Tsunade, have you ever thought about why Madara Uchiha was ultimately 'willing' to let go of his hatred with Hashirama Senju?"
"That's because..." Tsunade instinctively wanted to answer, but was interrupted by Menma.
"Because Madara can't beat him." Menma's tone was as calm as if he were stating a very simple fact.
Tsunade was stunned. This straightforward, almost cruel answer left her speechless for a moment.
Menma didn't give her time to think, and continued in his all-knowing tone: "As far as I know, after Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara became clan leaders, the two clans continued to wage a long and incredibly brutal war. Of the four Senju brothers, only his second brother, Senju Tobirama, survived until after the village was founded."
"His third brother, Senju Kawarama, died at the age of seven while on a mission in a joint attack by the Uchiha and Hagoromo clans. His fourth brother, Senju Itama, was also young when he was surrounded and killed by Uchiha ninjas."
Tsunade stared at Menma in shock, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.
Some of these detailed stories about her grandfather and brothers were things she herself had only vaguely heard about and didn't know clearly!
How could this boy, who looks no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, know so much about the secrets of the Senju clan from decades ago?!
Menma ignored her shock and continued calmly, "And on Madara's side, the situation was similar. Most of his brothers died at the hands of Senju clan ninjas. Even his most beloved and last remaining relative, Izuna Uchiha, was severely injured by Tobirama Senju's Flying Thunder God Slash right before his eyes and ultimately died. Tsunade, do you really think Madara Uchiha didn't want revenge? Didn't he want to kill Tobirama Senju himself and avenge Izuna?"
He leaned forward slightly: "No, it's not that he didn't want to, it's that he lacked the ability. He didn't have the ability to defeat Hashirama Senju, let alone the confidence to kill Tobirama Senju, who was being protected by Hashirama. Madara Uchiha was never persuaded by Hashirama's ideals or his talk-no-jutsu. He was subdued by Hashirama's absolute strength, which was far superior to his own."
"Beaten up..." Tsunade repeated these three words unconsciously.
This interpretation was too realistic, and she tried to find something to refute it, but found her thoughts were in complete disarray.
Just then, Mianma suddenly raised his head and looked around at the perimeter of the Sand City ruins.
He sensed several familiar chakras rapidly approaching.
"Let's end this argument here, Tsunade." Menma stood up and brushed off non-existent dust from his divine robes.
He looked down at the dazed Tsunade, his voice regaining its previous indifference and authority.
"My strength is enough to sweep across the entire ninja world. What I'm about to take is simply another path that Hashirama Senju didn't take back then." His words carried an oppressive sense of arrogance.
"I will use absolute power to make the so-called Five Great Nations and Five Great Ninja Villages a thing of the past. This is my 'Ninja Way,' my 'Domination'!"
He paused, looked at Tsunade, and advised with an almost pitying tone, "Instead of wasting your breath trying to persuade me, you should think it over carefully and then go back to Konoha. Let Konoha, like Madara Uchiha did back then, face reality and choose to submit. Perhaps, you can still secure a relatively decent future for Konoha and avoid unnecessary bloodshed and sacrifice."
"Impossible!" Tsunade shook her head almost immediately, her face radiating the pride of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha: "Konoha will never surrender without a fight! Peace gained through surrender is the greatest insult to all the Hokage and all the ninja who sacrificed their lives!"
She stared intently at Mianma, voicing her deepest question: "And...how do you know so much about things from decades ago? Who exactly are you?"
Menma tilted his head slightly, a mysterious smile curving his lips: "The ninja world holds no secrets for me."
He looked at Tsunade, his tone seemingly softening slightly: "It's only because you have a small amount of Uzumaki clan blood flowing through your veins that I'm interested in talking to you about these ideals and paths. If it were Jiraiya, that guy who's been bewitched by the so-called prophecy of the old toad of Mount Myōboku, I wouldn't have the time to waste on 'talk-no-jutsu' with him."
"You know Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked in surprise again.
"Hmm, we met once before." Menma seemed to recall something interesting, his tone slightly teasing: "He sold Konoha-made instant noodles as handmade ramen, but his skills were really terrible, the way he made them was awful."
Thinking of Jiraiya's disheveled appearance and the potential predicament he might face, Tsunade's tense face involuntarily relaxed, and she even subconsciously let out a very soft sneer.
But the smile vanished in an instant, and she immediately put on a serious face again.
Just then, several whooshing sounds rang out!
Swish!Swish!Swish!
Several figures appeared silently on the surrounding ruins like ghosts.
They were all dressed in the same gray-blue uniform vests of the Star Ninja, and wore animal masks of various shapes on their faces. They exuded a capable and cold aura, clearly well-trained elite ninjas.
Tsunade and Shizune immediately became alert, standing back to back, their sharp eyes scanning the uninvited guests.
The leader, an exceptionally burly ninja wearing a shark mask, moved swiftly and knelt on one knee before Menma.
He raised his hand and removed the mask from his face, revealing a face with sharp teeth and a slightly bluish complexion.
"Anbu First Squad, ordered to provide support!" Kisame Hoshigaki's voice was deep and powerful, like the grinding of sand: "Lord Shura!"
When Shizune saw Kisame's true face, she couldn't help but gasp and instinctively hugged Ton-Ton tightly in her arms.
Tun Tun also made an uneasy "Tun Tun" sound.
Kisame Hoshigaki's fearsome reputation is widely known in the ninja world.
