"What—!"
A Ueshi clan ninja froze, staring down at an Amamiya shinobi who had collapsed with a grimace. Frustration and rage bubbled in the Ueshi ranks. Their clan had once dominated the Amamiya, but now victories had flipped. Revenge had found them, and they attacked with merciless precision, cutting down Amamiya ninjas and civilians alike.
"I'll fight with you!" a lone Amamiya warrior shouted, lunging toward the nearest Ueshi ninja.
The enemy smirked, treating him like a rat in a trap. The Amamiya warrior barely reached them before a kick sent him flying, slamming into the ground.
"Better to die at my hands than live as worthless trash!" the Ueshi ninja sneered, raising his kunai for the finishing strike.
Then a cold, razor-sharp voice sliced through the air. "You're right. Better to be beheaded for rubbish like you."
The Ueshi ninja barely had time to turn before a whirlwind erupted around him. In the blink of an eye, his head separated cleanly from his body. His last thought—a flash of disbelief—was that he was dead.
Raizen kicked the corpse aside and strode into the heart of the Amamiya residence, his expression hard and unyielding.
"Are you… Raizen?" a young Amamiya shinobi in his twenties gasped, hope flickering in his eyes.
"That's right," Raizen replied, not wasting a second. "Now, you get out of here—head to the stone forest behind the family grounds. Leave the rest to me."
The young shinobi's eyes shone. Relief, excitement, and awe all mingled at seeing Raizen arrive in the nick of time. He understood—if Raizen could take the fight to the Ueshi, the family might actually survive this onslaught.
Raizen didn't wait for thanks. With lightning reflexes, he surged toward another Ueshi ninja, severing his head with brutal precision. The Amamiya ninja nearby froze in disbelief.
"Raizen!" they shouted.
"Finally," one muttered under his breath. It was Kuzer, the shinobi who had been coordinating missions at the mineral veins. Excitement flared in his eyes.
"Why are you back? Weren't you guarding the veins?" Kuzer asked.
Raizen's gaze was icy, yet urgent. "I got word about the patriarch's rescue. I feared the Ueshi might sneak attack the family residence. Kuze, pull back, organize the civilians, and get them to the stone forest. Leave this battlefield to me."
Kuzer hesitated a heartbeat, then nodded, quickly rallying the ordinary villagers to safety. Meanwhile, Raizen transformed into a whirlwind of destruction. Every Ueshi ninja who stepped into his path fell under his blade before they could launch a second attack.
Word spread like wildfire across the burning residence: Raizen had returned. Morale, which had been crumbling, surged. The Amamiya ninjas cheered, their fear replaced by renewed courage. Even the wounded sprang into action, organizing civilians to flee.
Within ten minutes, the non-combatants were evacuated under the watchful protection of the remaining Amamiya shinobi. What remained were only the clan's fighters—Amamiya ninjas versus Ueshi reinforcements.
The gap was glaring. Among the attackers were four Jōnin and more than twenty Chūnin, while the Amamiya had only two Jōnin left alongside a handful of less experienced Chūnin. Without Raizen, the clan would have been annihilated.
Now, with him on the battlefield, the tides might just turn.