Chapter 53: Attacking the Village
A fierce wind howled past, accompanied by a strange sound of something piercing through the air. Su Xiao, wearing a hood, instinctively raised his arm to shield his face.
With a clatter, a shower of fine gravel struck his hood.
"How much further?"
Su Xiao's voice sounded odd, as if he was reluctant to open his mouth while speaking. This was due to the "rock rain" unique to the Land of Earth—if you opened your mouth to talk, pebbles would be blown inside.
The so-called rock rain was caused by the Land of Earth's peculiar climate. Most of the territory consisted of desolate cliffs and gobi deserts—arid, barren, and swept by howling winds, much like its neighbor, the Land of Wind. The Land of Wind blew sand, while the Land of Earth blew tiny stones.
Clang, clang, clang...
On the yellowish expanse of the gobi desert, the sound of metal striking metal could be heard. It came from an old man carrying two buckets of water on a pole—a traveling merchant. The goods he sold were unusual: a fruit resembling a cactus, often bought by passersby to quench their thirst.
The Land of Earth was severely lacking in water, making such itinerant merchants a common sight on the gobi.
Judging by the environment, the Land of Earth's climate was even harsher than the Land of Wind's, with scarce resources. Yet surprisingly, the Land of Earth was not poor. It was far wealthier than the Land of Wind or the Land of Water, slightly inferior to the Land of Fire, and on par economically with the Land of Lightning.
The reason for this was the extreme unity within the Hidden Rock Village. It was like a mountain formed of solid rock—even more united than the Hidden Cloud Village.
Unity meant a single-minded purpose, with no room for arbitrary rule. Moreover, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was a ruthless man. He knew how barren his country was, so he sent people to plunder resources from the smaller surrounding nations. He cared only for the civilians under his rule; the civilians of other small countries, he chose to ignore.
Conveniently, the Land of Earth was surrounded by many small nations—the Land of Waterfall, the Land of Frost, the Land of Grass, the Land of Birds, and seven others—which had to pay tribute to the Land of Earth year-round. This was what made the resource-poor Land of Earth wealthy.
If one were to compare the happiness of residents in the Naruto World, there was no doubt that the Land of Earth ranked first. Their resources were "stolen," and the citizens enjoyed them at very low prices.
Suppose a civilian in the Land of Fire could buy five days' worth of food with a day's wages. A civilian in the Land of Earth could buy at least half a month's worth.
For the residents of the Land of Earth, war was more like a pastime after meals. As long as a large-scale war didn't break out, it rarely affected them—unlike the miserable civilians of the Land of Wind.
Higher happiness meant that the civilians of the Land of Earth loved their Daimyo and the Hidden Rock Village more, and were more willing to become Rock Shinobi.
Vertical Rock Village was a small settlement nestled in a mountain range, surrounded by peaks. With a population of about a thousand, its proximity to the Hidden Rock Village made its economy even more developed than some small towns.
The twilight sun bathed Vertical Rock Village. Wisps of cooking smoke rose from the houses. Idle civilians sat in front of their doors chatting, while a few children laughed and chased each other through the streets.
An old man sat on a bluestone at his doorstep, a long-stemmed pipe in his mouth. His wrinkled, aged face wore a smile. The age spots on his skin suggested he was over seventy—a remarkably healthy old man, rare in the Naruto World.
Caw~ Caw~ Caw~
The cries of crows came from the sky. The old man's hand paused. His rich life experience told him these were crows, but there were no such birds in the Land of Earth.
Under the setting sun, several figures stood atop the cliff on the eastern side of Vertical Rock Village.
"Strike quickly and decisively. That old man Onoki has already been held up."
Obito spoke. Several kilometers away, the Hidden Rock Village was in chaos. Someone had invaded—White Zetsu.
"There are at least eight jonin here. They say Kitsuchi is among them. He's called the 'Wall of Rock,' an expert in Earth Release. Even Onoki trusts his Earth Release skills."
The jonin Obito referred to, Kitsuchi, was far less famous than Kakashi or Asuma, but his strength might surpass theirs.
Su Xiao had noted this ninja named Kitsuchi in the original story. He was an unassuming Earth Release user, ordinary in appearance—a slightly chubby middle-aged man, but tall, over two meters.
Su Xiao valued Kitsuchi because, in the original story, he used a large-scale Earth Release to suppress the Ten-Tails. Yes, this unremarkable Rock Shinobi with no bloodline limit.
