A few days later, at the Konoha border.
A Konoha ninja on patrol through a stretch of forest heard a commotion and stopped immediately. He jumped up to a treetop and looked toward the source of the sound.
"What... what is that?"
When he saw the massive shadowy formation suddenly appearing in the distance, his expression turned to one of pure terror, his scalp prickling. As a patrol officer responsible for guarding the front lines, he was also a sensory ninja.
"The Sand Village?"
As the agitated figures drew closer and his senses confirmed what his eyes were seeing, his pupils contracted sharply. He immediately turned to flee and alert his comrades at the base.
Even though he found it completely unbelievable and impossible, the Sand Village had actually appeared. And judging by the aggressive momentum of their approach, they were clearly coming to wage war.
The Land of Rivers was the corridor territory between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, functioning as a buffer zone between the two great nations that helped balance the tension between them.
In the previous major wars, both sides had known the general details of the border situation and had heard various rumors circulating. Because using neutral territory as a passthrough was a political survival strategy employed by small nations, neither of the two great nations, including the Land of Rivers, had wanted to offend the arrangement.
Both sides had maintained a degree of restraint regarding that buffer.
But now, Konoha had received absolutely no intelligence about the Sand Village's offensive. Not a single piece.
The Konoha patrol ninja sensed the incoming attack, but the shinobi at the forefront of the Sand Village soldiers clearly possessed the same kind of sensory ability. Just as he turned to flee, a large volley of projectiles fired directly at him simultaneously.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.
In an instant, the massive Sand Village army swarmed across the border like a school of fish flooding through a river gate. They stormed into the Land of Fire's territory through the forest at full speed.
"What's happening?"
Not far from the border, inside a Konoha stronghold, several Leaf Village ninja heard the sounds and immediately sensed something was wrong.
The Sand Village's massive army rushing across the border naturally created considerable noise and disturbance. It even triggered some of the defensive mechanisms the Leaf Village had set up along the perimeter. Completely concealing their tracks had been impossible.
But the Sand Village, operating under clear leadership and moving with decisive purpose, didn't hesitate. Even as some mechanisms in the forest exploded or activated around them, it barely slowed their advance. Their speed was extraordinary, a lightning strike.
At the Leaf Village stronghold, the squad leader had just ordered his teammates to extinguish the campfire and remain alert when a large number of ghostly figures flashed through the trees ahead, followed immediately by an overwhelming barrage of projectiles.
The few defenders barely managed to mount any resistance before being swept away in the tide of the assault. Bodies hit the ground, and dark figures leaped from the trees in succession like bamboo shoots breaking through earth after rain.
"Spread out!" Yuji landed on a tree branch and immediately spoke in a low, controlled voice. "Use this position as the center. Use your sensory ninja to scan the area ahead and locate all Leaf Village strongholds within range."
He continued without pause.
"After achieving the objective, the first detachment remains here. Set up traps and mechanisms immediately. Medical ninja and logistics personnel prepare for deployment and familiarize themselves with the local environment.
All troops divide into squads according to the pre-battle arrangements. The remaining personnel continue forward."
"Yes."
Several Sand Village unit leaders around him nodded and immediately dispersed. The main force began splitting into its assigned components.
Konoha had clearly not anticipated their attack. As expected, the border outpost had only minimal personnel. The Sand Village held an absolute numerical advantage, and the outcome had never really been in question. It was only a matter of time.
Soon, following the battle orders, the entire previously silent border of the Land of Fire erupted simultaneously in the darkness.
Sounds of fighting and explosions echoed through the forest from multiple directions at once. Before long, Konoha's rear border outpost, positioned on the second line of defense, had also fallen.
The Sand Village's breakthrough had been devastating in its speed. The frontal strongholds had been destroyed with pure overwhelming force before any organized resistance could form.
The primary reason was simple. The Leaf Village side had not anticipated the Sand Village's appearance at all and had been caught completely off guard.
Now, the most critical priority for the surviving Leaf Village ninja was to get word back to the village.
The advantage the rear-positioned Leaf ninja had was that the fall of the front line had given them just enough warning to sense the incoming enemy and begin reacting.
