As the roar of explosions faded, the Kirigakure shinobi raised their heads and looked toward the front.
Before them, the battlefield centered on Lord Yuto had been reduced to a scorched wasteland.
Every face was filled with a mixture of awe and burning fervor.
Yuto looked up, gazing past the destroyed battlefield toward the rear of the Konoha forces.
Ringo Ameyuri and the others had ceased fighting with the Konoha jonin.
"We're saved. Any later and we would've died right here."
Suigetsu raised his numb arms, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, and let out a heavy sigh of relief.
The rest of the Seven Swordsmen similarly let out breaths they had been holding. Given the number of enemies they had faced, each of them had been up against roughly three Konoha jonin simultaneously.
"It seems our stalling mission is complete. I just didn't expect Lord Yuto to personally step in."
Chojuro took a deep breath. After the intense fighting, his clothes were in tatters.
Ringo Ameyuri's sharp gaze swept across the Konoha jonin, who were now gradually retreating.
Clearly, Yuto's direct intervention had terrified them.
"Let's go."
Hoshigaki Kisame rolled his neck, looking unsatisfied. Still, he didn't press the attack further.
The Seven Swordsmen wore cautious expressions as they disengaged, swiftly crossing the battlefield and returning to the Kirigakure lines.
"Lord Yuto!"
"Lord Yuto!"
"Lord Yuto!"
Ringo Ameyuri, Ranmaru, Momochi Zabuza, Hoshigaki Kisame, Suigetsu, Chojuro, and Hyuga Neji — all seven leaped forward and dropped to one knee before Yuto, their faces filled with reverence.
Yuto studied them briefly. Each of the Seven Swordsmen bore considerable injuries, but none appeared to be in serious danger.
"Interesting. You were surrounded by over twenty Konoha jonin, and none of you went all out?"
Yuto's voice carried a note of amusement as he spoke casually.
Through Yuto's sensory perception, he could tell that among those twenty-plus Konoha jonin, several possessed combat prowess on par with or exceeding the current Seven Swordsmen.
Might Gai alone, with just the first seven gates open, could have easily suppressed two members of the Seven Swordsmen at once.
Not to mention that among those twenty-plus jonin was a strategic commander of Nara Shikaku's caliber.
And yet!
The Kirigakure Seven Swordsmen had been besieged for so long and had only suffered injuries. They hadn't even been forced to reveal their full strength.
That was what Yuto found so intriguing.
They didn't use their full strength?
Those words caused varying reactions among the Seven Swordsmen.
Ringo Ameyuri, Suigetsu, Ranmaru, Chojuro, and Momochi Zabuza showed no obvious change in expression.
But Hoshigaki Kisame and Hyuga Neji both froze briefly, their eyes narrowing with suspicion as they glanced at the others.
Hoshigaki Kisame naturally knew he hadn't gone all out. But the fact that the others had also held back came as a genuine surprise to him.
"Have these guys been hiding other trump cards all along?"
Kisame couldn't help but wonder to himself.
He had always believed himself to be the strongest of the Seven Swordsmen. The others were good, but merely good.
Yet Yuto's words just now had shaken that assumption.
Clearly, Lord Yuto wasn't the type to make jokes about something like this.
Naturally, this didn't include Hyuga Neji. Of the seven, Neji had sustained the worst injuries.
Near the corner of his eye was a bloody gash carved by a kunai.
Had the strike landed a few centimeters deeper, Neji's Byakugan would have been destroyed.
The attack had clearly been aimed specifically at the Byakugan. The assailant was, unsurprisingly, a member of the Hyuga clan.
So I truly am the weakest among these seniors.
A flicker of dejection crossed Neji's mind, but his eyes remained as resolute as ever.
After speaking, Yuto looked up again toward the Konoha lines, where defenses were rapidly contracting.
"Konoha shinobi. Try not to bore me."
A faint, enigmatic smile played on Yuto's lips as his voice drifted across the battlefield.
"Lord Yuto, shall we attack directly?"
