Naruto: Being a Shinobi with no System But...

Things were not going as smoothly as Chiyo had hoped. It had been simple enough to send the Land of Demons’ guards and Shion out under the pretense of sharing intelligence—the trick had been getting them safely away. The real problem erupted on the other side.

Miroku, the current Priestess of the Land of Demons, held out for far less time than Chiyo’s most conservative estimate. Almost as soon as Sunagakure completed the personnel transfer—and before the messenger even returned—word came back that countless gigantic Stone Golem soldiers had poured out of the Land of Demons.

As the first to grow alarmed, and likely the first to receive the report, Chiyo had no choice but to warn the neighboring nations while dispatching ninja squads to cross the border and intercept them. Even though the Land of Wind was mostly sand, meeting the golems outside national soil was preferable to letting this tireless, suicide-driven army run rampant at home. A ninja’s individual skill could outmatch a puppet, but these were puppets that did not die and did not tire—driven by demonic power, they could march day and night.

So when Shion and her escort finally arrived at Konoha after a long, careful maneuver and stood inside the Hokage Building, a dire battle report landed on the desks of Konoha’s leaders almost at the same moment: the Stone Golem Army was smashing through Sunagakure’s temporary defenses and pressing relentlessly inward.

Konoha’s response chain snapped into action. Once the intelligence was verified, contingency plans were triggered, and the first wave of reinforcements began assembling and deploying.

And then the person Chiyo least wanted to see stepped into the Sunagakure reception room.

”Based on projections of their current route and speed, the territories of the great nations most likely to be first affected and potentially suffer substantial threat from Moryo’s Army are the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind,” the person in the conference room said bluntly.

Chiyo’s face tightened. ”Of course I know that. So, what do you want to discuss?”

”A portion of the first batch of reinforcement troops dispatched by Konoha has already departed by sea, hoping to reach the flank of the war zone quickly. However, we must consider the worst-case scenario—the possibility of the western border of the Land of Wind being breached and the mainland becoming the primary battlefield is rapidly increasing.”

”So, Konoha’s ninja forces want to set foot on the soil of the Land of Wind? After everything that has happened?” Chiyo sneered.

”Konoha could also choose another route,” Roshi replied flatly. ”By passing through the Land of Rain, then the Land of Birds and the Land of Stones, we would detour a considerable distance. Then, Konoha could temporarily act as an observer and watch you fight first.”

”Although we still don’t know exactly what happened inside the Land of Demons that caused the seal to collapse and the situation to spiral out of control to this extent.”

”Right now, this is no longer just a conflict between the great ninja villages.”

”Wars between ninja villages, no matter how brutal, ultimately have their bottom lines and rules regarding civilians and the aftermath. But this demon army will show no restraint when passing through the lands of various countries.”

”As the person who personally ended the life of the Fourth Kazekage, I am able to disregard my own safety and personally set foot on this land. I believe this should be sufficient as a demonstration of Konoha’s sincerity in this matter.”

Chiyo and Ebizo sat in silence, each lost in thought.

Only a short while ago, when Konoha’s border scouts first reported Sunagakure’s strange movements and the arrival of the little Priestess from the Land of Demons, the high-level officials had been engaged in speculation and debate. Who could have guessed that as soon as the thunder began, the rain would follow so suddenly?

Is Miroku, the current Priestess of the Land of Demons, dead? What has become of Mōryō, and how did the Stone Golem Army spring up? After all these years, why did Mōryō’s defenses fail now? Did someone interfere, or did her power undergo some unknown change?

The little priestess they brought back was bewildered; the surviving guards only knew to carry out an emergency escort order. None of them truly understood the root cause of their nation’s collapse. All they had was an emergency commission personally signed by Priestess Miroku—an order to send this person away as quickly as possible.

From that, the most likely inference was that the Priestess of the Land of Demons was already dead. It was also possible that another force inside the Land of Demons had arisen, one that made Miroku unwilling to openly request aid from the Five Great Nations, and thus she instructed her guards to hand the commission to whoever they could reach. But such guesses offered little practical help against the relentlessly advancing golem army.

”Sunagakure must make a decision quickly.” Roshi broke the silence. ”Do you choose to cooperate with Konoha on deployment or handle this independently and accept all possible consequences?”

”I must remind everyone that the nation to bear the brunt of the first wave after the Golem Army spreads is not the Land of Fire.”

”Konoha’s intervention now is a strategic move for the future security of the Ninja World. It’s a preventative regional security cooperation action, not our only option, nor something we need to beg your approval for—we have alternatives.”

”We could even choose not to detour.” He finished coldly. ”We could wait on the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind and build a second line of defense there. But if we do, the pressure on your borders will likely be far worse than it is now.”

Ebizo sighed softly. Chiyo understood what her brother meant: Konoha—at least its current leadership—had no territorial ambitions in Sunagakure’s barren lands. If they had, there would have been no need to propose the so-called Land Reformation plan. Including the young man sitting before her who had personally killed Rasa, Konoha’s greatest hope now might simply be that Sunagakure remain quietly within the Land of Wind, manage its own affairs, and stop creating extra problems.

Chiyo let out a thin sound. ”Konoha personnel may proceed to the designated western defense area, accompanied by Sunagakure forces.”

Roshi offered no further provocation, only a slight nod.

”Understood. I will immediately send word back to the village, instructing subsequent reinforcements to prepare to accept your guidance and take up their designated positions at any time.”

After making her decision, Chiyo exhaled. Her face grew colder and her voice detached. ”The commander of the border forces is Baki. He will be responsible for liaising with you and coordinating your actions.”

