Chapter 400: Battle Begins (Two-in-One Chapter)

The scenery of the Grass Country is very primitive. It is lush with water and grass, and has a rich and diverse terrain. It has everything from waterfalls, rivers, forests, to swamps.
There are inaccessible no man's lands everywhere.
For ordinary humans, this is the case, but for ninjas, the obstacles of the terrain are not significant.
The only thing to note is the difficulty of supply transportation.
The ninjas of Konoha settled down in the forest, and in the distance came the faint rumble of a roaring waterfall. The forest was quiet, and the nearby beasts had already fled in fright. There was no fire lit in the darkness to avoid revealing their location.
A small reconnaissance team from the front line is scattered in the woods, serving as the vital eyes of the main forces. They crouch quietly on the trees, munching on dry and hard rations.
These rations were self-prepared and enough for three days.
It can be made by drying meat into pieces or frying and pulverizing grains for easy carrying, with simple and fast preparation.
However, its shelf life is not long.
In addition, there is also another emergency dry food called "soldier's food", which is made from radishes, rice flour, thirst-quenching dried plums, and medicine. It is a compressed food with a long shelf life, but it is difficult to digest and tastes particularly bad. Unless absolutely necessary, ninjas do not voluntarily choose to eat it.
Due to the urgency of the situation, the supply troops couldn't keep up, so the ninjas had to go to the frontlines first, and the follow-up supply troops would catch up later – it's a compromise.
Unlike ancient times when marching and fighting, where food and supplies would accompany the troops or go ahead of them, if they couldn't keep up, the only outcome was beheading.
And prepare at least thirty days' worth of rations per person, with two meals a day.
A force of over ten thousand people is no small number.
Although three days' worth of rations may seem sufficient, seasoned veterans know it may not be enough, and they may end up with only two pellets of military rations a day.
In this case, ninjas would rather go hungry or eat wild grass.
Eating too many soldier pills makes it hard to digest and causes a lot of pain. If you keep fighting without chakra and can't eat because of the bloating, it becomes even more painful.
However, this situation will improve quickly as soon as we finish a battle, and the food will immediately become more abundant.
Whether it's the reconnaissance unit in front or the large troops resting in the rear, they are all hoping that the opponents in the rock hideout have some delicious food.
In any case, there are still ninjutsu beasts and spiritual beasts as a backup.
"Eat spiritual beasts!? No way! Senior!" exclaimed a rookie on the battlefield, lowering his voice, "Is it really so cruel and bizarre?"
I don't even have a spiritual beast, and I can get to eat it?
"When you're hungry, you eat anything, even shit." The man of the Inuzuka clan, with paint on his face, scoffed.
"So you're saying that Yawamaru is very dangerous?" the newcomer asked. "The other side must think the same, right?"
"Don't make a fuss, Yawamaru and I have long been prepared," said Inuzuka man. His mighty black dog next to him chimed in with a bark.
"Ha!? " The newcomer didn't quite understand the meaning of this statement.
Next to them, a senior colleague licked the soy-sauce flavored flour in their palm and said, "Dog meat is very delicious, especially the dog meat from the Qun family. My father told me that once you taste it, you'd be willing to die for it."
"No way!"
"There's nothing strange about it. In the Warring States period, the Inuzuka clan would destroy corpses to protect information, and their method was to have their beloved dogs eat the bodies. Similarly, people would eat the dead ninja dogs. Otherwise, how do you think the name Inuzuka came about?"
"After the heroic dog escapes danger, it will vomit some remains for a proper burial."
The newcomer, being an ordinary citizen, was deeply shocked upon hearing such ancient family customs and was left speechless.
“Speaking of which, the bugs of the Oil Girl clan, when fried, are very fragrant, but in the wild, there are no conditions, so grilling them is also delicious,” said the man from the Inuzuka clan.
“Ah!?” The newcomer's worldview felt shattered on the ground. What is the background of these shinobi from my Konoha village?
"That thing is extremely hard to come by." The senior next to me licked his lips and said, "Have you ever been on a mission with the Oil Lady's ninja team? In recent years, they rarely team up with outsiders, so it's hard for newcomers to know. The Oil Lady always carries a lot of snacks with her. At first, I refused, but once you try them, you'll know they are really fresh, much better than dry rations."
Are bugs really tasty?
The new guy looked confused and shivered at the thought, feeling a chill run down his spine.
"I still prefer eating dry rations," the new guy said.
"It's better not to eat them, who knows what those bugs have eaten," the man named Kento said.
"Senior, what should I say?" the newcomer asked.
"The worm devours humans," the man from the Inuzuka clan said, "that kind of fighting style is completely different from ours. Yamaru would never just swallow meat from an unknown source."
