Chapter 53: Selection (Part 1)
The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's speech lasted for more than half an hour. He was indeed an excellent politician. His speech downplayed his own decision-making problems while simultaneously arousing everyone's spirit of shared hatred against the enemy, stirring up the hatred and anger in everyone's hearts, and mobilizing everyone's fighting passion.
"Now, in the name of the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, I hereby declare that the Hidden Leaf has entered a state of total war effective immediately. Every resident of the Hidden Leaf, for yourselves, for your loved ones, for your homeland, from this moment on, contribute every ounce of your strength to the village, contribute to this war provoked by the enemy, contribute to our final victory! The bugle call to battle has been sounded, beat our war drums, put on our armor, take up our ninja swords, we will fight the enemy to the end, never surrender! Where the leaves of the Hidden Leaf dance, the fire shall also burn. The firelight will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout!" Sarutobi Hiruzen ended with this widely circulated phrase of the Will of Fire, once again arousing a wave of cheers.
Everyone listening to the speech became excited. Even some older ninjas recalled the passionate years of the last Great Ninja War.
Although Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was not particularly powerful, his firm and impassioned voice told every Hidden Leaf resident that at this critical moment of life and death, the Hidden Leaf would use all its strength to carry this war through to the end, defeat every enemy, until final victory was achieved.
-----------------
Time quickly came to the end of the year. Between the Hidden Sand and Hidden Rain, and between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Rain, several battles involving thousands of ninjas had broken out successively within nearly three months. The battle lines had gradually been pushed back from their respective territories into the Land of Rain.
Once the Hidden Sand and Hidden Leaf, these two massive war machines, started operating, although the Hidden Rain Village still held an advantage in the number of ninjas, the disadvantages of a small country and a small village gradually began to be exposed.
The Hidden Sand and Hidden Leaf had only dispatched a portion of their ninjas, with ample subsequent war potential, while the Hidden Rain had already exhausted all its resources in the face of these two behemoths. Hanzo, who was simultaneously attacking two major ninja villages, was now in a bit of a dilemma.
If it weren't for the lack of unity and mutual suspicion between the Hidden Sand and Hidden Leaf, and even occasional small frictions, the Hidden Rain Village, with its strength as a small ninja village, might have already been attacked by the Hidden Sand and Hidden Leaf into the heart of the Land of Rain, and wouldn't still be in a stalemate near the border of the Land of Rain.
Salamander Hanzo, who originally had grand ambitions to lead the Hidden Rain Village and the Land of Rain to become the sixth great ninja village and the sixth great power, had also been shuttling back and forth between the two battlefields recently, exhausted and overwhelmed.
However, from another perspective, Hanzo did indeed stall the advance of the two major ninja villages and could be considered to have achieved part of his original strategic goals as stated by the Third Mizukage Ice.
Moreover, the new year was almost upon them, and the intensity of the war had recently slowed down slightly. Although small-scale confrontations continued, large-scale battles between the two villages had not broken out for some time.
At the same time, the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Cloud Village, which had not yet entered the war, were also ready for war, sharpening their blades, and could join this chaotic battle at any time.
Hidden Mist Year 34, December 31st, on the last day of the year, the Hidden Mist Village, far overseas, completely ignored the clamor of the ninja world and held the selection for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen at Training Ground 15 in the northern part of the village.
Training Ground 15 was built on a huge artificial lake created by the First Mizukage Byakuren using Water Release. It was one of the most common training grounds for the Jōnin of the Hidden Mist Village.
A considerable number of ninjas had already gathered near the training ground, some to participate in the selection and others to join in the fun and watch the battle.
Kiyoshi had also arrived with his subordinates. Besides Kiyoshi, four members of the First Division participated in this selection: Kisame Hoshigaki, the squad leader of the First Squad, Jūzō Biwa, a member of the First Squad, and Kushimaru Kuriarare and Jinpachi Munashi, members of the Sixth Squad.
The others had only come to watch, as Kiyoshi put it, to broaden their horizons.
Among Kiyoshi's friends and subordinates, Yagura had a family heirloom Coral Staff and didn't need a ninja sword. Although Senno's combat ability was not weak, he mainly served as a medical ninja. Murasaki specialized in Ice Release, and Ao mostly served as a sensing ninja, so none of them chose to participate.
Although it was a tradition in the Hidden Mist Village for the Mizukage to come from the previous Kage's Shadow Guards, everyone in the First Division, knowing the huge gap in strength between themselves and Kiyoshi, had no intention of competing with their superior.
After becoming a squad leader, Kiyoshi often exchanged ninjutsu with his subordinates, teaching them various ninjutsu that he had improved and a large amount of ninjutsu knowledge. The strength of the entire First Division members had improved by leaps and bounds in the past year or so.
Kisame Hoshigaki, Jūzō Biwa, Kushimaru Kuriarare, and Jinpachi Munashi had been deeply impressed by Kiyoshi's strength and his wise leadership, which had never made any mistakes and clearly distinguished between rewards and punishments. They hadn't originally planned to compete with Kiyoshi but were participating because Kiyoshi felt they might be more compatible with four of the seven ninja swords.
●●●
● 24 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
● https://www.patreon.com/c/Devmaya
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)