After unleashing the Leaf Dragon God, the moment he landed, Shinichi noticed that more than a dozen Sunagakure shinobi ahead had already formed a tight formation and were closing in to surround him.
Seeing this, Shinichi raised his hand. A point of crimson flame suddenly condensed at his fingertip, and with a flick—
Whoosh!
The red blaze howled outward, transforming into a massive wave of fire over twenty meters wide, sweeping straight toward the dozen Sunagakure shinobi!
Where it passed, heat surged, the air warped, and the ground was scorched black.
Dark Sweep!
A hand-seal-less Fire Release!?
The Sunagakure group's pupils shrank sharply. Faced with the instant, blazing inferno rushing at them, no one dared take it head-on, nor did they have time to form jutsu. They could only scatter in all directions to evade it, their previously tight formation instantly torn open.
And Shinichi didn't slow down in the slightest. At the exact moment the flames spread, the ground beneath his feet exploded, and his entire body shot forward like a black bolt of lightning, pouncing toward the now-broken formation!
His body tore through the air, letting out a low roar—his speed was terrifying!
In the blink of an eye, he appeared before three Sunagakure shinobi who had just avoided the sea of flames and hadn't even regained their footing.
The one in front had his pupils shrink as he instinctively swung his blade!
But Shinichi's fist was faster.
The muscles in his right arm bulged, veins snaking like dragons. All his strength and chakra were compressed to the extreme, restrained within the edge of his fist, faintly revealing a crimson hue.
Boom!!
A punch blasted out!
A high-temperature flame formed from extremely compressed Fire-attribute chakra surged forward from his fist!
It was like a crimson serpent opening its blazing maw, carrying enough physical force to shatter steel as it collided head-on with the incoming blade!
Wild Bite!
Crack! The katana shattered on impact!
The crimson flames did not slow in the slightest, slamming heavily into the Sunagakure ninja's chest!
Bang!!!
With a dull, heavy explosion, his body was struck like it had been hit by a battering ram. His chest caved in as he was sent flying backward!
Midair, flames erupted from within his body, igniting him completely into a burning corpse that smashed into another comrade behind him!
The one who was hit only had time to spit out a mouthful of blood before being swallowed by the spreading flames, screaming as he collapsed and rolled on the ground.
One dead!
One on the brink of death!
In that instant exchange, only one of the three remained.
The last Sunagakure ninja was filled with terror, but his instinct to survive drove him to swing his blade with all his strength, slashing straight at Shinichi's neck!
The blade tore through the air—just about to touch his skin—
Shinichi sank low, his body coiling fluidly as he slipped into a panther-like crouch. The blade skimmed past his hair, cutting nothing but air.
Immediately after—
Bang!
A swift elbow strike from his left arm smashed solidly into the ninja's abdomen!
The man's eyes bulged, a mouthful of bile mixed with blood bursting out as his body involuntarily lurched forward.
Shinichi rose with the motion. His right hand formed into a claw, high-temperature Fire-attribute chakra already condensed to the extreme, surging in his palm with a crimson glow.
The moment the ninja toppled forward, Shinichi's right hand shot out like iron pincers, locking tightly around his throat!
"Urgh—"
The ninja's eyes widened, unable to make even a sound. His throat bones creaked under the crushing force, the veins on his face bulging from suffocation.
The next instant—
BOOM!!!
The Fire-attribute chakra condensed in his palm erupted!
Blazing heat exploded outward, instantly engulfing the man's head and upper body!
Flesh and blood disintegrated in the flames, scattering into ash.
Solar Burst!
Shinichi released his grip, and the headless corpse collapsed to the ground.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh.
At the same time Shinichi instantly killed those three, the remaining eleven Sunagakure ninja—who had just dodged the Dark Sweep flames—had already reacted.
From all directions, a dense barrage of kunai and shuriken shot toward him like a storm, sealing off every path of escape!
Among them, a burly Sunagakure ninja leapt high, raising a heavy blade overhead, bringing it down toward Shinichi with the force of splitting a mountain!
At nearly the same moment, the ground beneath Shinichi suddenly softened. A grotesque puppet burst out, six arms spreading wide as it lunged upward, attempting to lock down his body!
Attack from above and below, surrounded on all sides!
Shinichi's expression remained unchanged. He simply stomped down hard, chakra surging around him like a tidal wave. His entire body was violently propelled upward by the sudden explosive force!
In midair, his waist and abdomen twisted sharply, his body rotating half a turn. All his strength and chakra poured wildly into his right fist along the twisting motion!
The chakra released outward wrapped around the surrounding air, forcibly carving out a beautiful spiraling airflow in the direction of his punch.