"Don't spread false accusations." said the senior colleague. "Infested insects eat meat, but I'm not eating infested insects. That oily food is not given to female workers, they say it doesn't have enough protein."
"What do you mean by smearing? I'm only stating the facts," said Inuzuka, the man.
"Speaking of cannibalism, there is an even more terrifying rumor," the senior changed the topic, avoiding arguing with the naive Inuzuka and wisely preserving their level of intellect. They said, "My father told me that during the cruel Warring States period, there were instances of cannibalism."
Don't tease newbies too much, continue speaking.
"In case of food shortage, we will eat dead ninja beasts, spirit animals. When the scarcity becomes severe, we will nibble tree bark, grass, leather to fill our stomachs. If there's nothing left to eat, we will resort to consuming dead bodies, and enemy corpses on the battlefield serve as the last reserve food."
A newcomer took a gulp of saliva, and even though he had been in the industry for over four years and considered himself well-traveled, he was still a little taken aback.
But even scarier things jumped out of the mouths of his seniors.
Once upon a time, there was an incident in which a group of ninjas surrounded another smaller group of ninjas. The smaller group attempted to break through the blockade several times but failed each time. Eventually, due to severe food shortage, a major riot broke out within the clan, with people resorting to cannibalism. In the end, only one person remained in the entire clan, as everyone else had been eaten.
Scary! Scary! Scary!
The newcomer swallowed his saliva.
"What happened to that person in the end?"
"He went crazy and was executed by the Shinnobi clan." The senior sighed deeply and said, "The battlefield is cruel."
"My dad said that I was born on the battlefield during the First Great Ninja War."
"The two of them were trapped in enemy territory while on a classified mission. Surrounded by enemies with no food, my mother didn't receive enough nutrition to produce milk. My father then cut off his own flesh to feed my mother, enduring for a week until our clan came to the rescue. Both my mother and I survived, but my father lost an arm."
Don't talk about your father, what kind of fierce person is your mother, going into battle with a big belly?
Looking at the confused look of the newcomer, Inuzuka nonchalantly said, "This kid is from the Hyuga clan."
He is a clan even more brutal than the Uchihas.
"But this is not the cruelest thing." The senior looked into the distance and said, "The cruelty of war is not limited to us ninjas."
“你见过村庄毁灭吗？”
"I haven't seen him before either."
“饿殍遍地，易子而食，这不是故事，而是现实。”
“受到忍者战争的波及，总会有这样的事情在战争中发生。”
"One village after another destroyed."
"It often happened during the Warring States Period."
"Or the impact of ninja warfare, people had to flee their homes and stay away from the ninja battles."
"Or were deliberately attacked by ninjas, who stole everything valuable or edible."
"The scarcity of food will starve many people."
"When there is extreme hunger, cannibalism will occur right before their eyes. People, unable to bear eating their own young children, will exchange and eat each other. And the emaciated elderly, who are barely clinging to life, will be carried into the deep mountains by the children and abandoned."
"Maybe he ate alone, maybe not," said a man from the Inuzuka clan, making a dark joke.
But it wasn't funny at all, the newcomer found it cruel.
It was too savage, too brutal for him, who grew up in Konoha, to comprehend.
Why does this kind of thing happen?
"Senpai, after the end of the Warring States period, did this kind of thing stop?" the new recruit asked hopefully.
Senpai fell silent.
"No, it has become even more brutal," said a member of the Inuzuka clan. "During the First Shinobi World War, our clan suffered the most severe loss of men and dogs in its history. And this will not be the last time! That's why Yarimaru and I have prepared ourselves! New recruit, we're not here to discuss what's delicious while on a tour!"
"Woof!" Yemaru exclaimed vigorously.
The escalation of the war implies an expansion of its scope.
"Why engage in a war?" the newcomer asked.
"I don't know," the Inuzuka clan replied flatly.
"It is to prevent those terrible things from happening to ourselves," the senior said. "So, fight to the death."
"Not being able to eat enough is equivalent to being dead.
The newcomer has figured it out a bit and empathizes, saying, "So, the enemy Rock Hides must think the same way. I heard from other seniors that they can barely eat enough, so they come to steal from us."
"Probably..." said the elder.
"Remember, they are our enemies, and on the battlefield, showing no mercy and killing them is the greatest kindness," said the man from the Inuzuka clan, his voice filled with cruelty.
"Haha! Senior!"
In the dark forest, the ninjas below were discussing, while the leader above was studying Iwagakure's plans.
"Lord Tsumiki, my unit has already reached the immediate front of Iwagakure's frontline forces, blocking the route for Iwagakure's southward movement. Currently, there is no activity in Iwagakure's stationed area."
