The Amamiya Clan marched with nearly eight hundred shinobi this time, joined by another nine hundred from the Daoji Temple allies. In contrast, the Kaguya forces numbered over twelve hundred—entrenched, rested, and defending their homeland. On paper, it looked suicidal. But Raizen knew war wasn't about numbers. Victory belonged to whoever kept their nerve when everything went to hell.
The Kaguya heartland sat beyond the Heifū Gorge, so Raizen led his troops through it, crossing the same barren plains he'd once bombed into dust. The land still bore his scars—charred craters, twisted steel, the ghosts of supply wagons.
"Once we pass this plain, we'll reach Blade Gorge," Raizen muttered. "Perfect spot for a camp—easy to defend, hell to attack."
He grimaced. The Kaguya stronghold lay deeper, hidden within a basin surrounded by forest. Too risky to advance that far. One spark in that jungle and his men would roast alive. Blade Gorge it was.
Of course, the Kaguya knew he was coming. Their scouts were already flitting through the trees, reporting every movement back to their elders. Raizen didn't bother chasing them off. Kill one, three more would come. Better to save chakra for the real fight.
By the time the Amamiya forces neared Blade Gorge, the Kaguya clan had already mobilized. A hundred of their shinobi galloped ahead—not for an ambush, but to tear the Gorge apart.
When Raizen arrived, he saw explosions ripping through the cliffs. Smoke. Fire. Earth shattered into chaos.
"Those bastards are ruining the pass!" one of the Amamiya soldiers shouted.
Raizen didn't even flinch. "Ignore them. Keep moving."
The Kaguya squad spotted his forces advancing and withdrew immediately, their mission complete. When the coalition reached the Gorge, the path was in ruins—jagged stones, collapsed walls, a graveyard of broken carts. Even horses couldn't cross.
Raizen's jaw tightened. "All units, stand back."
He stepped forward, hands forming seals with deliberate precision. White light flared between his palms—silent, pure, and terrifying.
Dust Release.
A flash split the valley like a blade of judgment. The stone crumbled into nothing, the wreckage erased in a burst of pale energy. When the light faded, a smooth road cut straight through the Gorge as if carved by the gods.
The Amamiya soldiers stared, dumbstruck. Even the Kaguya scouts frozen on the ridge went pale.
Raizen raised his voice, calm but sharp enough to carry. "Kaguya dogs, take a message to your elders. Stop wasting my time with these cowardly tricks. If you want to face the Amamiya Clan, do it on the battlefield."
Silence followed. The Kaguya scouts exchanged grim looks before vanishing into the treeline.
Raizen turned to his troops. "Camp here. Double guard shifts. We're in enemy teeth now."
The army moved quickly, driving stakes, pitching tents, forming defensive lines. A thousand shinobi settling into the carved-out gorge—a heartbeat of calm before the storm.
Raizen watched them work, eyes narrowing toward the north. "They'll come soon," he muttered. "They always do."
And far away, in the Kaguya war council, Takemoto received the report—Raizen's Dust Release wiping out the gorge. His face twisted with fury, then calculation. If brute strength couldn't stop the Amamiya Clan, then cunning would.
The next move would not be frontal. It would be blood, smoke, and silence.
...
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