Chapter 49: Blitzkrieg! The Advancing Hidden Rain!
Another month quickly passed.
Rain Village, at the village entrance, three thousand Rain ninjas had gathered and were awaiting orders. Not a single Genin was among them; all were elite ninjas of Chūnin level or higher.
"Depart now! Half of you will follow me to the Rain-Wind border, and the other half will follow Heiji and Kamada to the Rain-Fire border. Launch the surprise attack precisely at 8 PM on the night of September 18th. You must eliminate all their border defense ninjas!" Hanzo appeared instantly in front of everyone and commanded loudly.
Then, turning his head towards the salamander Kamada and Heiji, who were behind him, he said, "Tell everyone not to conserve Chakra. Recover it after eliminating all the Hidden Leaf ninjas. Be absolutely sure not to leak any information. Report any progress at any time using the salamanders!"
"Please rest assured, Lord!" Heiji and Kamada, as Hanzo's right and left hands, responded loudly.
"Disperse!" With Hanzo's command, a large number of Hidden Rain elites quickly left in two different directions.
Near the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, the salamander Kamada and Heiji were already prepared, with fifteen hundred Rain ninjas following behind them.
However, the Hidden Leaf's border defense forces were completely unaware of the impending danger. The instructions coming from the village were simply for them to maintain their current positions.
As the current hegemon of the ninja world and the victor of the First Great Ninja War, the Hidden Leaf interpreted Hanzo's recent actions as a display of military might.
Although the ninja world was already filled with the dark clouds of war, and the Hidden Leaf was prepared to go to war with the other major ninja villages at any time, and had also strengthened the defenses at the borders of the major countries, they never considered that the Hidden Rain, a mere small country, would dare to provoke the Hidden Leaf and become the first ninja village to attack.
Time reached 8 PM. Accompanied by the ascent of three signal flares, the Rain ninjas launched their surprise attack on the Land of Fire's border defense forces precisely on time.
"Water Release: Water Surge Wave!"
Hundreds of Chūnin-level Rain ninjas simultaneously performed hand seals, creating a terrifying flood. Terrifying Chakra fluctuations permeated the entire Rain-Fire border.
"Not good, enemy attack!" The Hidden Leaf side finally realized that something was wrong. The on-duty ninjas quickly shouted a warning and prepared to send a signal indicating they were under enemy attack.
But it was already too late. The Rain ninjas' next wave of attacks had already followed closely behind.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
This was an A-rank Water Release technique performed jointly by all the Jōnin of the Hidden Rain. Moreover, Water Release ninjutsu had a crucial characteristic: the power of the ninjutsu could be increased with the amount of water.
Having already been set up by the Water Surge Wave, and with the combined application of numerous Jōnin, the A-rank Great Waterfall Technique unleashed power far exceeding that of an ordinary S-rank ninjutsu.
The towering waves crossed the Rain-Fire border at an extremely fast speed, surging towards the Hidden Leaf ninjas, creating a scene on land comparable to a tsunami.
The densely packed Rain ninjas closely followed the waves they had created, rapidly treading water and advancing quickly into the Land of Fire.
The Hidden Leaf defense forces stationed at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain, under the tactical guidance of the two "Sleeping Dragon" and "Young Phoenix" strategists within the Hidden Leaf Village, were almost completely unprepared for the Hidden Rain's surprise attack.
Under the Hidden Rain's attack, which could be described as a saturation strike, they were directly wiped out. The Hidden Leaf defense forces in the Rain-Fire border direction were taken out in one wave by the Rain ninjas.
"Chūnin, quickly clean up the battlefield! Sensory ninjas, increase your sensing range! Be sure not to let a single one escape!" the salamander Kamada commanded loudly. "The rest of you quickly recover your Chakra. I will now contact Lord Hanzo to request the next instructions."
"Summoning Technique!"
Kamada performed hand seals and summoned a small salamander, quickly wrote down their situation on a scroll, and then placed it in the salamander's mouth.
Not long after, Kamada felt a change in the contract. He used the Summoning Technique again to summon the salamander and took the scroll from its mouth.
After opening the scroll, Kamada quickly read through the orders issued by Hanzo and then called Heiji, who was meditating nearby to recover his Chakra.
"Lord Hanzo's latest orders: the troops are divided into two parts, led by you and me respectively. We will quickly occupy all the towns in the Land of Fire near our border!" Kamada said while handing the scroll in his hand to Heiji.
After Heiji took the scroll and confirmed its contents, he said to Kamada, "Very good, then we'll start moving in five minutes. Let them recover their Chakra a bit more!"
At this time, the situation on the Land of Wind's border was the same as on the Land of Fire's side. Although the Third Kazekage Iron Sand had increased his vigilance and strengthened border defenses due to Hanzo's previous actions, Hanzo himself was leading the attack on this side. The Hidden Sand's border defense forces were completely annihilated by the Rain ninjas in just twenty minutes.
On September 19th of Hidden Mist Year 34, all the towns in the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire facing the Land of Rain's border had fallen. It had only been less than a day since the surprise attack was launched at 8 PM on the 18th.
Hanzo, through his actual actions and successful experience, gave the entire ninja world a lesson called Blitzkrieg.
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