Everyone!"
"All units, switch to close-quarters combat!!"
The command of a Sunagakure jōnin rang out across the battlefield.
Then, one voice after another spread the order through the entire army.
The bombardment of golden light stopped for nearly a full minute.
That alone was enough to confirm it.
Yagami really was holding back for the sake of Konoha's shinobi.
"Charge!!"
The terrifying bombardment, like the tolling of a shinigami's bell, had finally stopped—and every Sand shinobi on the battlefield felt it.
At that moment, the ferocity in their bodies surged.
For a brief instant, the pressure on Konoha's forces rose sharply.
"Hahaha!"
"So the safest place was right next to you Konoha shinobi all along!"
A Sunagakure jōnin laughed wildly as he rushed forward.
He held a kunai in each hand.
The fear and frustration he had been suppressing for so long exploded all at once, and he actually forced Nara Shikaku back several steps.
"What—?!"
Puff!
Just as he was feeling proud of himself, a golden slash suddenly tore through the air.
In an instant, his head was sent flying.
A pillar of blood erupted from his neck.
The blood sprayed out like a volcanic burst.
That sudden turn of events left Nara Shikaku stunned for a moment.
He quickly turned his head toward the direction the slash had come from.
Only then did he realize that Yagami had already leapt down from the top of Manda's head at some point.
Now, he was charging wildly through the melee, brandishing a massive golden sword.
"Run! Konoha's Flash is here!!"
No one knew who let out that desperate wail first, but the nearby Sand shinobi instantly fell into panic.
No one knew who had started calling Yagami by that name.
But there was no doubt anymore.
To the Sand shinobi, that name had already become a nightmare.
"Puff… Puff… Puff…"
And while the Sand shinobi were panicking, Konoha's forces seized the opening without hesitation.
Weapons shot out one after another, driving straight into the enemy's vital points.
"This level of deterrence is unbelievable…"
After witnessing the scene, Nara Shikaku could not help but marvel.
At this moment, he felt that even the title of the Five Kage probably would not cause this much fear and confusion among the Sand shinobi.
Because this was the psychological trauma Yagami had carved into them through days of merciless slaughter.
Now, the moment they heard his name, fear took hold of them.
Seeing Yagami cutting through the battlefield on the right, Nara Shikaku thought for only a moment before rushing toward the left side.
Then, in a shrill voice, he deliberately shouted things like—
"Konoha's Flash is killing his way over here!"
As expected—
The Sand shinobi's morale, which had only just risen by a few points, was crushed again by Yagami's name.
And this time, the panic became even worse than before.
The pressure Konoha's forces had been under dropped sharply once again.
Some Konoha shinobi even took advantage of the confusion to cut down Sand shinobi on the spot.
What had originally been a fairly balanced battlefield began to tilt in an instant because of Nara Shikaku's little trick.
Meanwhile, when Konoha's shinobi heard that Lord Yagami had entered the battlefield, they erupted in excitement.
At that very moment, Konoha's morale surged violently.
It stood in stark contrast to the Sand shinobi's rapidly collapsing momentum.
"Kill them all!!!"
Yuhi Shinku cast an approving glance at Nara Shikaku, then began roaring out commands.
By now, the battle between the two sides had already gone on for more than an hour.
The Sand shinobi had started with several hundred more troops than Konoha, but that advantage had gradually been worn away.
And now, after Nara Shikaku used Yagami's name to shake the enemy's morale, another wave of Sand shinobi was lost almost immediately.
At this point, Sunagakure had already fallen behind in numbers.
A battle they had once held every confidence in winning—
In an instant, it became like a collapsing building, no longer able to be saved.
"Kill!!!"
The Konoha shinobi roared fiercely in response to the command.
Then they threw themselves at the surrounding Sand shinobi once more.
Now that Konoha held the numerical advantage, two-on-one situations began appearing all across the battlefield, and their edge only grew larger from there.
The Sand shinobi began retreating unconsciously.
"Puff! Puff! Puff!"
Golden slashes continued to fly from Yagami's hand without pause.
Because of his personal presence, the battlefield on the right suffered an even greater shock than the one on the left.
Many Sand shinobi screamed in terror the moment they caught sight of him.
In an instant, the scene devolved into chaos as Sand shinobi fled in every direction.
They could still face Konoha's shinobi without fear.
But when facing Yagami, none of them could stop their hearts from trembling.
Almost by instinct, they turned and ran without even thinking.
But Konoha's shinobi would never allow them to retreat so easily.
An opportunity to strike a drowning dog was not something that came around often.
Countless Konoha shinobi rushed forward at once, cutting down most of the Sand shinobi who tried to flee.
The battlefield, which had only barely been balanced before, changed drastically in an instant.
The roars of Konoha's forces resounded through the heavens.
That massive commotion immediately drew the attention of Rasa, who was hovering in the sky behind the Sand forces.
"Magnet Release: Placer Gold Boundary Law!!"
Rasa shouted anxiously.
Then, while Orochimaru was still fighting Chiyo below, Rasa suddenly swept both hands toward the ground.
Countless sharp streams of placer gold burst from the earth like bamboo shoots after rain.
In an instant, Orochimaru was forced back toward Chiyo's side.
"Chiyo-sama!!"
"Quickly order the retreat!!!"
Rasa landed beside Chiyo, his voice filled with urgency.
He had still underestimated just how deep the Sand shinobi's fear of Yagami ran.
Before Yagami leapt down from Manda's head, everything had still seemed manageable.
But the moment Yagami entered the battle personally, the situation turned completely one-sided.
That was something even Rasa had not expected.
"What did you say?!"
Chiyo turned her head and glared at Rasa furiously.
She had not expected this either.
Rasa had been one of the first to oppose retreat.
And now, unexpectedly, he was the first one asking for it.
If they retreated now, it would mean Sunagakure had lost this war!
"Chiyo-sama, we've already lost!"
"At this point, we need to retreat and preserve the lives of our remaining comrades!"
Rasa raised a hand with a grim expression and waved it sharply.
A cushion of sand immediately lifted Chiyo back into the air.
Then the two of them rose high above the battlefield once more.
Rasa knew very well how deep Chiyo's hatred for Konoha ran.
So he did not try to comfort her.
He only wanted her to see the battlefield with her own eyes—
To see the truth of the situation for herself.
Only then, he hoped, could she suppress her personal hatred and choose to save the surviving shinobi of Sunagakure.
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