With no one left in their way, the Uchiha jonin raced toward the Nine-Tails' location. What had once been a thriving district was now nothing but ruin.
Every sweep of those massive tails leveled entire blocks. When they lashed through the air, the resulting gusts blasted apart debris and sent shinobi flying. And with each Tailed Beast Ball fired, though smaller than the true one but still devastating, more of Konoha was reduced to rubble.
Bodies littered the streets. Some were shinobi who had fallen in the fight, others civilians who hadn't escaped in time.
Collapsed homes seeped with blood. In places, corpses had been ground into unrecognizable pulp.
The battlefield reeked of death and fire.
"Everyone, Fire Release! Cover fire!"
The Uchiha jonin landed on a ridge of broken stone. At Fugaku's command, twenty-two of them formed seals in unison.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
A storm of massive fireballs blazed into the night sky and rained down on the Nine-Tails' flank, scorching fur and earth alike.
ROOOAR!
The fox reared back with a thunderous bellow. The sound itself became a weapon, a shockwave of raw force.
Ruined houses collapsed further. Shards of wood and stone tore through the air like shrapnel.
Two Konoha shinobi too slow to shield themselves dropped, blood streaming from their ears and nose.
Then five colossal tails slammed down. Even before impact, the compressed air struck like a hurricane.
"Fall back!"
The Uchiha scattered as the ground erupted. Dozens of buildings disintegrated, the earth split, and dust rolled outward in choking clouds. Thanks to their Sharingan and discipline, the jonin avoided casualties but only barely.
"Uchiha support has arrived!"
"Hold the line! Hokage-sama will be here soon!"
"This is our home we don't retreat!"
Encouraged by the Uchiha's arrival, exhausted Konoha shinobi steadied themselves.
Two comrades bleeding from every orifice were dragged from the field still barely alive. At least now they had a chance.
"Clan Leader," Gen said, landing beside Fugaku. "Even if we unleash our strongest techniques, we can't kill the Nine-Tails. Our best move is a mass Sharingan genjutsu, to restrain it, buy time, and save lives until the Hokage arrives."
Fugaku gave a single, curt nod. "All Uchiha, prepare your eyes! At my signal!"
"YES!"
Dozens of crimson Sharingan snapped open.
The illusion they wove together was magnified by Gen's half-step Mangekyō, forcing even the Nine-Tails who was bolstered by Obito's control to falter for an instant.
One second. That was all.
But in that second, dozens of shinobi lived who would have died. Families spared, and comrades saved.
Still, the beast's instincts surged. Its hatred turned fully toward the Uchiha.
The fox struck with fang, claw, and tail, each blow a natural disaster. Even protecting one another, Uchiha casualties began to mount.
Fugaku and Shisui narrowly avoided death several times. Only Gen remained untouched, his caution and cold focus keeping him alive. He ignored grief, ignored rage, and kept his trump card ready, the Soul-Soul Fruit's power to burn his own lifespan for strength, if necessary.
Far from the battlefield, a Root operative finished his report.
On a mountain above Konoha, Shimura Danzo's face darkened.
"So. Uchiha Fugaku dares defy me. And that brat Gen mocks me as if I were nothing." His teeth ground together. "Hiruzen was right, the Uchiha are wolves. Arrogant, dangerous, and impossible to tame."
His voice dropped to a hiss. "Let them have their moment. When I return to power, I'll crush them all."
After the outburst, his tone hardened. "Continue surveillance. Report every three minutes. This chaos will be my path back to power."
"Yes, Danzo-sama."
Back at the front, more clans poured in, Hyūga, Ino–Shika–Chō, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Sarutobi, Shimura.
Each fought with their own techniques, pounding the Nine-Tails in waves. But even when the fox screamed in pain, it showed no sign of faltering.
The battle was turning into a war of attrition, a war Konoha couldn't win. Human chakra would run dry long before the demon fox's.
And then...
A new voice cut through the chaos.
"Stand firm!"
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had arrived.
Not yet an old man, still at the peak of his prime, Hiruzen exuded authority as he strode into the battlefield. His presence alone lifted spirits, but his leadership unified them, sharpening scattered strikes into coordinated assaults.
The Nine-Tails howled in frustration and gathered chakra for a true Tailed Beast Ball, massive enough to erase a mountain.
Hiruzen moved instantly. Chakra surged, the ground beneath the fox cracked and heaved. The beast staggered and its attack veered off course.
The colossal sphere soared in a deadly arc, away from the village.
BOOM!
A blinding white flash lit the sky.
A mushroom cloud of fire and smoke roared upward, shockwaves ripping through the forest outside Konoha.
Even from miles away, the blast wind tore through the village, forcing eyes shut and knocking men to their knees.
The real battle was only beginning.