One Mist ninja stared at the carnage in front of him and couldn't stop himself—he slapped his own face hard.
"Stupid jinx mouth!"
High above, Yatagarasu kept up its merciless bombing run, pounding the Mist army without mercy.
Down below, Yagura's teeth were clenched so tight they ached.
"Rasa!"
By now the real culprit behind the dam's destruction—Pakura—had already slipped away from the area.
The invisible chameleon carried her swiftly back toward the Sunagakure lines.
Thinking back on what just happened, a sharp light flashed in Pakura's eyes.
"That chameleon is insanely strong!"
"My husband said sensor ninja could still pick it up, but the Mist sensors guarding the dam never sensed it at all."
"They only realized something was wrong after I showed myself."
"He really sold it short."
"I still don't know where he got these summoning beasts from."
"Both Yatagarasu and the chameleon are monsters."
She popped a military ration pill into her mouth. Warm energy spread from her stomach almost instantly, restoring her stamina and chakra.
Moments later the chameleon stopped.
Pakura flashed forward and appeared right in front of the Sand troops.
"Lady Pakura!"
Every head turned her way.
Pakura scanned the ranks.
"The great lake has collapsed. The Mist army is scattered and running in panic. This is our moment."
"On my command—kill!"
"Kill!"
Countless voices roared back.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
Some nearby Mist ninja were already terrified from the dam breaking. Hearing the earth-shaking war cries from the Sand forces made them panic even harder.
"What do we do?"
"The lake's gone. We've lost our biggest advantage."
"The flood from the broken dam smashed straight into our camp."
"Damn Sunagakure!"
"Damn Rasa!"
The Mist ninja cursed bitterly in their hearts.
But this was war.
Not long ago, plenty of Sand ninja had felt far more hopeless than the Mist did right now.
"Water Style: Water Mirror Technique!"
A perfect water mirror formed out of thin air, its surface aimed straight at the sky.
The next moment.
An enormous figure appeared—Yatagarasu's exact copy.
On the copy's back stood a flawless duplicate of Rasa.
Yagura's face changed dramatically.
He could feel this Water Mirror use had drained far more chakra than any time before.
"So this… is Rasa."
On the other side, Biwa Juzo charged straight toward the Sand army.
With Yagura tied down, he was now the only one left who could even hope to fight Pakura.
Nugetsu was still back in the village.
"Hiramekarei, Release!"
A massive chakra sphere detonated. In a flash, more than a dozen Mist ninja were turned into dried corpses.
Biwa Juzo's expression darkened.
"Pakura—your opponent is me!"
He strode forward without hesitation.
Pakura gave him a cold, indifferent glance.
"You're not my opponent."
Even before she had Hiramekarei, she had never taken Biwa Juzo seriously.
Now that she possessed the legendary blade, she thought even less of him.
Biwa Juzo knew it perfectly well, but he had no choice. He could only go all-out and pray Konoha's reinforcements arrived quickly.
The chameleon stayed invisible, quietly picking off Mist ninja one by one.
Even though Yagura and Biwa Juzo managed to steady the troops in record time, the damage from the lake's collapse was still crushing.
The Sand army's momentum was unstoppable.
Rasa's overwhelming presence from the sky remained.
Even with the Water Mirror copy in play.
There was one fatal flaw:
Rasa fought from high altitude. The copy fought low.
Their battle happened directly above the Mist army.
When the copy dodged Rasa's attacks, they simply missed.
But when Rasa dodged the copy's attacks, a huge portion of them kept falling downward.
Gold dust spears.
Gold dust cubes.
Accelerated by gravity, they plunged at terrifying speed.
The Sand army held absolute dominance.
They cut through the Mist lines like a hot knife through butter.
---
A figure raced into Konoha at full speed.
"Hokage-sama, it's bad!"
"What happened?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the panting Mist ninja.
"Hokage-sama, Rasa has personally arrived on the battlefield and launched a surprise all-out assault on our forces. We've suffered heavy losses. Please order Konoha ninja to provide immediate support!"
Hiruzen frowned.
"Rasa came to the frontlines himself? Is he launching a full-scale offensive against Kirigakure?"
The Mist ninja kept his head lowered and said nothing more.
"Hokage-sama, please help us."
Hiruzen hesitated for only a moment.
"Don't worry. Kirigakure and Konoha are allies. We won't sit back and watch you get attacked without lifting a finger. I'll give the order right now."
Relief finally showed on the Mist ninja's face.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama!"
Soon, under Hiruzen's command, a large Konoha force marched toward the battlefield between the Mist and Sand armies.
Hiruzen's brows stayed tightly knitted, his expression dark and uncertain.
"Danzo… you really know how to make trouble for me."
Under normal circumstances, Hiruzen would never have sent support so quickly. He would have first gathered detailed intelligence on the battlefield before deciding.
But because of Danzo's failed assassination attempt on Rasa, he knew negotiating with Sunagakure would now be nearly impossible. If Kirigakure fell, the Sand would turn straight toward Konoha.
At that point Konoha would face attacks from both Sunagakure and Iwagakure at once.
Possibly even three sides.
The Cloud Village would never let such an opportunity pass.
Therefore, Kirigakure could not be allowed to lose.
At least not yet.
"I really was too lenient with you before."
A Konoha army arrived as reinforcements. On top of that, Minato Namikaze was forcibly pulled from the Rock battlefield and sent here once again to face Rasa.
The situation here was far more urgent.
Although Konoha had plenty of top-tier ninja, they were still stretched thin.
Minato's unique jutsu often meant he was used like several people at once.
"Why would Rasa suddenly launch a full-scale attack on Kirigakure right now?"
"And come to the frontlines personally."
"Or did he just decide to hit the Mist army while he was already out here spreading the newspapers?"
"If this battle goes badly, Konoha's situation will get much worse."
"All because of Danzo!"
At that exact moment, in a faraway place.
The Mountain Graveyard.
An old man slowly opened eyes that had been closed for a very long time.
"How is the situation outside right now?"
---