Ao stepped forward from one side, his expression respectful, and asked in a low voice.
Now that the Valley of the End no longer served as Konoha's natural defensive barrier, the path forward was wide open!
"Attack."
Yuto's voice was cold and absolute.
The moment the order was given!
Ao, the Seven Swordsmen, and the other commanders all snapped to attention, issuing a rapid succession of commands.
"Charge!!"
"Forward!!"
A thunderous roar erupted from the Kirigakure forces as hundreds of shinobi surged toward the Konoha lines with battle cries ringing in their ears.
At the front of the Konoha defensive line.
Nara Shikaku stood at the very front, his gaze fixed on the distant mass of approaching Kirigakure forces.
Though they were too far away to see clearly, Shikaku's eyes remained locked on that one unmistakable, indistinct figure.
"So the First Mizukage Yuto didn't head to the battlefield of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara after all."
Yamanaka Inoichi's voice was thick with unprecedented gravity as he addressed Shikaku.
"What a shame. All those preparations on that side seem to have been for nothing."
Akimichi Choza stuffed a soldier pill into his mouth as he spoke in his deep, rumbling voice.
Shikaku's expression remained calm. He shook his head slowly.
"There's nothing to regret. Against an opponent like this, no amount of preparation is excessive."
Shikaku paused for a beat before continuing.
"Besides, this was within expectations. Since Iwagakure and Kirigakure are cooperating, they must have reached some kind of understanding in secret."
"It seems that understanding was that the First Mizukage Yuto would not intervene in the battle between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara."
Shikaku's eyes gleamed with sharp insight as he delivered his analysis with composed precision.
"Shikaku, now isn't the time for analysis. The Kirigakure forces have already begun their assault!"
"Why didn't you let me go all out when we were surrounding the Seven Swordsmen earlier?"
Might Gai's face was etched with urgency as he demanded of Shikaku.
Shikaku turned to Gai and shook his head helplessly.
It wasn't that he wasn't anxious. But from the moment the First Mizukage Yuto had appeared on the battlefield, the outcome of this engagement was no longer something he could influence.
Strategy could sway a battle, but in the face of absolute power, the impact of tactics was reduced to almost nothing.
"Gai, even if you wiped out the entire Seven Swordsmen in one breath, what then?"
"The crux of the problem is no longer on us. What you need to do right now is conserve your strength. The battles ahead may yet demand everything you have."
Shikaku stared intently at the agitated Gai, his expression deadly serious.
"The Kirigakure forces are attacking. The First Mizukage Yuto could strike at any moment..."
Hearing Shikaku's words, Gai forced himself to calm down.
"Don't worry. Our job is to hold the line against the Kirigakure troops. As for the First Mizukage Yuto — leave him to the Hokage and the others."
Shikaku pulled out his pocket watch, fell silent for a moment, and then spoke with quiet resolve.
The message should have reached them by now. By his calculation, they should arrive at any moment.
Shikaku thought to himself.
The two sides clashed. Konoha and Kirigakure shinobi slammed into each other, and the battlefield erupted with ninjutsu and flying kunai.
Deafening explosions and thunderous crashes echoed across the battlefield.
Compared to the high-spirited Kirigakure forces, the Konoha shinobi's morale was noticeably lower. But every single one of them fought with desperate fury.
Behind them was their village. They had already retreated as far as they could. There was nowhere left to go!
The clash between the two forces didn't last long.
Yuto, who had been standing at the rear without intervening, suddenly raised his head. A faint smile crossed his face.
"Finally, something interesting. At least my wait wasn't entirely in vain."
Yuto spoke to himself, amusement lacing his voice.
At the same time.
Three figures slammed into the ground at the front of the Konoha defensive line.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three massive craters appeared before the Konoha shinobi.
As the dust cleared, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru came into view.
"They're finally here — the Hokage!"
Relief flooded Nara Shikaku's face, and a heavy weight lifted from his chest.
