In the forest not far from the other side of the camp, a Konoha jōnin watched coldly as the camp ahead blazed with roaring flames, chaos engulfing every corner.
"It's time!" the jōnin barked, snapping his hand forward. The blazing firelight reflected off the Leaf headband on his forehead. A signal flare shot into the sky and burst into bright light.
The Sunagakure shinobi who had charged into the camp froze, looking up at the exploding flare overhead.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Before the flare's sound faded, the sharp hiss of air being split came from all sides. Countless kunai shot out from the thick smoke and flames, striking the shinobi ahead—many were instantly skewered like pincushions.
In the next moment, over a hundred Konoha shinobi who had been guarding the convoy erupted from the ground, from tents, and from the surrounding trees, surrounding the invading enemy. The stunned attackers were caught completely off guard—within seconds, dozens of them had already fallen.
"Damn! It's a trap!" a Sunagakure shinobi shouted in panic—only to have the words cut short when a Leaf shinobi's blade sliced into the back of his neck.
Chaos spread among the Sand forces. Unsure of how many Leaf shinobi had come at them, many began to waver, cries of fear ringing through the battlefield.
Konoha's forces, however, remained calm and coordinated, moving in small squads, striking down targets in perfect rhythm, and slowly tightening the encirclement like a closing net.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!""Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Two Konoha shinobi unleashed their jutsu in tandem. The wind fanned the flames into a roaring inferno, engulfing several Sand shinobi ahead. Only two burning silhouettes remained, staggering and screaming in the sea of fire.
"Lightning Release: Earth Current!"
A shinobi slammed his palm to the ground after weaving hand seals. Lightning-aspected chakra surged down his arm, sparking across the earth in a spreading net of electricity. Several nearby Sand shinobi convulsed, unable to move. Two of his allies darted in, finishing them off with kunai to the heart.
Though taking heavy casualties, the Sunagakure attackers slowly regained their composure and began desperately trying to break through—cornered beasts fighting for their lives.
The Sand's ambush force had originally outnumbered Konoha's guard force by nearly three to one. Even after losing more than eighty men, it was still difficult for Konoha's hundred shinobi to completely wipe them out.
Deeper inside the camp, several Leaf shinobi surrounded two enemies—Sunagakure chūnin fighting back-to-back, covering each other so well that Konoha couldn't break their defense.
"Jirō, can you still hold on?" one asked his companion without looking away from the enemy before him.
"Big brother, I won't fall!" Jirō's eyes were resolute.
"Then we brothers will die here today! Jirō, you—"
The older shinobi's words cut off in shock as he felt a kunai drive into his side. He turned his head in disbelief to see Jirō smiling faintly, almost mocking his ignorance.
"Traitor! Die!"
Furious, he mustered the last of his strength, plunging his own kunai into Jirō's chest with savage satisfaction.
But as the blade struck, Jirō's expression shifted to confusion. "Brother? Why… you…?" His words died with him.
The surviving Sand shinobi frowned, baffled—but with no strength left to think, he collapsed beside his brother's body.
Not far away, Yamanaka Haiichi—slumped beside Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chōza—suddenly opened his eyes and smiled. "I just took out two with Mind Transfer Jutsu."
"Be careful, Haiichi," Shikaku warned. "If the body you control gets injured, your real body will suffer too."
"It's fine. I released the technique the moment they attacked," Haiichi said confidently.
Chōza stepped forward. "Then it's time for the Ino–Shika–Chō formation to join in!"
The three nodded and charged. Ahead, over a dozen enemies were holding off Konoha's assault to cover their comrades' retreat. Shikaku moved closer, the firelight casting long shadows.
"Shadow Imitation Technique!"
His shadow stretched, splitting into more than a dozen tendrils that raced across the ground toward the enemies. Four managed to leap clear, but the rest were caught in his grasp.
"Ninja Art: Mind Confusion Technique!"
The ones who had evaded the shadow froze in mid-celebration as Haiichi's jutsu took hold.
"Damn it—my body won't obey!"
Their limbs twisted against their will, turning toward each other as they drove kunai into one another's hearts.
"Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
Chōza's arm swelled to massive size. With a single sideways swing—like a baseball bat—he sent Shikaku's captured enemies flying dozens of meters, their lives ended before they hit the ground. With two more crushing swats, he flattened the remaining distant enemies. In under two minutes, the entire group was gone.
Meanwhile, at the camp's front gate, several Sunagakure shinobi fought desperately to carve a bloody escape route through the same entrance they had used to attack.
"Retreat!" their leader commanded, and the group bolted, sprinting hundreds of meters without pursuit.
"Ha… did we make it?"
But one of them froze. The trees, rocks, soil—everywhere along the path—were covered with hundreds of explosive tags.