And within that spiraling current—
The flames ignited with a thunderous roar!
Inferno Strike!
As he ascended, Shinichi's entire body transformed into a blazing crimson inferno soaring skyward! The spiraling airflow dragged the violent flames into a frenzied rotation, forming a flaming tornado over ten meters wide!
The first to be caught were the dense barrage of kunai and shuriken. The instant they touched the flaming vortex, they were knocked away by the violent rotational force and the terrifying heat, blasted outward as blackened, heat-trailing streaks in all directions.
Next came the puppet lunging up from below. The moment its six arms touched the edge of the flames, they were shredded by the inferno's high-speed rotation. Wood splinters and metal components burst outward, turning to ash before they could even hit the ground!
Finally, the Sunagakure ninja who had leapt in with a downward strike.
His eyes widened as he watched the towering flame tornado crash straight into him! The heavy blade he had swung down with all his strength was knocked out of his hands the instant it touched the flames!
Then, the fire engulfed him.
"AAAGH!!"
The scream lasted less than a second before cutting off abruptly.
The burly body was completely swallowed by the flaming tornado, turning into a charred mass along with the broken blade in his hand.
The remaining ten Sunagakure ninja stared at the scene in horror, their feet rooted to the ground as if nailed in place.
But Shinichi gave them no time to react.
The soaring flame tornado rapidly dissipated. The fire filling the sky seemed to be seized by an invisible hand, shrinking and condensing in an instant into a single flickering point of crimson at his fingertip.
He hovered midair, his clothes fluttering in the night wind.
In the next moment, he flicked his hand again.
Dark Sweep!
This Dark Sweep was even more powerful, faster, and far more terrifying in momentum!
The instant that tiny point of crimson left his hand, it was as if the night sky itself had been ignited. The blazing flames swelled violently, transforming into a vast crimson sea of fire that covered the sky, crashing downward like a roaring beast, sweeping straight toward the ten stunned Sunagakure below!
"Evade!"
"Get out of the way!"
The Sunagakure shinobi shouted hoarsely, scrambling in all directions, but the sea of fire came too fast—far beyond their ability to react. Five of them were just a half-step too slow.
The flames swallowed them instantly.
"AAAGH!!"
The screams were shrill and brief. The five figures twisted and collapsed within the inferno, then fell completely silent.
The air filled with the stench of charred flesh mixed with blood, nauseating to the point of sickness.
The remaining five Sunagakure ninja barely escaped the range of the flames, gasping for breath. They looked at the still-burning scorched ground, at the five unrecognizable corpses upon it—their eyes filled with the terror and dazed disbelief of surviving disaster.
At that moment, behind them, amid swirling dust, a mass of dark figures surged forward like a tidal wave!
Sunagakure reinforcements!
Over a hundred elite Sunagakure shinobi had finally arrived!
Hope flared instantly in the eyes of the five survivors as they scrambled, almost crawling, toward the direction of the reinforcements.
"Shinichi!"
"Shinichi-kun!"
"We're here!"
At nearly the same time, shouts came from the Konoha side as well!
Dozens of figures shot forward like arrows loosed from a bow, rushing from behind, crossing the burning battlefield and charging straight toward Shinichi's position!
Meanwhile, at the center of the Sunagakure battle line—
Ebizō forced Tsunade back with a single strike, using the momentum to pull away and widen the distance. His gaze swept rapidly across the entire battlefield.
It seemed this mission had failed.
Ebizō let out a quiet sigh inwardly, though nothing showed on his face.
"Sunagakure, retreat!"
At the command, Sunagakure shinobi across the field swiftly disengaged and withdrew into the darkness.
Tsunade remained where she stood, making no move to pursue. She simply raised a hand, stopping the eager subordinates behind her.
"Tsunade-sama?" someone asked unwillingly.
"That's enough." Tsunade stared in the direction of Sunagakure's retreat and slowly lowered her fist. "Our primary mission is to safely deliver supplies to the front line and provide medical support—not to fight Sunagakure to the death here."
"And a cornered beast will fight desperately. If we push them too far, our casualties will rise as well. We already have quite a number of wounded—if we keep fighting, we'll only lose more."
The surrounding Konoha ninja fell silent for a moment, then nodded one after another.
Then Tsunade turned to the blood-covered Monkey King and called out loudly: "Thanks, Enma-ojisan. We owe you this time."
"Haha, you've got that wrong, Tsunade-chan! The biggest contributor this time should be that kid!"
The Monkey King laughed heartily, his voice making the surrounding air tremble.
