The Cloud forces didn't panic.
They adapted.
"Earth Release: Earth-Splitting Palm!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Sever!"
"Earth Release: Earth-Core Shift!"
When Water Release failed to extinguish the blazing wall of fire, they changed tactics instantly. Earth-style users surged forward, reshaping terrain rather than confronting the flames directly.
That was the hallmark of a true shinobi army.
Versatility.
A force built on a single nature transformation could be countered.
A force with diversity survived.
Konoha had perfected that doctrine across multiple Great Wars.
Kumogakure, despite its reputation for Lightning Release, was no exception.
The results were immediate.
Burning earth cracked open.
Chunks of flaming ground flipped aside.
Sections of soil were raised or collapsed.
Passages were carved through the inferno.
Breach Points
"Concentrate fire on the gaps!"
From the fortress wall, Hyuga Hizashi shouted sharply.
Cloud shinobi flooded through the openings.
Konoha answered with explosives.
Kunai and shuriken wrapped in explosive tags rained down into the narrow corridors.
Detonations thundered.
Smoke and blood filled the breach points.
The confined terrain turned the advance into a slaughter.
Yet numbers were numbers.
Powerful Cloud jōnin broke through the bombardment and leapt toward the walls.
"Archers, rotate back in formation! Do not cease fire!"
"Everyone else—hold the line! Dump every explosive before they fully scale the wall!"
Hizashi struck one shinobi midair with Eight Trigrams: Air Palm, sending him crashing back into his own ranks.
The Hyūga archers retreated in disciplined steps, arrows never stopping.
Behind them—
The Uchiha stood.
Scarlet eyes burned across the battlements.
Uchiha Clan (Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan)
Kunai streaked outward with unnatural precision.
Close combat followed.
And reality hit the Cloud shinobi hard.
Why the Uchiha Were Feared
In taijutsu—
They found no advantage.
Every movement was read.
Every feint exposed.
Their own techniques were copied and mirrored back.
Genjutsu struck without warning.
One moment of eye contact—
And a shinobi would freeze, defenseless.
Behind them, arrows and explosive tags ensured no reinforcements could properly support the climbers.
The overwhelming numbers that once inspired confidence had been reduced to something else.
A drip-feed assault.
One wave at a time.
One batch slaughtered at a time.
Tactical Shift
"Split forces!" a Cloud commander barked.
"Two battalions left! Two right! Three circle behind them!"
"If we stay confined, we lose the advantage!"
He was correct.
Expand the battlefield.
Force Konoha to divide.
Exploit numerical superiority.
On the wall, Hizashi saw it clearly.
And had no answer.
Three hundred defenders.
Against two thousand.
They couldn't stretch any thinner.
All he could do—
Was pray the reinforcements were moving fast enough.
Meanwhile — The Duel
Elsewhere on the battlefield—
Uchiha Jin slashed sideways, flames obliterating a bolt of lightning from his flank.
Too late.
A fist was already there.
BOOM.
His head exploded into fire.
His body retreated instantly, evading two incoming Thunder Arrows.
Across from him—
A stood, lightning still roaring around his battered frame.
One arm gone.
Body burned.
But his will unshaken.
He did not pursue.
Instead—
He spoke.
The Offer
"Uchiha Jin."
"Surrender."
"If you and the Uchiha inside this fortress lay down your arms, I will forget the past."
"You will join Kumogakure."
"We will make you one of ours."
There was no mockery in his tone.
Only calculation.
The Sharingan.
For decades, the Cloud had coveted it.
If he could capture this many Uchiha alive—
Within twenty years, Kumogakure would have its own dōjutsu bloodline.
As for the Hyūga on the walls?
Branch members.
Caged birds.
Disposable.
He didn't even mention them.
Jin's Response
His head reformed from flame.
He laughed.
"When the so-called God of Shinobi wanted peace with us, he offered his own life as collateral."
"You think a few words from a Raikage are enough?"
Hashirama Senju (First Hokage)
A's expression didn't change.
"Then we'll do it the other way."
"Kumogakure has many methods to ensure bloodlines continue."
"You won't die quickly."
"You'll serve a purpose."
His meaning was crystal clear.
Jin's expression darkened.
Shameless.
Utterly shameless.
They didn't even pretend otherwise.
Decision
Around him—
Cloud shinobi tightened the encirclement.
More breached the fire wall.
The fortress situation was worsening.
Time was running out.
He exhaled slowly.
He had hoped not to use it yet.
But he had no intention—
Of becoming breeding stock for Kumogakure.
"You think you've already won?"
His tone changed.
Serious.
Cold.
The three tomoe in his eyes twisted.
Shifted.
Bloomed.
Into a new pattern.
Mangekyo Sharingan
The battlefield temperature—
Dropped.
Even before the flames reacted.
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