Dawn broke, pale light spreading across the horizon.
On one of the peaks outside Kikyo Mountain Fortress, Uchiha Jin stood shoulder to shoulder with Hyūga Hizashi, balanced atop the crown of a towering tree. Both stared into the dim forest below.
"Five kilometers. They're moving fast. Prepare yourselves!"
Hizashi's voice carried across the slope.
At once, shadows flickered through the trees beneath them—Konoha shinobi dispersing into hidden positions before melting back into darkness.
Jin spoke quietly.
"Do you see their heavy hitters?"
Hizashi shook his head, then pointed in a specific direction.
"No overwhelming chakra signatures yet. But that sector has the densest concentration. It should be their main assault axis."
Jin followed his line of sight.
That was the mountain defended by Obito Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake.
A faint flicker passed through his eyes.
During the previous war council, Shikaku Nara had pushed Konoha's defensive line forward to four peaks closest to the fortress. The original arrangement had been:
Jin guarding one peak.Minato Namikaze guarding another.Might Duy and Hyūga Hiashi holding a third.The Ino–Shika–Chō trio with Uzumaki Kushina anchoring the fourth.
But Jin had altered that.
He moved Ino–Shika–Chō and Kushina to the rear to coordinate and oversee the battlefield. In their place, he positioned Obito and Kakashi on the forward line.
In Jin's view, Shikaku's intellect and Inoichi's mind techniques were far more valuable in command and battlefield coordination than in frontal combat. Chōza could guard them as a shield.
As for Obito—
Dual Kamui, Hashirama cells.
Raw power that rivaled even Minato.
Yes, he lacked experience.
But paired with Kakashi—who had fully reclaimed the Hatake blade style—they were more than capable of holding a peak.
That flank would not collapse.
"One kilometer. Prepare to engage!"
Hizashi's warning rang out again.
The first whistling sounds followed immediately—
Hyūga archers loosed arrows, cutting down enemy shinobi advancing through the brush.
"Five hundred meters!"
Jin could now see figures weaving between trees.
"Three hundred!"
He began forming hand seals.
"One hundred!"
"Fire Release — Great Fire Annihilation!"
A roaring sea of flames burst from his mouth, sweeping forward like a burning tide.
Earth walls rose in response, dividing the inferno into branching rivers of flame.
"It's Uchiha Jin!"
A shout rippled through the allied ranks.
From the rear, two figures detached from formation and surged forward.
"Kill!"
The two armies collided.
The clash escalated instantly into brutal close-quarters combat.
Jin decapitated an Iwa shinobi in one fluid motion, then glanced toward the other peaks.
Everywhere, blades and jutsu intertwined—
Yet something was off.
No overwhelming chakra bursts.
None of the enemy's top-tier combatants had entered the fray.
He cut down several more Iwa shinobi, flames igniting along his body.
"Fire Release Chakra Mode!"
If they wouldn't show themselves—
He would force them out.
Jin blurred forward, carving through the allied formation.
"Earth Release — Rock Fist!"
A massive figure burst from the ranks, forearm encased in hardened stone. He intercepted Jin's blazing blade mid-swing.
"Treating my comrades like vegetables isn't very polite."
It was Kitsuchi.
With a sharp twist, he knocked Jin back.
Before Jin's feet touched ground—
"Lava Release — Scorching River!"
A torrent of molten magma surged across the battlefield, swallowing the earth where Jin had stood.
He leapt—
But the lava crashed and splashed outward, erupting into waves that erased all stable footing.
A jet of flame blasted from beneath his feet.
He flipped midair and landed atop a tree some distance away.
There—
He saw him.
A red-haired elder in purple robes.
"Ah," Jin said with dry humor, "so it's the Four-Tails' jinchūriki, Rōshi. For a moment I thought Akainu had shown up."
Rōshi frowned.
"Enough nonsense. Uchiha Jin—your end is here."
"Lava Release — Scorching River Rock Technique!"
Several enormous magma spheres blasted toward Jin.
"Fire Release — Fire Fist!"
A massive flaming fist erupted from Jin's swing, smashing the molten projectiles aside.
Without pause, he slashed again.
"Fire Release — Solar Flame Slash!"
A blazing crescent roared toward Rōshi.
The old jinchūriki didn't dodge.
He charged straight through the flames.
"Earth Release — Earth Dragon Spears!"
Suddenly, within dozens of meters beneath Jin, the ground surged upward. Massive earthen lances shot skyward with perfect timing—precisely during the gap between Jin's attacks.
There was no time to evade.
Thud.
A thick spear impaled straight through Jin's torso.
Jin's gaze snapped toward Kitsuchi, hands still locked in seal.
Then—
"Lava Release — Seabed Needle!"
Rōshi burst through the flames, body now fully engulfed in molten chakra. His form blurred, no longer entirely human—lava coursing across his skin, a fiery cloak wrapping around him much like Jin's own chakra mode.
His fist smashed into Jin—
And Jin exploded into scattered flames.
Jin's eyes narrowed slightly.
Kitsuchi.
Rōshi.
Earth and lava.
Now this—
This was troublesome.
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