"You handle the external jonin. I'll break into the prison beneath the village quickly, rescue Deidara, and then we retreat immediately."
Before arriving at Vertical Rock Village, Su Xiao and the others had already formulated a strategy. First, White Zetsu would infiltrate the Hidden Rock Village several kilometers away and deliberately expose himself, causing a commotion to stall the Tsuchikage, Onoki.
Obito was responsible for holding off the ninjas stationed inside Vertical Rock Village. Su Xiao would go straight in, quickly reach the underground prison, find Deidara in a short time, and if Deidara could be saved, take him and retreat. If not, he would give Deidara a quick death.
Deidara had been captured for several days and might have been tortured. Even if Deidara was no longer in human form, Su Xiao wouldn't be surprised—it was a normal situation.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."
Obito quickly formed hand seals and then clasped his hands together. Chakra surged from his body, and hundreds of small fireballs appeared before him. This was only a C-rank jutsu. The value of a technique lay not in its rank but in the timing of its use.
The hundreds of small fireballs flew high into the sky, gradually scattering. A few seconds later, they fell like a rain of fire into Vertical Rock Village.
"Ah!!"
A woman's scream shattered the peace of Vertical Rock Village. The fireballs crashed into the houses within the village. Seconds later, flames erupted everywhere.
Dozens of figures leaped onto the rooftops. They were all ninjas from the Hidden Rock Village—some jonin, but mostly chunin.
"They're here. Execute the plan as scheduled. The main force will arrive in at most five minutes."
These Rock Shinobi showed no panic. They seemed to have anticipated an attack here.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Another few dozen figures appeared. This village of only a thousand people was garrisoned by over a hundred ninjas. Previously, even as a secret prison for the Hidden Rock Village, it had only housed two or three jonin and a dozen chunin at most.
Although Onoki didn't fully believe the Akatsuki would come to rescue Deidara, his cautious nature led him to make preparations, just in case the Akatsuki really did try to take him.
Raging fires spread through the village. A strange scene unfolded: after the initial panic, the civilians began evacuating orderly toward the western side of the village. Surrounded by mountains, that was the only exit.
"That old fox, Onoki."
When Obito saw the civilians' reaction, he knew things wouldn't go as smoothly as planned.
"Moo!"
A cow-like roar came from beside Obito, making him slightly turn his head.
Amu let out a furious bellow, then leaped from the dozens-of-meters-high cliff, crashing down toward a burning house below.
Boom!
It was like a bomb exploding inside the house. Burning wooden debris flew in all directions, sparks scattering.
Crack, crack, crack...
The broken wood snapped. Amu swung his large hands, pushing aside the burning planks around him, and burst out of the ruined house.
"Moo!!"
Amu roared again. His main task was to draw fire—colloquially known as taking a beating.
Inside the village, on the roof of a stone house, a dozen Rock Shinobi crouched. No matter how chaotic the surroundings, they watched coldly, because they had a mission.
"We must hold this position."
A jonin spoke.
"Yeah."
"Understood."
"Those Akatsuki bastards really have a death wish, daring to attack here."
A young chunin said. As soon as he spoke, the leading jonin shot him a glare.
Suddenly, a faint sound of something cutting through the air came. The young chunin turned his head in confusion.
Clang!
A dazzling blade light filled his vision. From start to finish, he had no idea what happened.
Blood splattered. Severed limbs rolled off the roof. Several chunin were cut to pieces in an instant. Su Xiao stood on the bloodstained roof tiles.
"So this is the entrance."
Su Xiao looked down at the stone house beneath his feet. According to Karin's perception, this was the entrance to the underground prison.
Several terrified eyes stared at Su Xiao. Drops of blood were still sliding down some of their faces. Among them, a young chunin's legs began to tremble uncontrollably. He recognized Su Xiao—no surprise, given Su Xiao's deeds in the Naruto World had made him a notorious villain.
Before seeing Su Xiao in person, the young chunin had thought: if only he could personally eliminate Su Xiao, it would spread his fame across the ninja world, and maybe he'd even be promoted to jonin. No, definitely.
But after seeing Su Xiao, the young chunin's thought was: can he run away?
"Stay calm. Stall him first. Reinforcements will be here soon..."
The jonin on the roof didn't finish his sentence before he noticed a pair of eyes fixed on him.
"Earth Release..."
Clang.
The crisp sound of a blade cutting came. The jonin, his face twisted in pain, leaped to the side. A severed arm flew through the air.
"His speed... is terrifying."