"I took out at least three Iwa shinobi with that shot!"
"I got five with one!"
"Why the hell are you still bragging?"
The leading Shadow Clone cracked the others upside the head, his voice sharp with command. "The main body's danger hasn't passed! Our priority is crushing those Iwa bastards! Got it?"
"Got it, Colonel." The clones rubbed their heads and reloaded the railgun in practiced synchronization.
Seiran had transformed his Shadow Clones into something the shinobi world had never seen before—a coordinated military force. The results spoke for themselves. With his current abilities, he could only maintain a dozen clones at battalion strength. But in the future, once his power grew, if he could truly divide into regimental numbers, the Magnetic Storm Legion would reshape the very balance of the ninja villages. Any major hidden village would face such a force with dread.
Seiran himself remained distant from the direct combat. While Taiseki's forces struggled against the relentless barrage, he was already plotting his escape route with meticulous care. The Iwa advance force served a purpose beyond mere combat—they were his whetstone, and he had more gifts prepared for them yet.
A thin smile crossed Seiran's lips.
---
Taiseki finally snapped out of his shock.
The Iwa advance force was scattered across the scorched earth like broken chess pieces. Massive craters pocked the ground, and severed limbs lay twisted among the rubble.
He gritted his teeth and formed hand seals with rapid precision. His palms slammed against the earth. "Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
The ground erupted. Rows of stone barriers shot upward, layer upon layer, throwing up clouds of dust and debris. The railgun fire tore through them methodically, but the walls bought precious seconds—enough for the Iwa shinobi to react.
These were elite forces, handpicked for the advance unit. Combat instinct overrode panic. Within moments, they shifted into defensive formations, Earth Release jutsu creating networks of defensive barriers.
"One squad maintains defense! Another provides ranged cover!" Taiseki's voice cut through the chaos, authoritative and calm. "The rest—focus on the Shadow Clones! Destroy them and they'll vanish!"
But even as the words left his mouth, Taiseki felt something wrong settle in his chest.
He was seriously deploying tactics against Shadow Clones?
Shadow Clones weren't supposed to be like this. They were meant to be expendable—meat shields to blind enemies or exhaust their chakra in mindless combat. They shouldn't require strategy.
Yet here he was, treating them like an actual battalion.
An Iwa shinobi sprinted toward him, panic etched across his face. "Lord Taiseki! The Shadow Clones—they're armored! Our attacks can't penetrate!"
Taiseki's vision swam. He forced himself to look, and what he saw made his jaw clench so hard he thought his teeth might shatter.
The long-range attacks from his shinobi were striking the clones dead-on—only to ring off metal with the sharp crack of deflected ninjutsu. The clones didn't flinch. They didn't even slow down.
Armored Shadow Clones?
What kind of unscientific nonsense was this?
Taiseki's breathing came hard and fast. He'd been holding back, conserving chakra for Seiran's main body. Wasting energy on clones had seemed wasteful. But if this continued, he wouldn't even get close to his target.
He drew a long breath, forcing calm into his mind. Chakra surged through his body in a violent flood.
Hand seals formed like lightning. His palm struck the earth. "Earth Style: Mountain Breaker!"
The world split open beneath the Shadow Clones. The ground yawned into a massive chasm, swallowing the armored figures and their weapons whole.
"Playing dirty with Earth Release?" The clones cursed as they fell, their voices mocking even in defeat.
Massive rock hemispheres rose from both sides of the chasm, grinding toward each other with a sound like the world breaking. The metal armor that had seemed so impressive moments before offered no protection against the crushing force of a jutsu of this caliber. The clones made crackling, metallic sounds as they dissolved into white mist.
"Colonel! What do we do?" The few surviving clones looked to their leader.
The clone's gaze turned back toward where Seiran had fled. A knowing smile curved his mouth. "Main body, my mission is complete."
The rock walls sealed shut with a deafening boom, erasing him and his remaining soldiers in an instant.
---
Seiran felt the feedback crash through him like a shockwave. He grabbed the nearest tree trunk, gasping for air.
After absorbing the information from his clones' destruction, he straightened, a satisfied smile playing at his lips. Better than I expected.
He took to the air, heading toward his next objective. "Taiseki, I've prepared a second gift for you."
"I hope you're ready."
---
"Count off!" Taiseki's voice was raw, almost inhuman. "Report losses!"
The shinobi formed ranks, their faces grave. One stepped forward. "One hundred thirty-nine remaining, sir. Eighty-seven losses."
Eighty-seven.
Taiseki's teeth ground together until his jaw ached. A single group of Shadow Clones had decimated more than a quarter of his force? The weight of that loss crashed down on him like an avalanche.
The pursuit had been relentless, pushing deeper into the Land of Grass. If they didn't end this soon, they'd cross into Fire Country territory—suicide with the Leaf Village mobilizing. Worse, Hiruzen was surely aware of the commotion by now. Scout networks throughout the region would have detected the fighting.
Reinforcements were coming. Taiseki could feel it in his bones.
He'd already passed the point of no return. The losses were catastrophic, and he still hadn't touched Seiran. The Tsuchikage would demand blood for this failure.
But there was still one path forward.
Taiseki's eyes hardened into something cold and merciless. If retreat meant disgrace and execution anyway, then only victory mattered now. He would pursue Seiran to the ends of the earth if necessary. He would end this threat, or die trying.
"Can you track him?" he asked the remaining sensor ninja.
The shinobi's hands trembled slightly. "Yes. He's exhausted from maintaining the clones. His speed has dropped significantly. If we push hard, we can close the distance."
"Then we move. Full speed. This ends now."
Taiseki's killing intent crystallized into something tangible, a pressure that made even his own men step back. His scarred face twisted with resolve.
There would be no mercy. No surrender.
Only victory or death.
---
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