Along the coastal border of the Land of Fire...
Countless massive transport ships lined the shore as ranks of Mist ninja filed aboard, eager to withdraw from the territory of the Land of Fire. Once they put sufficient distance between themselves and the coast, Konoha's forces would no longer be able to touch them.
"Lord Mizukage, the main force has fully assembled aboard the vessels. Shall we set sail?" a Mist shinobi asked, stepping up before Mizukage Yagura.
"Yes. Let us depart," Yagura replied placidly.
"Lord Mizukage, what about the rest of our forces left behind?" another Mist ninja asked hesitantly.
"The remaining ninja..." Yagura murmured in a calm tone. "That matter will be settled once we negotiate reparations with Konoha. That outcome is inevitable. Our priority now is to return to Kirigakure first and open communications from there."
"Understood, Lord Mizukage," the shinobi acknowledged.
With that, the vessels slowly pulled away from the docks, charting a course toward their homeland across the sea, the Land of Water. In their grand strategic campaign against Konoha, Kirigakure had suffered an utter and complete defeat.
Not long after the Mist fleet departed, a multitude of Konoha shinobi arrived at the shoreline, watching the ships recede into the distance.
"They really ran away," Tianyuan remarked, tracking the ships until they dwindled into distant black specks on the horizon.
"Still, Tianyuan, we won a resounding victory," Minato Namikaze chuckled beside him. "And we took so many Mist captives. I doubt Kirigakure can bear to simply abandon them."
Over the course of this defensive campaign, Konoha had captured several hundred living Mist shinobia devastating loss for any hidden village. What was more, that number even included several Jonin.
"I'm sure it won't be long before Mizukage Yagura and his council send emissaries to sue for peace," Tianyuan said with a faint smile.
"I believe so too," Minato agreed with a nod.
Once the Mizukage and the retreating ninja witnessed the horrifying devastation Tianyuan had left behind in Kirigakure, they would likely be desperate to negotiate immediately. After all, the last thing they wanted was for Tianyuan to pay them another visit.
"Let's tidy up the battlefield, then send word of our victory to Lord Hokage," Minato suggested.
"Sounds good, Minato. I'll leave all of that to you," Tianyuan replied easily.
"Haha, why do you always push every chore onto me?" Minato laughed.
"Come on, Minato, you have to remember that I'm still just a kid," Tianyuan said nonchalantly.
"Oh, now you remember you're a child? You certainly never act like one normally," Minato teased with a grin.
"Kushina, let's go finish clearing the field." Stretching his arms, Tianyuan turned and sauntered off.
"That kid..." Minato gave a wry shake of his head, resigning himself to the tedious paperwork. Still, going strictly by chronological age, Tianyuan really was just a child.
Several hours later.
The main sweep of the battlefield was largely complete, and any Mist ninja who had gone into hiding had been rooted out and detained by Konoha's forces. Naturally, Konoha would conduct further searches, but the battle had officially drawn to a close.
From the interrogated Mist Jonin, Konoha learned the true reason behind the sudden retreat: Kirigakure had withdrawn precisely because of what Tianyuan had done.
Tianyuan had singlehandedly brought Kirigakure to ruin.
Yet the more Konoha's Jonin listened to the details, the more astonished they became.
Tianyuan had never spoken of how he dismantled Kirigakure, so this was the first time any of them were hearing the full account.
What truly shocked them was that Tianyuan hadn't relied on the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan, nor had he used Wood Release. Instead, he had unleashed some terrifying form of Fire Release alongside supreme swordsmanship.
Using the power of Fire Release alone, he had summoned dozens of towering pillars of flame that pierced the heavens. When those fire pillars erupted, they had instantly reduced Kirigakure to ash and rubble.
What kind of Fire Release ninjutsu was capable of such catastrophic ruin? It almost seemed to surpass the might of Wood Release itself!
Could this flame power be a new Kekkei Genkai awakened by Tianyuan? At this point, none of Konoha's shinobi would be surprised. After all, Tianyuan already possessed two legendary bloodline limits: the First Hokage's Wood Release and the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo Sharingan. Adding another hardly seemed out of the question.
Still, as they searched their memories, none of them had ever heard of a Fire Release technique with such staggering destructive capacity. Even if it wasn't a Kekkei Genkai, it was an unfathomably monstrous jutsu...
And then came the revelation that he had cleaved the fully manifested Six-Tails in twain with a single sword strike, which left them utterly dumbfounded. If that was true, the raw force of Tianyuan's swordsmanship rivaled the full power of his Susanoo; otherwise, blasting apart a Tailed Beast in a single blow would have been impossible.
The news of him slaying a member of the Hozuki Clan caused less of a stir by comparison, since it was merely the death of a single shinobi.
Even so, to veteran Jonin, it was still deeply unsettling. The Hozuki Clan possessed the marvelous Hydrification Technique, making them notoriously difficult to kill. Yet with a single casual thrust from Tianyuan, not a single bone remained of the Hozuki warrior, and whatever water he had dissolved into had evaporated into thin air.
And the final account was perhaps the most chilling of all: resurrecting the dead, summoning legions of charred fiends as though straight from the depths of hell to slaughter the Mist shinobi.
Every single tale only added another layer of awe to Tianyuan's growing legend.
Before long, word of how Tianyuan had brought Kirigakure to its knees began spreading among the ranks. The gaze of Konoha's shinobi toward him grew ever more reverent and worshipful.
As Tianyuan strolled across the ruined grounds, every ninja clearing debris bowed and greeted him with the utmost respect: "Lord Tianyuan!"
Many began referring to him as the "Black Emperor of Konoha," an epithet that soon evolved into "Black Emperor Tianyuan"an emperor belonging to Konoha alone. For now, it was a title that circulated primarily across this battlefield.
"Lord Tianyuan... the rumors say he wiped Kirigakure off the map with a single technique!"
"That's nothing! Lord Tianyuan cleaved the Six-Tails apart with one strikethat's the real marvel!"
"You think that's impressive? Have you heard of the Hozuki Clan? They're practically immortal, yet Lord Tianyuan skewered one and obliterated him on the spot!"
"None of that is his greatest feat! Lord Tianyuan can raise the dead to fight for him!"
Across the scorched expanse of the battlefield, Konoha's ninja buzzed with fervent discussion.
Tianyuan was not merely the pride of Konoha; he was their pride.
Meanwhile, an urgent dispatch arrived back in Konoha, landing straight upon the desk in the Hokage's Office.
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