Naruto, But With Li's Peerless Flying Dagger

With Li-sensei's promise, their chances of survival on the battlefield seemed significantly higher.

In truth, as long as Sagawa, Kondo, and Sakamoto didn't stray foolishly from Li Anshi's line of sight, he was more than seventy percent confident he could keep them alive through the battle.

However, Li Anshi also knew he couldn't protect them forever. They had to learn to absorb experience and grow through combat themselves. If they grew accustomed to his protection, they would lack the necessary experience when undertaking missions alone or leading their own squads later, ultimately endangering themselves and others.

After offering a few more words of advice, Li Anshi led the three Genin, merging them into the larger throng of shinobi.

Looking down from the sky, one would see Konoha ninjas advancing collectively, spaced roughly four or five meters apart. A rough estimate placed the size of this ninja army at over a thousand strong.

Today marked the first battle of the Third Hokage's counteroffensive against the Cloud ninjas. It was also the battle where the Third Hokage intended to achieve a decisive victory in one fell swoop.

The main players in this engagement were naturally Konoha's Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sarutobi clan head Sasuke Sarutobi, and the Uchiha clan's Kagami Uchiha, facing off against the Cloud Village's Third Raikage, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.

Of course, this didn't diminish the importance of the war being fought by Li Anshi and the thousand-plus other ninjas. If Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two Kage-level figures faltered, a victory by the main ninja army could still tip the scales of the war.

Ninjas, ultimately, were "tools" for completing missions. Wars between ninjas were also struggles over mission quotas. Winning a battle and seizing mission shares meant little if there weren't enough ninjas afterwards to handle the sudden influx of tasks. What difference was there then between victory and defeat?

Precisely because of this, a ninja village required both exceptionally powerful individuals and a sufficient number of rank-and-file ninjas.

Li Anshi recalled that in the Third Shinobi World War, more than a decade in the future, the Cloud ninja forces led by the Third Raikage were pursued by ten thousand Stone ninjas.

To ensure the safe retreat of the main Cloud forces, the Third Raikage single-handedly held off the entire Stone army of ten thousand. He fought continuously for three days and three nights before finally succumbing to exhaustion.

He wasn't killed; the relentless high-intensity combat simply drained his last shred of chakra. From beginning to end, the Stone ninjas had failed to inflict any real harm upon him.

It bore a striking resemblance to how Konoha's Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had perished protecting his disciples. Why did powerful figures like Tobirama Senju and the Third Raikage, A, sacrifice themselves to protect the weaker ones?

It was because they understood that a ninja village's continuation didn't rely solely on one supremely powerful ninja. It depended on the thousands upon thousands of ordinary ninjas who carried out the nation's missions, sustaining the village with the rewards earned.

A powerhouse like the Second Hokage or Third Raikage might earn more from a single S-rank mission than dozens of regular ninjas combined. But what about hundreds? Or thousands? Low-rank missions were available daily, but how many S-rank missions occurred in a year? Thus, for the village as a whole, the contribution of super-strong individuals might genuinely be less impactful than that of the numerous ordinary shinobi.

...

"Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

In the night sky, a firework shot upwards and exploded brightly.

The Cloud Village also possessed sensory ninjas. While perhaps not rivaling the Yamanaka clan within Konoha's Ino-Shika-Cho formation, the sheer commotion caused by Konoha's thousand-strong rapid advance was significant. Thus, while still over a thousand meters from the Cloud ninja camp, Konoha's forces were detected.

Instantly, the Cloud camp burst into activity. Countless birds took flight, and dark figures emerged from the trees, rapidly forming squads. Under their commanders' lead, they charged forward to meet the Konoha ninjas head-on.

When paths cross on a narrow road, the courageous prevail!

"Roar!"

Among the Cloud ninja forces, three figures charged at the very front.

One, a long-haired youth with hair split white and green, erupted with red chakra, coalescing behind him into four octopus-like tails.

Another figure emanated an eerie blue chakra, forming two distinct tails behind them.

These two were the Cloud Village's Jinchuriki.

Boom!

As the two Jinchuriki unleashed their chakra, the Third Raikage certainly didn't lag behind. Boundless lightning crackled around his body, causing his aura to surge dramatically, overshadowing even the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

This was the Lightning Release Chakra Mode!

It was also the Cloud Village's strongest inherited technique.

The First Raikage of the Cloud Village had witnessed the awesome might of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, the Asura of the Ninja World.

Such power was terrifying. To gain the strength to contend with them, the First and Second Raikage had worked to create a power capable of matching theirs. The Lightning Release Chakra Mode was the fruit of their efforts across two generations.

Although they paid for its creation with their lives, the Third Raikage successfully mastered it, ascending to the ranks of Kage-level powerhouses before even reaching the age of twenty.