Uchiha Gate: From Konoha to One Piece

(bonus)

— — — — — — 

"Oh?"

At that moment, Kaito noticed the change in the atmosphere. His instincts kicked in, and with a quick scan using his innate ability, he discovered something incredible. Out of the 4,000 Konoha shinobi present, about one-third had already developed favorable impressions of him!

Even the remaining ones weren't far behind—most had a favorability score above 60.

This was unbelievable.

"Wow... I didn't realize my performance in battle would leave that much of an impression," Kaito thought, slightly stunned.

"Well, it makes sense. The shinobi world has always worshipped strength. A result like this is only natural."

He also noticed a dozen or so individuals whose favorability toward him was still negative.

This piqued his interest.

"Huh. Either these guys are hardcore loyalists to the Third Hokage and Danzo, or there's something else going on," he speculated.

Kaito quietly made a mental note of these individuals, planning to dig deeper into their motives and address any issues later.

In the Konoha he envisioned, there would be no room for people who resisted his authority.

The village had to be under his complete control.

"No time to dwell on this—let's keep moving!" Kaito declared.

"This time, we have to wipe out as many Sand shinobi as possible," he added.

Tsunade waved her hand, signaling the army to advance at full speed, chasing after the fleeing Sand forces.

Sakumo Hatake and Jiraiya also followed without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Kaito took a moment to collect the corpse of the Third Kazekage, carefully incinerating the bloodstains left behind with a Fire Release technique before catching up with the others.

It didn't take long for the Konoha forces to close in on the tail end of the Sand army.

"Damn it! Does Konoha want to exterminate us completely?!" a Sand jonin named Ichio shouted angrily.

He was at his breaking point. The relentless pursuit from Konoha was suffocating.

"Calm down! Leave a group behind to hold them off while the rest of us keep retreating!" another jonin, Tanaka, quickly interjected, pulling Ichio back.

Ichio glared at him, frustrated. "Why?! What's the point? Didn't the Kazekage himself die trying to buy us time? Leaving people behind now is just sending them to their deaths!"

Tanaka, also irritated, shot back, "Why? Do you really think we can inflict significant damage on Konoha's forces, even if we fight to the death?!"

"You want everyone to die here, just to satisfy your anger?!"

"Do you understand what that would mean for the Sand Village?!"

"We're already one of the weaker Great Nations, with fewer shinobi compared to the others. If we all die here, what do you think will happen next?"

"Besides, someone has to get this information back to the village!"

Ichio fell silent, unable to refute Tanaka's reasoning.

"Still, leaving some people behind won't help much," Ichio muttered, rubbing his temples. "The Kazekage himself failed. What chance do we have?"

"I know," Tanaka replied firmly. "But this is our only option."

He placed a hand on Ichio's shoulder, his grip tight and unwavering. "Take 1,500 men and keep running. Leave 1,000 with me to hold them off."

"You must get those 1,500 out of the Rain Country and back to camp. Tell everything to Elder Ebizō and Lady Chiyo. Do you understand?"

Ichio froze, staring at Tanaka in disbelief.

"You're staying behind?"

There was no time for debate. The Konoha forces were closing in fast.

Seeing the determination in Tanaka's eyes, Ichio finally nodded, his voice thick with emotion. "Alright. I promise I'll get them back to camp. Take care of yourself."

"You too," Tanaka replied, releasing Ichio's shoulder.

Turning to his group of 1,000 Sand shinobi, Tanaka raised his hand and shouted, "All units under my command, stop! Turn around and hold the line!"

"For our comrades! For survival!"

The 1,000 shinobi halted, their resolve clear as they faced the pursuing Konoha forces.

The battle erupted moments later.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions from ninjutsu, paper bombs, and thrown weapons echoed across the battlefield as the two sides clashed.

For a brief time, the Sand forces managed to slow down Konoha's advance.

But the gap in numbers and strength soon became apparent.

Led by powerhouses like Tsunade, Kaito, Minato, Sakumo, and Jiraiya, the Konoha army tore through the defenders.

Despite this, the Sand shinobi refused to give up. They fought desperately, willing to sacrifice themselves if it meant buying even a few more moments for their comrades to escape.

— — — 

Half an hour later, it was over.

All 1,000 of the Sand shinobi were wiped out.

Konoha suffered casualties too, losing a few dozen men.

But considering the scale of the battle, this was a minimal loss—thanks largely to Kaito and the others leading the charge.

Without their efforts, the losses would've been far worse.

