Kitsuchi had meticulously designed this tactic.
The Iwagakure ninja chosen for the flanking maneuver weren't rookies—they were veterans, men who had survived battlefields where few returned, hardened by the Great Ninja Wars themselves.
In theory, there should have been no mishaps. No gaps. No mistakes.
And yet—silence.
Not a single signal. Not even the faintest vibration of chakra returning through the ground.
Nothing.
Kitsuchi's thick brows drew together, unease tightening his gut. His massive hands clenched and unclenched.
From the start of this battle until now, he hadn't even seen the enemy's faces. Yet hundreds were dead already, slain by invisible fire from beyond the horizon. How? How could Konoha achieve this kind of devastation without seals, without chakra signatures?
His mind whirled in confusion.
"Kitsuchi!"
Raikage Ai's gravelly voice thundered through the din, rough and impatient. "Didn't you send out a flanking team? Why haven't they started moving?!"
Kitsuchi turned toward the Raikage. Lightning crackled across Ai's broad frame like living armor; his glare could have shattered boulders.
"I saw them leave with my own eyes!" Ai barked. "It's been long enough to circle halfway around the valley. What are they doing—taking a stroll?!"
"I…" Kitsuchi's voice caught, thick with frustration. "I don't know."
For an Iwa commander to say such words on a battlefield was almost blasphemous. His jaw locked in humiliation. He wasn't even sure how to explain it.
If he didn't trust the loyalty of those chosen men implicitly, he would have suspected they'd deserted the field altogether. But they weren't cowards. They were Iwagakure's best.
Which left only one explanation—one too grim to say aloud.
They'd been wiped out.
Completely.
Silently.
The realization made his spine go cold.
No screams. No flares. No warning.
An entire squad erased from existence.
He looked toward the ridge in the distance—the source of those strange blue flashes. His teeth ground together. 'Just what kind of monsters are you hiding in that village, Konoha…?'
Raikage Ai was not the patient type. His muscles twitched with fury. "Enough standing around!" he snarled, veins bulging at his temple. "If we keep letting them pick us off, I'll die of boredom before their weapons run dry!"
He lifted a hand wreathed in roaring lightning and shouted, "Kumogakure ninja—charge with me!"
The roar of his voice was the cue.
Lightning exploded from his body as his chakra surged to its peak. The Raikage shot forward like a blue meteor, crashing straight through the stone rampart ahead.
Boom!!!
Rubble and gravel exploded in all directions, dust engulfing the field.
Kitsuchi's face turned red with rage. "You brute! That was our cover!"
His boulder-sized fists trembled as he glared at Ai's retreating back. The Earth Flow Rampart that had been their only defense was now a ruin, blasted open by the Raikage's reckless charge.
With the wall gone, the Iwagakure forces were completely exposed to Konoha's long-range firepower.
"Damn it! We should never have allied with these brainless muscleheads!" Kitsuchi cursed, pounding the ground once. But the moment of anger passed quickly—there was no time for grudges now.
Taking a deep breath, he bellowed, "Iwagakure troops! Charge!"
His voice boomed like thunder over the screams and explosions.
Thousands of Iwagakure ninja surged forward, their chakra flaring as they formed hand seals mid-sprint.
"Earth Style ∙ Rock Fist Technique!"
"Earth Style ∙ Rock Armor!"
One after another, their skin hardened, turning to stone.
The rumbling chorus of techniques shook the air. Rock spread across flesh, encasing arms, torsos, even faces, until the charging Iwa soldiers resembled a moving fortress of stone giants.
Normally, the Rock Fist Technique only enveloped the hands.
But those adept in chakra control could extend the flow through their entire upper body, gaining the durability of a mountain itself—though at the cost of speed.
Heavy. Slow. Unyielding.
But it was defense.
And on this battlefield, that meant life.
Kitsuchi's fists, wrapped in jagged stone, gleamed faintly in the cold light of chakra. He exhaled through his nose, calming himself. With this protection, they might finally survive the barrage long enough to close the distance.
He turned his eyes toward the Kumo troops beside them and couldn't help grimacing.
Compared to Iwa's cautious formations, Kumogakure's response was… primal.
Brute force.
No armor, no defense—only bodies wrapped in lightning.
Thousands of Kumo ninja rushed through the storm of bullets, their muscles hard as tempered steel, their roars shaking the battlefield.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Blue bullets struck them, sparking against the Lightning Style Armor. A few fell, screaming, but most pressed on, bloodied yet grinning, like beasts scenting prey.