"It's only been a few months since I last saw him, and yet—who would've thought his strength would grow this much! That strike just now—tsk, even Hiruzen in his youth wasn't that fierce!"
As he said this, even the Monkey King found it hard to believe. He had thought that after swinging that strike, the kid would have exhausted his chakra. The reason he had charged in so fiercely earlier was to cover for him, to give the kid a chance to withdraw to the rear as quickly as possible.
Unexpectedly, the kid still had reserves. Incredibly, he immediately shifted to another side and launched another attack, continuing to smash through Sunagakure's formation alongside it.
Tsunade said nothing. She simply watched that figure drawing closer, her gaze complicated.
The Monkey King seemed to sense something off in the atmosphere. He scratched his head and chuckled. "Alright, alright, since the battle's already over, this old man will take his leave first. See you next time, Tsunade-chan."
As soon as his voice fell, a bang sounded and a burst of white smoke exploded outward. The massive figure vanished from where it stood.
"Amazing, Shinichi!"
"That was incredible!"
"We owe it all to you, Shinichi-kun!"
The Konoha ninja who had just been catching their breath all rushed over.
Shinichi wore his usual gentle smile, responding to everyone's enthusiasm one by one.
There was no pride, no ostentation—he simply accepted it all calmly, as if everything that had just shaken the battlefield was nothing more than doing his duty.
As the crowd gradually dispersed, he walked up to Tsunade and stopped.
"Tsunade-sensei."
Tsunade looked at him quietly.
Under the moonlight, the boy still bore the traces of battle—his clothes scorched at the edges, his face stained with blood.
Yet those eyes remained calm, so calm it was as if the slaughter just now had nothing to do with him.
After a long moment, Tsunade spoke.
"Well done."
"We managed to hold this position and repel Sunagakure's attack today. You were the biggest contributor."
Hearing that, Shinichi smiled. "Then remember to put in a good word for me in front of the Third, sensei."
"Heh!"
Tsunade was amused by that, the complexity in her heart easing a little.
"You brat—don't worry, I won't forget you!"
"Then thank you, sensei."
Tsunade shot him an annoyed glance, then turned around, her gaze sweeping over the devastated battlefield.
The smile gradually faded from her face, and her voice suddenly rose.
"Clean up the battlefield! Recover our comrades' bodies! Treat the wounded! Move, now!"
With the order given, the entire camp sprang into action once more.
Shinichi didn't rest either. He moved among the wounded, both hands glowing with green medical chakra.
Several hours later, unexpectedly, the relief unit that was supposed to arrive at dawn reached them in the middle of the night.
Two hundred men, all frontline elite combat shinobi. At their head were three stern-faced veteran jōnin. They swept their eyes across the wrecked camp, their gazes pausing briefly on the bodies before they quickly walked toward Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama! We detected something unusual on the way and accelerated our march."
Tsunade nodded without asking further. She briefly explained the situation, and both sides quickly reached an agreement.
Without waiting for dawn—
They set off overnight.
…
Ten hours later, the southwestern front line—Konoha's main camp.
The camp was bustling, and at the main gate, Jiraiya had already been waiting for a long time.
He had, for once, changed into a clean standard Konoha flak jacket, his signature white hair swaying slightly in the cold wind.
When the rising dust in the distance and the gradually clear figures came into view, the tension on his face visibly eased, and he strode forward to meet them.
"Tsunade! You're finally here! The communications unit sent word last night—you were intercepted by Sunagakure—"
"Hmph! I'd like to ask you instead, Jiraiya—how exactly are you doing your job as frontline commander?"
Tsunade snorted coldly and cut him off. "You let over five hundred Sunagakure shinobi cross the border and infiltrate the Land of Fire without a hint of alertness."
"If we hadn't reacted quickly, you'd be collecting our corpses today."
"Well…" Jiraiya opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end he lowered his head. "That's my fault. I should have—"
"That's enough!"
Tsunade cut him off directly, clearly not intending to pursue it further. She turned and looked at the team behind her.
"I'll leave these people to you. The medical unit goes to the field hospital, the logistics unit to the supply depot. Get a few people to guide them so they can take their positions as soon as possible—the wounded need treatment, and the supplies need to be checked."
Jiraiya nodded and turned to give instructions to several messenger shinobi beside him.
They immediately ran toward the front of the group, beginning to direct the flow.
"Medical unit, follow me."
"Logistics unit, this way."
The group quickly split into two and moved deeper into the camp in different directions.
Tsunade stood there for a moment, confirming the handover went smoothly, before withdrawing her gaze.
"What are you standing there for?"
She shot Jiraiya a glance and said irritably, "Hurry up and take me to headquarters. You still need to brief me on the front line situation."
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