While Orochimaru was busy mobilizing the troops, Ryo recalled what information he had about the Village Hidden in the Rock.
The Earth Countryâs land was simple, mostly formed of desolate Rocks. The village was built within a barrier made of those natural rock walls.
Therefore, the village was surrounded by natural hazards and known for its solide defence.
Different from other countries, the relationship between the Earth Country and the Village Hidden in Rocks was very harmonious. The DaimyÅs and Tsuchikages respected each other and had great cooperation. That made their losses in the 3rd World War minimal in the original timeline.
Their battle style was mainly revolving around initiating with the Explosion Squad, and then followed by the rest of the Ninjas using Earth Release to create favorable conditions for the following Taijutsu based fighting.
Konohaâs Ninjas had no edge over the Rock Ninjas. Their defences were strong, and most of their Ninjas were proficient with Earth Release. On the other hand, the Nature Release that Konoha Ninjas were most proficient with was Fire Release, and that wasnât particularly efficient against their defences.
If the only problem was this, that wouldnât make Konoha get in such a disadvantage on its own. The hardest thing for Konohaâs Ninjaâs to face was the Explosion Squadâs initiation.
As expected from Orochimaru, his pre-battle mobilization speech wasnât that impassioned. Still, it had the power to reach Konohaâs Ninjas hearts.
Looking at the over 5000 Konoha Ninjasâ reaction, a fanatical expression rose on Ryoâs face, and he saw a glimpse of the charming effect of Orochimaruâs words.
After the speech, Konohaâs Ninjas set off, and the Rock Ninjaâs also noticed their movement. The 3rd Tsuchikage led his own army to resist Konohaâs attack.
The two sides met upon a hill, with Konoha occupying the higher terrain. Ryo used his perceptive abilities to locate the explosion squad.
âOrochimaru, you dare to come?! Arenât you afraid that we would kill more of your men?â
Facing Onokiâs provocation, Orochimaru licked his lips in his signature way, and the revealed his wicked smile.
âDisgusting! [Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu]!â
â[Summoning: Triple Rashomon]â Faced with his enemyâs attack, Orochimaru didnât wasnât flustered and went straight for defense.
The power of Onokiâs attack was so devastating that it took out two of the Rashomons.
The Rock Ninjaâs saw that their Kage went straight into action, and they went in to engage the enemy as well. The 1st to appear was the Explosion squad, the one that caused Konoha many losses in lives.
âWell? Arenât you going to rescue your men?â During their 1st few battles, Orochimaru definitely protected his men. This time however, he showed no signs of being willing to move in.
This was abnormal, making Onoki feel puzzled and worried.
On the other side, Ryo was long awaiting for the Explosion Squadâs attack. Most of them mainly relied on their long-Range attacks to place Explosive Clay at a distance.
Ryo 1st started by sending out his Lightning Hound to destroy the clay explosives. Then, because Konohaâs men were up hill, Ryo used his geographical advantage, and made a large waterfall the increase the scope of his Lightning Release attack, causing the 1st wave of Explosive Clay to misfire.
âCaptain, there seems to be something wrong their on Konohaâs side!â Said a member of the Explosion Squad.
âThey are on high ground, itâs normal for the 1st wave to misfire, carry on!â
The members of the Explosion Squad trusted their captain and were convinced by his words. They proceeded immediately for the second round of explosions.
While they were onto that, Ryo was preparing his own Jutsu, the Rasengan with the Lightning Nature Transformation added to it.
As he demonstrated in Orochimaruâs tent, by injecting Lightning Chakra, the Rasengn gradually turned into a Lightning Sphere, which had a sparkling electric sparks.
Ryo then entered Sage Mode, injecting the Lightning Sphere with Senjutsu Chakra, while continuing to alter its structure.
Ryo continued injecting it with Lighting Sphere, and finally, the amount of that Chakra injected altered the Rasenganâs quality completely. The electric sparks of the Lightning sphere started to converge slowly.
Patches of black started appearing on the Rasengan, and it started emitting a strange attractive force.
âEveryone steps back!â As he completed his Justu, Ryo told all of Konohaâs men to Retreat.
All of Konohaâs Ninjas stepped behind, as the 2nd wave of explosive clay came.
Ryo through his new âRasenganâ directly towards the Explosion squad, and the new attack exploded in the middle.
Rasenshurikenâs explosion formed a myriad of wind blades, but this attackâs explosion created a massive Lightning Bolt out of the blue, and the huge thundering sound it made got the whole battlefield quiet.
The captain of the team agreed after giving his team memberâs words some thought. However, he was somewhat reluctant to retreat. He decided to advance and explore the source of the Jutsu on Konohaâs side. Squad all lost their function.
âWhat is this technique? Who in to world has such strong Lightning Release?â asked the captain of the Explosion Squad.
His team shook their heads in ignorance. Since the last battle, the only reinforcement to Konohaâs camp that was detected was a group of medical Ninjas. They had no clue where such a strong attack came from.
âCaptain, 1st letâs retreat and let the rest of our other Ninjas face them for now. As long as this technique is still there, it will be difficult for us to explode any one.â
The captain of the team agreed after giving his team-memberâs words some thought. However, he was somewhat reluctant to retreat. He decided to advance and explore the source of the Jutsu on Konohaâs side.
âCaptain, you should be careful. Let us go 1st!â
On the other side, Onoki also heard the massive thundering sound of the technique. He did not expect Konohaâs Ninjas to have such a strong Lightning user on the battlefield.
âOrochimaru, is this your trump card? Who is this Ninja?â
âA friend of mine.â Orochimaru didnât ignore Onoki this time, and slowly answered him.
At 1st sight of Ryo, Orochimaru felt that only this kid could understand him. The moment he met him, he found out that Ryo became closer to him rather quickly.
Ryoâs attitude towards him made him feel that they could be friends.
Orochimaru was similar in nature to a snake. A snake is a cold-blooded animal, that is not emotional by nature. Same went for Orochimaru.
Before, his only ties to Konoha were 3rd and to the rest of the Sannin. This time around however, thereâs also Ryo Yamanaka, and perhaps, his lovely disciple Anko.
âOrochimaru, you have friend? Who is he?â
This time around, Orochimaru ignored Onokiâs question. Any answer would be leaking information to the enemy, even though the Rock Ninjas are to find out Ryoâs identity sooner or later anyway.
On the other side, after Ryo stopped the Explosion Squad, the two armies rushed in from both sides, and they collided into a massive Melee battle.
Ryo wasnât about to participate in this battle, the Jutsu he just used cost him a lot of Chakra. There was no Quasi-Kages on the battlefield for him to be concerned. He had no interest in attacking, and simply chatted with Uchiha Maan.
âRyo, whatâs the name of that Jutsu you just used?â Maan asked.
âThat Justu, it is called⦠it is called [Raiton: Denjiki Rasengan]!â
âOy oy, donât tell me you just finished this technique! You havenât even named it yet?â
âHaha! Yeah!â Said Ryo with a smile.
Just as the two of them were chatting, the captain of the Explosion Squad had already reached Konohaâs backline.
(Translator Note: Denjiki é»ç£æ° is the Japanese translation of the Authorâs naming of the technique, çµç£ -Dià ncÃ-. The name Denjiki Rasengan means âElectromagnetic Rasenganâ.)