Looking at the map and chewing on dry rations, Tenzō furrowed his brow in contemplation.
The situation was clear as day, and Konoha's objective was to prevent Iwa from advancing any further.
However, it was worth thinking about when Iwa would launch an attack and what tactics they would employ.
“看来，今晚又是平静的一夜。”
岩隐不可能发动夜袭。
夜晚进行大规模的夜战不现实，不是每一个忍者都具备夜战的能力，混乱战场上分辨敌我都困难。
At this moment, a deafening roar shattered the tranquility.
Tsunade immediately stood up in astonishment and looked outside.
Now, of all times!?
Immediately furious, how could the reconnaissance team not detect such an obvious attack?
Hasn't there been any abnormality?
A sharp and loud whistle sounded.
“Enemy attack!!!”
The whole forest became chaotic, and the ninjas crouched on the trees looked around in the dark.
An enemy attack?
I didn't see anything.
At this moment, bright flames burst open above their heads, and many ninjas looked up toward the sky.
In the endless night sky, numerous stars were scattered, providing excellent visibility. However, due to the darkness of the night sky, it was impossible to see what launched the attack.
"Take cover! Organize your defense!"
With a series of whooshing sounds, the ninjas landed on the trees and started their defense.
In the clouds above, Iwagakure launched an attack.
A giant white clay owl soars through the sky, carrying a team of four ninjas each.
This is the elite explosive squad of Iwagakure.
"We've found them!"
hundreds of large birds fly in formation, while a ninja with a monocular telescope looks down at the forest, searching for the traces of the Leaf Ninjas, illuminated by the bright explosions in the sky.
Looking at the trembling leaves and branches beneath the dense canopy in the forest, quickly judge their location.
A short and brisk whistle sounds in a rapid rhythm.
After indicating the position, the formal attack is launched.
A flock of birds fly in the sky, swirling and circling in an orderly manner. The attack route is determined, and the prepared attackers remove the white birds they have been carrying in large bamboo cabinets on their backs, inject them with chakra, and throw them down.
When the mud swallow swoops down, its wings flap rapidly like a living creature, shooting through the treetop canopy like an arrow, swiftly locking onto the figures of ninjas in the forest as it dances through.
Brake, decelerate, and turn quickly in one breath, rushing towards the locked ninjas.
The quick-reacting ninjas caught a glimpse of the fleeting white figure and instinctively threw their shurikens, accurately hitting several targets.
Then...
The sound of explosions rang out intensively.
The forest was set ablaze, and intense flames and thick smoke rose amidst the explosions.
The ninja's screams, accompanied by shouts, resounded in the fiery forest of explosions.
"Spread out! Everyone spread out!"
Ninjas raced through the exploding forest, chased closely by relentless white birds.
Occasionally, ninja figures were engulfed by the flames of the explosions.
In the sky, the ninja of Iwayama continuously throws out flying birds, launching explosion attacks like a torrential rain, until the short-lived downpour stops and the continuous explosions come to an end.
The ammunition has been depleted, ceased fire?
No, not yet.
The explosive team's ninjas, in pairs, nervously molded clay, swiftly shaping one identical simple bird after another, continuously filling them into bamboo boxes.
The next round of bombing will begin in a moment.
At this moment, the entire forest is already burning, with the flames continuously igniting large areas of trees. Under the night wind's blow, the fire spreads rapidly.
"Damn!!!"
Tsunade, with a dirty and frustrated face, shouted in anger, completely caught off guard by this situation.
Onoki changed his style.
The initial attack, unexpectedly, didn't come from the ground but started from the sky.
But the next second, the attack on the ground began.
The ground cracked open, and one ninja after another rushed out from underground.
In the midst of the fire, the Iwagakure ninjas, wearing long-sleeved battle vests with red robes, looked at the Konoha ninjas with cold eyes in the burning flames.
In the recent bombardment, the Iwagakure ground forces rapidly approached the Konoha forces by using underground earth-style tunnels.
Without saying a word, both sides silently drew their weapons, understanding each other's intentions.
A rock ninja quickly forms seals, and in the next second, three massive stone giants appear in the fire scene. Their colossal bodies silently roar towards the forest, and then three gigantic fists simultaneously pound down furiously.
At this moment, five enormous fat men suddenly expanded and each took on the stone giant's heavy punches.
The other two men, with a fierce look in their eyes, looked at the hidden rock under their feet. They viciously uprooted the burning giant trees beside them and violently slammed them down towards the hidden rock.
"Disperse!"
Under the terrifying impact, there was no attempt to resist head-on, agilely avoiding the stubborn rock.
In the next second, endless fireballs erupted in the forest.
Earthen walls rose one after another, overturning the burning trees on the ground.
The battle begins.