The Land of Fire border, outside the Forest Sea.
The Leaf Village army arrived at the battlefield.
Hiruzen gazed at the dark Forest Sea under the night sky, his expression cold and without mercy. Behind him, the entire Leaf Village army stood ready for battle, radiating an aura of deadly intent. In the darkness of the forest ahead, it was as though a great beast lay prostrate on the ground, its invisible maw open wide, waiting for them to walk into it.
Hiruzen had no doubt. The Sand Village was positioned within what had originally been Leaf Village defensive territory.
They had set up numerous traps and ambushes throughout, and even during the Leaf Village's approach, Sand Village scouts had been secretly observing their movements.
In this kind of large-scale chaotic battle, whether it was day or night made little fundamental difference. The Sand Village was familiar with the terrain and had made this stretch of forest their defensive stronghold. They understood it well.
What the Leaf Village wanted to do now was take advantage of the shared fury burning through every soldier over the Sand Village's invasion, and without allowing that fury to be worn down by prolonged battlefield attrition, settle the situation decisively with this momentum.
On the other side, within the forest, a large number of Sand Village troops were concealed both in the trees and on the ground.
Everyone could feel the low oppressive pressure emanating from beyond the tree line. Standing in the canopy and looking out at the densely massed ninja army with his eyes fully open, Yuji's expression was grave.
The tension before this battle was unlike anything before it.
In the distance, Hiruzen slowly raised his hand.
Following that single movement, the faces of every Leaf Village soldier went cold and hard, and weapons and ninja tools were raised throughout the formation.
"Charge!"
With that one command, the entire Leaf Village army surged forward like a tidal wave. Every squad rose to their feet simultaneously, formations clean, battle intent absolute.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.
One Leaf Village ninja after another, like fish crossing a river, disappeared into the dark forest in rapid succession.
Shimizu, stationed at the center of the Sand Village formation, saw this and heard the earth-shaking battle cries rolling toward them. He raised his hand.
Upon receiving the attack command, the Sand Village's designated assault units immediately formed hand seals and activated their techniques simultaneously.
In an instant, terrifying wind-based attacks tore through a broad stretch of the forest's border, shattering countless trees and scattering branches and leaves in every direction.
The Leaf Village ninja who had charged deepest into the forest were struck immediately, many of them sent flying backward with their bodies covered in blood.
However, some Leaf Village ninja managed to defend in time or dodge, and under the protection of their comrades they pushed further into the forest.
The casualties were only a portion of the Leaf Village's advance force. The total Leaf Village army was far larger, and this first wave of Sand Village offense could not destroy them.
Shimizu issued another command. The puppet soldiers dispersed into agile independent squads and began engaging throughout the terrain.
In the complex environment of the forest, the attacks of the Puppeteers became even more difficult to anticipate and counter.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
At the same time, the flood of Konoha forces pressing into the forest began triggering the traps and mechanisms that had been carefully prepared and concealed throughout.
Heart-wrenching cries echoed through the forest from multiple directions at once.
Both sides had their tactical arrangements. Both sides had prepared for this moment. And in an instant, what had been a tranquil Forest Sea transformed into a collision between two opposing forces with no pause between first contact and full intensity.
Flames erupted. Torrents surged. Wind blades lashed through the air. Ambushes sprang from shadows. Bloody close-quarters fighting broke out across every section of the terrain.
In a moment, techniques of every kind bloomed throughout the forest like a terrible flowering.
As more and more Konoha ninja pressed into the Forest Sea, the sense of mission on both sides reached its peak.
"Begin."
Not far from Shimizu, Yuji stretched his limbs, his expression cold. After speaking, he vanished from the tree in an instant.
Using his ocular jutsu to observe the Leaf Village's troop deployment, he had already identified the greatest threat within the enemy army, or more precisely, the position that would cause the most damage to the Sand Village if left unchecked. He would eliminate it first.
Swoosh.
In the eerie darkness of the night, he leaped and bounded through the forest at incredible speed. For ordinary Konoha ninja, his movement was almost imperceptible.
The battlefield was inherently chaotic, attention naturally scattered across countless simultaneous threats, and maintaining constant vigilance against every attack emerging from the shadows was not a realistic expectation for anyone.
Along the way, Konoha ninja fighting the Sand Village fell one after another. Blood constantly spurted from his fingertips as he moved, each drop functioning like a precision bullet capable of instantly taking down an entire enemy unit.
The speed of the blood strikes made defense nearly impossible for anyone in his path. He was not slowing down for any of them. He dealt with each obstacle without breaking stride.
"Found you."
A moment later, his gaze went cold as he locked onto a position.
Beneath a tree branch ahead, a man with his eyes closed was performing a ninjutsu technique. Three Konoha ninja stood around him, responsible for his protection. The group was concealed in a carefully chosen position.
Unlike the rapidly charging Leaf Village ninja in the surrounding area, these four clearly had a specific tactical assignment.
The Nara clan.
The man standing in the center was using a secret technique that transmitted information and coordinated the Leaf Village's military strength across a defined battlefield area through mental communication.
He was a sub-commander assigned by the Leaf Village to manage a section of the battlefield. The brain of a local formation.
The moment Yuji appeared, one of the three guards looked up immediately. Without a word, the guard extended his hand toward him from a distance.
A swarm of insects covered Yuji's legs in the next instant, expanding across his entire body at astonishing speed.
Aburame clan.
"Blood Doctor Yuji!"
Another guard raised their face, filled with surprise and immediate vigilance, and reacted just as quickly. Working in coordination with their companions, they pushed the Nara clan member back and began retreating to protect the interrupted secret technique.
The four of them had positioned themselves within a relatively safe zone judging by the sounds of battle around them. To put it plainly, they were inside the heart of the Konoha formation.
The fact that Yuji had advanced this quickly and this deeply without being detected beforehand was remarkable even by the standards of what was happening on this battlefield.
At this moment, the Konoha sensory squad was still working to analyze all battlefield intelligence related to the Sand Village army, attempting to illuminate the full map.
The timeframe was short, the information volume was enormous and mixed, and the pressure was greatest right at the opening of the battle when comprehensive sensory coverage was simply not achievable. They could not observe all the details simultaneously. And that gap was exactly what he needed.
He had to strike before they could compensate.
Before they could react, he activated his doujutsu and began a precision strike. He had identified this specific unit within the Leaf Village army, pinpointed its location, and now he moved to eliminate it.
"Run!" the Aburame clan members shouted.
They prepared to intercept him. But facing the figure already airborne and closing the distance, he ignored them completely.
His hands clapped together.
Blood Release: Supernova.
Countless blood-red beams tore through the dark sky. One person was instantly riddled with blood-red light from multiple directions simultaneously.
Another drew their blade, attempting to deflect the incoming beams, while simultaneously pushing the Nara clan member to protect him and force him clear first.
The Nara clan member, drenched in sweat and head pounding from the interrupted technique, hit the ground and prepared to leap away again.
Before him, a shadow radiating a deathly aura appeared.
Moving faster than him, already there.
Bang.
A cluster of sharp threads wrapped the target's entire body instantly, binding tighter than any physical restraint. A second later, the Nara clan member's body burst with blood and he was killed on the spot.
"Bastard!"
From a distance, the Aburame clan members witnessed it, their voices low but containing rage they could not suppress. Under this sudden turn of events, they had lost their advantage the moment they had come face to face with the enemy, and were now heading toward annihilation.