On the battlefield, Konoha's shinobi froze in despair when they saw a force suddenly appear behind them."Our retreat is cut off! We're going to die here!"
The Sunagakure shinobi, however, were ecstatic, their offensive growing fiercer."Keep going! Chase down the Konoha shinobi!"
And then—the final straw that would break the camel's back arrived.
Nearly a thousand figures crested the dune behind Konoha's forces, looking down at the chaotic battle below. Konoha's shinobi had already steeled themselves to die, but those figures charged down the slope toward them, the forehead protectors on their brows gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight.
When the glare faded, everyone could finally see the engraved symbol clearly—it was the leaf of Konoha!
(BGM: "Shutsujin" by Takanashi Yasuharu)
At the very front charged Hinata Haruki, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Chōza, Yamanaka Haiichi, Aburame Shibi, and Hinata Mizuki. Haruki's short frame stood out among them, a confident grin on his face."Heh… we made it in time!"
Chiyo, Ebizō, and Karuro went rigid."W–What's going on here?! Where's our flanking unit?! Where did they go?!"
The truth was, when Haruki sensed a sandstorm approaching, he immediately rallied the 420-man Reconnaissance Unit he had organized, then pulled in the 500-strong interception squad that had been preparing to cut off Konoha's retreat.
Once they weathered the worst of the sandstorm, Haruki used his Byakugan to gauge when it was ending. Shikaku then led the combined 920 shinobi to strike first, using the Recon Unit's exceptional sensory skills to swiftly and decisively wipe out the thousand-strong Suna flanking force that was still sheltering from the wind and sand.
Without pause, they raced to the main battlefield, becoming the decisive weight that tipped the scales.
From the start, Haruki's plan in forming the Recon Unit had been to create a hidden reserve force—ready to assemble instantly and enter the fray if the battle turned, shaping the outcome entirely.
Tsunade and Hatake Sayun broke into smiles, while Ebizō, Chiyo, and Karuro's expressions darkened.
"It's reinforcements! Our reinforcements are here!"
Konoha's morale returned in an instant. The panic faded from their eyes, while Suna's shinobi felt dread sink in—where was their own backup?
Haruki took in the scene before him, face grave."Then… let's win this battle."
"Charge! Claim victory!"
Nearly a thousand Konoha shinobi surged forward. Those who had been scattered quickly regrouped, joining Haruki's charge straight into Suna's ranks.
(BGM: "Dōten" by Takanashi Yasuharu)
Chōza bit down on a green, round pill."Secret Medicine—Green Spinach Pill… Time to go all out! Multi-Size Technique!"
His already stout frame swelled several times over, becoming a small giant over eight meters tall. He leapt high and crashed down in the densest knot of Suna shinobi.
Boom! Sand exploded in all directions, several enemies flung through the air.
"Super Open Hand Slap!" Chōza's hands—now the size of carts—slammed down on the ground.
Thoom! The earth quaked, the ground splitting apart. A dozen enemies were hurled away—some fell into the fissures, others were crushed outright.
With a sweeping motion of his massive hands, he batted away several more Suna shinobi like flies, their screams fading as they sailed off.
Shikaku landed in the giant's shadow, scanning around."Eleven enemies in range! Shadow Imitation Technique!"
Dozens of shadow tendrils shot out in every direction, freezing all the enemies in place.
"Shadow Strangle Technique!" The captured shadows solidified into phantom hands that reached for enemy throats, tightening to kill.
"Damn it! Stop them!" More Suna shinobi rushed in.
"You won't!" Haiichi vaulted onto Chōza's shoulder, palms open, one facing up and one down."Ninja Art—Mind Confusion Dance!"
Within the jutsu's range, the shinobi caught by Shikaku's shadow suddenly turned, drew kunai, and stabbed their would-be rescuers. In moments, over a dozen had slaughtered each other.
Within minutes, Chōza's surroundings were cleared—no enemy dared approach within twenty meters. Then, with another thunderous leap, he dropped into another packed cluster of Suna shinobi.
"This is absurd!" one Suna ninja groaned.
"Attack quickly! Don't let those three use their secret techniques—go!" Dozens of shinobi leapt toward them.
"Persistent lot… such a pain." Shikaku shook his head, forming hand seals."Shadow Sewing—Black Spider Lily!"
From his position, countless shadow threads shot outward, then sharpened and speared into the air, skewering every leaping Suna shinobi and pinning them there. From above, the black threads formed a blooming spider lily—its petals now stained red.
