"Seriously…"
"You're kidding, right…"
"A monster… He's a monster…"
Looking at the forest of bones that had killed nearly a quarter of their side's manpower in an instant, even the future clan heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho, veterans who had long experienced war, were deeply shaken by the impact of the scene before them.
Huge, jagged bone spikes covered the ground.
The blood flowing from the torn bodies of Konoha shinobi ran down the pale bones and seeped into the earth.
The black-haired boy who had created all of this emerged from the largest, tallest giant tree within the bone forest. His gaze calmly watched the people who had survived his surprise attack.
For Konoha's shinobi, the battle between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha at the Valley of the End, which had permanently changed the terrain of the Land of Fire, was a story they had heard from their families since childhood.
But even with that tale passed down from generation to generation, and even with the statues commemorating the two still standing in the Valley of the End, most Konoha shinobi did not believe the power in that story was something humans could possess.
Even if it truly existed, such power should have belonged only to great shinobi like Lord Hokage.
But now, a Kirigakure boy who looked no older than fifteen had unleashed a terrifying strike before their eyes, one powerful enough to change the terrain.
How could they not feel fear and panic?
How could they not feel disbelief and incomprehension?
Kushina Uzumaki bit her lip in self-reproach. Her eyes locked onto Rei Kaguya, who had launched the ambush from beneath the earth, as if they were about to spew fire. Her red hair rose and drifted behind her head like dancing flames.
She had been too careless.
She clearly had the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, an ability capable of sensing chakra flow over a wide range.
As long as she had been sufficiently vigilant, she could have completely neutralized this ambush, which was not exactly sophisticated.
After hearing that Mount Kannabe's stronghold had been taken in one move, she should have been on maximum alert against the enemy.
But she had failed to do even one of those things.
Was it because she had stayed in the relatively peaceful village for too long, causing both her body and mind to grow too dull to adapt to the battlefield?
That would not do.
I'm someone who must stand beside Minato and protect Konoha together with him!
"Shikaku, do you have a tactical arrangement?"
Without turning her head, Kushina asked Shikaku Nara behind her, who was hanging himself in the air with his shadow.
"I do. We Ino-Shika-Cho and you, Lady Kushina, will hold down that Rei Kaguya together. We'll create an opening to break out as quickly as possible, then have Shibi lead the chunin and genin out."
As Shikaku Nara scanned the uneven bone forest around them, calculating the area of shadows he could make use of, he spoke rapidly to his companions.
"According to the results of our earlier analysis, that Rei Kaguya's taijutsu level is absolutely not something chunin and genin can oppose. And his defense is strong enough to withstand Lord Minato's Rasengan head-on. Leaving chunin and genin here won't help the battle at all. Instead, they'll become burdens we have to split our attention to protect. So we must find a chance to let them break out."
"We Ino-Shika-Cho are strongest when coordinated together, and Lady Kushina is the main force against Rei Kaguya. So the task of leading the chunin and genin out can only fall to Shibi. He is an insect user of the Aburame clan. The power of the Dead Bone Pulse won't have many ways to deal with him."
"But after breaking out, you must stay alert and retreat as quickly as possible. There is no way an ambush like this only has one person. There must be other Kirigakure shinobi around, waiting to hunt those who expose flaws after breaking through. Don't think about attacking either. If that Boil Release shinobi is still guarding the stronghold, Shibi will be heavily countered by her."
"Understood?"
"Got it."
"Understood."
"Clear."
"Then let's do this!"
After the brief exchange ended, Kushina Uzumaki took the lead and charged toward Rei Kaguya.
Although she was not a pure taijutsu-type shinobi, every bone spike Kushina used as a stepping point instantly shattered beneath her feet, which were wrapped in a large amount of chakra. They provided her with explosive, extremely high-speed movement.
Rei Kaguya had not even had time to voice his praise before Kushina Uzumaki's fist had already blasted right before his eyes.
But just before he was hit, Rei Kaguya's figure vanished from Kushina Uzumaki's sight.
Boom!
A massive pale bone spike was broken in half by Kushina's strike, exploding into a huge amount of bone fragments and dust.
