"Screech!"
Konoha's ninja hawk soared southward across the battlefield. As it reached Hyuga Soushu's command post, its shriek pierced through the already nervous ranks of the Kumo ninjas!
No qualified ninja, no matter how extreme, impetuous, or even headstrong their personality might appear, would ever truly lack the ability to think.
Thus, upon seeing that Konoha's hawk had arrived so calmly and effortlessly from the north, the Kumo Jonins—who had already begun feeling uneasy after losing communication with their Nearby Headquarters—became increasingly restless and unsettled.
The middle- and lower-ranked Chuunin and Genin erupted into waves of meaningless chatter. This time, the Kumo Jonins did not even have the heart to interfere; they simply watched in complicated silence as the hawk landed among the Konoha forces.
"Could it really be that the Nearby Headquarters has..."
The Kumo Jonins didn't even dare finish the thought.
As one group feels despair, another may rejoice. In stark contrast to the Kumo ninjas' sinking spirits, cheers from the Konoha side shook the heavens when the hawk landed precisely on Hyuga Soushu's outstretched arm.
And when Hyuga Soushu loudly proclaimed the victory from the Nearby Headquarters in the Land of Lightning, the Konoha ninja exploded with joy.
Meanwhile, the bitter truth amplified through the Sound-Amplifying Sealing Formula only deepened the gloom among the Kumo ranks.
Yet this time, even the veteran Jonins from Kumo had no time to verify the facts—their messenger ninja suddenly received a final report from the direction of the Nearby Headquarters. This message undeniably confirmed the grim reality: the base had been utterly destroyed.
At this moment, the Kumo Jonins felt as if they had plunged into icy water—a sensation described as "falling into an ice cellar" in Chinese idiom.
"Prepare the signal flares!"
At Hyuga Soushu's command, Uchiha Mahiru, perfectly attuned to his intent, immediately pulled out the red flare gun signaling a full-scale attack and pointed it toward the sky.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The joyous cheers of the Konoha ninja abruptly stopped. What followed was the cold, metallic sound of blades being drawn from their sheaths.
Hyuga Soushu stepped forward to the very front of his forces. Raising his left hand high, he fixed his gaze on the disarrayed Kumo lines.
"Two thousand versus four thousand... We hold the edge!"
With a decisive downward slash of his left hand, the red signal flare shot into the sky.
"Victory!"
Leading the charge himself, Hyuga Soushu body-flickered forward first. All the Konoha ninja roared together, following their commander into battle.
The momentum of two thousand ninja launching a full-frontal assault cannot be compared to that of a mere team of elite Jonin attackers. Worse still for the already shaken Kumo forces, every direction they looked revealed only deadly enemies charging with fierce killing intent—like the final straw that broke the camel's back, shattering the morale of the entire Kumo Ninja Force!
[Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!]
[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!]
Just as always, the Konoha forces initiated their standard combination Ninjutsu attacks. Gouts of massive flames surged forward, amplified and intensified by Wind Release techniques, roaring straight toward the Kumo positions.
The Kumo ninja, with broken morale, could barely organize any effective defense or counterattack. Some of them, completely terrified, chose to turn and flee, further shaking the resolve of their comrades. Others, resigned to their fate and unwilling to disgrace the Will of Lightning, decided to fight back desperately. However, their individual resistance stood no chance against Konoha's overwhelming offensive tide.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"
Accompanied by continuous explosions and wails from dying Kumo ninja, the Konoha shinobi met minimal effective resistance as they smoothly broke into Kumo's defensive line. Quickly splitting into small teams, they engaged in brutal close-range combat.
[Power Strike!]
Hyuga Soushu naturally targeted the most valuable enemy—the Kumo Jonin—especially since his strength could be fully unleashed in this chaotic melee.
This unfortunate Kumo Jonin, panicking and confused, couldn't even block a single heavy strike. Struck directly by Soushu's devastating blow, his arm shattered and he flew backward like a lifeless doll.
Ding!
A system message confirming the kill rang through Hyuga Soushu's mind. Without bothering to finish off the fallen opponent, he launched a simple wide sweeping strike, knocking aside nearby Kumo Genin and lower-ranked Jonin, then locked onto another Kumo Jonin and charged forward using an ability.
[Jumping Slash!]
"Pfth!"
Following the muffled sound of a Torch Pole crushing his skull, another Kumo Jonin fell beneath Soushu's attack. Before the body even hit the ground, Soushu had already selected a new target and flickered forward using Body Flicker.