”And remember: the Golem Army is only the surface problem; the root of this lies entirely with the Priestess.”

If they had foreseen how quickly the Land of Demons would collapse, Chiyo and Ebizo would not have sent the little priestess away. By keeping that card, they could have at least retained the initiative against Mōryō.

Intelligence from the major ninja villages concluded that the Moryo originated as a demon from another world. Someone once used its power to found a so-called Millennium Kingdom, and because of that source, it appears tied to the priestess—after all, for a long time only priestesses could handle the Moryo effectively.

Still, the Ninja World’s general stance had been pragmatic: the Land of Demons sits at the edge of the map, its output is manageable, and the arrangement functions as compensation for the priestesses who guard the Moryo. Leave them to their lives; if something happens, we’ll deal with it. Moryo is powerful but sealed, and most families and villages had other pressing concerns that prevented them from planning further ahead. Now that the seal’s consequences were manifesting, the immediate priority for everyone was to avoid having the problem spill over into their own territories.

Sunagakure was not well-equipped to face the Golem Army.

The Land of Earth, by contrast, showed a remarkably efficient response: Iwagakure deployed large numbers of shinobi using Earth Release: Moving Earth Core to carve vast bottomless ravines and raise towering, sheer rock walls along the invading column’s path, turning the ground itself into an obstacle.

The stone army, though immensely strong, could only slowly bore through those walls or fill in some ravines. While they climbed or dug, their bulky bodies and predictable movement patterns made them ideal targets for concentrated long-range fire from Iwagakure. Relying on terrain and coordinated ninjutsu, Iwagakure’s moving mountain defense line had, for now, held.

Iwagakure’s textbook defense made the Konoha support troops at the western border of the Land of Wind far less uncertain about how to intercept the stone masses.

Once main defensive nodes were in place and basic communications and supply lines established, Roshi proposed to Baki—the man in charge of Sunagakure troops—that he personally lead a mixed elite squad forward to the engagement area. Baki agreed; Sunagakure lacked effective counters for these enemies, and any delay in the border clashes would help. But with Roshi heading to the front, Baki felt it improper to stay safely in the rear. He brought some of his direct elite troops, merged with Roshi’s Konoha squad, and together they pushed toward Sunagakure’s most critical frontline.

What awaited them was chaos. Sunagakure shinobi used fortifications and explosive tags to throw up bursts of flame and smoke among the stone golems, buying brief pauses in their advance. Elite teams armed with three-star fans unleashed razor-sharp Wind Release strong enough to slice rock, cutting the front-row golems to pieces. Yet each momentary, morale-boosting strike was followed not by pursuit but by an even quicker, more frantic withdrawal and repositioning. Behind every temporarily cleared patch, the endless tide of grey-white stone kept coming—heavy, uniform steps swallowing the shattered remains of comrades, never pausing, pressing forward with a cold, suffocating oppression.

Just as another line of stone golems was surging toward the gap left by the retreating Sunagakure shinobi—

The ground beneath them gave a low, sudden groan and split apart with violent force.

A deep, wide fissure opened like the yawning mouth of some buried giant, swallowing dozens of advancing golems. They fell into the newly formed pit, trapped and halting the gray tide at once.

Having just used Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide, Roshi immediately followed with another technique.

”Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!”

The bottom of the pit and the ground ahead turned to slick mud in an instant. What had been solid earth became a vast, viscous swamp.

Golems that tried to cross where their comrades had fallen or to go around the pit lost footing the moment they entered the mire. Their heavy stone bodies sank and the more they flailed, the faster they vanished. Before long, the mud swallowed them completely, leaving only a few helpless bubbles on the surface before all motion ceased.

The Konoha shinobi who had arrived with Roshi needed no orders. They fanned out and took their positions with the calm efficiency of experienced warriors.

”Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!”

”Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spear!”

Thick earth walls rose to further section off and slow the golem assault; sharp rock pillars stabbed up from the ground, impaling and overturning those attempting to bypass the swamp.

Thanks to the coordinated Earth Release ninjutsu and swift teamwork of the fresh front-line force, the seemingly unstoppable stone army was at last temporarily checked.

But Roshi hadn’t come to the Land of Demons simply to hold a line.

Night fell amid the groaning and crumbling rocks. A familiar figure arrived at the forward command post.

”Roshi,” Kakashi said, ”Priestess Miroku’s whereabouts have not been found in the Land of Demons.”

Kakashi had come ashore with the first wave of Konoha reinforcements. His primary mission had been to infiltrate the Land of Demons and find the Priestess. That mission, he now reported, had failed.

”And the suspected rebel’s whereabouts?” Roshi asked—this was the second priority in the Priestess’s plea.

Kakashi shook his head. ”There were signs of fighting in the Priestess’s palace, but the palace is empty.”

”And the Land of Swamps?”

”No developments yet,” Kakashi replied, an edge of puzzlement in his voice. ”Our recon is watching—everything looks normal there, and the sealing shrine appears intact.”

Roshi fell quiet, thinking.

For Moryo to regain full mobility it would need the Priestess’s body and the release of the Land of Swamps’ barrier. That meant the Moryo’s first logical target should have been the Land of Swamps, not an outward onslaught.

Unless the Moryo had already taken Priestess Miroku’s body—but if that were the case, it wouldn’t make sense for only stone golems to be here. Once the golems were blocked, Moryo itself should have intervened to smash the defenses. The current pattern—aggressive expansion without obvious direct intervention—did not fit any clear plan.

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