Muzan grabbed Miyako's arm before she could argue further. "Go now before they close the gap."
She hesitated for half a second while her Sharingan met his eyes and searched for certainty. Then she nodded once and her chakra flared around her body. She used Body Flicker and blurred toward the western tree line with one hand gripping Toshiro's collar and the other dragging Sayuri. They disappeared into the smoke and flames.
"Stop them!" Shimura Kaze's voice cut through the chaos with sharp authority.
Three Shimura shinobi broke from the encirclement with chakra gathering around their feet as they prepared pursuit techniques.
Muzan spun and threw three shuriken in rapid succession at the pursuers. His aim was precise and each blade targeted a different enemy.
The lead Shimura deflected all three with a single swipe of his kunai and didn't break stride.
Amanai stepped forward with his good hand already forming seals despite the pain radiating from his dislocated shoulder. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive sphere of flame erupted from his mouth and rolled into the pursuers' path. The fireball was fifteen feet wide and scorched the air itself until heat waves distorted everything beyond it.
Two pursuers split apart and went left and right around the fireball with practiced coordination. The third dropped low and slid beneath the flames with his body barely clearing the superheated air.
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!" Kenozo slammed his hands on the ground and chakra pulsed outward.
A wall of packed earth shot up from the ground and cut across the pursuers' path. It rose ten feet high and three feet thick.
The Shimura who'd gone over the fireball changed direction mid-stride and leaped over the earth wall without losing momentum. The other two hit the barrier at full speed and their hands were already forming seals. "Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!"
Two spinning spheres of compressed air punched clean through Kenozo's barrier and left holes large enough to run through. The wall crumbled at the edges where the wind had destabilized the packed earth.
Muzan tried to sprint after the pursuers, but a kunai whistled past his ear close enough that he felt the displaced air. He jerked back instinctively. A Sarutobi jonin appeared in front of him with his tanto already drawn and positioned for a throat strike.
Muzan barely got his kunai up in time to block. Steel clashed against steel with a sharp ring and the impact sent vibrations through his arm.
"Forget about them," the Sarutobi said while pressing his advantage with a series of quick strikes. "You've got your own problems to worry about."
The man was right and Muzan knew it. Miyako would have to handle the pursuit on her own.
The remaining enemies—Kaze, Sasuke, and twelve elite shinobi—turned their full attention to the three Uchiha who remained in the clearing.
"Kill them," Kaze said calmly while cleaning blood from his blade.
They came forward as a coordinated unit with their movements synchronized from years of fighting together.
The Sarutobi thrust his tanto at Muzan's throat in a straight line that gave minimal time to react. Muzan twisted his torso sideways and the blade scraped across his shoulder guard with a screech of metal on metal. Before he could counter-attack, a kick slammed into his ribs from a second attacker who'd flanked him during the exchange.
The impact lifted Muzan off his feet and he hit the ground hard enough to drive the air from his lungs. He rolled immediately to avoid follow-up strikes and came up in a low crouch with his kunai ready.
Two more enemies were already closing the distance with their weapons drawn.
Muzan threw a kunai at the closest one in a fast underhand toss. The enemy deflected it with a casual swipe of his blade. Muzan used the distraction to charge forward and close the distance before they could coordinate their attacks and trap him in a crossfire.
The first enemy swung at Muzan's head with a horizontal slash. Muzan ducked under the blade and drove his palm into the man's elbow joint. The joint hyperextended with a wet crack as ligaments tore and the bone bent backward past its natural range. The enemy screamed and his weapon fell from nerveless fingers. Muzan grabbed his collar and spun using the man's body weight as momentum. He threw the wounded enemy into the second attacker and both stumbled backward in a tangle of limbs.
A third enemy came from Muzan's blind side while he was occupied. Muzan sensed the displacement of air and the faint sound of rushing footsteps. He dropped flat to the ground and a sword whistled over his head close enough to cut a few strands of hair. Muzan swept his leg out in a low arc and caught the attacker's ankle. The man's feet went out from under him and he fell hard onto his back.
Muzan lunged onto him with his kunai raised high for a killing strike aimed at the throat.
An explosion erupted ten feet away and the shockwave threw Muzan sideways. He tumbled through ash and debris while his ears rang from the concussive force. His vision swam with spots of light, then cleared almost instantly as his demon physiology compensated for the trauma.
Muzan stood slowly and assessed his condition. Several wounds had opened during the exchange and were already healing beneath his clothing where the regeneration wouldn't be visible. The injuries were hidden by layers of dirt, ash, and enemy blood that covered him.
