Chapter 42: Hokage - My Underground War in the Hokage World
After the allied ninjas eliminated all the remaining Uzumaki clan members, they began to search the village thoroughly.
During their search, they encountered various traps.
Some ground surfaces were pits with sharp blades hidden beneath.
Others had special detonating tags planted beneath them, designed to explode upon being stepped on.
Sometimes, upon opening a door, a burning detonation tag would suddenly fall from above.
In some cases, after checking the area above the doorway for any issues and opening the door, the ground beneath them would suddenly explode.
Others tried to bypass the traps by scaling the walls, only to step onto a slippery liquid and fall into a pit filled with kunai.
Some were cautious about scaling the walls, avoiding any obvious traps.
However, their entry triggered a hidden seal beneath the ground, one that had sealed the airflow within the courtyard. This seal was quietly disrupted.
Then, countless kunai flew from all directions.
And if they hadn't encountered such a seal, couldn't they have researched it?
As a family specializing in sealing techniques, they could easily create such a simple seal.
After all, they could even seal away terrifying beings like tailed beasts, so these were just minor tasks.
Apart from the traps, numerous shadow clones and water clones lay in wait, hidden in various locations, ready to activate the traps.
Soon, after several casualties, they discovered an underground tunnel entrance that was 'not properly closed'!
Upon seeing the entrance, some bold, fearless ninjas yelled out:
“Chase them!”
They leaped into the tunnel entrance.
And then…
“AAAAAH!”
Distressing screams echoed from below.
After throwing down a light source, they saw a row of upward-pointing spikes protruding through the chests of the ninjas who had jumped down, right beneath the entrance.
Experienced ninjas noticed that the speed of the light source increased as it fell to a certain point.
This is why the ninjas who jumped down were caught off guard and fell into the spike trap.
Those who were prepared covered their hands and feet in chakra, scaling the walls slowly and cautiously down the tunnel.
As they neared the entrance below, they discovered a unique sealing technique.
This seal intensified gravity in the area.
Furthermore, there was a deactivated illusionary seal present!
It wasn't just one trap, but two!
At this moment, the ninjas who had come down felt a cold sweat breaking out.
In addition to the ninjas descending slowly, Earth Country's Earth Ninjas prepared to use Earth Release to infiltrate the ground itself.
After infiltrating, they did not find any anomalies.
However, based on their memories of the surface, they cautiously moved towards the tunnel location in their memory.
“Bad! There's a sealing technique!”
When the group reached the top of the tunnel and prepared to infiltrate, a sealing inscription materialized.
The surrounding earth was reinforced, and the Earth Release jutsu of the ninjas who had infiltrated the ground were severely restricted.
Instead of feeling like they were in water, it was now like they were in a murky, muddy pit.
In the end, only one of the five Earth Ninjas who had infiltrated the ground surfaced.
Witnessing this, the Earth Ninjas cursed in anger.
However, they still had this entrance.
“BOOM!”
A massive explosion erupted from within the tunnel, followed by a surge of force and flames shooting out of the entrance.
Finally, according to a Cloud Ninja who excelled in physical training and escaped from the tunnel, they had been exploring forward when sealing inscriptions suddenly appeared on the tunnel walls. Then, spatial sealing techniques emerged, countless detonation tags appeared, and the tunnel began to collapse.
All eyes turned towards the Earth Ninjas.
Then, under a barrage of ninjutsu, the sealing technique blocking the hidden tunnel entrance was shattered.
Looking at the numerous tunnels, practically one for every house, the combined ninja forces of the four countries and the infiltrating ANBU and Root ninjas fell silent.
“Chase them! We must completely annihilate the Uzumaki clan!”
“That’s right! Otherwise, all our ninjas will have died in vain!”
“Let's go!”
After the disastrous lesson at the previous tunnel entrance, they all became vigilant.
After cracking a few traps and sealing techniques, the ninjas entering the tunnel faced their first challenge.
Seeing a branching tunnel every few steps, with even forks leading up and down, the ninjas could only grit their teeth and begin mapping the tunnels.
They also discovered that if they used Earth Release jutsu here, the sealing techniques nearby would be activated, causing detonation tags to appear, followed by the tunnel collapsing.
Knowing about ninja beasts like dogs and insects that could detect scents, Huang Ke Yin's clone in the control center decided, based on the situation, whether or not to release the seal on numerous foul-smelling objects. Once released, these objects would emerge from the sealing techniques.
Furthermore, some ninjas left behind clones carrying bags of flour, or hiding in specific locations, burning damp wood, grass, and other materials to generate smoke within the tunnels.
While this obstructed their vision, smoke also flowed. Some ninjas followed the smoke, quickly finding the correct path.
However, some were genuine, while others were intentionally created, 'correct' paths!
As they chased, they discovered they had reached a dead end.
As the ninjas prepared to turn back, a sealing technique activated, releasing steel-encased black gunpowder from the sealing inscription above the tunnel.
“BOOM!”
Except for those who were skilled in defensive jutsu, the rest were either dead or injured.
After half a day of exploration by a large group, a safe tunnel appeared.
When someone followed and reached the end, ready to unleash their fury…
Seeing Uzumaki Village not far away, just a few hundred meters from their previous hiding spot, the ninjas fell silent.
As the ninjas were probing the tunnels, a vast amount of seawater suddenly surged into the tunnels.
Faced with the overwhelming seawater, the ninjas panicked.
Amidst the chaos, some unlucky souls fell prey to the traps and died.
Finally, the seawater stopped after filling two-thirds of the tunnel.
Within numerous specially dug small rooms, Huang Ke Yin's clones, using sensory ninjutsu to perceive the outside world, smiled and opened their eyes.
“Time to electrify them.”
“Lightning Release: Volt Current!”
Each clone formed hand seals, then inserted their hands into the seawater that was about to engulf the steps.
Soon, electricity surged throughout the seawater.