The range of Uchiha Ren 's attack, Heaven and Earth Same Longevity, was enormous. If the Flame Wall around Kikyō Mountain Fortress hadn't blocked part of the blast, the fortress itself might have been destroyed.
But now that the remaining Kumogakure forces had already broken through the Flame Wall, there was no longer any reason to maintain it.
Ren casually waved his sword.
The blazing wall of fire quickly extinguished, revealing the brutal battlefield on the other side.
Most of the Kumogakure shinobi had already breached the fortress walls and were fighting the Konoha defenders inside Kikyō Mountain Fortress.
Flames, lightning, hurricanes, torrents of water, and surging earth techniques raged throughout the fortress.
Severed limbs and mangled corpses were scattered everywhere.
As the attacking side, Kumogakure had suffered tremendous losses. Of the two thousand ninja who had launched the assault, barely a little over one thousand remained.
Konoha's casualties were also severe.
Among the elite Uchiha and Hyūga shinobi that Ren had brought with him, nearly one-third had already fallen.
As for the hundred or so original fortress defenders, only a handful were still alive.
And those losses on Konoha's side should not be underestimated.
Every Uchiha and Hyūga shinobi Ren had brought was at least at the level of a chūnin.
In contrast, the majority of Kumogakure's forces were merely genin.
The difference in quality between the two sides was enormous.
Seeing such sacrifices, Ren couldn't help but feel a pang of pain.
When he had fought against Kirigakure on the border for so long, only a few dozen Uchiha had died.
Yet here—
In just a little over an hour, the casualties among the Uchiha alone were nearly equal to those suffered during the entire Kirigakure campaign.
The difference lay in the type of battle.
On the Kirigakure battlefield, most engagements were small squad encounters.
Even the largest clashes rarely exceeded a few hundred ninja.
If they couldn't win, they could retreat. If they were injured, they could return to the rear for treatment before rejoining the fight.
But here—
They couldn't retreat.
They were outnumbered.
And they had to defend Kikyō Mountain at all costs.
This was the brutal reality of a frontal siege battle.
All they could do now was hope that reinforcements would arrive soon.
Ren took a deep breath and charged back into the Kumogakure forces with sword in hand.
The Kumogakure army had long noticed what happened on this side of the battlefield.
Although they found it hard to believe that A and several hundred Kumogakure shinobi had been wiped out, they quickly adapted.
Several hundred ninja were dispatched again to contain Ren .
Meanwhile, the rest intensified their assault, hoping to quickly eliminate the defenders inside the fortress before regrouping to surround and kill Ren together.
They knew how powerful Ren was.
But no matter how strong he might be—
He was still human.
His chakra would eventually run out.
Just like the Third Raikage of Kumogakure.
He had been known as the wielder of both the Strongest Spear and the Strongest Shield.
He could even fight tailed beasts barehanded, forcing them to submit through sheer strength.
But what did that matter?
In the end, even he had died under the siege of ten thousand Iwagakure ninja.
No matter how powerful a ninja was—
Once their chakra was exhausted, they were no different from an ordinary person.
And in truth, their assumption wasn't wrong.
At this moment, Ren 's chakra reserves had indeed been heavily depleted.
Most of the techniques he had used earlier consumed enormous amounts of chakra.
Additionally, using the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit was constantly draining his stamina.
If things continued like this…
He might have no choice but to use that unfinished trump card.
It was a trump card Ren had spent several years preparing, meant to help him reach the level of Six Paths-tier power.
Using it prematurely would not only waste years of effort, but also disrupt his future plans.
Unless absolutely necessary—
Ren would never use it.
"Hold on, everyone! Reinforcements have arrived!"
Suddenly, a Hyūga shinobi widened his eyes and shouted excitedly while staring toward the distance.
The shout instantly boosted the morale of the Konoha defenders.
All the Konoha ninja felt their spirits lift.
Meanwhile, many Kumogakure shinobi looked grim, their eyes filled with unwillingness as they seemed to anticipate their fate.
Although everyone stared toward the direction the Hyūga ninja was pointing for quite a while, no reinforcements were visible yet.
But no one questioned him.
After all, the Byakugan's long-distance vision was well known.
"Haha! It really is reinforcements!"
"They're three kilometers away!"
"Prepare to counterattack!"
"Don't let the Kumogakure ninja escape!"
"Hold them here!"
Soon, several more Hyūga shinobi stepped forward and confirmed the earlier report.
This time, the Konoha defenders were completely invigorated.
It was as if they had gained new strength, even beginning to shift from defense to counterattack.
In contrast, the morale of the Kumogakure army rapidly declined.
Their attacks began to hesitate.
But Ren sensed something was wrong.
After blasting several Kumogakure ninja away with a Fire Fist, he turned his gaze toward the direction from which the supposed reinforcements were approaching.
A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
In terms of timing, the first wave of reinforcements led by Hyūga Hiashi should indeed have been arriving soon.
But—
They shouldn't have been coming from that direction.
That direction led toward the border regions of the Land of Taki, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Rivers.
Would reinforcements really come from there?
A bad feeling began to form in Ren 's heart.
Still, he chose not to voice it.
For now, the situation was still developing in their favor.
After a short stalemate, a large mass of dark figures suddenly burst out of the distant forest.
Judging from their clothing—
They were indeed Konoha ninja.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Seeing this, a Kumogakure commander immediately abandoned any lingering hopes and shouted the retreat order.
The situation was already lost.
There were still nearly one thousand Kumogakure ninja remaining.
If they continued fighting, the only outcome would be total annihilation.
Retreating now might bring an uncertain future—
But at least they would still be alive.
Ren 's eyes flickered when he heard the order.
But he did not stop the Kumogakure retreat.
Instead, he dashed into the interior of Kikyō Mountain Fortress and even stopped several Konoha ninja who wanted to pursue the enemy.
Hyūga Hizashi made the same decision.
After gathering the nearby Konoha shinobi, he approached Ren .
"Ren … something's not right."
Hizashi said, his expression grave.
Ren nodded.
"Indeed. The direction the reinforcements came from is wrong."
"That's not what I mean."
Hizashi shook his head.
"Their formation is chaotic."
"They look extremely panicked."
"Many of them are injured."
He paused.
Then he spoke the conclusion that had been forming in his mind.
"Rather than reinforcements…"
"They look more like a routed army."
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