Across the clearing through the smoke and flames, Amanai was surrounded by four enemies who circled him like wolves around wounded prey. His dislocated shoulder hung at an unnatural angle and rendered his right arm completely useless. He could only fight with his left hand, but he moved with the desperate ferocity of a cornered animal.
A Shimura swung a wind-enhanced blade in a diagonal slash. Amanai ducked under the strike and drove his kunai into the man's kidney with an upward thrust. The blade sank deep and the Shimura gasped as blood filled his abdominal cavity. He fell to his knees and then forward onto his face.
Another enemy came from behind Amanai while he was pulling his kunai free from the first corpse. A katana slash caught Amanai across the back and opened a deep cut from shoulder blade to spine. Blood sprayed in an arc and painted the ground. Amanai's legs buckled and he nearly collapsed from the shock and pain.
"Amanai!" Kenozo's voice cracked with desperation.
The old Uchiha was fighting five enemies at once and moved like a cornered beast. His technique was still sharp but his body was too slow and too wounded to keep up with the demands he was placing on it.
A kunai punched into Kenozo's side between his ribs and the blade grated against bone. Kenozo grabbed the attacker's wrist before he could pull the weapon free and headbutted him with enough force that the man's nose shattered in a spray of blood and cartilage. While the enemy was stunned, Kenozo's kunai found the soft gap under the jaw and punched upward into the brain. The body went limp immediately.
But Kenozo was bleeding from a dozen wounds that painted his armor dark red. Each breath sounded wet and labored as blood filled his punctured lung.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
A dragon-shaped fireball erupted from Kenozo's mouth at point-blank range and consumed the two nearest enemies. They fell screaming as their armor melted to their skin and their flesh blackened and cracked from the intense heat.
The effort of using such a large technique cost Kenozo everything he had left. He collapsed to one knee and clutched his side where blood poured between his fingers. His breathing was shallow and irregular.
The two remaining enemies around him moved in for the killing blow with their weapons raised.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears!"
Stone spikes erupted from the ground beneath the two attackers and impaled them through legs and torso. They died gurgling as blood filled their punctured lungs.
Kenozo knelt motionless in the center of the carnage. His chest rose and fell in irregular gasps and his eyes were losing their light as blood loss drained the life from him. A tanto suddenly emerged from his chest where it had been thrust through his back and between his ribs to puncture his heart.
Muzan's chest tightened when he saw Kenozo die. The old man had lost his sons and come here seeking death, and now he'd found it.
Muzan tried to rush toward Amanai's position to provide support, but a Sarutobi blocked his path with his tanto already swinging in a horizontal arc aimed at Muzan's throat.
Muzan deflected the strike with his kunai and the blade shattered from the impact force. Fragments of metal scattered across the ground.
The Sarutobi pressed his attack without giving Muzan time to draw another weapon. He thrust toward Muzan's chest, slashed at his throat, thrust again toward his stomach. Muzan blocked the first strike with his forearm guard, dodged the second by tilting his head, and twisted his body to avoid the third. Each movement gave ground as the Sarutobi drove him backward.
The Sarutobi overextended on a thrust that committed too much weight forward. Muzan caught his wrist and twisted hard enough that bone cracked under the pressure. While the man screamed, Muzan grabbed the tanto from his hand and drove it into his throat. Blood sprayed hot across Muzan's face and filled his mouth with a copper taste.
Two more enemies were already closing in before the first body hit the ground. A fist came at Muzan's face in a straight punch. He tilted his head and the fist passed by his ear. A kick came toward his stomach from the second attacker. Muzan twisted his torso and the kick passed through empty air. The first attacker followed up with a knee strike aimed at Muzan's face. Muzan caught the knee with his palm and stopped it dead.
He squeezed the kneecap and let a fraction of his true strength show. The bone shattered into pieces with a wet crunch and the man screamed.
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
Muzan formed the seals quickly and exhaled a continuous stream of fire. The enemy with the broken knee was hit directly and his screams cut off as the flames consumed him. The technique forced the other attacker to scatter and gave Muzan breathing room.
Across the clearing, Amanai was still fighting despite the massive wound across his back. He'd propped himself against a broken tree trunk and used it for support to keep from collapsing. His back was slashed open deep enough to see muscle and bone beneath. His right arm hung useless at his side. He held a kunai in his trembling left hand and his grip looked weak.
