Chapter 87: The Final Frenzy

The ruler of the Land of Wind was a madman. Though he feared the power of the shinobi, he also longed for it; one might say his fear gave birth to desire.

In secret, he had captured many ninja from the Sand Village and used them for experiments.

He had already gathered the necessary conditions to become a shinobi himself, though those conditions were by no means fully safe or reliable. But now the situation was desperate, and he had no choice but to stake everything on one throw.

More than that, he had been maintaining contact not only with the surviving allied ninja forces of the Four Nations, but also with the Akatsuki. His ambitions were immense; he was not afraid to bargain with a tiger. He regarded both the Four Nations shinobi and the Akatsuki as tools to be used.

"Someone come at once!" he roared, his face twisted with madness.

His personal guard rushed into the grand hall. Seeing the ruler in such a state, a jumble of fear, dread, and despair flashed through his eyes. It was a complicated look, and he felt that the Land of Wind was finished.

The ruler saw the guard and barked, "What is that look? You despise me? You look down on your ruler?"

Like a drunken man, he stumbled to the side, raised a blue-and-white porcelain vase with both hands, and was about to smash it at the guard, but his grip slipped and his back went out. The vase crashed at his feet, shards flying everywhere.

"My lord!" The guard hurried forward to see whether the ruler was injured, even kicking the broken pieces aside in fear that he might accidentally step on them and cut himself.

The ruler kicked and struck at the guard, shouting, "I don't need your pity! Go contact Ebizo. Go contact that so-called White Zetsu of the Akatsuki. And summon Yukiko for me. I am going to become the strongest shinobi!"

He was truly a little mad now. Such confidential matters were being shouted outright, leaving the guard somewhat bewildered. He did not understand what this talk of the strongest shinobi meant, but at least summoning Yukiko could be done.

Still, despair deepened in his heart. Did the ruler not hate shinobi? Why, then, did he want to become the strongest one?

...

The Land of Wind had three strategies for dealing with Orochimaru. First, the Akatsuki and the Four Nations shinobi. If Orochimaru wanted to kill, he would first have to get through them.

Second, the ruler of the Land of Wind had already ordered the national army to begin war against the neighboring countries.

This was a war among ordinary civilians. He had also commanded the small countries subordinate to the Land of Wind to do the same, hoping to ignite a world war with the Land of Wind as its foundation.

Third was his strongest shinobi plan.

He had captured many kekkei genkai users and intended to transplant all of those bloodline powers into himself. Then he would surely become the strongest!

...

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the Edo Tensei corps led by the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, arrived at the capital of the Land of Wind.

The gates of the capital were shut tight. The immense gate stood more than fifty meters high, beyond the strength of ordinary men to open, though not beyond shinobi, and certainly not beyond the God of Shinobi.

"Brother." Tobirama looked toward Hashirama.

After Orochimaru's return, he had adjusted Hashirama's parameters. Hashirama now possessed the strength of his prime, and even ordinary transcendent Kage-level opponents were no match for him.

Hashirama nodded at Tobirama, then formed hand seals. With a thunderous rumble, a colossal wooden giant rose before him. It stood nearly a hundred meters tall, making the city wall of a little over fifty meters seem almost short.

"Run!"

"It's a monster!"

"..."

The gate guards fled in panic. If it had been ordinary shinobi, they still might have been able to fight, using their terrain advantage. But this opponent was anything but ordinary; the giant wooden golem left them utterly helpless.

With a boom, the wooden giant took a step toward the gate, intending to destroy it. At that moment, another enormous wooden giant suddenly rose from the ground, equal to Hashirama's in strength and standing against him without yielding.

On the shoulder of the newly emerged wooden giant, Hashirama saw a White Zetsu standing there.

"Ah, hello everyone, I am Ahbai."

The White Zetsu greeted them. He was the White Zetsu separated from the Black and White Zetsu body, now fused with Yamato, who possessed the Wood Release bloodline. The two had become one. He was far more formidable than the other, long-dead half who had once served as Obito's other self.

Hashirama's expression did not change. His gaze sharpened, and his giant wooden golem threw a punch.

"Oh my, you're awfully violent," Ahbai said with exaggerated surprise, and then he too controlled his wooden giant to swing a punch. The two wooden giants began to brawl.

"Ahbai, don't forget your mission!" came Kisame's voice in Ahbai's ear.

