"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Outside the towering walls of Konoha Village, the shinobi of Kirigakure were launching a fierce assault.
Konoha's shinobi defended from atop the wall, raining down ninjutsu and explosive tags without pause, as if supplies meant nothing in the face of survival.
Because of that, Kirigakure's advance had become painfully slow and dangerous.
The battle had already lasted the entire night.
During that time, the Mist shinobi had climbed the wall several times, only to be driven back down by Konoha's forces.
In just one night, Konoha had suffered nearly a thousand casualties.
And eighty percent of them were young genin with low combat strength.
Groans of pain, suppressed sobs, and dying breaths filled the area behind the wall.
Konoha had already thrown almost all of its active forces into battle.
On top of that, medical-nin were in desperately short supply.
Because of this, most of the wounded could only lie on the ground, waiting for treatment that might not come in time.
For those young genin, this night was nothing less than a nightmare.
If not for the massive wall surrounding the outer edge of the village, Konoha would have already been breached.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
Outside Konoha's wall, at the fiercest point of the battlefield—
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was personally facing the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
A water dragon and an earth dragon roared across the battlefield, twisting and crashing into each other like living beasts.
In the end, the water dragon was crushed apart by the earth dragon.
The one who had used Water Style was Jūzō Biwa.
The one who had used Earth Style was Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, Sarutobi Hiruzen had almost never been defeated in a contest of ninjutsu.
He possessed all five chakra natures.
And in every field of ninjutsu, his mastery was frighteningly deep.
No matter what jutsu his opponent used, he could respond with the proper counter and suppress it through elemental advantage.
"As expected of Konoha's Third Hokage…"
Jūzō Biwa dodged the earth dragon's attack, breathing heavily as his expression turned grim.
"His jutsu just don't end."
The other six stood beside him.
Each of them was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
But right now, none of them looked relaxed.
At first, they had believed that if all seven of them fought together, no one in the shinobi world could stand against them.
Reality, however, had slapped them across the face.
They had been fighting Sarutobi Hiruzen since the latter half of the night.
Whether it was ninjutsu or close combat, they were still slightly beneath him.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen had not been nearly fifty years old, and if his stamina had not been unable to keep up with theirs, they might have already been defeated one by one.
"Hah… hah…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling.
With one hand, he leaned on the Adamantine Staff, using it to support his exhausted body.
"You will not…"
He lifted his gaze toward them.
"…step over this wall while I still stand."
"Hey, Sarutobi!"
"You can't take any more soldier pills!"
Enma, who had transformed into the Adamantine Staff, immediately spoke out to stop him.
"Your body won't hold. After using soldier pills again and again through a fight like this… what do you think you are, still in your prime?"
Throughout the night, Sarutobi Hiruzen had already taken soldier pills several times.
Almost all the chakra in the cells of his body had been squeezed out.
If he took another one now and forcibly drew chakra from an already exhausted body, then even if he survived this battle, the damage would be irreversible.
Worse, it might shorten what remained of his already aging life.
"The Will of Fire…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen ignored the warning of his old comrade.
"The fire's shadow will illuminate the village… and new leaves will sprout again."
He placed another soldier pill into his mouth without hesitation.
"When someone has something precious to protect… that is when a shinobi's true strength is shown."
As the shadow of the village—
As Hokage—
He could not fall back.
He knew exactly what this would cost him.
Even so, he could not simply stand aside and watch Konoha be destroyed.
That was the duty he could never abandon.
Rumble—!!!
At that moment, a thunderous crash rang out from behind Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Immediately after, a massive cloud of dust rose into the sky, spreading outward like a sandstorm.
The wall that had once surrounded Konoha, standing dozens of meters tall, had collapsed.
Under the continuous explosions from Konoha's own explosive tags, a large section had finally given way.
It looked as if some enormous beast had taken a bite out of the wall.
"No…!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face turned pale the moment he saw the twenty-to-thirty-meter-wide gap.
A breach that large could not be held by genin.
And on the battlefield outside the wall, every Konoha shinobi with enough strength to reinforce the gap was already being pinned down by Kirigakure's jōnin.
Even Danzō, whose strength was only second to Sarutobi Hiruzen's among those present, was locked in battle with Yagura and could not break away.
At that moment, Konoha's fall seemed only one step away.
"Hahaha!"
"Looks like even fate is on our side!"
The collapse of Konoha's wall stunned the Seven Ninja Swordsmen for a brief moment.
Then, all of them burst into laughter.
At this point, Konoha had lost the barrier that had been keeping it alive.
They no longer needed to defeat Sarutobi Hiruzen.
All they had to do was keep him here.
As long as the other Mist shinobi entered Konoha safely, the remaining Konoha forces would have no choice but to surrender.
"Go!"
"Enter Konoha!"
"Make your name today!"
The Mist shinobi attacking other sections of the battlefield were also drawn by the massive commotion.
The moment they realized a part of the wall had collapsed, their faces flushed with excitement, and they rushed toward the opening.
From above, they looked like scattered ants gathering toward a crack in the earth.
Their numbers were dense, pressing together in a dark wave.
Konoha no longer had the strength to stop them.
And when the smoke and dust from the collapsed wall finally began to clear, the first thing the Mist shinobi saw were the terrified, pale-faced genin of Konoha.
Many were wounded.
Many could barely stand.
But their fear did not earn the Mist shinobi's sympathy.
Instead, cruel, bloodthirsty smiles spread across their faces.
This was war.
On the battlefield, it was either kill or be killed.
Sympathy and mercy had no place here.
However, the Mist shinobi charging toward the breach with excited shouts had no idea—
At that very moment…
The one who could overturn the entire battlefield was rushing toward Konoha at full speed.
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