Chapter 210: Total Annihilation
Far in the distance, watching the battle reignite, Zetsu turned to ask:
"Yasushi, should we intervene?"
"The Branch House won't be able to hold out."
Yasushi smiled and shook his head.
"If we help them now, we'd only prove they really did collude with outside enemies."
"Then everyone would believe Hiruzen's decision was correct - that these rebellious Branch House members deserved to die."
"Only if we stay out of it and let them be slaughtered to the last man, then afterward reveal that these Branch House members were innocent - only then will their convictions begin to waver."
"Fine, then let's watch the Branch House die." Zetsu turned back to observe, falling silent.
Just as predicted, after Konoha's elite forces joined the battle, the fight quickly became one-sided.
Under their overwhelming pressure, Neji couldn't maintain the Reanimation jutsu any longer. The resurrected bodies finally found release.
"Ah, Neji..." Hizashi looked at his son with complicated emotions, disappearing with a sigh.
Without the reanimated bodies' assistance, the situation deteriorated completely.
"We fight to the death!"
That roar seemed to flip some terrible switch. The Branch House ranks suddenly erupted with howls mixing sobs and mad laughter.
One Branch House shinobi threw himself at an enemy. Facing the incoming attack, he didn't dodge at all - he simply grabbed hold, letting his opponent's blade pierce his body while simultaneously detonating the explosive tags strapped to his chest.
BOOM!
After a thunderous explosion, both bodies were blown to pieces. Blood mist and severed limbs flew everywhere.
Before the blood fog even cleared, three more Branch House members stepped over their comrade's remains, charging toward the next target.
Where they passed, they left behind crimson footprints, each one sticky with pulverized flesh and bone fragments.
"Oh, excellent! Excellent!" Yasushi watched from afar with gleeful excitement, applauding repeatedly.
He sat on a tree branch with his legs dangling, somehow having produced a package of sweet dango. Every time he saw an explosion, he took a bite, sweet red bean paste dripping down his chin.
"Zetsu, quickly give them more explosive tags. Let's see more human bombs."
As he spoke, Yasushi's eyes shone with frightening intensity, his pupils seeming to reflect the rising and falling explosions like flickering flames.
He made an exaggerated explosion gesture with his hands, laughing so hard he doubled over.
"Gentle Fist and all that - the killing power is too slow! They're not dying fast enough!"
"That's simple enough." After hearing this, Zetsu immediately assigned the task to White Zetsu.
Before long, a "Hyuga Branch House member" suddenly appeared in a hidden corner of the battlefield, unrolling a scroll densely packed with explosive tags.
"Brothers of the Branch House, I stole these explosive tags from the equipment depot! Everyone come get some quickly!"
"Even if we must die, we can't let those Main House bastards have it easy!"
Those words spread like wildfire, igniting the surviving Branch House members' fighting spirit. With this "Branch House member's" help, figure after figure rushed to his side, grabbed handfuls of explosive tags, then charged back into battle.
They were no longer fighting to kill - they were trading lives!
Why defend anymore?
Let's all die together!
The most crazed Branch House member plastered explosive tags all over his chest like a paper armor.
When he charged toward the Main House forces, the tags fluttered in the wind with a crackling sound, like death's bells announcing his arrival.
The battle's intensity escalated once more.
Continuous explosions rang out like New Year's firecrackers, each blast accompanied by blood, shattered bones, and internal organs scattered across the sky.
Under the suicidal human bomb attacks, the Main House's defensive line quickly crumbled.
Branch House clansmen with different allegiances embraced each other and transformed into blood and viscera painting the air, splattering everywhere.
"Save us, please!" The Main House members screamed, desperately fleeing backward.
"I won't let you succeed!"
With a roar, Itachi positioned himself before the Main House ranks. His Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly as Susanoo rose from the ground, protecting most of the Main House behind its ribcage.
Having solidified his position, Itachi fought with desperate intensity.
Human bombs crashed against Susanoo's energy armor one after another, exploding into scattered flesh and blood outside its protection. Flying bone fragments scraped against the chakra armor with ear-piercing shrieks.
Massive amounts of fresh blood splashed across Susanoo, dyeing it into a blood-red specter. The blood dripped down along Susanoo's ribs, sliding along the edges to fall to the ground, pooling into small crimson puddles.
But even knowing such self-destruction was futile, waves of Branch House shinobi still charged forward one after another, throwing themselves to die against Itachi's Susanoo, hoping to create even the slightest chance for those behind them to harm the Main House.
"Why... why is it like this?"
Watching the carnage unfold before her, Hinata stood to the side with her hands covering her mouth, tears streaming endlessly down her face.
But after the Main House had abandoned her, no one cared about this little girl anymore.
Not even the Hokage she'd trusted with all her heart.
Before long, the battle reached its conclusion.
Corpses littered the ground, blood flowing everywhere. Both the Hyuga Branch House and Konoha shinobi had paid an enormous price.
Broken blades jutted from piles of bodies. Fresh blood slowly dripped down the ninja tools, making soft "drip, drip" sounds in the silence.
Neji had lost an arm, his body covered in dozens of crisscrossing wounds. Blood seeped continuously from his injuries.
He could no longer stand. His body lay in a pool of blood, yet he still bit down hard, crawling across the ground toward the distant Main House survivors.
During the recent slaughter, several more Main House members had been killed by Branch House shinobi trading their lives. Few Main House survivors remained now.
Those remaining Main House members emerged joyfully from behind Susanoo, rushing over to greet Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Lord Hokage, thank you so much!"
"Under Lord Hokage's rule, Konoha Village truly maintains perfect order, with no fear of being overthrown by traitors!"
"The Hyuga clan will forever remain Lord Hokage's most steadfast supporters. In the past, present, and certainly in the future!"
"The Hyuga clan is willing to donate one hundred million ryo for the village's reconstruction."
These Main House members surrounded Hiruzen with flattery, bowing and scraping without any dignity befitting a great shinobi clan. Many Konoha shinobi watching couldn't help but frown.
Hiruzen found these people quite annoying - today's disaster was entirely their fault. But as Hokage, he still had to greet them with a smile.
Moreover, these Main House members weren't complete idiots. They were willing to donate money, so he had to show even more enthusiasm.
After exchanging pleasantries, Hiruzen waved his hand. The Main House members obediently stepped back, following behind the Hokage like fawning lackeys.
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