"It's a trap! Get—"
The word wasn't finished before the tags detonated.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Blinding light swallowed them, the massive blasts echoing through the forest. A towering fireball roared skyward, shockwaves snapping trees in half. When the smoke cleared, a crater fifteen meters wide scarred the ground.
Those slower to escape stumbled to their feet, trembling. "That was… terrifying…"
"There's worse to come!"
A voice spoke from within their group. Four survivors turned in alarm, realizing a small, lean figure had appeared right in their midst without them noticing.
"Gentle Fist: Thirty-Six Death Points—Heavenly Spin Execution!"
Hinata Haruki's Byakugan was fully activated. His right foot pressed into the ground and his body spun at incredible speed, the motion echoing the Hakkeshō Kaiten.
His hands became a blur, twin fingers stabbing in every direction. The barrage of strikes left only afterimages in the air.
"Feishu! Jueyin! Xinshu! Shenshu! Mingmen! Zhishi! Qihai! Weilyu! Baihui! Shenting! Taiyō! Jimen! Jingming! Renzhong! Yamen! Fūchi! Ninyō! Kenkei! Taiyuan! Ashi no Sanri! Sanyinjō! Yongsen! Danchū! Jiubi! Jūque! Shinketsu! Qihai! Kangen! Chūkyoku! Kyokkotsu! Eagle Window! Ruchū! Rukon! Kimon! Shōmon! Shōkyoku!"
Each name marked a death point—his fingers lancing with pinpoint bursts of blue chakra.
When Haruki suddenly halted, the afterimages faded. The four enemies stood frozen like wooden dolls. Without pausing, Haruki vanished with a Body Flicker, reappearing before another enemy.
"Damn it—don't underestimate a Suna shinobi!" the man shouted, slashing with his kunai. But Haruki had already read the movement, deflecting with his left hand and driving his right palm forward.
"Gentle Fist: Five-Finger Heart Piercer!"
The strike seemed light, but each finger had targeted the heart's vital nodes, severing autonomic nerves and disrupting the sinoatrial node.
The man froze, face twisting in pain before collapsing. At the same time, the four earlier targets spat blood and dropped dead.
Haruki's Thirty-Six Death Points—Heavenly Spin Execution was his own creation—blending the rotation of Kaiten with the multi-directional assault of Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms to strike the death points of all enemies around him.
Nearby, Aburame Shibi unleashed Secret Technique: Insect Sphere, his swarm devouring several enemies to nothing. Uzumaki Mizuki felled the last with Gentle Fist, joining Haruki.
Looking at the crater, Haruki whistled. "Shibi, your bug army's amazing—planting all those explosive tags too."
Shibi adjusted his sunglasses. "They are my secret legion."
Mizuki smiled at Haruki. "Good thing you spotted the enemy in time and acted—otherwise, who knows what could've happened." Haruki nodded.
…
Hours earlier, after Mizuki rested, Haruki had activated his Byakugan for the eighth time that day. Something was off—no animals nearby. Underground, faint chakra flows betrayed hidden foes.
He had discovered the ambush before the camp was built and alerted the others. To avoid tipping their hand, he'd simply said, "Looks clear," while the real plan was set in motion.
Shikaku had predicted an enemy attack around 3 or 4 a.m., so everyone conserved chakra and stamina, while Shibi's insects kept watch.
Most of Konoha's main force had been hidden from the start, with decoys in camp—substitution dummies at posts, shadow clones patrolling, and empty supply crates in the tents. The cries of pain were an act.
When the Sand forces struck, they were caught in the kill zone, suffering massive losses. But with their numbers still high, Haruki deliberately let some break out—straight into Shibi's minefield of explosive tags. The survivors were then cleaned up by Haruki, Shibi, and Mizuki.
Now, only half the enemy remained within the shrinking circle. Konoha's hundred shinobi could finish the job.
…
Elsewhere, a shadowy figure watching the distant blaze stiffened at the sound of a massive blast.
"Go see what happened!"
"Yes, sir!"
One of seven silhouettes vanished and returned moments later, kneeling. "Lord, we've fallen into Konoha's trap. Our forces are surrounded!"
"Damn! So they've found us… Looks like we jōnin will have to join the fight. For the Kazekage! If we fail, we won't escape death even if we return!"
"Yes, sir!"
These were the Kazekage's personal jōnin guards—failure meant disgrace and execution.
Suddenly, the reporting shinobi leapt at the leader, kunai slicing his throat. Blood poured as the man collapsed.
"Lord!" the others cried in shock, lashing out. The assassin didn't dodge, letting a blade pierce his chest even as his kunai slit another's artery—both falling dead together.
"What the hell is this—?!" the five survivors gasped.
From the dead attacker's body rose a translucent, glowing figure surrounded by a soft blue aura—its lower half fading into a ribbon of light.
The Spirit Transformation Technique—Katō Dan.