"What…?"
"Release—Hiramekarei!"
Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen was about to move and personally defend the breach in the high wall, Mangetsu Hōzuki rushed forward with his ninja sword in hand, blocking his path.
At his command, Hiramekarei erupted with chakra.
A massive chakra hammer formed around the blade and smashed down toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Clang—BOOM!
Sarutobi Hiruzen raised the Adamantine Staff and blocked the strike head-on, but the impact still forced him back several steps.
"I'll admit it," Mangetsu Hōzuki said, gripping Hiramekarei with both hands as he stood in Sarutobi's way.
"We can't defeat you."
"But if you think we'll let you leave that easily…"
His eyes sharpened.
"You're dreaming."
The next instant, sharp sounds tore through the air one after another.
The remaining six members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist rushed in at high speed, surrounding Sarutobi Hiruzen once again.
"Go!"
"Break into Konoha!"
"Take this victory for Kirigakure!"
Hearing the shouts around him, Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart sank.
Even if he fought with everything he had, defeating the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in a short time was impossible.
He could only watch the breach from a distance, anxiety burning in his chest.
"Run!"
"Kirigakure is coming in!"
"Damn it… I don't want to die here!"
Seeing the Mist ninja roaring as they surged toward the collapsed section of the wall, the injured Konoha genin lying on the ground struggled to drag themselves up and flee.
Panic spread like wildfire inside the high wall.
The screams soon reached the center of the village, throwing the civilians into fear.
During this period, news from the front line had always been favorable.
The people of Konoha had grown used to victory.
None of them had imagined that disaster would arrive so suddenly.
"What happened to the wall?"
"Konoha won't fall… right?"
"I don't know. But this looks bad."
"Wait… isn't it dangerous for us to be watching from here? We should go back."
On the roof of a tall building, a group of seven- or eight-year-old boys and girls lay trembling as they looked toward the battlefield a hundred meters away.
They were academy students from the same year as Kakashi.
But unlike Kakashi, none of them had graduated yet.
Right now, they were still just children.
"Charge!"
"Destroy Konoha!"
"Don't let anyone escape!"
"Kirigakure's victory is today!"
Outside Konoha's high wall, the Mist shinobi's morale surged like a storm.
Their eyes were bloodshot as they roared and gathered toward the breach.
More and more figures rushed forward, their formation growing denser by the second.
On both sides of the collapsed wall, the Konoha shinobi desperately threw out ninjutsu and detonating tags.
But against the sheer number of enemies, their attacks were swallowed almost instantly.
Simple defensive ninjutsu scattered the incoming strikes.
The detonating tags exploded midair one after another.
From a distance, it almost looked like fireworks celebrating Kirigakure's coming victory.
It's over.
Konoha has been broken through.
The same despair appeared in the hearts of nearly every Konoha shinobi.
Although the number of shinobi on both sides was roughly equal, nearly eighty percent of Konoha's side consisted of genin.
There was no way they could stop the advance of Kirigakure.
Whoosh—
RUMBLE!
Just as the Mist shinobi were at their peak morale, and the Konoha shinobi were sinking into despair, an unusually sharp sound suddenly tore through the distance.
It was like a meteor cutting across the sky.
But the speed was too fast.
The moment everyone heard the piercing sound, it was drowned out by a violent explosion.
BOOOOM!
Golden fire erupted at the breach in Konoha's high wall.
A shockwave burst outward from the center of the explosion, sweeping in every direction.
Nearly a hundred Mist shinobi were killed instantly by the blast of photons and flying rubble.
Those farther away, whether they were from Kirigakure or Konoha, were blown back by the hurricane-like shockwave.
The impact was no different from a real meteor crashing into the earth.
And the one who had caused that violent scene was naturally Yagami, who had rushed back from the front line.
He had flown high through the sky for nearly two hours at a speed close to sound, crossing more than two thousand kilometers before finally arriving at Konoha.
"What?!"
"What just happened?!"
The roar of the explosion spread across the battlefield.
Even the ground trembled faintly.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen, who had been surrounding Sarutobi Hiruzen, immediately scattered and turned toward the center of the explosion.
Dust surged from the blast and swept past them, blocking their vision.
"Cough… cough…"
"Be careful. Samehada is scared."
Fuguki Suikazan's expression turned grave.
Animal instinct was often far sharper than human perception.
Feeling the slight trembling of his ninja sword, Fuguki immediately understood that something was wrong.
It was his first time experiencing this.
But he could clearly tell—
Samehada was afraid.
"What?"
"You're joking, right?"
Hearing Fuguki's words, the others looked over in disbelief.
Samehada was trembling, its jagged mouth bared as if it were urging its master to leave this place as quickly as possible.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Why would Samehada be scared?"
After seeing Samehada's reaction with their own eyes, the other six swordsmen felt a chill crawl up their backs.
What was Samehada?
A living blade that had stayed near the Three-Tails for years.
After being around a tailed beast like that, what could possibly frighten it?
Konoha's Nine-Tails?
Fuguki could not answer.
So the others could only make guesses in silence.
"Haa… haa…"
"What happened over there?"
After breaking away from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's encirclement, Sarutobi Hiruzen also panted heavily and turned toward the center of the explosion.
His expression was filled with doubt.
"Hey, Sarutobi."
Enma's eyes opened on the Adamantine Staff, his voice low and serious.
"Someone powerful has arrived."
"Is he one of Konoha's shinobi?"
As a summon, Enma was still a beast by nature.
He could sense the strength of the person who had appeared.
This was not a sensory technique.
It was instinct.
"Reinforcements…?"
"But who could it be at a time like this?"
Hearing Enma's words, Sarutobi Hiruzen turned and glanced at the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Their expressions were all tense.
Clearly, whoever had arrived was not reinforcement from Kirigakure.
Then there was no doubt.
It was someone from Konoha's side.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen could not figure out who it was.
At this moment, among the shinobi remaining in Konoha, anyone powerful enough for Enma to sense should be at least Kage-level.
But he had already sent out every Kage-level fighter the village had.
Could it be Tsunade?
Looking at the dust filling the air and remembering the way the ground had trembled earlier, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly thought of Tsunade's monstrous strength.
But when the dust slowly began to clear, he realized he was wrong.
Because at the very center of the smoke…
A faint golden light was shining.
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