"Monster—this thing is a monster!"
"Run!!"
"I want to go home, I want to go home…"
"We can't win. Even Han-sama couldn't stop him—we're dead…"
As fear spread among the Iwagakure shinobi, Akashō's smile grew brighter and brighter.
With all six eyes filled with amusement, he looked at Han.
"Weren't you supposed to be strong? Didn't you say you'd kill me? So why can't you even protect your own village's shinobi now?"
"Come on, is that all? Why are you already shaking with anger?"
"Or… are you scared?"
Blinded by rage, Han was on the verge of losing control. In this state, maintaining his partial tailed beast transformation was no longer wise. He had no choice but to shed the tailed beast chakra cloak, revealing his original form.
The half of his face not covered by the mask flushed between red and pale, his eyes bloodshot.
"Kokushibo, as a Kage-level powerhouse, isn't what you're doing completely dishonorable? You have no bearing of a true strong person at all—are you even worthy of your strength!?"
"Hahaha."
Akashō burst into laughter.
"I really like this look of yours—so furious and frustrated. It's honestly pleasing to the eye."
"But fine, I'll listen to you—for now."
Under Han's somewhat stunned gaze, Akashō actually withdrew the Blade of Living Flesh.
His first objective in coming to the Iwagakure camp had already been achieved. There was no need to keep wasting time.
"You're called Han, right?"
Seeing that Akashō had stopped the slaughter, Han's expression eased slightly. "That's right."
"Tomorrow at 3 PM, bring your men to a location sixty kilometers northwest. If you don't come, I'll come back to 'invite' you again. Got it?"
Akashō deliberately emphasized the word "invite," making it clear—if they didn't come, he would continue exactly like this.
Hearing this, Han narrowed his eyes, unable to figure out what the other party was planning.
Recalling Ōnoki's speculation from some time ago, Han couldn't help but ask,
"Are you issuing a notice of total assault on behalf of Konoha?"
Akashō tilted his head and nodded. "Think whatever you want. Just bring your people."
"Remember—three o'clock. If you don't come, bear the consequences."
With that, Akashō didn't linger any longer. He turned and left, leaving behind an Iwagakure camp filled with craters and corpses.
"Han-sama…"
A jōnin from Iwagakure approached him with a dazed expression. "Are you alright?"
Han shook his head without speaking.
"Konoha suddenly pulling something like this—there must be a scheme behind it. We can't go."
Han still shook his head. "We have to go."
"But we can't rely on just ourselves."
"You mean…"
...
Meanwhile, after leaving the Iwagakure camp, Akashō hurried straight toward the Konoha camp without stopping.
While traveling, he looked up at the moon hanging in the center of the night sky.
"There should still be time."
His goal this time was twofold: to raise Kokushibo's reputation among both factions on the Earth–Fire battlefield, and to issue invitations to both sides, ensuring they would all gather at the same place tomorrow at 3 PM.
When that time came, it would be the moment for the Colossal Titan to make its entrance and harvest everything.
As for whether this move would prompt both sides to seek reinforcements—Akashō believed it wouldn't.
Back when he was choosing the battlefield, he had already asked Kushina. Iwagakure only had two Kage-level fighters: Han, and their Tsuchikage.
The rule that a village's Kage doesn't casually take the battlefield wasn't just for show—there was no way Iwagakure could produce a second Kage-level fighter.
As for Konoha, their Kage-level distribution was also limited. One—Jiraiya—was supporting the Wind–Fire battlefield, while Orochimaru was stationed here on the Earth–Fire battlefield.
As for others, aside from the Hokage, there was only the remaining Sannin. Unfortunately, Kushina had said that person had already retired and no longer involved themselves in Konoha affairs. So Konoha also couldn't field a second Kage-level fighter.
More importantly, with only a single day, even if they wanted reinforcements—who could they possibly find?
Everything was completely under Akashō's control.
"Who goes there!?"
That same familiar line. That same familiar triangular encirclement. While deep in thought, Akashō had already arrived near the Konoha camp.
Same old routine. Without hesitation, he cut down two of them in a single stroke, then allowed the last one to fire a signal flare before finishing him off as well. After that, he simply stood in place, waiting for the main bulk of his reputation points to arrive.
"Whoosh—whoosh!"
Three dark figures leapt out from the forest and landed in front of Akashō.
"You are… Kokushibo?"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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