The sky was faintly bright, and the morning mist permeated the air.
A solemn and cold wind swept across the wilderness, making the flags flutter and snap loudly.
Konoha's army had finished assembling, a dense black crowd extending from the camp gates all the way into the distance.
In the ranks, those Jonin who had experienced several wars mostly had solemn expressions, with a hint of worry deep in their eyes.
They understood what this kind of all-out offensive, leaving no path for retreat, meant.
However, at the rear of the army, the Chunin and Genin assigned to various squads—especially the newcomers who had recently graduated from the Ninja Academy—had faces overflowing with a completely different emotion.
"Finally, a big battle is starting!"
Uchiha Obito clenched his fists excitedly, his eyes shining under his goggles.
"This time, I must let Rin see my cool side!"
Beside him, Kakashi only gave him a cold glance and didn't speak, but his hand holding the short sword tightened unconsciously.
Konohamaru Sarutobi, Might Guy, Uchiha Inabi and Tekka, the two brothers... these familiar faces were either nervous, expectant, or bursting with Battle Intent.
They hadn't yet truly tasted the flavor of war.
Aokawa stood at the very front of the ranks, forming a column of his own.
The order Minato Namikaze gave him was to act as a Battlefield mobile unit, freely seeking out enemies and providing support for the entire army.
This was the greatest authority, but also the heaviest responsibility.
He looked at everything before him calmly, but in his heart, he was recalling that absurd order from last night.
Throwing all troops into the meat grinder for seven consecutive days.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, what exactly do you want to trade for using these people's lives?
"Whole army—"
Minato Namikaze's voice, amplified by Chakra, resounded throughout the entire Battlefield.
"Attack!"
"Ooh—!"
The sky-shattering battle cries broke through the clouds, and Konoha's Ninja army, like a floodgate opening, swept toward the distant Kumogakure position.
The earth trembled under the trampling of countless feet.
The Kumogakure position opposite them clearly hadn't expected Konoha to launch an all-out offensive so resolutely.
After a brief moment of panic, piercing alarms sounded, and countless Cloud Hidden Ninjas rushed out of their tents in a flurry to organize a messy line of defense.
The distance between the two sides closed rapidly.
Aokawa moved.
He raised his right hand, and a deep blue longbow composed of high-density spirit particles condensed into shape in his hand.
His left hand pulled the empty bowstring, and a spirit particles Chakra Arrow was instantly notched.
He let go.
Swish!
A faint sound of breaking air rang out.
A Jonin charging at the very front of the Kumogakure ranks hadn't even let the cruel smile fade from his face before his body suddenly stiffened.
In the center of his forehead, a tiny bloody hole appeared.
Under the massive inertia, his whole body pitched forward, falling silent forever.
Before his companions beside him could even react.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Aokawa's hand speed was so fast that only afterimages remained, as one spirit particles Chakra Arrow after another turned into invisible flows of light, accurately shooting into the Kumogakure charging ranks.
One.
And another.
The Cloud Hidden Ninjas charging at the front were like they were being called out one by one by an invisible giant hand, falling to the ground without any warning.
They hadn't even seen where the attack came from before their lives were ended.
"What's going on?"
"Yagi, he..."
"Enemy attack! It's an ultra-long-range attack!"
The Cloud Hidden Ninjas in the rear watched helplessly as their comrades in front fell one after another, a chill rising from the soles of their feet straight to the tops of their heads.
An invisible enemy, an undefendable attack.
How could they even fight this battle?
It wasn't just Kumogakure.
On the Konoha side, many Ninjas seeing Aokawa take action for the first time were also completely stunned.
"That... that is Lord Aokawa?"
"My god, before we even engaged, the other side had a whole patch fall?"
"War can be fought like this?"
Uchiha Obito's mouth hung wide open, the excitement on his face replaced by a massive shock.
The war he had originally imagined was a clash of Shuriken and Kunai, a collision of Ninjutsu and Taijutsu.
Not this kind of... one-sided slaughter.
The Kumogakure ranks instantly fell into chaos because of this sudden strike.
"Steady! Don't panic!"
"Form ranks! Watch your defense!"
Several Kumogakure squad leaders shouted hoarsely, trying to stabilize the formation that was about to collapse.
But it was already too late.
Konoha's army, carrying an unstoppable Aura, slammed fiercely into Kumogakure's chaotic lines.
Boom!
Two torrents collided head-on.
The sharp ring of clashing weapons, the dull thud of flesh being torn open, and the screams before death instantly wove together into a cruel symphony.
The Battlefield had become a giant meat grinder.
Because the Ninjas from both sides were now completely entangled in a melee, Aokawa could no longer carry out indiscriminate beyond-visual-range strikes.
His figure flashed as he dropped from a high point, quickly moving to a large tree at the edge of the Battlefield, his Byakugan active as he looked down upon the entire chaotic scene.
A Konoha Genin was being flanked by two Cloud Hidden Ninjas, struggling to cope, and was about to have his neck sliced by a blade.
Swish!
An arrow arrived just in time, accurately piercing the temple of that Cloud Hidden Ninja.
The saved Genin was stunned for a moment, then immediately fought back desperately, taking down the other enemy.
He panted heavily, looking up toward the edge of the Battlefield, just in time to see that figure observing intently, his eyes filled with gratitude.
Elsewhere.
Hyuga Yamato of the Hyuga Clan was being besieged by three Kumogakure Jonin.
His palms flew about; although his Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms were exquisite, he was still in a perilous situation under the siege of the three.
An enemy circled behind him, the Kunai in his hand silently stabbing toward the center of his back.
The Byakugan detected it!
But his body couldn't react in time!
At this critical moment.
Swish!
A deep blue arrow, carrying matchless force, directly sent the enemy behind him flying backward!
Immediately after, another arrow shot into the head of an enemy in front of him.
The pressure suddenly decreased!
Hyuga Yamato seized the opportunity, and with a strike of Gentle Fist, he hit the chest of the last enemy.
After finishing off the enemy, he looked at that figure at the edge of the Battlefield, his heart churning with emotion.
That person... is Aokawa!
Being from the same Hyuga Clan, why could he possess such powerful strength?
If he could also achieve this kind of Awakening... The Konoha side's morale was high because of the surprise attack.
The Kumogakure side had responded hastily and had been picked off before the battle even started, so they were already at a disadvantage.
In every corner, Kumogakure command personnel were constantly shouting, mobilizing personnel from the rear to come and support.
Above the tree canopy, Aokawa's Byakugan coldly locked onto those figures who were issuing orders.
He began calling them out.
Swish!
A Kumogakure squad leader who was directing a squad to flank had a burst of blood bloom from his head before he could finish speaking.
His surrounding team members all froze in place.
Swish!
Another Kumogakure Chunin who was about to release a Ninjutsu hadn't even finished his seals when an arrow pierced his throat.
Fear, like a plague, began to spread through the Kumogakure ranks.
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