This was a communication technique they had developed through Uchiha Itachi's ultimate evolved Sharingan, allowing members of the Akatsuki to speak directly with one another.

Ahbai said, "I know, I know. Kisame, ever since Uchiha Itachi became the leader, you've nearly turned into a lapdog. Annoying."

Kisame's dark voice entered Ahbai's ear. "What are you muttering about?"

Not only had Uchiha Itachi become stronger, but Kisame, who acted together with him, had also been growing stronger all the time. Kisame's true power was likewise unknown.

"No, nothing. I said I know." Ahbai backed down and no longer paid attention to Kisame. His gaze passed over the wooden giants and toward the Edo Tensei army, where it landed on a child who could summon wind by whistling. His eyes lit up.

"That one will do."

...

Not long after Ahbai appeared, the Four Nations shinobi also arrived. Leading them was none other than the Raikage, A.

"Leave this to me. You all charge!" The Second Hokage, Tobirama, stepped forward on his own and confronted A.

One of them used the Flying Thunder God Technique, appearing and vanishing in flashes; the other was born with extraordinary speed. The two were evenly matched.

With a boom, while Hashirama's wooden giant battled Ahbai's, the shockwaves from the fight toppled the gate, and a large group of Edo Tensei shinobi seized the chance to rush inside.

Seeing this, Ahbai and A both retreated decisively and vanished. The two of them had not been helping the ruler of the Land of Wind purely to resist the Edo Tensei army; each had his own purpose.

For example, when Ahbai left, he carried off one of the Edo Tensei children...

The Land of Wind's first plan failed.

...

As Hashirama and the others entered the city, the Land of Wind and its vassal states began dispatching troops, preparing to wage war on the surrounding lands.

The madness of a great nation was terrifying. Even the soldiers of the Land of Wind sensed that their country was about to collapse. They threw caution to the winds and did every evil thing imaginable—arson, murder, plunder. Before even leaving their own borders, they had already slaughtered several villages within their own country.

Death was happening every moment. Life was worth no more than grass.

Still, the Land of Wind and its vassal states were indeed powerful, but the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire, already subdued by Orochimaru, were no weaker—especially the Land of Fire, whose military strength had suffered almost no losses.

There was no chance for the Land of Wind against the combined assault of two nations.

Not only that, the remaining two great nations, the Land of Water and the Land of Earth, also made their choices. The ruler of the Land of Water had never wanted to provoke Orochimaru in the first place, and now he simply surrendered and sent troops to assist the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire.

Seeing this, the Land of Earth realized it was alone. What was the point of continuing? It too hurriedly surrendered and sent its forces against the Land of Wind.

Four nations besieging one—the Land of Wind's second plan failed.

...

"Useless! Useless! All of you are utterly useless!"

The ruler of the Land of Wind had always known the Akatsuki and the Four Nations shinobi could not be relied upon. Power was still better kept in his own hands.

He already knew the Edo Tensei army had entered the city and was heading straight for him, so he had to hasten things.

"Faster, faster!"

He roared, urging Yukiko to hurry.

Yukiko was a middle-aged woman with blond hair. Wearing a white lab coat and a white mask, she led the ruler of the Land of Wind down into the basement.

The basement was filled with glass vessels, each packed with green liquid, in which human beings were submerged.

These were the shinobi the Land of Wind had secretly captured. Most of them possessed kekkei genkai, nearly a hundred in all.

"Faster, faster!" the ruler of the Land of Wind kept pressing.

Yukiko led him to the deepest part of the basement, where there was a circular platform with a cylindrical glass chamber standing over it.

At that moment, the glass cylinder opened, and Yukiko signaled for the ruler of the Land of Wind to stand upon it.

He stepped up and cried anxiously, "And then?"

"Wait..."

At the control console, Yukiko's fingers trembled as she entered the commands, sweat pouring down her face.

"Hm... whirr..." At last, the machine started.

Above the glass cylinder where the ruler of the Land of Wind stood, a huge metal conduit extended upward, connected to the cylinders containing nearly a hundred kekkei genkai users.

As the machine came alive, the conduit began to suck with tremendous force, draining those nearly hundred bearers of bloodline powers into dried husks. Their essence flowed through the metal conduit to the ruler of the Land of Wind.

"Ah!"

The ruler of the Land of Wind screamed in agony, yet he could feel himself growing ever stronger.