Kitsuchi couldn't help but respect their madness.
For all his hatred of Kumogakure, he had to admit—they were fearless.
Even Iwagakure, with its discipline and endurance, couldn't match the raw ferocity of Cloud's charge.
Then—something changed.
A new sound rolled across the high ground.
Boom… boom… boom!
A deep, rising rhythm—like the earth itself roaring.
Kitsuchi turned sharply. From the crest of the hill opposite the Hyuga line, shadows were moving—descending fast. His eyes widened as the light caught crimson gleams—eyes burning like coals.
And then he saw them.
Ranks upon ranks of Uchiha, their Sharingan spinning in perfect synchrony, their black armor flashing under the lightning sky. At their head, a banner of Konoha rippled violently in the wind.
Each held a gleaming blade—sleek, dark metal edged in faint blue light.
"Kill!" the front ranks shouted, their voices merging into a single roar that shook the valley.
"For the peace of the ninja world!"
The Uchiha descended like a tidal wave, clashing head-on with the charging Kumo forces.
Clang!Boom!Splat!
The collision sounded like thunder.
Steel tore through flesh. Sparks flew where chakra-infused blades met lightning-charged weapons. Blood sprayed in long arcs across the muddy ground.
"In taijutsu, Kumogakure are invincible!" a Kumo ninja yelled, face contorted into a grin as lightning danced along his sword. He lunged, swinging in a wide, brutal arc.
But his grin froze halfway.
Because the Uchiha before him—calm, eyes glowing scarlet—raised his blade, which also burst into crackling lightning.
Even stronger lightning.
"What—?!"
Before he could react, the Uchiha vanished in a blur of speed. The next instant, the Kumo ninja's vision spun; he saw his own headless body still standing before collapsing into the mud.
Everywhere across the field, similar cries rang out.
"What is this?! They're using our technique!"
"No—no, even stronger!"
The Kumo soldiers recoiled.
The Uchiha had mastered the Nin-Taijutsu—and improved upon it. Their chakra flowed with a frightening precision, blending lightning and heat into devastating bursts.
Some wielded blades that shimmered faintly, vibrating at frequencies too high for the naked eye.
When those blades met metal, they sliced through effortlessly, like knives through water.
Kumo swords shattered on contact, sparks bursting into blue mist. Uchiha blades flashed, severing through steel, armor, flesh, and bone alike.
"Kill! Kill them all!"
"Slaughter every enemy ninja!"
The cries rose to the heavens. Blood drenched the soil. The clash of steel became a storm without end.
Within minutes, entire squads of Kumogakure were annihilated, their bodies strewn across the battlefield. The survivors stumbled backward, faces pale, unable to comprehend what they were fighting.
"They're… monsters," one whispered, trembling. "Every single one of them can use it…"
Even Kitsuchi felt his throat dry. His Iwa troops had barely reformed their lines, and already the front was collapsing under the weight of that crimson storm.
Ai's roar tore through the chaos. "They're just a bunch of Uchiha! Are you so weak you'll lose your nerve before my eyes?!"
His entire body flared with blinding light.
"Lightning Style ∙ Heavy Bomb Stream!"
He lunged, faster than sight, striking downward with his elbow, lightning bursting outward.
Boom!!!
The shockwave split the earth.
But his arm didn't land on flesh—it struck bone.
A black, monstrous skeleton had formed between him and his target, massive ribs encasing a human figure within.
Uchiha Fugaku stood unmoved behind the translucent ribcage of Susanoo, its eerie glow pulsing through the dust. His Sharingan burned, each pupil a dark shuriken swirling with malevolent calm.
"Raikage…" his voice was low, almost disappointed. "Let's see how long your lightning can stand against my eyes."
…
Above them, Mirai and Orochimaru stood on the ridge, overlooking the chaos—the Hyuga still firing from the distance, the Uchiha carving through the field, the Raikage's lightning tearing at Fugaku's Susanoo.
"Mirai-kun," Orochimaru said, the wind rustling his cloak, "it's just as you predicted. The Uchiha's combat potential has multiple times after being equipped with these new tools."
*****
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✓ Killed For 100 Years in Hueco Mundo, Aizen Invited Me To Soul Society!
✓ Naruto: Senmei Asahi
✓ Naruto: Uchiha's Intelligence Dealer
✓ Naruto: The Fifth Hokage Is Naruto's Uncle
✓ Naruto: Who Made Him a Ninja?
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✓ To Love-Ru: Spoiler Route [R-18]
✓ Naruto: The Accidental Incubus [R-18]