After all, he was an S-rank rogue ninja who dared to assassinate the Mizukage and the Daimyo of the Land of Water!
He nodded slightly, his face pale.
Even before he engaged in battle with Rasa and the others, the Star Country headquarters had already contacted him through the chakra network constructed by the "Tsukuyomi Mark" and informed him of the Sand Village's actions.
Menma also issued an order, with Kisame Hoshigaki personally leading the first squad, a total of three ANBU squads, twelve elite ANBU members plus Kisame himself, a total of thirteen elite ninjas, to come and provide support.
"Get up," Menma said calmly. "Mission changed. You will immediately lead the Dark Guard to set up defenses and establish a perimeter around the 'Death Sands.' No one is to set foot in this desert without my order."
"Yes, sir!" Kisame Hoshigaki accepted the order in a deep voice, then turned around, his gaze sweeping over the Anbu waiting behind him, and quickly issued the command: "All squads, spread out into the pre-arranged defensive formation! Monitor all directions closely! Rookie, you stay here, ready to be deployed at any time!"
"Yes!" A younger-looking member of the Dark Guard, wearing a bird mask, stepped forward and remained in place.
The other members of the secret service quickly and silently disappeared in all directions from the ruins to carry out their guard duties.
After everyone else had left, Kisame Hoshigaki turned back to Menma and began to report important military intelligence.
His voice was lowered: "My lord, according to recent intelligence, a group of unidentified mysterious ninjas attacked border outposts in both the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, deliberately leaving behind fabricated evidence pointing to our Land of Stars in an attempt to frame us."
Kisame Hoshigaki paused, then continued, "Especially in the Land of Earth, Iwagakure reacted fiercely. They have dispatched an elite squad to attack two of our Star Country's border outposts, causing casualties. At the same time, Iwagakure has sent us a formal diplomatic note, claiming that this is a 'military retaliation' in response to the previous attack on their border outposts, and demanding that we immediately explain the attack and severely punish the perpetrators."
Kisame Hoshigaki's shark-like eyes were exceptionally sharp: "Currently, the Anbu intelligence team, Lord Vanilla Uzumaki's political intelligence department, and Lord En Miyagi's business intelligence network have all been fully activated to jointly investigate this matter. Preliminary analysis can basically rule out the possibility that Sunagakure and Kirigakure orchestrated this themselves."
Mianma listened quietly, finding it somewhat interesting.
In the distance, the Ten-Tails' enormous body had shrunk by nearly half, and the Dark Nine-Tails seemed to be absorbing chakra at an even faster rate.
He could even clearly feel an immense, unprecedented amount of chakra flowing into his body through his connection with Xiao Jiu.
Even with the innate strength and physique of his vortex clan, he began to feel a bit of pressure, and his body felt a slight swelling and pain.
"Kyu's chakra is getting bigger and bigger... It seems that the plan to transplant Hashirama's cells into the Sage Body must be put on the agenda ahead of schedule," Menma thought to himself.
"However, before that, we must first stabilize the situation around the Land of Stars."
He looked at Kisame Hoshigaki, his eyes turning cold: "It seems that someone doesn't want to see the Land of Stars develop peacefully and wants to stir up trouble behind the scenes."
"Lady Vanilla pointed out in the preliminary analysis report," Kisame Hoshigaki said, glancing casually at Tsunade and Shizune not far away, the meaning of which was self-evident.
"She believes that Konoha Village is the prime suspect."
Menma followed his gaze and glanced at Tsunade, whose expression was grave.
If the Star Kingdom were to become embroiled in war with both the Earth Kingdom and the Wind Kingdom, who would be the biggest beneficiary?
Undoubtedly, it was Konoha in the Land of Fire, watching from the sidelines, and Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning, far away.
Given the brute style of the Cloud Village's group of muscle-bound brutes, it's not impossible that they could have devised such a meticulously planned scheme to frame someone, but it's not very likely.
Therefore, Konoha is indeed the most suspicious.
Unlike others who need to gather intelligence and conduct comprehensive analysis, Menma, who is familiar with the plot and the landscape of the ninja world, analyzes and draws conclusions almost from a god-like perspective.
Menma's gaze once again fell upon the Tailed Beast "Feast" that was nearing its end in the distance, where the Ten-Tails' wailing had become weak and feeble.
After the "Death Sand Sea" battle, nearly twenty elite ninjas of the Sand Village were killed or wounded, and Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, was also taken away by them.
A full-scale war with Sunagakure is, in fact, unavoidable.
"Respond to headquarters." Menma's voice carried an air of authority as he began issuing orders: "Have Hikaru, in my name, officially issue the war mobilization order! Assemble the main force of the Star Ninja Army, strengthen defenses along the borders with the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind, construct fortifications, and be prepared to respond to any potential large-scale attack from either country!"
"At the same time, order Uzumaki Vanilla to issue the strongest diplomatic note to Iwagakure in the name of the highest-ranking political official of the Land of Stars! Deny all accusations that we attacked their border outposts, stating that this is a despicable attempt to frame us! And clearly inform them that if Iwagakure continues to use this as a pretext to launch unwarranted provocations and military attacks against the Land of Stars..."
Menma's eyes flashed with a cold light: "Then, the Land of Stars will consider this a formal declaration of war by Iwagakure against our country! We will mobilize the entire nation's strength to launch the most resolute and thorough counterattack!"
"Yes, sir!" Kisame Hoshigaki's eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty excitement as he bowed and accepted the order.
(End of this chapter)