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Smoke and dust flew everywhere.
The piercing shouts of battle mixed with the sounds of Ninjutsu release, the earth-shaking artillery fire rattled eardrums, and the rumbling low hums and piercing screams seemed to bore directly into the brains of every Ninja present. The swift and sharp spearhead of the Ninja army had already fragmented extensively from the distant forest, with Iwagakure Ninja rushing towards the Konoha Ninja army like fearless machines, their faces expressionless.
They braved the artillery fire and Kunai, seemingly feeling no pain at all, like machines.
Sawara Kiri stood atop a small hill to the south, looking down at the scene. While maintaining his full sensory perception, his expression was incredibly solemn.
All the faces reflected in his Six Eyes were devoid of any expression.
Since receiving the news yesterday, the Konoha higher-ups realized the seriousness of the situation and led their reserve Ninja armies from Konoha to the front lines.
The unit led by Sawara Kiri was an elite force with over eighty percent Ninja High School graduates, and their marching speed was the fastest.
However, by the time they appeared at the second line of defense, they had already witnessed the Iwagakure—no, it should be the Moon Organization's combat cluster—breaking through the first line of defense from a distance and directly penetrating into the heart of the Land of Fire.
According to the news they received, the Moon Organization's army was currently advancing in three routes, flanking from the directions of Taki, Iwa, and Kusa.
Besides the Land of Fire, news of attacks also came from the Land of Lightning.
Due to the three-country alliance jointly resisting Konoha, Kumogakure had very few sea scouts. The western coastal area faced almost no resistance and was directly breached by the sudden attack of the Moon Organization.
Furthermore, with the Fourth Raikage's recent passing, Kumogakure Village was leaderless. They were forced to bring out several old generals who were preparing for retirement to maintain the situation. It was a time of extreme internal and external troubles, making it impossible to form any decent resistance. The overall war situation was one-sided, and it was said that the Land of Lightning's Daimyo was furious, even smashing a cup in his mansion.
However, Konoha currently had no time to concern itself with the situation in the Land of Lightning.
They themselves were equally shaken.
"Sawara!"
"A message from the Land of Earth front line: the bunker complex has been breached, Commander Akimichi Torifu has fallen in battle, over 1,300 Ninja troops have been killed, and the majority of the remaining forces are retreating towards the interior of the country, with over a thousand pursuers."
"The enemy forces from Takigakure's direction have broken through the defense lines and are continuing south."
"Sawara…"
The constant news pouring into the command tent gave Sawara Kiri a headache. He even wondered what these people were doing; were the exoskeletons and Chakra Cannons made of mud to retreat so quickly?
However, when he saw the detailed reports laid out on the table, he fell silent.
It wasn't that their allies were incompetent; it was that the enemy was utterly reckless.
According to reports from the front, all enemy Ninja forces appearing before them carried at least forty kilograms of explosive sealing tags, which translates to at least six hundred explosive tags. Neither bunkers nor defense lines could withstand such explosions. Any Chakra Cannon that opened fire would be jointly attacked and destroyed by dozens of enemy demolition squads. Their attack method was also classic: using the Ninjas' superhuman speed to directly rush into areas with many Konoha Ninja, igniting the explosives immediately when within ten meters of their targets, and continuously clearing paths with their self-detonations, making it impossible for the Konoha side to engage them in close combat.
From the First to the Second Great Ninja War, Konoha Ninja had never seen such suicidal tactics.
A thousand-strong suicide squad—could that even be stopped?
No matter how well-trained the Konoha Ninja were, except for the Hyuga squads capable of long-range sniping, others facing such a unit head-on were completely ineffective.
"…"
"That crazy woman."
"Doesn't she fear exhausting her Chakra source?"
Sawara Kiri looked at the casualty reports and retreat requests, grimacing.
Throughout the entire Ninja World, perhaps only someone like Uchiha Hikari, who had lived from the Sengoku period until now, and had spent many years as the Uchiha's ultimate weapon, completely disregarding Ninja lives, could achieve such a degree.
More importantly, until now, they had found no information related to Uchiha Hikari whatsoever.
Facing such a Ninja army that completely disregarded their own lives, only eliminating their leader could have a real effect.
Just as he was contemplating how to deal with these puppet armies, Sawara Kiri suddenly seemed to sense something and abruptly looked up ahead.