"Lord Hokage, Lord Jiraiya, and Lord Orochimaru! The Legendary Three are all here!"
One Konoha jonin after another stepped forward, their faces alight with excitement.
"It seems we've arrived right on time."
Jiraiya swept his gaze across the battlefield. He noticed Yuto at the rear almost immediately, and his expression turned grave.
"Shikaku, leave the First Mizukage Yuto to us."
Tsunade turned to address Shikaku at the rear, raising her fist as she spoke with commanding authority.
As she spoke!
Tsunade stomped her foot. The ground beneath her shattered instantly, and a powerful shockwave erupted from her sole. In a flash, she vanished from her position.
When she reappeared, she was already at the center of the battlefield.
"Kirigakure scum!!"
Tsunade let out a thunderous roar and slammed her fist into the ground.
BOOM!
The full force of her monstrous strength poured through her fist. A Kirigakure shinobi didn't even have time to react before the punch connected — every bone in his body shattered in an instant.
The sheer impact launched the corpse backward like a cannonball, plowing through dozens more Kirigakure ninja behind him and sending them all flying.
"She hasn't changed a bit."
Watching Tsunade spring into action, Jiraiya and Orochimaru also surged toward the center of the battlefield.
The moment Jiraiya entered the fray, he unleashed a burst of power, sending dozens of Kirigakure ninja who had been trying to surround Tsunade flying in every direction.
Orochimaru, meanwhile, slammed his palm against the ground and summoned a giant serpent dozens of meters tall.
The serpent let out a piercing hiss and swept its massive body across the battlefield, scattering Kirigakure ninja like leaves in a hurricane.
Screams of agony and the heavy thud of bodies hitting the ground filled the air!
In the short time since Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru had arrived, they had already taken down dozens of Kirigakure shinobi.
For a moment, the entire battlefield fell silent.
"Lord Hokage is here!"
"And Lord Jiraiya and Lord Orochimaru too!"
A triumphant roar erupted from the Konoha ranks.
In an instant, the Konoha forces' flagging morale surged to new heights.
Then, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air from above the Kirigakure lines.
Yuto streaked across the sky like a meteor, appearing in a blink before the giant serpent Orochimaru had summoned.
He landed without making a sound.
The enormous serpent, still rampaging across the battlefield, opened its gaping maw and lunged at the figure that had suddenly appeared before it.
"Boring."
Yuto looked at the charging serpent, raised his index finger, and flicked.
A concentrated burst of force shot from Yuto's fingertip and blew the giant serpent's head clean off.
Blood and flesh sprayed in every direction!
The massive body collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, then dissolved into white smoke and vanished.
Having casually disposed of a serpent dozens of meters long, Yuto stood still.
The entire battlefield fell silent once more.
Yuto's face remained expressionless as his gaze settled on the three figures before him — Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru — all of whom had gone rigid with tension.
Without a moment of hesitation!
"Strength Seal — Release!"
The diamond-shaped marking on Tsunade's forehead unfurled rapidly, transforming into an X-shaped seal.
Beside her, Jiraiya had already prepared. The instant Yuto appeared, he had summoned Fukasaku and Shima onto his shoulders.
In this state, Jiraiya directly entered Sage Mode!
On the other side, Orochimaru showed no visible change. He simply licked his lips, his entire body radiating an aura of danger.
"As the Fifth Hokage!"
"I absolutely will not let Konoha be destroyed!"
Tsunade's face contorted with rage. She clenched her fists, glared at Yuto, and took a forceful step forward. The ground beneath her foot cracked.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru flanked Tsunade on either side, their eyes filled with wariness as they stared down Yuto.
At Tsunade's roar, Yuto raised a finger and casually cleaned his ear. His calm gaze swept across the three of them before settling on Orochimaru.
"Is the Four-Tails jinchuriki in your hands?"
Yuto stared at Orochimaru and asked in a flat, disinterested tone.
At the question, Orochimaru blinked. Then he licked his lips and let out a low, rumbling chuckle.
[
Dear Readers,
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