Meanwhile, Mahiru Uchiha followed closely behind, equally unstoppable. Her wakizashi danced through the air without gaps, launching fierce attacks along Soushu's breakthrough path. Wherever she passed, severed limbs flew everywhere, accompanied by endless cries of pain and death.
Elite Jonin from the Uchiha and Hyuga clans followed the two leaders' advance, tearing through the panicked Kumo Ninja Force. Together, they carved a massive breach within Kumo's frontline.
Then came the surging Konoha Ninja Forces, pouring in like floodwaters. Facing a disoriented enemy with slain commanders and broken formations, despite being outnumbered, Konoha's strict discipline and efficient teamwork gave them a huge advantage. Especially when dealing with isolated Kumo ninja, Konoha squads leveraged local superiority—overwhelming one foe after another before cutting them down without mercy.
Although a message from Hatake Sakumo via ninja hawk had suggested capturing surviving Kumo ninja as bargaining chips for future negotiations with the Third Raikage, but it was only a suggestion anyway. Soushu's choice remained clear: slaughter first and thoroughly crush Kumo's will to resist!
More importantly, for Soushu, each enemy eliminated wasn't just battlefield honor—it directly translated into experience points and Coins for equipment upgrades, fueling his own growth. Of course, he wouldn't stop so easily.
Kumo was now experiencing what "a crumbling army" truly meant—no way to stop the avalanche once it began.
Breaking through the cloud-hidden frontline torn apart by Soushu, two thousand Konoha ninja surged forward and utterly shattered Kumo's defensive formation, pushing deeper into enemy territory.
The most devastating defeat in Kumo's history had begun!
Although many surviving Kumo ninja resisted with the resolve to take as many enemies down with them as possible, their individual efforts proved powerless against the overwhelming tide of fate. Especially since the Konoha forces were far more organized compared to Kumo's scattered, undisciplined warriors, those brave souls who chose resistance failed to ignite any effective counterattack. Instead, one after another, they fell victim to relentless barrages of ninjutsu and thrown ninja tools from all directions.
Their comrades' tragic deaths fueled further fear among the surviving Kumo ninja.
Think about it—these very warriors who now fought so desperately had once been considered elite members of the Kumo Ninja Force, hailed regularly as paragons of valor and martial prowess. They often boasted about invading the Land of Fire and flattening Konoha Village. Yet right before their eyes, those same mighty heroes could do nothing but cry out in despair like helpless chicks cornered by weasels, collapsing one by one beneath the endless waves of attacks raining upon them. How else could such a sight fail to instill dread?
Even the few level-headed Kumo ninja who realized that the enemy numbers weren't the originally assumed four thousand found themselves unable to change anything.
Even if they shouted until hoarse trying to reveal the truth, neither those seeking death nor the cowards fleeing like vermin from Kumo gave them any heed.
After all, when people hear "wolf!" too many times without seeing one, they naturally become immune to such alarmist claims.
Just like no snowflake claims responsibility in an avalanche, Kumo's defeat was now inevitable unless the Third Raikage himself descended from the heavens to turn the tide.
Soushu cut his way through the chaos of battle, though he himself couldn't remember how many he'd killed anymore.
The constant chime of system alerts inside his mind wouldn't stop, so he simply filtered them out entirely.
After casually killing a Kumo chunin and body-flickering away from the crowd, Soushu suddenly found himself in wide open space.
Before him now stood no enemy facing his direction.
As far as his eyes could see, only backs turned in panicked retreat—Kumo soldiers in full rout.
"Haaah..."
Hyuga Soushu exhaled deeply, wiping blood-streaked face to clear his head slightly from the slaughter-induced frenzy.
Moments later, Mahiru Uchiha arrived beside him, having just dispersed a small group of pursuing Kumo ninja with her unit before performing a Body Flicker to reappear next to him.
"Here, take some."
Without a word, Soushu handed Mahiru-chan a bottle of Military Rations Pill from his ninja tool pouch.
"Okay!"
Though somewhat pale from chakra exhaustion, Mahiru still managed a sweet smile as she gratefully accepted the pill bottle, popped off the lid effortlessly, and poured its contents directly into her mouth.
"Lord Soushu!"
Takahiro Uchiha, known for his blunt manner, swiftly Body Flickered behind Hyuga Soushu and knelt on one knee with his head lowered. "Kumo has been completely defeated across the front lines. Please issue your orders!"
"Since that's the case..."
Hyuga Soushu hesitated for a moment and did not rush to make a decision.
The implication of Takahiro Uchiha's words was clear — it was time to start thinking about calling for surrender.