"These Sand shinobi are absolutely insane! They're throwing everything away just to stop us!" Kushina exclaimed after the battle, turning to Kaito and Tsunade for their input.

"So, this is what war truly is," Kaito murmured with a brief sigh. Afterward, he, Tsunade, Sakumo, and the others had a quick discussion before ultimately deciding t o call off the pursuit.

At this point, they were only about ten kilometers from the border of the Land of Rain, and the remaining Sand shinobi, over a thousand of them, were just a few kilometers ahead, nearly out of reach.

Moreover, the Sand shinobi had destroyed bridges and dams along their retreat path, making the terrain even harder to traverse.

"Since we're not chasing them, should we regroup and head for the Iwa shinobi next?" Tsunade asked, looking at Kaito.

The others also turned their attention to him, awaiting his decision.

Kaito extended his sensory abilities and quickly located Onoki and his Iwa forces near Amegakure. They were close and could attack the village at any moment, possibly intercepting Konoha's spoils from their efforts.

Without hesitation, Kaito made up his mind. "We have to deal with the Iwa shinobi next. If we don't, Amegakure will fall into their hands, along with all the benefits."

"If that happens, there's no way they'll withdraw from the Land of Rain afterward. That's not an outcome we can afford to let happen."

"We need to teach Onoki a lesson—make him abandon his plans to take Amegakure and withdraw his forces entirely. Ideally, we'd force him to sign a peace treaty—or even a surrender agreement—with Konoha, including reparations."

"Of course, that last part depends on whether we can deal enough damage to Iwa's forces to leave them with no choice."

"If not, the conflict here won't end easily. And Iwa will likely keep harassing Konoha's borders in the future."

"The only way to truly end this war is to make Onoki submit. Once that's done, we can return to Konoha, focus on rebuilding, and prepare for the future."

There was a lot on Kaito's plate. Securing Konoha's development was his ultimate priority.

"You're right. Let's do it," Tsunade agreed, nodding.

The others quickly voiced their support as well.

Seeing their agreement, Kaito smiled and stood up. "From what I can sense, Iwa's forces are already close to Amegakure. If we take the whole army there, we'll be too late."

"So, I'll go ahead alone and hit them with Lightning Release. That should cause enough damage to delay their assault on Amegakure."

"I'll hold them off until you guys arrive."

"That's too risky!" Tsunade objected immediately. "It'll take us at least an hour to get there. What if something happens to you?"

"How about using Flying Thunder God to take everyone there at once? Didn't you mention before that you've mastered the group teleportation version of it?"

Kaito hesitated for a moment, frowning. "If we do that, everyone will lose at least 30% of their chakra. That's not ideal when we're about to face the Iwa forces, who already outnumber us by over a thousand."

He had indeed mastered the Flying Thunder God group teleportation technique, but it wasn't without drawbacks.

The technique required setting up a large Flying Thunder God array and activating it with chakra to teleport everyone. It was somewhat similar to Kumogakure's Heavenly Transfer Technique but more refined and less harsh.

"That's not a problem," Tsunade countered. "We've all taken nutrient pills, so our chakra and stamina are recovering quickly. We'll regain the chakra we use for the teleportation in about 15 minutes—it won't affect the big picture."

"Besides, aren't you planning to use your Lightning Release to take out two thousand of their troops first? That'll give us the numbers advantage when we fight them."

Tsunade's logic was hard to argue with. Most of the group had only used up about 30-50% of their chakra in the previous battles, and the nutrient pills had already started working their magic.

"Alright, that works," Kaito finally agreed. "But I'll use a shadow clone to handle the teleportation. My real body will go ahead to start gathering thunderclouds and charge up the lightning. That way, the enemy won't have time to prepare, and we'll maximize the damage."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he explained. In the earlier battles against the Sand shinobi, even with the element of surprise, the Third Kazekage had managed to block a significant portion of his lightning attacks using Magnet Release.

If not for that, the death toll among the Sand forces would've been closer to 2,000 instead of 1,500.

"Are you sure a shadow clone can handle teleporting over 3,000 people?" Tsunade asked, still a bit skeptical.

"Relax, it'll be fine!" Kaito said with a reassuring grin. "The teleportation array just needs the right setup. My shadow clone will only guide and activate it. The chakra comes from everyone else, so there's no issue!"

The only reason they couldn't use his Space-Time Door technique was that most of the group wasn't contracted for it. Otherwise, it would've been much simpler.

In previous battles, he'd been able to use the Space-Time Door inconspicuously because of the chaos. But for a large-scale teleportation like this, the lack of noticeable chakra fluctuations would immediately raise suspicions.

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