Chapter 99: The Coast of Annihilation
In a flash, Akatsurugi was above the coastline. Below, a line of red-haired Uzumaki ninja held their ground desperately. They unleashed Water and Lightning Release techniques in a coordinated defense, trying to stem the tide of Kirigakure's assault.
But the vanguard of this attack was the Kaguya clan. Their bodies were living weapons, sprouting sharp bone spurs and displaying incredible physical prowess. They were on the verge of breaking through the Uzumaki line, which had resorted to raising earthen walls from the ground. But against the Kaguya's piercing bones, these defenses were crumbling like paper.
"Hahaha! I told you! If you'd let us lead the charge from the start, we would have crushed this line long ago!" a Kaguya ninja roared, his eyes alight with manic bloodlust. He brandished a bone sword, screaming, "Charge! Kill them all! Show them the true meaning of power!"
As his cry echoed, more Kaguya clansmen surged forward like a wave, their faces twisted in fanatical glee. They activated their Kekkei Genkai, the Dead Bone Pulse. Countless sharp bone spurs erupted from the ground and their own bodies, shooting towards the Uzumaki defenders.
Each spur gleamed with a cold, deadly light, like the fangs of some primordial beast hungry for life. They danced through the air, weaving a net of absolute death that left no room for escape. Where the bones passed, blood sprayed and limbs were severed, transforming the shoreline into a charnel ground.
Other Kaguya members, not to be outdone, wielded massive bone blades or fired volleys of needle-like projectiles, fighting with a ferocity that was as brutal as it was relentless. They gave their opponents not a single moment to breathe.
Witnessing the slaughter, Akatsurugi vanished from his position and reappeared in the heart of the carnage. Ryūjin Jakka was in his hand, its blade erupting into flames. His own body transformed into living fire, and he became a whirlwind of destruction on the battlefield.
The Kaguya were powerful; their bones were formidable defenses. But they had to consider who they were facing. Their frantic attacks passed harmlessly through his elemental form, while everywhere the flaming edge of Ryūjin Jakka passed, it left behind nothing but the charred remains of a Kaguya clansman.
"It's Lord Akatsurugi! He's here! He came to support us!" a Uzumaki ninja shouted, his voice cracking with relief and renewed hope. "Brothers, those who know Fire Release, use it now! Support him!"
The idea that their Fire Release could harm the Blaze God was laughable. If their paltry flames could hurt him, then his title was meaningless.
As fireballs and even a fiery dragon joined the fray, Akatsurugi smiled. He clenched his left fist, now wreathed in the power of the Mera Mera no Mi, and slammed it into the ground.
BOOM!
Concentric rings of fire exploded outwards from the point of impact, scorching the earth itself. The entire area became an inferno, and within it, Akatsurugi's speed became blinding. He was a phantom of flame, and no defense the Kaguya could muster—no bone armor, no spur—could save them. They were incinerated where they stood.
"Damn those Kaguya lunatics! Couldn't they wait for us?!" a ninja from the Hoshigaki clan cursed as his unit arrived, only to be met with the scene of apocalyptic devastation. And at its center was a figure they all recognized. "Is that... Akatsurugi?"
The Fourth Mizukage and his retinue arrived moments later, their faces paling. Akatsurugi was here in person. Had he abandoned the front against Kumogakure?
"Water Release! Now!" the Fourth Mizukage yelled. Three crimson chakra tails materialized behind him as he drew on the Three-Tails' power. A massive Water Cannon, capable of sinking ships, formed in his mouth and fired towards the blazing figure.
Akatsurugi's eyes narrowed. So, the current Mizukage was the same Three-Tails Jinchuriki he had fought and sealed before. It seemed they had found a way to break his Crimson Flame Seal.
Watching the colossal sphere of compressed water hurtle towards him, Akatsurugi simply raised his fist. It ignited and swelled, transforming into a titanic fist of pure fire.
"Fire Fist!"
The collision between the flaming fist and the water cannon was cataclysmic. A deafening hiss filled the air as a massive cloud of superheated steam instantly blanketed the coastline.
Simultaneously, the Hoshigaki ninja formed hand signs, launching a coordinated barrage of Water Release techniques from all sides, aiming to extinguish the Blaze God.
Akatsurugi just laughed, a low, dangerous sound. "Burning Hell!" He drove Ryūjin Jakka into the sand.
Instantly, dozens of pillars of fire erupted in a circle around him, shooting into the sky like a prison of flame. They intercepted the incoming water jutsu, vaporizing them upon contact. Then, the pillars bent and converged, flowing like a river of lava straight towards the Mizukage and his command group.
"Fall back! Defensive formations!" the Fourth Mizukage screamed, recognizing the technique. It was the same one that had scorched the Land of Lightning.
The Uzumaki, seeing the scale of the impending blast, also threw up their own defensive barriers. Caution was paramount.
The converging pillars of fire detonated near the Mizukage's position. The world turned white, then red, as a sun-like expansion of fire bloomed on the beach. The force scattered flames in every direction, turning the area into an ocean of fire. So intense was the heat that a significant portion of the nearby seawater boiled away into hissing steam.
The water prison conjured by the Mizukage and his elites held—for the most part. But the ninja outside of its protection, or those with weaker chakra, were simply erased, consumed by Akatsurugi's blazing hell.
"Retreat! Full retreat!" the Fourth Mizukage bellowed, his voice raw with terror. The Whirlpool Country was no longer the objective. Survival was. If this continued, Kirigakure's strength would be annihilated right here.
But wanting to leave and being allowed to were two different things. Akatsurugi had no intention of letting the architect of this invasion escape to cause trouble another day.
A deathly calm fell over him. The roaring flames around him seemed to quieten in anticipation.
"Bankai," he whispered, the word itself carrying a final weight. "...Zanka no Tachi."
The blazing sword in his hand transformed. The flames vanished, compressed into nothingness, leaving behind only a blackened, charred-looking blade from which a single wisp of green smoke rose.
"Zanka no Tachi, Kita: Tenchi Kaijin (North: Heaven and Earth Scorching Ash)."
He swung the blade. It was not a swing of fire, but of absolute, concentrated entropy. An invisible wave of annihilating heat, moving faster than the eye could follow, swept out over an immense distance.
Everything it touched ceased to be.
The Fourth Mizukage, standing at the front of his retreating forces, had time only for his eyes to widen in a final moment of incomprehension before his body disintegrated into nothingness. Not a speck of ash remained. The wave continued, and the elite ninja behind him—Hoshigaki, Kaguya, swordsmen, and water-masters alike—all met the same fate. They were simply erased from existence, as if they had never been.
Akimichi Takifū, who had just arrived with his reinforcements, skidded to a halt. His eyes bulged, his jaw hanging slack. He stood frozen, his mind refusing to process the horror and majesty before him. His body trembled slightly, the kunai in his hand feeling utterly insignificant. His breath came in ragged, disbelieving gasps. The entire might of the Mist invasion force... was just... gone.