Iwagakure, west city wall.
The ground trembled. The sound of thousands of shinobi charging forward was deafening.
Smoke and killing intent mixed in the air, obscuring the morning light.
Ōnoki floated at the highest point of the wall, his small figure unmoving amidst the rolling black smoke.
His gaze pierced through the battlefield, locking onto two figures among the allied forces.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
One of the Konoha Sannin, Orochimaru.
"They've arrived."
"Prepare to meet the enemy!"
Behind the battlements, two thousand five hundred Iwa shinobi roared. Their voices carried fear, anger, and unyielding determination.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Rumble!
Thick earth walls rose from the ground, layer upon layer, like tombstones erected in advance.
As a mobile unit, Orochimaru didn't simply stand by. He immediately ordered his shinobi to unleash long-range Ninjutsu to strike first and set an example for Suna.
And so...
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Hundreds of blazing fireballs trailed long fiery tails as they rained down like a fiery torrent on the earth walls.
Rumble!
Explosions merged into a continuous roar. The surging heatwaves curled the hair of the Iwa shinobi on the wall.
The earth walls trembled violently. Scorched earth and shattered stones flew everywhere. Each strike further eroded Iwagakure's defenses.
Rasa watched calmly, then raised his hand.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Rain!"
Countless particles of gold dust poured down. Each was infused with chakra, possessing powerful penetration, and furiously battered the earth walls.
A harsh grinding sound erupted. The surface of the walls, which had just withstood the fireball barrage, was scraped away, leaving behind countless cracks.
"Hold on! Keep pouring chakra in!"
Kitsuchi stood atop the wall, wiping away blood from his face, splattered there by flying debris, and roared at the top of his lungs.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
More Iwa shinobi channeled chakra into the ground, raising new earthen walls.
Rising.
Cracking.
Collapsing.
Rising again.
The western front had fallen into a pure war of attrition from the very beginning.
Chakra and lives were being consumed at an alarming rate... within the allied formation.
The battle had dragged on for two hours. Though the wall ahead had been battered repeatedly, it still held firm.
Rasa's patience was wearing thin.
"Orochimaru." He turned his head, voice laced with killing intent. "Have your men provide Ninjutsu support. I'll take care of the rest."
He didn't intend to send Konoha's mobile unit to the front lines for support. After all, the other two fronts were being handled entirely by Konoha.
It was impossible for Konoha to carry the entire battle.
Otherwise, once Iwagakure fell, they would have no justification for asking for a share of the spoils.
"No problem, Rasa-kun." Orochimaru licked his lips. His golden slit pupils shimmered with pleasure.
Rasa nodded, then shouted to the deputy behind him.
"Puppet unit, full assault!"
"Wind Release unit, coordinate with the Konoha forces and apply pressure on the wall!"
"Fill the gap with bodies! Blast it open with Puppets! Before sunset today, I want to be standing on that wall!"
The Suna deputy's body trembled. He stammered, "Rasa-sama... if we go all-in, the casualties will..."
"I know!" Rasa interrupted coldly. "War means death."
"Carry out the order!"
"...Yes!"
The deputy shivered and turned to relay the command.
Soon after, within the Suna formation, hundreds of Puppet Masters stepped forward.
Their fingers moved rapidly, forming ethereal blue chakra threads that connected to Puppets unsealed from scrolls on their backs.
"Puppet Secret Technique!"
Hundreds of Puppets, each with unique designs, let out mechanical clicking sounds.
Some were equipped with poisonous senbon. Others had blades for arms. Many more had explosive tags embedded in their chests.
"Charge!"
The Puppets, moving stiffly, rushed toward the battered city wall.
"It's the Puppet unit!"
Kitsuchi's pupils contracted. "Watch out for poison! Prepare to meet the attack—"
Before he could finish.
Boom!
Dozens of Puppets at the front didn't even try to climb the wall. Instead, they self-destructed, crashing violently into the earth wall.
The explosion blasted smoke dozens of meters into the air. The shockwave sent several Iwa shinobi flying, bleeding from all seven orifices.
A massive gap was blasted open in the wall.
"Damn it!" Kitsuchi's expression changed drastically. "Medical unit! Wind Release team, disperse the poison mist!"
But Suna's attack didn't stop.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
"Wind Release: Great Vacuum Sphere!"
Just as Iwa's Wind Release shinobi were preparing to form hand seals, Konoha and Suna's teams had already completed their combined technique.
Wind Release and Fire Release merged into a death net, instantly enveloping the area near the breach.
Rumble!
Thump, thump!
Explosions and slicing wind filled the air.
An Iwa Jōnin, who had just started organizing his team to fill the breach, was instantly cut in half by a wind blade.
His shocked expression hadn't even frozen before a Great Fireball followed up, blasting his upper body into pieces.
Blood sprayed from the remains, dyeing the wall a dark crimson.
In a single moment, over a dozen Iwa shinobi were killed by the combined Ninjutsu barrage.
"Bastards!"
Kitsuchi's eyes turned blood-red, like a maddened beast.
"All units, counterattack!"
"Earth Release: Rock Bullet Technique!"
He slammed his palms into the ground. Rock bullets shot out from the city wall, thundering toward the Suna formation.
Rasa didn't move.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!"
A massive black iron sand wall rose from the earth, easily blocking the incoming projectiles.
"Attack."
Rasa's voice was cold and calm.
"Do not stop."
Once the killing machine was set in motion, it could not be stopped.
Suna shinobi, stepping over the shattered remains of Puppets and the corpses of their comrades, surged forward like a flood, desperately charging into the breach.
On the city wall, corpses were piling up.
Blood seeped through the cracks in the stone, trickling downward in streams.
The western front had become a brutal meat grinder.
High above, Ōnoki clenched his fists tightly.
His eyes reflected the horrific sight on the wall, where countless comrades were being torn apart by Ninjutsu.
Watching his people fall one after another, Ōnoki felt a deep ache in his chest.
"Kitsuchi..." he whispered, voice trembling, "Can you... hold on?"
Below, Kitsuchi seemed to hear his father's voice. He wiped the blood from his lips with a stained hand and looked up toward the sky.
"Father!" He shouted firmly. "Don't worry!"
"Iwagakure's wall won't fall so easily!"
Looking at his son's youthful but resolute face, at the flame burning in those eyes so much like his own.
"Good." Ōnoki nodded with effort. "Then I leave this place to you."
Ōnoki wanted to join the battle as well, but the other two fronts were also in danger.
He couldn't afford to send more forces here.
Kitsuchi turned back. Facing the breach where Suna shinobi were pouring in, he pressed his hands together as all of his chakra erupted.
"You want to break through here?"
"Then use your corpses to rebuild this wall!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Fortress!"
Boom!
An enormous wall, even taller and thicker than before, surged from the ground.
It completely enveloped, crushed, and sealed off the breach, burying the Suna shinobi inside and outside it.
"Roar ahhh!"
The Iwa shinobi erupted in an earth-shaking roar.
Behind them, there was no retreat.
Because behind them was their home.
(To be continued.)