Massive stones crashed into the formation, smashing several statues apart. Steel bolts followed, piercing shields and bodies and pinning them to the ground.
A restrained cheer rose, then froze. The shattered Gravel pieces trembled and drew together, reforming whole stone soldiers that resumed their advance as if unharmed.
"Damn it. Just as the records said, Root are unkillable Guai things."
The commander clenched his fists, knowing they could not stop this army with flesh alone. Faith and loyalty drove them to charge forward, buying time with their lives as the line neared collapse.
At that moment, a thunderous crack tore through the air. A towering figure wrapped in lightning leapt onto the crumbling wall.
Ryoma landed, muscles tensing, then used the wall as a springboard and soared above the stone army. His cloak whipped in the storm of lightning as he raised his right leg high.
Blue lightning surged, the air snapping with electricity. "Righteous Lightning Sinking Rage Axe!"
His kick fell like a giant blade. The impact shattered the ground, forming a massive crater as shockwaves of stone, dust, and lightning blasted outward.
Everything in the path, weapons, debris, and stone soldiers alike, was smashed apart into flying fragments. Smoke and dust swallowed the battlefield as the roar faded.
After a moment, the raging shockwaves slowly died down, and the dust in the air gradually settled. The battlefield came back into view as the smoke thinned.
Ryoma stood at the center of a massive crater. He raised his thick, muscular arm and casually brushed the dust from his Ryoma Cloak, then looked over the ruined ground around him.
Around the crater lay countless fragments of shattered stone. They were the remains of stone statue soldiers that had been completely crushed by his single strike.
"Hmph!" Ryoma snorted with open disdain, his voice rolling across the silent field. "Is that all you've got?"
The instant his words fell, a sharp whistling cut through the air from above. Ryoma looked up and saw Deidara standing on the back of a giant bird formed from Ryoma-colored clay.
His long blond hair whipped wildly in the wind, and a feverish, excited grin spread across his face. He swung both hands downward without hesitation.
Swish! Swish!
Several thumb-sized clay bombs shaped like tiny spiders rained down in a dense scatter. They fell straight into the clusters of stone statue soldiers that had not yet been destroyed.
"Art is an explosion!"
Deidara shouted with manic excitement and formed hand seals. "kacha!"
Boom!
A chain of explosions erupted among the statues, swallowing large areas in blinding fire. Gravel and dust surged into the air once again.
Ryoma leapt out of the flames and landed farther away. Though he reacted quickly, he was still covered in ash, and his face darkened in clear anger.
"Hey! Onoki!" he roared upward.
He glared at Onoki, who was hovering in the air using "Earth Release·Light Weight Rock Technique". "Are you people from Iwagakure trying to blow me up too?"
Hearing this, Onoki looked toward Deidara in the sky and shouted in a showy manner, "You brat, take it easy. That one is from Kumogakure…"
"Stop nagging, old man!" Deidara cut him off impatiently. "You promised that if I came along, I could blow things up as much as I wanted!"
As he spoke, he flung out several more clay birds, triggering another round of violent explosions. The sheer power made everyone present narrow their eyes.
Many had heard that Iwagakure had someone called "Deidara", but mostly they knew him by his reputation as a bombing maniac. It was said he even dared to bomb the Third Kazekage Building of his own village, leaving Onoki furious more than once.
No one expected his secret techniques to be this strong, or that he would also have such mobility in the air. If he flew over another village and dropped bombs before leaving at once, there would likely be no one in Root who could stop him.
Onoki withdrew his gaze from Deidara and looked down at the grim-faced Ryoma. He shrugged and smiled. "Sorry, Lord Ryoma. You can see how it is."
"These youngsters never listen to an old man like me," he added with a sigh. His tone carried clear pride, with not a trace of anger.
Ryoma felt the veins at his temple twitch as he was about to explode, but Third Kazekage arrived and spoke first. "Enough arguing," he said seriously. "Haven't you noticed? Your attacks are not actually effective."
At this, Ryoma and Onoki both turned to the blasted area. The shattered fragments of stone trembled as if pulled by an unseen force, gathering together and reforming into intact stone statue soldiers.
"Huh?" Deidara frowned in annoyance as he watched them recover. "These freaks are not artistic at all."
"These statues cannot be destroyed by brute force alone," said Fourth Mei Terumi, who had also arrived. He then looked up at Onoki and spoke politely. "Third Kazekage-sama, please."
"Tsk."
Grumbling, Onoki raised both hands in front of him. As his palms came together and slowly spread apart, a faintly glowing, transparent cubic Barrier Technique formed between them.
"Dust Release·Atomic Dismantling Technique!"
With his low shout, the transparent cube shot forward and enveloped a section of the stone soldiers. A sharp hiss followed as smoke filled the cube.
When the smoke and the Barrier Technique faded away, the stone soldiers inside were completely gone. Only a deep, perfectly edged cubic pit remained.
"It works!"
The tense expressions of everyone present finally relaxed.
"Hey, hey, hey! What are those looks for?" Onoki complained at once. "Don't tell me you expect an old man like me to disassemble all of them?"
"Who knows how many there are. I would die of exhaustion before finishing!"
Everyone looked at the seemingly endless sea of statues and realized that relying on Onoki alone was impossible.
"Dust Release" was formed by fusing wind, earth, and fire natures. It was a "Kekkei Tota" that surpassed ordinary "Kekkei Genkai".
Although it could erase targets at the atomic level, each use consumed an enormous amount of Chakra. Even someone like Onoki could not use it freely.
"Fugaku Uchiha Clan!"
"Lord Ryoma!"
The voices of Kurotsuchi and Two-Tails Jinchuriki rang out almost at the same time. Everyone turned to look in their direction.
Kurotsuchi stood firm, gripping a massive single-bladed axe with an ancient design. His arms bulged as he swung it with heavy force, the wind howling as it cleaved into several stone soldiers.
kacha! kacha!
The hard stone bodies shattered like rotten wood, sending fragments flying.
At the same time, Two-Tails Jinchuriki moved with agility, holding a pitch-black rod wrapped in Chakra. With a flick of her wrist, the Ninja Tool extended into a long whip that cracked through the air and struck several statues.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The statues hit by the whip were blasted apart by violent Chakra and sheer force. Gravel scattered in all directions.
The shattered pieces from the axe and whip did not tremble or reform like before. Instead, thin strands of cold purple mist seeped out from the broken stone.
Drawn as if by attraction, the mist drifted into Kurotsuchi's axe and Two-Tails Jinchuriki's whip. The strange Ninja Tool absorbed it silently.
The axe blade gleamed more sharply, while the lightning arcs along the whip grew brighter and more violent.
"Hm?"
"What's going on?"
Fourth Mei Terumi and Third Kazekage frowned in confusion. In contrast, Ryoma and Onoki exchanged sharp looks of realization and excitement.
Without hesitation, Ryoma clenched his armored right fist. Wild lightning surged around him again as he smashed into the approaching stone soldiers.
Boom! Boom!