The battlefield was a scarred expanse, marred by craters. Ash hung heavy in the air, mingling with the acrid scent of burning earth.
A low, constant crackle of burning underbrush echoed faintly across the expanse, blending with the laboured breaths and shifting of sandaled feet. Occasional coughs broke out among the Uchiha as the smoke thickened, stinging eyes and parching throats.
Uchiha Kazuki, a seasoned Jonin with raven-black hair tied tightly behind his head and Sharingan eyes spinning furiously, stood amidst the chaos, his chest heaving as he surveyed the devastation around him. His flak vest was scorched, bits of smouldering fabric clinging to his sleeves. His thoughts were a whirlwind of frustration and disbelief.
'Why was I assigned to this mission?' he thought bitterly, fingers flexing by his side. 'This isn't a battle—it's a goddamn massacre.'
The source of his despair loomed in the distance, backlit by a torrent of lava that hissed and bubbled as it cooled into jagged black rock. Shibuki of the Lightning as he was mostly known in the data book. His chakra radiated through the battlefield like a furnace's breath—oppressive, relentless, and inescapable.
Shibuki stood with his arms outstretched, steam rising in waves from his skin. His eyes glowed with fervour. A high-ranking jonin of Kumogakure, Shibuki wasn't just a shinobi—he was a natural disaster in human form. And today, he was the Uchiha's executioner.
Without warning, Shibuki's voice rang out, harsh and guttural. "Lava Release: Planet-Branding Blast!"
"Boom!"
The ground beneath their feet groaned and split as Shibuki slammed his palms into the earth. From the gash he created, molten acid geysered upward in a towering arc. The liquid seethed and glistened in the hazy light, like the blood of the earth itself had been drawn and weaponized.
"Scatter!" Kazuki shouted, leaping back just as the lava splashed down "sssssssshhhhhh!"
The ground sizzled, belching plumes of steam that rolled across the field in ghostly waves. Stone and steel melted like wax under the onslaught. Screams—high, sharp, and agonizing—cut through the air as several unlucky Uchiha were caught in the blast, their forms writhing before they collapsed into smoking craters.
Kazuki skidded to a halt behind a blackened boulder, his eyes wide. This is madness. 'We're not fighting a shinobi. We're facing a goddamn calamity.'
"Form up!" he barked, pushing down his rising panic. "We need to coordinate! Get into formation—left and right flanks—don't go solo!"
The Uchiha responded with trained precision, snapping into a V-formation as their Sharingan eyes locked onto the raging figure of Shibuki. Red irises gleamed like bloody mirrors in the gloom, their tomoe spinning in unison. Symbols of their clan, their pride, and their impending doom.
Fireballs and lightning bolts surged forward in tandem, tearing through the smoky air with a crack-BOOM, illuminating the gloom in sharp bursts of orange and violet. But Shibuki moved like flowing magma—impossibly swift and fluid.
A deep inhale. A curling of lips.
"Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique!"
A torrential stream of viscous quicklime burst from his mouth, arcing across the battlefield like a tsunami of paste. It crashed into the terrain and Uchiha attacks alike, neutralizing fireballs and static bursts with a sticky splort.
As the quicklime mixed with moisture in the air, it hardened in seconds—becoming concrete barriers that jutted from the earth like jagged teeth, blocking line of sight and cutting off Uchiha squads from each other.
"Damn it! He's isolating us!" Kazuki growled, forming a half-seal and leaping to higher ground. He landed atop a twisted tree trunk, barely keeping his footing as the charred wood crumbled beneath him. "Stay together! Don't let him split us up!"
Before the squad could reconfigure their strategy, Shibuki moved again, his chakra spiking like a warning bell in Kazuki's senses.
"Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock Technique!" the Kumo jonin roared.
His mouth expanded unnaturally wide, glowing with molten energy. A surge of lava burst forth, shaping mid-air into massive boulders of molten rock, glowing orange at their core and trailing streams of smoke and embers.
"Scatter!" Kazuki cried, his eyes widening.
"Boom!"
The first boulder struck the ground near their formation, exploding in a shockwave of heat and concussive force. Trees splintered like matchsticks. The earth cracked violently, sending chunks of dirt and rock flying in all directions. More boulders rained down in succession, each detonating with terrifying power—KRAK-KRACKOOM!
Kazuki leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding a direct hit. The boulder landed where he'd stood a second before, reducing it to a scorched crater. The intense heat singed his cloak, setting the hem ablaze. He dropped and rolled instinctively, dousing the flames before springing to his feet, heart pounding in his chest like a war drum.