Some of the scattered remaining strongholds began quickly regrouping, forming forces capable of briefly clashing with the Sand Village's main army and buying time, even if only a little. Enough to ensure the intelligence runners could transmit their battle reports and escape.
A battered Konoha ninja, breathing hard, sprinted back toward the main camp.
"Damn it, it's the Sand Village!"
"The Sand Village army is attacking. They've declared war!"
"Their numbers are overwhelming! Our frontline personnel can't hold any longer! Notify the village immediately!"
A battered Konoha ninja ran back to headquarters, breathless and barely holding together.
The United Front base at the border combat zone had a relatively large number of personnel, several dozen in total.
Under normal circumstances, they were responsible for managing resource supply and distribution across each base and were not frontline combat ninja. Their overall strength was relatively average, most being logistics or administrative staff rather than fighters.
"The forward squad has gathered and is blocking the Sand Village's advance toward us, but it seems they won't last much longer. We must act quickly. All non-combat personnel, retreat immediately! Takumi, you and your group go first. If the others are caught by the Sand Village, prioritize covering Takumi and his men so they can bring the intelligence back."
Half a minute later, a high-ranking ninja appeared in the courtyard, wounded, the person in charge of this camp. He showed no signs of panic and immediately issued battle instructions to everyone present.
In the courtyard, some people showed signs of unease. Although they didn't understand why the Sand Village had suddenly appeared at the border, a major battle had clearly erupted and the situation was critical, leaving no time for hesitation.
Despite the fear, everyone continued following orders and carrying out their tasks. They didn't even stop to check on the camp's supplies, wanting only to retreat first.
Bang.
But a second later, something bizarre happened.
Several Leaf Village ninja suddenly became dazed, their bodies freezing in place. Then their bodies began to swell. Their faces contorted into something ferocious. Then their swollen forms exploded outward like burst containers, scattering blood and shredded flesh.
The sudden deaths sent a shock through every remaining Leaf Village ninja in the camp.
The Leaf Village Jonin reacted first. He spun around immediately and looked toward a figure standing on a withered tree in the distance. A young boy. A pair of red eyes tinged with golden light were staring at them with complete stillness.
The Jonin extended his hand and fired a projectile immediately.
It reached the young man and was deflected by some unseen force without making contact.
"Sand Village... Blood Doctor Yuji!"
The Leaf Village Jonin's expression became extremely serious.
What were those eyes? Some form of genjutsu? He had never seen anything like them before.
"Careful! Do not confront him directly!"
He turned to the others.
"Retreat quickly! The rest of you, join forces with me to hold the target!"
The Leaf Village Jonin began channeling chakra, preparing for a fight to the death. He understood clearly how powerful the enemy before him was. Even as a Jonin, survival was not guaranteed. The fact that this was a young man meant nothing.
However, the moment he finished giving his order, the Jonin's face went rigid. His pupils expanded.
He had issued the warning himself. But he had clearly already fallen under a genjutsu in that same instant.
A sharp piercing sound cut through the air.
A single drop of blood drove through the Leaf Village Jonin's forehead and exited from the back of his skull. He dropped before he had moved a single step.
The remaining Leaf Village ninja felt as though they had fallen into a pit of ice.
Bang.
The young man who had been perched on the tree an instant before was suddenly standing in the middle of the camp. His expression was cold. His hands came together with a sharp clap.
His voice came out low and even, carrying into the ears of every Leaf Village ninja in the camp.
"Blood Release: Supernova."
The words landed like a verdict.
Around him, the void seemed to fill with presence as an enormous volume of blood dispersed into a dense crimson screen of droplets suspended in the air. Then, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, countless blood droplets shot outward simultaneously in every direction like a torrential rain of blows, driving toward every Konoha ninja within the entire camp.
In an instant, blood light flashed.
Body after body was pierced and fell.
The pungent smell of fresh blood and the suffocating killing intent transformed the Konoha headquarters into a hellish scene in seconds.
War had no warmth.
...
Bonus @700 PS
I am asking for Power Stones, not stone GIFS 😭😭