The Hokage Ryos Path
Chapter 139: Battle of the Kikyo Pass (1)

While Konoha handles their own affairs, Sand and Stone prepare to attack them.

Onoki and Rasa had long awaited the arrival of Ryo and the others, as this time they were confident in their ability to destroy the entire Konoha army.

The two looked at the two figures behind them and laughed, and the two figures also showed smiles.

Onoki took a sweet time to plan this Battle. Before Stone's final battle with the Clouds, Minato took back all of his Ninjas, making Stone face the Clouds herself.

In that war, The Rock had thousands of casualties, and Onoki and Han were seriously injured.

In the end, their forces in the Lightning Country would have been annihilated, if not for Cloud not being too eager to catch up, due to the destruction their village received during the War.

Onoki, who escaped the fangs of death, has a new hatred born within him. While their previous battle against Konoha was mainly for resources, now, he was looking for bloodshed.

To fulfill his revenge, Onoki thought for a moment before finally deciding to join another village to face Konoha. Konoha left the war as the biggest beneficiary, and no village was ready to accept it.

Unfortunately for Onoki, the Cloud Village was destroyed, and the 3rd Raikage died at the hands of Stone. The clouds definitely did not want to fight anymore with Stone.

As for Fog, after Mizukage's death, they only left the troops at the border to prevent a surprise attack by Konoha.

Therefore, Sand was Onoki's only option. While the two villages share the same hatred, Onoki must get off his high horse and ask for Rasa for this alliance.

"Enemies" yesterday can be friends today, hostility does not last forever, and only absolute interest. The main common enemy today is Konoha.

These ideas are understandable by Sand. So when Onoki suggested a truce between the two sides, and Joined against Konoha, Sense gladly agreed.

After Rasa agreed to fight Konoha, the two immediately discussed their operational plans.

However, as mentioned earlier, even with this new alliance, the two were simply unable to trust each other completely. After all, just a few days ago, they had fought each other on the battlefield. This sudden alliance made everyone subconsciously hold back.

Even Rasa had a little bit of vigilance towards Onoki, until then exposing his greatest card to him.

In this way, their alliance was officially formed. After discussing their operational plans, Rasa and Onoki go to appease the ninja in their respective villages.

As was the case in the 3rd Hokage's office, both sides looked at the map, and pointed to Kikyo Hill as the perfect place for this decisive battle.

……

Upon reaching Kikyo he, Konoha's forces immediately sent Hyuga and Ninja Aburame to monitor any movement of the Stone and Sand.

They should not be careless, and while they were fully prepared for battle, they could only wait for the other party to make the first move.

The battle had yet to officially begin, but the atmosphere was completely tense.

On the other hand, Onoki was making the final arrangements. In terms of battle experience, Onoki is a veteran compared to Rasa, so most of the arrangements are based on his opinion.

“Taste, let's do it, as we discussed earlier!”

Stone and Sand began to move under the joint leadership of the two Kages. A mighty spectacle rushed towards the newly established Konoha camp.

As soon as they started moving, the Ninja Aburame and Hyuga realized that, and they immediately informed Orochimaru and the others.

Ryo, and the others if the Kage level is well prepared, and the Kikyo Pass battle begins.

As planned, everyone finds their opponents, and Minato and Ryo call upon Gamabunta and Gamahiro to assist Konoha's forces.

Ryo's opponent is Onoki's son, Kitsuchi. Ryo's opponent didn't do much in Manga, but he left quite an impression.

(Translator's Note: "According to the fourth data book, she is from the Tsuchikage lineage. Although it is not explicitly mentioned, since Kurotsuchi is the granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage, it is most likely that Kitsuchi is his son." From Narutopedia.)

Unlike his father, Kitsuchi does not have Kekkei Genkai, much less the Dust Element. He had mainly relied on his outstanding Ground Element mastery.

Ryo already knew that this was not a great opponent to face. Ryo, as a type of speed, usually outperforms his opponents to get a chance at a kill shot. However, the Kitsuchi Land Element was too powerful, allowing him, paired with his formidable perception ability to attack his opponent while remaining invulnerable to their attacks.

As Ryo moved with the Ice Lightning Chakra Mode, Kitsuchi was unable to see him. However, he could feel his overall position. Every time Ryo got too close, the Mud Wall would stand between him and deal a fatal blow to his opponent.

For the first time, Lightning Ryo's Chakra Mode was resisted in this manner. He was surprised and somewhat excited.

Kitsuchi's defense opens Ryo up to a new style of fightback. This opponent did not have to overcome Ryo's speed. He just needed to figure out a way to make his attacks ineffective.

This is no small accomplishment. The only reason why Kitsuchi was able to do so was his incredible blend of exquisite perceptual skills and great mastery of the Earth Element. It is impossible for most ninjas to do this.

“Absolut” defense from Kitsuchi this makes Ryo give up on his usual style to win quickly. Since speed was not enough here, Ryo had to rely on strength to win.

Ryo condensed a large Ice Bow, much larger than usual, almost the same as the one he used to complete the 3rd Mizukage.

Looking at Ryo's bow, Kitsuchi did not react much, he was still very confident with his Ground Element. No matter what Jutsu Ryo would use, it would not break through its defenses.

Ryo used his Chakranya to make a bowstring, and then made the Natural Energy gather wildly on the small Ice Arrow.

The amount of Natural Energy accumulated in the bow grew exponentially higher. Although Kitsuchi could not sense the Natural Energy, he felt a real threat from this Ice Arrow.

He decided not to let Ryo gain the upper hand, throwing some big Earth Release attacks at Ryo. Helpless, the latter could only fire an unfinished Ice Arrow.

The Ice Arrow shot right through the attack, and in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of Kitsuchi. The latter quickly erected 3 mud Walls in a row, but they could not stop the arrows from landing.

The Ice Arrow was mainly formed from Natural Energy. It was almost unbreakable, and it easily pierced through the Mud Wall and hit Kitsuchi.

Ice arrows bloomed and eventually broke into Ice Dust under Ryo's control, and Kitsuchi's figure disappeared together.

Ryo was not confused by the sight before him. He easily noticed that Kitsuchi quickly formed a Mud Clone right before being hit, and blinked into a pile of rocks not too far away.

Kitsuchi looked at the ice crystals in the air. They only made contact with his right hand, which froze in the blink of an eye.