The border of the Oni Province—inside its fortified walls—the samurai stood on alert patrol.
From atop a watchtower lit by harsh white searchlights, one samurai scanned the dark treeline. Suddenly, a violent explosion erupted within the forest beyond the walls, sending a column of smoke and dust spiraling upward.
"Hey! What was that!?"
The samurai stiffened, staring at the blast site before shouting to the guards beside him.
More explosions followed—one after another—until the continuous roar shook even the stone foundations beneath them. The disturbance drew the eyes of everyone present.
"Enemy attack!!"
"All personnel, to your stations!"
The samurai rushed to the battlements, nocking arrows and taking aim. But what appeared under the flickering flames froze them in place.
Marching in perfect formation were countless terracotta-like giants—an army of ghostly golems advancing without hesitation.
"What… what are those things?!"
Even the captain, though trained and battle-hardened, couldn't mask the fear in his voice. But instinct kicked in, and he bellowed without hesitation:
"Loose!"
The whistling of the volley cut through the air as hundreds of arrows rained down, blotting out the sky in a dense canopy of steel.
But the moment the arrows struck the towering golems, they simply bounced off. Many shattered outright. No matter how many volleys the samurai launched, nothing slowed the advancing legion.
"Impossible… completely ineffective!?"
Before the captain could order a retreat, the ghost legion reached the wooden barricades. Massive fists swung forward.
With thunderous BOOMS, the walls shattered like brittle twigs. Each impact reverberated through the ground, each footstep landing like a hammer blow against the hearts of the Oni Province samurai.
Towering black silhouettes swallowed the moonlight as they pushed through the defenses. These tireless, indestructible colossi were not soldiers—they were weapons. Pure, merciless war machines.
"We can't let them break through! Hold the line!"
One samurai charged forward in desperation—but the next moment, he was crushed instantly beneath a descending fist, reduced to pulp.
Within a minute, the entire outpost had been flattened. Bodies littered the ground like fallen leaves.
The captain lay collapsed amid the wreckage, his breaths shallow and fading. Watching the giants' retreating backs, he forced his trembling hand to reach a carrier pigeon. With the last of his strength, he tied a letter to its leg.
"This… must be reported… to the lord…"
As the pigeon launched into the sky, the captain's final breath slipped away with it.
......…
In Konoha, the ninja-assembly bell tolled urgently. Naruko looked up as waves of shinobi rushed toward the Hokage Building.
"Looks like something big's going down—this is our chance to shine!"
She punched her palm with excitement.
"Naruko, what are you spacing out for? Seventh Hokage called for you too," Sakura said, poking her cheek. "Sako already went ahead. Let's move."
"Alright, alright—stop pulling me!"
Fifteen minutes later, in the Hokage Building's great hall, Tsunade—face set in deep seriousness—addressed the assembled Konoha shinobi.
"Last night, we received a report that the monster Mōryō sealed beneath the underground palace has revived. The Ghost Army has already begun its assault. We will deploy immediately to support the Oni Province!"
"Grandma Tsunade, what's a Mōryō?" Naruko raised her hand from within the crowd.
"If you call me grandma again, I'll tan your backside on behalf of your father!"
Tsunade shot Naruko a fierce glare, making her jolt upright. Only then did Tsunade continue, her tone settling.
"Come to think of it, many of you younger ones might not know about this."
She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then began explaining:
"In the past, a group of ninja sought to conquer the entire continent. They used the power of an otherworldly monster—Mōryō, the so-called 'eel'—to create an immortal Ghost Legion. That legion swept through nations, nearly destroying the entire world."
"That is the true identity of the Ghost Army threatening us now."
Tsunade unfurled an old scroll, revealing a weathered map.
This was the map from before the continent's unification—when the Oni Province and Numa Province were still known as the Land of Demons and the Land of Swamps.
Pointing to it, Tsunade continued:
"The only reason Mōryō was defeated back then was because of the Land of Demons—what we now call the Oni Province."
"At that time, their shrine maiden Maitreya used powerful sealing arts to imprison Mōryō's soul in the underground palace of the Demon Country and its body in the ancestral hall of the Swamp Country. Only because of that did the world survive."
"But now, Mōryō has resurrected and is leading the Ghost Legion out of the underground palace. Their goal is to reach the ancestral hall. If Mōryō's body and soul reunite, it will trigger a catastrophe."
After delivering this information, Tsunade began assigning missions.
The jōnin-led squads were sent to the front lines to engage the Ghost Army directly, while genin teams were tasked with escort and protection duties.
Among them, Team 7 received a special assignment—protecting the current shrine maiden, Aster.
"See? Our mission's way more important than the others." Naruko lifted her chin proudly, her delicate face gleaming with satisfaction.
Sako nodded. In his view, Tsunade selecting Team 7 for such a high-priority role was a clear acknowledgment of their strength. They had to ensure everything went smoothly.
"Our responsibility is huge this time. Naruko, don't you dare mess this up."
"Hah!? Who would be the one messing up?!"
As the two bickered, Sakura suddenly remembered something and asked curiously:
"By the way—why is Tsunade-sama leading this mobilization? Why not Lord Ryoma?"
Naruko shrugged lazily.
"Dad's always like that. He hates dealing with meetings and logistics, so he dumps everything on Grandma Tsunade. Honestly, what's weirder is his job itself—he almost never does it personally."
She stretched again.
"He prefers training, research, or fighting instead of paperwork."
The girls continued chatting as they lined up, preparing to enter the space-time portal.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Tsunade pressed her fingers to her temples, sighing.
"Where on earth has Ryoma run off to at a time like this…? This concerns the safety of the entire continent. Why isn't that man taking it seriously?"
Shizune paused to think, then said softly:
"I believe Lord Ryoma wants us to handle this ourselves. After all, whenever he steps in, he resolves everything on his own. Maybe we've become too dependent on him."
Tsunade fell silent at that.