At that moment, Kakashi's voice also rang out, urgently saying:
"Sawara!"
"The second wave of attack is here!"
As his Six Eyes' vision expanded, he saw tiny figures, like scattered dust, suddenly emerging from the dense forest that served as Konoha's border zone.
Thousands of Iwagakure Ninja, fearless of death, charged directly towards the winding trenches ahead. The entire battle line appeared chaotic and spread out, with a considerable distance between each individual.
They seemed to pose no threat at all.
But clearly, the Konoha Ninja did not think so.
The Ninja crouching in the trenches watched the dense figures before them. The Yamanaka Commander, his eyes bloodshot, maintained his hand signs for sensory Ninjutsu, but a hoarse roar escaped his throat first, accompanied by spitting saliva:
"All artillery teams, three-round rapid fire! Prepare!"
"Fire!"
With a roar, clear blue beams of light, spanning several kilometers, shot out like rainbows after a rain, all targeting the central area of the approaching Iwagakure Ninja clusters.
Five Konoha Ninja crouching behind the Chakra Cannons, simultaneously providing Chakra, had cold sweat trickling down their temples, yet they steadfastly maintained their hand signs. The sensory Ninja responsible for calibration had veins throbbing on his forehead.
As the giant cannons roared, explosion points covering dozens of meters in radius erupted almost simultaneously from the surging Moon Organization Ninja army, transforming into beautiful flowers wrapped in blood and fire. The ground beneath their feet seemed to tremble faintly under the synchronized roar of the cannons.
However, the pain- and tear-free Moon Organization Ninja seemed completely oblivious to the gruesome deaths of their comrades around them. The Ninja in the back ranks filled the gaps created by the artillery fire without hesitation, continuing to surge towards the trenches at wide intervals, like a bloody torrent.
"Three hundred meters!"
"Two hundred meters!"
"Earth Release squad, cast Ninjutsu!"
At the command of the frontline officer, dozens of Earth Release squads, in groups of three, quickly stepped forward, forming hand signs together.
"Combined Earth Release: Great Earth Wall!"
The tough, scorched earth rapidly softened into mud under the influence of Chakra, and then, supported by unimaginable power, transformed at an incredibly fast speed into a several-meter-high earth wall along the entire front of the trench, almost completely blocking the forward view, like the Great Wall standing firm.
Only, unfortunately…
"Boom! Boom, boom, boom—!"
Almost at the instant this earth wall formed, a series of piercing muffled sounds simultaneously erupted from various points at the base of the entire barrier.
Low-frequency vibrations and dull drum-like thuds impacted everyone's eardrums. The young Shiranui Genma, crouching in the blood-filled trench, couldn't help but cover his ears, and his pupils involuntarily dilated.
Were they really fighting humans?
He couldn't help but think this in his heart.
In an instant, the sound of collapsing destruction rose from the front.
Corresponding to this were the heart-wrenching roars of the frontline Commanders:
"Open fire!"
The fixed machine guns, originally intended only as fire support weapons, demonstrated immense lethality far beyond their designers' imagination when facing these reckless enemies.
Although the straight trajectory and deafening sound might not seem effective against ordinary Ninja skilled in stealth, they were perfectly suited for these oblivious puppets.
As the fire whips continuously swept forward, large swathes of the Moon Organization Ninja army, charging in scattered formations, exploded like popping beans. The massive amount of explosive sealing tags they carried also detonated with loud bangs as they ignited, leaving scorched craters on the ground.
Unfortunately, the Ninja's speed was still too fast.
From the forest ahead to the Konoha trenches, a full kilometer of open ground, lasted less than twenty seconds under the Moon Organization Ninja's speed.
In an instant, the enemy, like a swarm of locusts, all expressionless, suddenly burst forward. A nearly continuous chain of explosions and wails abruptly filled everyone's minds.
"Die!"
"Fire Release—"
"You monsters."
"Machine gun squad, who told you to stop firing?!"
"Where are the living ones?!"
A chaotic cacophony suddenly enveloped the entire trench. The situation they faced had never appeared in Ninja High School textbooks. They could only rely on their firm will and fragile bodies to directly clash with these fearless monsters before them.
Shiranui Genma, who had been dazed for more than ten seconds, seemed to suddenly regain consciousness, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps beside him.
