Within the Hidden Sand Village, most of the elderly, weak women, and children had been moved to safety before the invasion began.
Those remaining in the village were the ninjas of the Sand; even administrative staff had taken up kunai, prepared to fight to the last.
Konoha had also committed itself fully. Both sides understood that this battle would define the territorial boundaries of the shinobi world for decades to come, and the fighting had quickly turned bloody.
Under the canopy of massive, spiraling trees, the village environment was undergoing a radical transformation.
The Kazekage, Rasa, manipulated his Gold Dust to block the encroachment, but he could not halt the eerie expansion of the Wood Style forest.
As a "crippled" Kazekage, Rasa was inwardly fuming. He was resentful that he had to clean up the mess Shiraishi had provoked, yet with the Leaf army at the gates, he had no choice but to fight.
"I'm here. Let's fight together."
Karura, despite being pregnant, had refused to evacuate with the main body. She chose to stay and fight alongside her husband.
Their sand manipulation techniques complemented each other perfectly; with Karura's support, Rasa's combat effectiveness jumped to a new level.
However, their opponents were the formidable duo of Tenmon Hyuga and Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Lord Kazekage, do you truly have the heart to watch your village be destroyed like this?"
Faced with the Third Hokage's attempt at persuasion, Karura unleashed a barrage of sand needles, her face cold. "Spare us the hypocritical words, Third Hokage! This is a battlefield!"
The Land of Wind was a desert. Forcing the growth of massive trees might temporarily change the terrain to favor the Leaf, but after the war, the lack of water would cause them to wither, effectively draining the life energy from the village's soil.
Elsewhere, Jiraiya remained at the rear camp to prevent the Sand's other two divisions from returning to reinforce the village. However, no news of a Sand retreat had arrived.
Shikaku Nara reviewed the intelligence, his brow furrowing. "Black Mist Shiraishi has no intention of abandoning his strategic gains in the Rain and Rivers."
"Is the Leaf homeland safe?" Jiraiya asked, worried about a direct counter-strike.
Shikaku shook his head. "Distance and time won't allow him to do that."
To reach the Leaf, Shiraishi would have to cross the entirety of the Land of Rain, and Hanzo would never allow a foreign army to march through his territory unhindered.
Shikaku had also prepared contingencies within the Leaf. As the son of Nara Shikagawa, he was more prepared for this "vengeance" than his father had ever been.
"Will the Sand use massive amounts of paper bombs like last time?"
"It's highly likely. That's why I used the Wood Style for the first wave—to trigger any traps. We've detonated some, but the scale wasn't large."
Shikaku looked toward the horizon. "Shiraishi returning alone suggests either immense confidence in his own strength or that he has other hidden cards."
The battle shifted into the village streets. Ryoko Yamaji was locked in combat with Uchiha Zhan. Sand swirled around Ryoko, her hair flying wild as she manifested venomous sand cobras to strike.
As the sky darkened, Zhan used his Body Flicker to create two afterimages, his tachi carving through the sand serpents.
Uchiha Style: Twin Flash Hurricane!
Zhan, a master of Genjutsu and Taijutsu, moved with blinding speed. The afterimages were so realistic that he could swap places with them at will.
This was the legendary movement technique passed down from Kagami Uchiha, inspired by the Flying Raijin.
A gash appeared on Ryoko's palm. Though she avoided a lethal blow, she was wounded. Zhan knew she was a master of sand control; per Konoha's high-level directives, such ninjas were priority targets to prevent them from assisting Shiraishi in creating a "Desert Domain."
Zhan's tachi erupted in brilliant flames.
Uchiha Style: Halo Dance!
In a triple-strike motion, Zhan unleashed a tracking wave of fire that carried the cutting properties of Wind Style.
"Don't look down on me!" Ryoko shouted.
Combining chakra threads and sand, she manifested a massive, tanuki-like desert monster—Shukaku's likeness—which exhaled a powerful air bullet. Zhan flickered away, appearing instantly behind her to thrust his blade at her heart.
But just as the metal was about to pierce her, it froze in mid-air, caught by an invisible force.
Magnet Release?
The color of Ryoko's sand construct began to shift, taking on a metallic silver sheen. Ryoko's tone was less than friendly: "Can you fix your habit of being late? Do you really think you're the main character?"
"I was delayed by Sasori."
At the mention of Sasori, Ryoko's expression tightened. Despite knowing Shiraishi's strength, she couldn't help but worry about Sasori's status. "You didn't... do anything to him, did you?"
Even after all this, she's still his biggest fangirl... Shiraishi thought.
"I punched him, then he escaped."
As they spoke, silver metallic sand bound Uchiha Zhan. Shiraishi, having removed his glasses and wearing light blue attire, stood behind Ryoko to assist.
"Black Mist Shiraishi?"
Zhan flickered to break free and drew a non-metallic kunai, appearing behind Shiraishi. But Shiraishi simply flicked his wrist, and a wave of sand intercepted him.
As Shiraishi raised the Sage's Blade, the earth began to rumble violently. The Wood Style plants began to tremble as if in fear.
Inheriting the "Asura" will, Shiraishi was intimately familiar with Wood Style. He slammed his hand to the ground, a unique seal appearing in his palm.
Sand Control!
In an instant, the lush forest began to wither, the moisture sucked dry as it reverted to the desert Shiraishi required. Silver sand expanded rapidly across the village, rendering Konoha's preparations useless.
In the Land of Wind, Shiraishi was the absolute master. Under his command, the earth buckled as silver sand rose to form massive pyramids at key points of the barrier.
The reversed barrier was not unbreakable. While it used the village's ley lines as a core, Shiraishi chose the most violent solution: injecting his own massive chakra to forcibly sever the connection.
With a sharp crack of his seals, the silver pyramids resonated. A surge of energy flooded the ground, and the reversed barrier was shattered. Shards of light rained down over the Hidden Sand.
Breaking a barrier through raw chakra was a feat of brute force that left even Hiruzen Sarutobi in shock.
Standing in mid-air, bathed in a light-blue telekinetic glow, Shiraishi's supercomputing system within his Regeneration Core went into full operation.
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