"Please—don't kill me! Lord Sakumo, you once saved me, don't you remember?"
The Konoha ninja's voice trembled with desperation.
But Hatake Sakumo's eyes held no emotion.
With one clean motion, his short blade sliced through the man's neck. The Konoha ninja collapsed lifelessly.
Unlike Uchiha Fugaku's grand and overwhelming style, Sakumo's combat followed a single principle—swift, precise, and ruthless.
Using the least chakra and the simplest movements to eliminate any enemy before him—that was the essence of his blade.
For other villages' shinobi, it was one thing. The name White Fang of Konoha had already spread across the entire shinobi world since the Second Great Ninja War.
But for Konoha's own ninja, this was their first time facing Hatake Sakumo as an enemy.
When he was their comrade, they hadn't felt much. But now that he stood before them as their executioner, they finally understood why enemies once trembled at the mention of his name.
No matter how many of them attacked—no matter what jutsu they used—they couldn't stop that sharp, merciless blade from cutting them down one by one.
Bitterness welled in their hearts.
Why?!
He was one of them—one of Konoha's own—and now he had become the sword that slaughtered them!
And the Uchiha clan…
Their powerful Kekkei Genkai now stood as an insurmountable mountain on the battlefield.
They had once fought side by side—once protected them countless times…
So why—why had everything turned into this?!
———
"Damn it! How did it come to this?!"
At the Allied Shinobi Forces' rear lines, Shimura Danzō slammed his hand against the table in fury.
The other village commanders looked just as grim.
They had thought the Hidden Cloud had gone insane—sending only five ninja to intercept their army.
Yet, five against ten thousand… had somehow become a reality.
The Eight-Tails continued firing Tailed Beast Bombs from afar, while the Third Raikage, A, Hatake Sakumo, and Uchiha Fugaku used the chaos to tear through the ranks again and again.
A force of ten thousand had been completely stalled.
Many had already lost the will to fight.
And worse—nearly ten thousand Cloud shinobi still waited on the sidelines, watching the battle with predatory eyes.
"If we keep clinging to this idea of conserving our strength," Orochimaru said calmly, "we'll be crushed. What do you all think?"
After a brief silence, the other commanders nodded.
Danzō's expression hardened. "Konoha will send Orochimaru and thirty jōnin to the front line—sixteen of them elite jōnin. What about you?"
The Mist commander replied at once. "I brought over ten elite jōnin—three of them possess the Shikotsumyaku, Hydrification Technique, and Ice Release."
The Sand commander, Ebizō, said gravely, "We'll send ten elite jōnin from Sunagakure as well."
At the far end of the table, Kitsuchi waved his hands hastily as everyone turned toward him. "Our Iwagakure forces aren't as strong as yours. Sending a thousand ninja was already pushing it."
Everyone's faces filled with disdain.
A thousand old and weak shinobi—and he dares call that 'pushing it'?
Still, no one argued further. Their alliance was temporary; no one had the authority to command the others.
Finally, Danzō slammed his palm down. "Then it's settled. Dismissed!"
Once the meeting ended, each village sent their top fighters into battle.
Dozens of elite jōnin joined the fray, and the effect was immediate.
"Hidden Mist Technique!"
Thick fog spread across the battlefield, swallowing everything.
Then, a man wearing sunglasses stepped forward. "Secret Technique: Insect Gathering Formation!"
"Secret Technique: Insect Sphere!"
Countless kikaichū insects scattered through the fog, swarming toward A and engulfing him.
A snorted coldly.
The mist and the insects made it difficult to sense chakra—it was impossible to charge recklessly as before.
And those insects… there were too many of them. They clung to his Lightning Chakra Armor, gnawing at it relentlessly.
They couldn't harm him directly—but they doubled his chakra consumption.
No. I have to break through.
A's mind sharpened. He pushed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to its limit. But by then, the trap had already closed around him.
The Aburame, Inuzuka, and Minazuki clans had all joined forces.
Even if they couldn't defeat him outright, they managed to hold him down.
"Hidden Mist Technique…"
"Hmph."
Uchiha Fugaku scoffed, unafraid.
The mist restrained the Sharingan's vision—but he was confident he could kill his enemies the instant they revealed themselves.
A shinobi wearing a Mist headband lunged at him with a massive sword.
Fugaku thrust his blade straight into the attacker's chest—but the body dissolved into water.
"The Hydrification Technique of the Hōzuki clan?"
Fugaku smirked. "Then let me show you what I've been working on lately."
The chirping of a thousand birds filled the air as lightning burst around him.
Chidori Nagashi!
Lightning tore through the enemy's liquefied form, paralyzing him. Fugaku swung his sword once more, cleaving the shinobi clean in half.
At that moment, two Leaf ninja appeared from behind, surrounding him.
"The Hyuga clan, huh…"
"You two think you can stop me?"
The Hyuga sneered. "Here, the advantage is ours. Today we'll prove that the Byakugan is the strongest Kekkei Genkai!"
The Sharingan's power was great—but in the fog, its vision was hindered.
The Byakugan, however, saw everything clearly.
Fugaku burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Then let's see if your strength matches that big talk!"
He charged head-on, clashing fiercely with the two Hyuga.
Elsewhere on the battlefield—
Hatake Sakumo darted between enemies, dodging the Nara clan's shadow bindings while staying wary of the Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer Technique.
In a place like this, a single second of control meant instant death.
He wanted to target the Nara and Yamanaka first, but the Akimichi who had eaten their secret pills stood firmly in front, guarding them.
Around them, nearly a hundred ninja formed a tight perimeter, protecting their support teams.
Among them was a shinobi with the Shikotsumyaku, bones covering his entire body like armor.
Sakumo continued cutting down enemies, but he could feel it— the circle closing around him, little by little.