His heart felt as if it was suddenly squeezed by a large hand, and he instinctively gripped the Kunai at his waist.
With a quick glance, an expressionless figure was reflected in his vision.
'It's over.'
The thought flashed through his mind.
The next moment, a figure enveloped in lightning leaped past him.
"Lightning Release: Purple Electricity!"
The figure, holding a Kunai, sliced past Genma at lightning speed. The blade, sparking with electricity, mercilessly pierced the chest of the Iwagakure Ninja in front of him, then bounced forward at an even faster speed.
Shiranui Genma's body involuntarily paused, and then his head was pressed back into the trench by a large hand.
"Get down."
He heard a familiar voice.
With a roar, the figure with the pierced chest exploded into a burst of blood and fire, like a firework.
It even caused him to temporarily lose his hearing.
However, when he looked up, his face couldn't help but show a trace of shock.
"Sawara!!"
Sawara Kiri stood in front of the trench, his Limitless technique spreading around him, completely blocking the explosive impact before him. He calmly watched the figures surging out like a tide.
Shiranui Genma looked at his back, an indescribable feeling of shock rising in his heart.
He was not the only one who noticed Sawara Kiri.
The few Konoha Ninja in the surrounding trenches, covered in blood and struggling to crawl out from among the corpses, all noticed the man standing like an iron wall in front of the trench. They couldn't help but cry out, their eyes seemingly lighting up.
Just his presence on the front line meant victory.
At this moment, Sawara Kiri could truly be called the spiritual pillar of all Konoha.
However, he himself had no such self-awareness.
Looking at the enemy Ninja horde spreading across the entire kilometer of open ground, he only felt it was somewhat troublesome.
'There's no way to solve this with conventional methods.'
'In that case…'
Sawara Kiri thought, raising his right hand, bending his index finger behind his middle finger, forming a special hand sign.
At the same time, he spoke to the people behind him:
"Relax."
"Don't think about anything."
Shiranui Genma, standing directly behind Sawara Kiri, was startled and instinctively complied.
The next moment.
A pitch-black curtain suddenly expanded outwards in a hemisphere, centered on Sawara Kiri, covering the trenches, the open ground, and half of the forest…
Ultimately, it formed a hemisphere with a radius exceeding one kilometer.
"Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void"
At that instant, a faint whisper echoed in everyone's ears.
However, everyone present, whether Konoha or Iwagakure, had their bodies frozen in place as if time had stopped. No matter how active their minds were, they were completely unable to move.
At the same time, Sawara Kiri's figure shot towards the Iwagakure Ninja in front of him like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Spatial traversal, Shave, Moonwalk, Body Flicker…
All movement abilities, far surpassing ordinary imagination, were unleashed at this moment, at extreme speeds far exceeding bullets, even several times the speed of sound, carrying the precise control unique to the Six Eyes, leaping towards all the Iwagakure Ninja on this open ground.
Sawara Kiri, empowered by 'Limiter Release,' 'Energetic Beast,' and 'Armament Haki,' unleashed power at this moment that far surpassed even Gojo Satoru at his peak. The time it took him to cross the entire one-kilometer front line was less than 0.5 seconds.
The Iwagakure Ninja suicide squad, numbering in the thousands, were as fragile as tofu before him.
Hand strikes, knee strikes, elbow strikes, leg whips…
Every sharp move could instantly take one or even multiple lives.
The immense information overload inherent in Unlimited Void caused everyone to lose themselves, but this impact of countless information, conversely, made Sawara Kiri's every action even more deeply imprinted in the minds of these Konoha Ninja.
In an instant, enveloped in the scorching smoke caused by tearing through the air, Sawara Kiri stopped in the center of the battlefield.
The black domain shattered accordingly.
Kakashi, who was in the middle of a lunging motion on the battlefield, seemed to instantly feel the return of inertia, but his stiff brain couldn't keep up with the change in time, causing him to stumble.
But then, he found himself floating in mid-air.
He looked up and saw Sawara Kiri, letting out a low breath, holding him in mid-air with one hand as if carrying cargo, and he instinctively froze.
And then.
"Boom, rumble, rumble—!!!"
Thousands of explosions suddenly filled his entire auditory range.
His body was almost completely engulfed in flames.
Only when the endless light and fire had completely detonated did he look around, his brain still ringing.
On the ground, only scorched earth remained.
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