But Kushina's movements did not hesitate in the slightest because of Rei Kaguya's disappearance. She clapped her hands together and shouted:
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Materialized chakra chains extended from behind Kushina Uzumaki. Like several powerful arms that could stretch freely, they swept across the surrounding bone forest.
Rei Kaguya, who had just shifted into one of the bone spikes, was immediately struck out of hiding. Like an arrow released from a bowstring, he shot into the distance.
"Now, Choza!"
"I've been ready! Super Human Bullet Tank!"
Shikaku Nara's gaze sharpened. He immediately used his materialized shadow to throw Choza Akimichi in the direction Rei Kaguya had been sent flying.
After the massive Choza Akimichi reached the highest point of his arc, he activated his secret technique and turned his body into a huge, high-speed spinning ball of flesh, rumbling down toward Rei Kaguya, who was about to hit the ground.
"Dance of the Seedling Fern: Fierce Fang Spear!"
Rei Kaguya had no bad habit of insisting on taking a beating before starting to counterattack.
He formed hand seals, merged into a bone spike the instant his body touched it, then injected his chakra into the surrounding bone spikes, controlling them to gather into a giant spear and thrust toward Choza Akimichi as he fell from the sky.
"I won't let you do that… Secret Technique: Insect Tornado."
Shibi Aburame released a large number of kikaichu from his body, turning them into a black storm. They rushed toward the giant bone spear Rei Kaguya had created, competing with one another as they devoured it.
Under the insects' frenzied gnawing, a large number of holes and cracks quickly appeared on the bone spear.
Then Choza Akimichi's massive body struck it, directly shattering it on the spot.
But Rei Kaguya's figure was not inside.
"Inoichi, be careful. He may be going for you. Everyone else, full alert—"
Using the Mind's Eye of the Kagura to sense chakra movements within the bone forest, Kushina warned the chunin around them, who had already been dazzled by this rapid chain of offense and defense, while moving closer to Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka, whose main bodies were not strong in direct combat.
"Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique!"
Thick fog rapidly spread out from a single bone spike as its center.
Seeing the enemy use the enhanced Hiding in Mist Technique that had once nearly wiped out Hyuga Munekata and the others, Kushina did not dare grow careless at all.
She swiftly formed Wind Release seals. Her chest rose high, and then she violently blew out a powerful storm.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The massive chakra of the Uzumaki clan was displayed fully at this moment.
With Kushina as the center, it was as if a level-nine gale had suddenly been born from the flat ground.
The water mist that had just begun spreading did not even have time to cover the battlefield before it was completely blown apart by the raging wind.
Some weaker Konoha shinobi even had to rely on their teammates' help just to barely stand steady in the storm Kushina created.
"As expected of Lady Kushina! That Kirigakure guy may be strong, but he doesn't look completely impossible to—"
"Pfft… Gah."
Before that chunin could finish praising her, a huge bone spike covered in blood burst out from Kushina's chest as she was casting Wind Release.
Although, at the last moment, she sensed Rei Kaguya's killing intent and barely avoided having her heart pierced, that strike still successfully broke Kushina's Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and injured her lung.
It temporarily forced her into a heavily wounded state where she could not cast Wind Release again.
"I know you're from the Uzumaki clan, and that you're also the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. This level of injury means nothing to you…"
"But before you recover, who else can stop me?"
"Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique: Silent Dark Execution!"
An even denser fog than before rapidly covered the battlefield swallowed by the white-bone forest, with Rei Kaguya, who had just succeeded in his sneak attack and retreated backward, as the center.
But compared to the wound caused by being ambushed, Kushina Uzumaki cared even more about the words he had left behind before retreating from behind her.
He… knows?
He knows I'm the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?
How… is that possible… I haven't used the Nine-Tails' chakra at all…
The red-haired woman clutched her chest, where even breathing felt like being scraped by knives. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
This was an absolute secret known only to a very small number of high-ranking officials, including the Third Hokage. Even the Sannin had not been told.
Why would someone from Kirigakure…
Could it be…
A gloomy, aged face surfaced in Kushina's mind at a terribly inappropriate time.