"Lava Release."
The Four-Tails turned the surrounding area into a field of molten lava.
This move didn't deal much damage to Senju Hideki.
A giant made of rock—how could it possibly fear lava beneath its feet?
Still, quite a few people failed to dodge in time and were burned into charcoal by the lava.
But strangely, those people all seemed to be Stone ninja.
Senju Hideki cast a puzzled glance at the Four-Tails.
Could this also be Aburame Shiken's backup plan?
Aburame Shiken: Damn it, Shimura Danzō is dead, so now this job falls to me.
...
Inside the Four-Tails' consciousness space,
Rōshi shouted angrily,
"Son Gokū, what are you doing? Those are our Stone ninja!"
"So noisy. They're just ants—if they die, they die."
"Bastard! We agreed that during battle I'd let you out to stretch a bit, but if you keep this up, I won't let you out anymore."
"So annoying, fine. I'll drag this guy to the other side to fight. But who is this brat? His chakra is no less than mine."
"No idea. Seems like he's from the Senju clan."
"Senju! What Senju Hashirama did to us—I'll make his descendants pay it back properly!"
The Four-Tails suddenly went berserk, grabbing the Rock Demon Colossus and hurling it toward a distant open area.
...
On the ground battlefield,
A masked Senju ninja suddenly sneezed.
Who's talking behind my back?
It must be that ugly Stone ninja over there.
...
In the sky,
"Old man, can't hold on anymore, can you?"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"
"Combined Ninjutsu!"
"Uchiha brat, you're young, but you've got quite a few tricks."
Ōnoki displayed astonishing speed, dodging the massive Lightning Water Dragon Bullet.
"Lightning Water Dragon Bullet."
The water dragon opened its massive jaws, and a high-speed stream of water shot toward Ōnoki.
"Not good—it's that fast?!"
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique."
A cylindrical barrier swept across, and the water stream—along with the water dragon's massive head behind it—vanished completely.
Done fighting, are you?
Good.
A heavyweight guest enters the stage.
After one battle from Uchiha Kamito, half the ninja world would need to come file complaints.
The ninja world's piracy master—Uchiha Kamito—had already reached great mastery.
...
On the ground battlefield,
Explosions rang out one after another.
Gari successfully detonated another Konoha ninja's corpse with a single move.
The Konoha ninja quickly retreated, keeping their distance.
Among them, a veteran ninja stepped forward to share information.
"Everyone, be careful! This is a Stone ninja with Explosion Release bloodline—Gari! Keep your distance, but more importantly, watch out for anything around him. There's a risk of explosions at any moment!"
Gari's expression turned serious.
So my abilities have been exposed? I'll have to be more careful now.
"Everyone, bombard him from a distance with ninjutsu!"
"Water Release: Water Trumpet Technique!"
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"
"Wind Release: Cut!"
"Earth Release—"
"Earth Release won't work! Lord Hideki's technique still needs improvement!"
Gari quickly slammed his hand onto the ground.
Earth Release might be unusable, but that doesn't mean Explosion Release is.
"Explode!"
The ground in front of him burst apart, forming a massive slab of earth that acted like an Earth-Style Wall.
The stronger ninja on this side were fine.
But the weaker ones…
"Slash."
Uchiha Yashiro cut down a Stone ninja in one stroke.
"These Stone ninja are way too weak! Brothers, put in more effort—if we don't meet the mission quota, we'll be doing extra training with Captain Kamito at night!"
"Understood!"
"Got it!"
The squad led by Uchiha Yashiro responded in unison.
They were killing with ease here, but the enemy commander was having a terrible time.
Kitsuchi stood high above, looking out over the battlefield.
Watching his fellow villagers being mercilessly slaughtered by Konoha ninja,
"Damn it… how does Konoha have such a technique?!"
"Kitsuchi-sama, let me lead a team down there."
Hanzan Yūga requested to fight.
"Don't be ridiculous! Aren't you a pure Earth Release ninja? What are you going down there for—to die?"
Gengan rebuked him.
"Then what do you suggest? Just watch our people get slaughtered like this?!"
Hanzan Yūga shouted.
It seemed the restriction on ground-contact Earth Release had affected the Stone ninja far more than expected.
"I can't take this anymore. Deploy the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki. Our ninja can't just die without resistance like this."
"But the Tsuchikage ordered that the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki must be saved for the final moment."
"I'll take responsibility. If the Tsuchikage punishes us, I'll bear it alone. Do it."
Kitsuchi roared.
Things were already at a critical point—why worry about responsibility now? Were they supposed to wait until all the Stone ninja were dead before acting?
"Yes!"
Gengan responded loudly and immediately went to make preparations.
The Seven-Tails let out a sharp, piercing insect-like cry, and flew from above the Stone forces toward the Konoha camp.
"Seven-Tails?!"
"Seven-Tails!"
"Why is the Seven-Tails here?!"
Uchiha Kamito, Senju Hideki, and Tsunade were all shocked.
The Seven-Tails wasn't even the Stone Village's tailed beast.
"This is bad—we can't let it pass!"
Uchiha Kamito immediately moved to intercept, but seeing Ōnoki already forming the hand signs for Dust Release, he turned back and entangled him again.
"Uchiha, go ahead—I guarantee I won't stop you."
Ōnoki said.
You stalled me for so long earlier. Now the situation has changed—I'd like to see how you deal with this.
Although it's not the perfect timing for the Seven-Tails to appear, it's not bad either.
Let's see if Konoha still has anyone left to stop it.
"Hideki, stop it!"
After shouting a few times, Uchiha Kamito resumed his battle with Ōnoki.
I need somewhere to vent this frustration.
Senju Hideki wanted to move, but the Four-Tails and Five-Tails were tightly holding him back.
Of course, that wasn't even the main issue.
The Four-Tails and Five-Tails exchanged glances.
Do we really have that little presence? There's not even a hint of us in his eyes?
But the biggest problem—
I can't fly! How am I supposed to deal with the Seven-Tails?!
Senju Hideki felt like crying.
The curse of not being able to fly had finally spread across the ninja world.