Three enemies closed in on him from different angles while Sarutobi Sasuke walked toward him slowly with his staff resting casually on his shoulder.
Panic washed through Muzan's chest like ice water. Amanai had been his teacher and squad leader for the past month. The man had given him shelter, training, and a chance to grow stronger.
Muzan tried to run toward them, but a Sarutobi blocked his path. Muzan threw a punch without thinking about controlling his strength. The enemy tried to catch Muzan's fist with both hands, but even without using his full demonic power, the punch broke through the guard and smashed the man's face. His skull caved inward with a sickening crunch and he dropped dead before his body hit the ground.
Through the chaos of smoke and flames, Muzan saw what was about to happen.
Two jonin reached Amanai first. One kicked the kunai from his weak grip and sent it spinning away. The other grabbed Amanai's hair and yanked his head back to expose his throat.
Amanai's three tomoe Sharingan met Muzan's eyes across the battlefield through the smoke. Despite the pain and blood and imminent death, Amanai smiled slightly with blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. He mouthed two words that Muzan could read on his lips.
"Thank you."
Sasuke arrived and raised his staff above his head with both hands gripping it for a killing blow aimed at Amanai's skull.
Muzan moved without thinking or planning. His body blurred across the distance faster than he'd moved during the entire battle. He crossed thirty feet in less than a second and moved faster than any normal shinobi could move.
His hand shot up and caught the staff mid-swing just before it connected with Amanai's head.
The impact echoed across the clearing like a thunderclap. The staff stopped completely as if it had hit a solid wall. Sasuke's eyes went wide with shock.
Complete silence fell over the battlefield as everyone stopped fighting to stare.
Muzan stood between Sasuke and Amanai with the massive bo staff caught firmly in his right palm. His arm didn't shake or bend despite the force behind Sasuke's two-handed swing.
Sasuke pulled hard on the staff trying to wrench it free. The weapon didn't budge even a fraction of an inch.
"What in the—" Sasuke's voice caught in his throat.
Behind Muzan, Amanai's eyes were wide with shock and confusion. "Muzan, how are you doing that?"
Muzan looked back at him and saw the blood pouring from a dozen wounds across Amanai's body. His breathing was shallow and wet from his punctured lung. He was dying and would be dead within minutes without medical attention that wasn't available.
"Amanai, don't die yet," Muzan said quietly. "What I'm about to do is my way of repaying you for everything you've taught me."
A Sarutobi jumped at Muzan from the side with his kunai aimed at Muzan's exposed ribs.
Muzan's left hand shot out faster than the eye could track and grabbed the attacker by the throat. The man's eyes went wide and he tried to block with his kunai, tried to pull away from the iron grip. His struggles were completely useless.
Muzan squeezed and the man's windpipe collapsed like a paper tube. The Sarutobi clawed desperately at Muzan's hand while choking with his eyes bulging from their sockets and his face turning purple.
Muzan threw him casually and the body crashed into another Sarutobi who was approaching from behind. Both went down in a tangle of limbs.
A Shimura came at Muzan from the right with a wind-enhanced blade that hummed with cutting pressure. Muzan didn't dodge or try to block. He stepped directly into the strike and let the blade slash across his ribs. The wind-chakra edge cut deep enough to expose bone and internal organs.
Before blood could pour from the wound, the flesh knitted back together. Muscle reconnected to muscle, skin sealed over the gap, and within two seconds there was no sign of injury except the cut in his clothing.
Everyone in the clearing saw the instantaneous regeneration.
Shock rippled through the assembled shinobi like a physical wave. Weapons lowered slightly as minds tried to process what they'd witnessed.
Muzan grabbed the Shimura's head with both hands before the man could react to what he'd seen. Muzan twisted hard with enough force to snap a tree branch.
The Shimura's neck broke with a loud crack and his body went limp. Muzan released him and the corpse collapsed.
Muzan released Sasuke's staff and stepped forward into the open space between enemies. The bodies of fallen shinobi lay scattered around him and blood covered the scorched ground in dark pools.
Sasuke's expression had changed completely from confident superiority to wary uncertainty. The casual arrogance was gone and replaced by the wariness of a predator that had encountered something unexpected. He gripped his staff tighter with his knuckles white from the pressure.
"What are you?" Sasuke asked.
Muzan didn't answer because there was no answer he could give that would make sense to these people.
Shimura Kaze raised his voice with cold authority. "Kill him now before he can do whatever he's planning."