The surviving Suna shinobi froze, horrified. Those who weren't skewered were sent flying by Chōza's massive hands.
Meanwhile, three middle-aged Suna jōnin charged at Haruki from different angles."Die, brat!"
"Heh, do you think I'm some easy mark?" Haruki's brows drew together, both palms curling as chakra swirled rapidly into them. In an instant, he thrust his palms outward in opposite directions—two bursts of compressed chakra slammed into the oncoming enemies.
"Eight Trigrams—Linked Vacuum Palms: Split!"
The pair struck invisible walls mid-run, their chests crushed inward with a sickening crack! as chakra shattered their organs. They flew back lifeless.
"Damn! This kid's a monster!" The third attacker faltered and tried to retreat.
"Trying to run?" Even without his Byakugan, Haruki could read his intent. With a Body Flicker, he appeared before the man, pressing a light palm to his abdomen.
"Gentle Fist—Five Elements Shattering Palm! Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—Break!"
The strike seemed almost gentle, but the man immediately clutched his stomach, vomiting blood before collapsing dead.
Haruki alone knew the truth—in that moment, he had sent chakra pulses into each of the man's five vital organs, matching the body's own rhythmic frequency to induce deadly internal resonance. His palm had seemed soft, but its lethality was several times that of a standard Gentle Fist strike.
Watching Haruki dispatch three enemies in an instant, the surrounding Suna shinobi realized this unassuming boy was not to be trifled with.
"Don't let them advance—they're few in number!" a Suna captain yelled, leading a squad to intercept.
"Yes, we are few…" Haruki smiled faintly, gathering dense chakra into both palms before thrusting them forward at the shouting captain dozens of meters away.
"Eight Trigrams—Linked Vacuum Palms: Unite!"
Two compressed blasts merged into a single, far larger one, a roaring cylinder of air and chakra ripping through the battlefield.
BOOM—rumble…! The captain vanished in the blast, his body shattered along with every enemy in the direct path, leaving a deep scar gouged into the sand.
"That's like the Hyūga's combination Eight Trigrams Air Wall Palm—but he's doing it alone!" Mizuki thought, stunned.
The effect was immediate—seeing their leader obliterated, the squad froze.
"Hmph, if they won't advance—Mizuki-neesan, let's go!" Haruki and Mizuki pushed forward, Mizuki guarding his flank with precise Gentle Fist strikes, Haruki's fingers flicking out to paralyze opponents without killing them, leaving them for capture.
In no time, the pair had disabled over a dozen enemies.
The surge of 900-plus Konoha shinobi, combined with Suna's collapsing morale, stalled the enemy's momentum. Konoha quickly regrouped, snowballing in strength as more regained fighting capability.
Without realizing it, Konoha had gone from chaos to full counterattack—while Suna became the hapless prey beneath the avalanche.
Driven onto the defensive, the Suna forces bled casualties until their lines began to break.
"Attack!""For our fallen comrades!""Kill them!"
Konoha shinobi pursued relentlessly, hurling jutsu into enemy clusters, scattering their formations, then closing to brutal close combat.
"Hold the line! Don't fall back!" a Suna captain roared—just as a fist the size of a melon filled his vision.
BAM! Tsunade's punch distorted the very air, sending him flying across half the battlefield, dead before he hit the ground.
"Counterattack!" she ordered, sweeping her arm forward.
The Konoha ranks surged, fury blazing in their eyes as they cut down their enemies without mercy.
"Take this!" Hatake Sayun leapt high, the White Fang blade in his hand crackling with fierce blue lightning."Lightning Release—Wolf Pack Dance!"
Driving the blade into the sand, lightning exploded outward, blindingly bright."Retreat!" Chiyo and Ebizō cried, leaping back.
Six massive arcs of lightning coalesced into wolf-shaped beasts that howled and pounced on the surrounding Suna elites.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! When the light and thunder faded, only charred corpses and shattered puppets remained.
In the next instant, Sayun was at Chiyo's side."Too fast—!" she gasped.
The White Fang's blade flashed, severing the remaining arm of her bull-headed puppet, then slicing the construct into quarters.
With the Ten Puppet Squad in ruins and Ebizō out of replacements, even Chiyo herself was now exposed.
"Damn you!" Chiyo snarled, clutching her arm.
Sayun leveled the blade at her, voice cold."Sunagakure has lost."
The words chilled her to the core.
"Sister, we can't hold out! If we don't retreat now, we'll all die—go!" Ebizō yanked her back with chakra strings, tossing down smoke bombs as they fled.
The Suna army… had been utterly routed.