With Lambda's roar echoing through the base, all Team Rocket personnel began scrambling to evacuate. However, with Ash's shadow clone blocking the exits, their escape was already doomed. No one would be leaving this mountain.
Outside the temporary base gate, Shiro Draconis paused, hearing the sudden commotion भीतर. His expression sharpened. "Looks like we've been discovered."
"It doesn't matter," Ash replied calmly. "If something that big wasn't noticed, that would be the real problem."
As he stepped forward, a crimson aura ignited around his body. In an instant, the skeletal frame of Susanoo formed and expanded, cloaking him in immense power.
"Cousin, take Dragonite and attack from the air. I'll break in from here."
The moment he finished speaking, Ash drove Susanoo's fist forward.
Boom!
The reinforced gate shattered instantly under the impact.
"Dragonite, let's go!"
Shiro leapt onto Dragonite's back, and the two surged into the sky, diving toward the base from above.
Inside, panic erupted.
"Intruders! Intruders!"
Rocket members rushed into position, grabbing machine guns and opening fire toward Ash.
Bullets tore through the air, but inside the surveillance room, Lambda's face twisted in anger.
"These idiots… useless fools!"
He knew conventional weapons were meaningless against someone like Ash. Firing blindly like this was nothing more than suicide.
Beside him, Ariana had already changed into a standard Rocket uniform, preparing to slip away unnoticed.
"Forget them," she said coldly. "We need to withdraw. If the boss finds out we didn't report this, we're finished."
Lambda clicked his tongue in frustration, but he knew she was right. They still had the forced evolution device. As long as that remained hidden, there was still a chance to recover.
If Giovanni found out, their positions, even as part of the elite, wouldn't protect them. In Team Rocket, results mattered more than strength.
"Damn it…"
Back on the battlefield, Shiro pointed forward.
"Dragonite, Hyper Beam!"
"Roar!"
A blazing orange beam erupted from Dragonite's mouth, cutting across the battlefield like a laser. Explosions followed wherever it struck, and screams filled the air as Rocket members were blasted away.
"Ahhh!"
Meanwhile, Ash's voice emerged from within the cloud of smoke created by gunfire.
"Fire Style, Storm Dance."
The smoke began to spiral violently, forming a vortex. Flames erupted, twisting together with the rotating currents.
Ash's eyes had already transformed into the three-tomoe Sharingan. The pattern in his left eye spun rapidly, forming a space-time vortex that dragged in the surrounding smoke and fire.
"What is that?!"
"No… don't!"
"AAAAHH!"
The swirling inferno closed in, devouring everything in its path. The Rocket members tried to flee, but the flames were faster, swallowing them whole.
"Hmph… too many of them."
Ash's tone turned cold. His hands blurred through a series of seals as blue lightning crackled across his body.
"Lightning Style…"
The electricity surged into the ground.
Crackle! Crackle!
In an instant, lightning spread outward in a massive radius, covering over 500 meters. Every Rocket member within range was struck, their bodies convulsing before collapsing.
Silence followed.
Ash stood at the center of the devastation, looking at the fallen enemies around him.
"For dealing with numbers… wide-range ninjutsu is still the most efficient."
A faint smile crossed his face. For a brief moment, it felt like he had returned to the battlefield of the ninja world.
Only… this war was much smaller.
"No wonder Ash told me to attack from the air… with such a wide range, if I stayed on the ground, I'd probably end up caught in it too."
Riding on Dragonite's back, Shiro looked down at the devastation below, a chill running through him as he realized just how overwhelming Ash's large-scale ninjutsu truly was.
"Sir, the enemy's advance is too fast. At this rate, they'll reach us soon."
Deep within the underground hangar at the base, a Team Rocket member stared at the live surveillance feed on his laptop, his voice trembling as he reported to Lambda.
"A bunch of useless trash… move faster!"
Lambda barked angrily, then turned toward the others who were hurriedly loading the forced evolution device onto the aircraft.
"Oh… leaving so soon? Aren't you going to stay and chat a bit?"
A calm, almost teasing voice suddenly echoed behind him.
"What?!"
Bang! Thud!
Lambda reacted instantly, spinning around and lashing out with a kick aimed straight at Ash's head.
But before it could land, Ash casually raised his right hand and caught the attack mid-air, stopping it completely.
"Tsk… treating a guest like this… is that what Giovanni taught you?" Ash said lightly.
"How is this possible…? You… how did you get here?! There were hundreds of people outside!"
Now seeing Ash clearly, Lambda's pupils shrank, disbelief written all over his face.
"The trash outside? My cousin alone is enough to deal with most of them… what's left isn't worth mentioning."
Ash smiled faintly, but to Lambda, that smile felt like a death sentence.
"Judging by your behavior just now… I don't think you deserve mercy."
"Wait, don't… AAAAH!!!"
Before Lambda could finish, Ash tightened his grip and twisted violently.
Crack!
A sickening sound echoed through the hangar as Lambda's leg was crushed instantly. Bone pierced through flesh, blood spraying as the limb was completely shattered.
His scream filled the entire underground space.