To his left, a younger Uchiha barely escaped a falling boulder, only to be clipped by a wave of molten shrapnel. He screamed as his right arm was scorched to the bone. Another Jonin wasn't so lucky—his scream was cut short as a flaming rock crushed him instantly, leaving only a charred imprint and a trail of smoke.
Kazuki turned back to his remaining squadmates, his voice firm despite the rising panic. "We can't sustain this. Fall back! Regroup beyond the ridge!"
His order was met with hesitation. The Uchiha were proud, unaccustomed to retreat. But pride meant nothing in the face of an opponent who fought like the wrath of nature itself. One by one, they began to retreat, vanishing into the smoke and ash, using Fire and Wind Style to create a cover and propel themselves backwards.
Shibuki watched them with a predator's gaze. His lips curled into a smile that held no warmth—only bloodlust.
"You think you can escape?" he sneered. His hands weaved through hand seals, movements swift and practised. "Lava Release: Rubber Rope!"
From his forearms burst streams of rubberized lava, thick and sinuous like serpents. The ropes snapped forward with terrifying speed—SHRAK!—and latched onto fleeing Uchiha.
"NO!" Kazuki shouted.
One Jonin screamed as the molten rope wrapped around his torso, melting through his armour with a sickening hisssss. Another rope coiled around a retreating chūnin's ankle, yanking him off his feet and slamming him face-first into the ground before dragging him screaming back toward Shibuki. The lava burned through flesh with agonizing efficiency, the air filled with the stench of scorched meat and the echo of desperate cries.
Kazuki's hands trembled. "He's toying with us…"
His Sharingan spun faster, feeding off his emotion, his desperation, his hate. He summoned a surge of chakra, fire blooming in his lungs.
"Fire Style: Majestic Flame Barrage!"
A cascade of massive fireballs erupted from his mouth, racing across the battlefield toward Shibuki like a meteor storm. The heat scorched the air itself, trees bursting into flame as the jutsu lit up the field in roaring orange light.
But Shibuki didn't flinch.
He slammed his palm to the ground. "Lava Release: Rubber Wall!"
A massive torrent of lava surged up, then hardened rapidly into a towering, rubbery barricade. Kazuki's flames slammed into the wall—WHOOMPH!—and were absorbed into the elastic surface, dispersing harmlessly into smoke and flickering cinders.
Kazuki's eyes widened in horror. "He's… adapting. Every attack is being countered with minimal effort."
Shibuki stepped through the dissipating flames, unscathed, like a demon born of fire and ash. His hands clenched into fists, which began to glow—first orange, then white-hot.
"Lava Release: Scorching Armoured Fist."
He blurred forward with impossible speed, leaving a trail of melted ground in his wake.
"Watch out!" Kazuki yelled.
An Uchiha chūnin tried to intercept him with a lightning-fast kunai slash, but Shibuki's lava-coated fist collided with the blade—CLANGGG!—shattering it into molten shards before smashing into the chūnin's chest.
THUD! The man flew backwards like a broken doll, his ribs shattered.
Kazuki dropped to his knees behind a scorched boulder, shielding his face as another round of molten rocks rained down around him. His Sharingan picked out dozens of movement trails—many of them ending suddenly.
Too many.
Around him, bodies twitched in agony or lay still. Ashes floated like black snow.
Kazuki's heart twisted in his chest.
'This is a slaughter…'
He closed his eyes for the briefest moment, trying to suppress the despair that threatened to choke him. Through the haze of agony, he reached deeper into his chakra reserves, pouring it into his vision, and expanding his field of perception.
His Sharingan burned.
"We need to hold him off… just until reinforcements arrive…" he whispered. "If we don't… none of us will make it back."
But the thought felt hollow. Reinforcements? From where? Who could even stand up to this monster?
They had already sent the call for reinforcements but Kazuki wasn't so sure they would make it in time.
Kazuki's thoughts drifted, almost involuntarily, to the other mission underway.
'The Kiri team… They're supposed to be handling the other one. The other Kumo monster.'
His jaw clenched. A bitter taste filled his mouth—fear. Despair.
'If he's anything like Shibuki… if he's even close…'
He didn't finish the thought.
A final boulder of lava exploded behind him, blasting him forward with the force of the shockwave. He tumbled across the scorched earth, coughing violently, ears ringing.
He forced himself upright, blood trickling from his temple.
Around him, fewer than twenty Uchiha still stood—and even fewer were uninjured.
Their formation was broken. Their morale was shattered. And Shibuki hadn't even broken a sweat.
Kazuki glared through the smoke, eyes blazing red.
But deep down… he knew.
They were hanging on by threads. And unless the tide turned—soon—they would all be burned away.
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