After all, ninja are treasures in their own right; even prisoners held captive were worth far more than corpses fit only for dissection.
"Those who cease resistance and surrender within five minutes will be spared death."
Hyuga Soushu said slowly.
Takahiro Uchiha did not hastily acknowledge but continued kneeling with his head bowed, listening intently to his commander's instructions.
"Those captured after fleeing will be subject to decimation!"
"One out of every fifty captives among the defeated will be executed!"
"All prisoners who sustained battle wounds shall be executed without exception!"
Hyuga Soushu calmly listed the conditions for surrender: "That's all. Go forth and deliver this message to them."
"Yes, sir!"
Takahiro Uchiha immediately accepted the command and departed.
Soon, calls urging surrender echoed across the battlefield as the sounds of clashing steel and dying screams gradually quieted down.
Although not every Kumo ninja would immediately defect at a single shout, the resistance had weakened significantly.
The Konoha ninja leading the calls to surrender also eased their attacks, reassigning some to handle the few Kumo ninja who had already begun to surrender.
As time passed, by the fourth minute since the surrender ultimatum had been issued, the remaining Kumo ninjas previously grouped tightly back-to-back started surrendering in organized groups, discarding their ninja tools before approaching the Konoha forces.
"Five minutes have passed."
Meanwhile, Hyuga Soushu wiped the blood from his face and neck — right at the deadline for surrender negotiations.
Takahiro Uchiha, temporarily serving as messenger, immediately gave the order. The Konoha ninja previously engaged in surrounding and capturing opponents instantly changed expressions, launching final fatal attacks against the last stubbornly resisting Kumo forces, shattering the last remnants of spirit within the four thousand strong detachment!
At this point, Kumo had no chance of turning the tide.
"Hokage-sama! A victory report from the front lines!"
At the very moment Hyuga Soushu ordered a full-scale assault, Hiruzen Sarutobi — the Third Hokage stationed in Konoha — received an urgent success bulletin personally authored by Sakumo Hatake regarding developments in the Land of Lightning.
This report left the Third Hokage stunned.
"Has this intelligence been verified?"
Even after flipping through and re-reading it three or four times, Hiruzen Sarutobi remained incredulous. He even questioned the Anbu messenger: "Didn't we know Kumo deployed six thousand ninja southward? How did they suddenly lose their entire rear base camp?"
"Also! Who gave Sakumo the audacity to conduct military operations near the Lightning Daimyo's residence, even daring to surround the Daimyo's court itself?!"
The Third Hokage's sudden anger seemed somewhat inexplicable, yet only he himself truly understood the anxiety building inside.
"The Intelligence Division has contacted Jōnin Orochimaru for confirmation."
The messenger Anbu replied meekly.
As for the matter of provoking the Daimyo's residence, he chose to remain silent on the issue.
"So it is."
Although the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, briefly lost his composure, he quickly regained his calm—he was, after all, a legendary ninja who once ruled the battlefield. He took the victory report in his hands again, scanning it carefully.
"This truly is an extraordinary achievement! Even battles personally led by the Second Hokage never achieved such a glorious victory!"
Yet behind this seemingly admiring remark lingered an indescribable emotion.
"What about the other four thousand Kumo ninjas stationed in the central Land of Lightning?"
The Third immediately zeroed in on the blind spot.
"Not yet known," the Messenger Anbu dared do no more than whisper.
"Do Root Division agents know anything?"
Hiruzen pressed relentlessly.
The Messenger Anbu dared do no more than shake his head.
"What an airtight fortress Hyuga Soushu has built! He really has some talent!"
From his subordinate's expression, Sarutobi instantly grasped where the problem lay.
If Soushu had merely held back the four thousand Kumo ninjas, that would have been manageable. But if he seized the opportunity while Kumo's forces were still reeling from the disaster at Nearby Headquarters and launched an offensive to secure a decisive victory, the consequences could become far more complicated.
One might even say that although the Third could tolerate the growing influence of Hatake Sakumo, he absolutely could not allow Hyuga Soushu—who came from such a prestigious ninja clan—to rise unchecked!
Even if Sakumo emphasized reform repeatedly, everything he advocated remained within the framework of the Will of Fire; but when powerful clans like the Hyuga led the charge for change, they aimed to dig up Konoha's roots and replace its soul!
"Immediately send orders to any Anbu or Root Division agents at the frontlines—move toward Hyuga Soushu's position at once and secure reliable intelligence within the hour!"
The Messenger Anbu stamped his foot respectfully, then vanished with a Body Flicker technique.
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