"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—!"
Before Dodai's warning fully settled into the air, dozens more arrows screamed through the darkness.
Even with heightened alertness, over a dozen Cloud shinobi were instantly blown apart—torsos pierced clean through, limbs severed mid-dodge. Blood sprayed across the blackened forest floor.
The arrows were terrifyingly fast.
Terrifyingly powerful.
And horrifyingly precise.
Combined with the pitch-black predawn visibility, the temporary camp had become a slaughter ground.
Wave after wave of arrow rain descended, each volley claiming more lives.
Screams erupted.
Panic spread.
"Damn it! Take cover! Sensory team, locate the enemy! Samui, continue unsealing Killer B! Lava Release: Rubber Ball!"
Dodai rapidly formed hand seals and spat out a massive elastic sphere that expanded instantly, enveloping Samui and the fūinjutsu squad in protective cushioning.
A sensory ninja opened his eyes in alarm.
"We're surrounded! Front and rear! Kariyui's group is also under attack!"
"How many?!" Dodai barked while twisting aside to evade another arrow.
"Approximately three hundred! Over two hundred in front, forming a semi-circular formation several hundred meters away. They aren't advancing. The arrows are coming from them!"
"There are about fifty behind us, splitting into two groups and moving laterally!"
Dodai's mind raced.
This wasn't the main force.
This was a blocking formation.
The fifty behind were clearly making room—
Which meant something larger was waiting further back.
They were being funneled.
We can't stay here.
He raised his voice sharply:
"Samui! How long until the seal is broken?"
That answer would decide everything.
If it could be done quickly—
They would have Killer B fire a Tailed Beast Bomb straight through the enemy front line and break the encirclement.
If not—
They would have to charge.
Close combat.
Force the enemy archers into hesitation.
Even if it meant heavy casualties.
Because staying put meant certain death.
As for Yugito Nii…
Dodai had already considered it.
She could draw on Matatabi's power—
But releasing a full Tailed Beast Bomb required surrendering control.
And Yugito could not guarantee the Two-Tails wouldn't aim at Cloud shinobi instead.
Tailed beasts did not forget their cages.
Trust between jinchūriki and beast was one thing.
Trust between beast and village?
Another entirely.
"No choice," Dodai muttered. Then he roared:
"Three squads stay to protect Samui! Everyone else—charge with me!"
Without waiting, he surged forward.
"Kill them!"
The remaining Cloud shinobi followed in a furious charge.
The Archer Line
Several hundred meters ahead—
Perched on a thick tree branch stood Uchiha Jin.
Beside him was Hyuga Hizashi.
Around them—
Dozens of Hyūga clan members stood poised with bows drawn, Byakugan activated.
Hyuga clan white veins bulged at their temples as their vision pierced through trees, darkness, and terrain alike.
"Jin," Hizashi said calmly, "they're charging."
"As expected," Jin replied coldly. "Don't stop firing. I want half of them dead before they get close."
Hizashi gave no verbal reply.
He simply raised his hand.
The Hyūga archers increased their firing rhythm.
Arrows streaked like silver threads through the dark.
Every shot—
Perfect.
Every target—
Tracked in real time through Byakugan's nearly 360-degree vision.
The charging Cloud shinobi fell one after another.
Hizashi couldn't help but reflect, once again, on Jin's unconventional genius.
During the war against Kirigakure, the Uchiha and Hyūga had served as Konoha's primary forces. It was Jin who proposed transforming part of the Hyūga into a long-range assault corps.
In his words:
"Byakugan is wasted in mid-range combat."
X-ray vision.
Kilometer-scale observation.
Chakra network detection.
Unobstructed tracking.
Add the Hyūga's precision chakra control from Gentle Fist—
And infuse chakra into arrows?
You didn't get archers.
You got snipers.
Imagine this:
Someone who can detect you from kilometers away.
Track your movements without obstruction.
Calculate your position in three-dimensional space.
And then eliminate you silently before you even know you've been seen.
If this world had sniper rifles, Jin would've used those.
Since it didn't—
He made do with bows.
At first, the Hyūga found the transition awkward.
But after watching Kirigakure shinobi drop dead without understanding how—
They adapted quickly.
Very quickly.
Some even started sleeping with their bows beside them.
The only limitation?
Materials.
High-grade chakra-conductive bow construction wasn't easy.
So far, Jin and Hizashi had only equipped about a squad and a half.
But that would change soon.
After all—
In the original timeline, Kidōmaru of the Sound Four used specialized chakra bows under Orochimaru.
If anyone could mass-produce improved weaponry—
It was him.
"Jin," Hizashi suddenly said, his tone shifting.
"There's something unusual in their formation."
He narrowed his Byakugan focus.
"There's a special presence among them."
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> [email protected]/warewolvesTL(replace@ with a)