"Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!"
Golden light exploded across the sky as thunder roared and scattered in every direction.
Because Yagami had only recently obtained his Devil Fruit, even though he was imitating one of Kizaru's ultimate techniques, his precision was still far from Kizaru's level.
Compared to Kizaru's terrifyingly precise barrage, Yagami's aim was still rough and full of openings.
So if the accuracy isn't enough… then just make up for it with quantity.
With that thought, Yagami simply extended the duration of his attack for more than ten full seconds.
Because of that—
When Yagami finally stopped, the ground directly beneath him, where the Sand shinobi had been standing moments ago, had been completely carpet-bombed by light. Everything in that area had been devastated beyond recognition.
The earth was riddled with craters of all sizes.
Within sight, there was almost no intact patch of ground even a meter across.
"Is this… a dream…?"
A Sand shinobi stared at the ruined battlefield bombarded by Yagami's attack, his voice shaking in disbelief as he muttered to the companion beside him.
"…What are you talking about?"
His companion answered in a daze, tone empty, reacting on instinct more than thought.
"I'm asking… is this a dream?!!"
The Sand shinobi's voice cracked, on the verge of tears.
Just now, they had watched at least three hundred of their comrades—
Under Yagami's continuous rain of light bullets, they were blasted into chunks of flesh, torn apart by indiscriminate fire, or simply turned into bloody sieves.
Even now, after the bombardment had ceased, the ground was churned and mangled, blood soaking into the dirt and staining it a dark, muddy crimson.
As for the corpses… they had either been blown to pieces or buried under the shattered earth.
If this was a dream, that Sand shinobi wished he could wake up immediately.
Because this dream was far too bloody—far too terrifying.
In truth, it wasn't just that one Sand shinobi.
Every other Sand shinobi present wished the scene they had just witnessed was nothing more than an illusion.
After all, what they had just seen and heard was something they simply couldn't accept.
Three… no, maybe four hundred comrades—
Gone. Just like that.
And the way they died was far too tragic to put into words.
There weren't even whole bodies left behind.
The entire battlefield fell into a heavy silence.
Yagami's overwhelming strength once again shattered everyone's perception of him.
For the Konoha shinobi, their admiration and worship of Yagami shot up to yet another level.
For the Sand shinobi, their fear of Yagami deepened yet again.
"Hehehe…"
"Oho, Chiyo…"
"You were the one who started this war. Do you… feel even a little regret now?"
Orochimaru's vertical pupils shrank down to pinpoints as he turned his head, a smile curling at his lips as he questioned Chiyo.
Yagami's strength had once again exceeded his expectations, refreshing Orochimaru's evaluation of him.
Fortunately, that guy was Konoha's ally.
If he belonged to another village instead… it would be extremely, extremely troublesome.
Even Orochimaru felt a faint sense of relief in his heart.
"Huff… huff…"
Chiyo's breathing was rough, not from physical exhaustion, but from the hollow ache in her chest after watching hundreds of Sand shinobi die in an instant.
She didn't respond to Orochimaru.
Faced with the current state of the battlefield, even she felt lost. For the first time in a long while, she didn't know what move to make next.
Right now, in this chaos, Chiyo suddenly found herself missing Ebizō.
If Ebizō were here…
Then, as Sand's think tank, he would surely know what to do next—how to deal with this situation.
But that was nothing more than Chiyo's wishful thinking.
Reality was merciless.
Ebizō, the strategist of Sunagakure, had already been captured by Konoha.
"Haha, what's wrong? At a loss for words?"
Seeing Chiyo fall silent, Orochimaru couldn't help but sneer.
Then, taking advantage of the moment she was slightly distracted, he rushed forward once more and plunged back into battle with her.
At the same time, Konoha's forces moved as well, guided by the sharp, ringing commands of Yūhi Shinku.
Seizing the moment when the Sand shinobi's morale plunged, they launched another fierce counterattack.
After another wave of ninjutsu clashes, both sides closed the distance, drawing kunai, ninja blades, and all sorts of weapons as the fight shifted into brutal close-quarters combat.
Soldiers against soldiers. Generals against generals.
Konoha's Jōnin clashed head-on with Sunagakure's Jōnin once more.
Kushina and Pakura's battle reignited as well, picking up right where they had left off the day before, without any sign of resolution.
With morale plummeting, the Sand shinobi who once held the advantage and could easily crush Konoha were now being pushed back. Fired up by Yagami's overwhelming display, Konoha's shinobi fought with renewed vigor, gradually forcing the battle into a stalemate.
Sunagakure's Jōnin-level commanders were growing increasingly anxious.
As Jōnin, their combat strength wasn't as easily affected by morale, that much was true.
But being beaten back—five thousand shinobi suppressed by only three thousand—still gnawed at their nerves.
Yet there was nothing they could do.
After Yagami's repeated, devastating blows, the Sand shinobi's spirits had fallen to rock bottom.
And among them, there was no longer a single Kage-level powerhouse who could step forward and stop Yagami's massacre.
"Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!!"
"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo—!!"
"Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! Rumble!!!"
Yagami had already drawn the black blade Shusui.
His right hand swung the blade again and again, cutting down enemies in front of him.
From his left hand, laser beams fired without pause, lancing through the air.
No one could stand against him.
No one could stop his slaughter.
Wherever Yagami advanced, Sand shinobi broke and fell back like a receding tide.
At this moment, he was less like a human and more like a walking calamity.
"Rasa-sama!"
"Chiyo-sama clearly ordered that you must not move around right now!"
At the rear of the Sand shinobi's formation, two medical-nin had finally found Rasa, their faces pale.
Even though Rasa's wounds had mostly healed, his current condition was still extremely weak.
If he forced himself into battle now…
At best, he would be able to exert Chūnin-level strength.
That wouldn't be enough to reverse Sunagakure's situation.
"Huff… huff…"
"Golden Sand Binding!"
Restrained and prevented from moving forward, Rasa suddenly took advantage of a moment when the two medical-nin were distracted, tossing two recovery pills into his mouth.
Then, with a low shout, golden sand surged up from the ground.
It wrapped around the two Sand shinobi who were holding him back, binding their bodies completely except for their heads.
"Rasa-sama!!"
"Rasa-sama!!"
The two trapped medical-nin cried out anxiously, shouting toward Rasa's back.
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