The Kaguya ninjas laughed as they stormed through the quagmire, mud splattering like blood across the battlefield. "Now!" the eagle of Daitō Temple screeched, its sharp eyes flashing.
Instantly, sparks erupted across the ground—detonation talismans igniting with thunderous blasts. Fire roared into the night, and for a brief moment, the defenders felt pride. They'd prepared for this. They had planned for every move.
"Boom—!"
The flames surged, painting the Kaguya advance in a hellish glow. But the moment of triumph shattered in an instant. The Kaguya ninjas emerged unscathed, laughing as though the fire had been nothing more than a warm breeze.
Raizen's jaw tightened. Fantastic. Explosions, mud traps, fire walls—professional-grade defenses… and still useless against these guys. Peak reincarnator experience, really.
"All ninjas! Attack!" Daitōji Kiying roared. Weapons flashed in the torchlight as hundreds of defenders charged, forming a wall against the bloodline-enhanced attackers.
Metal clashed with metal—sparks danced in the night as bone-like veins tore through armor and flesh alike. A single misstep, and even the most skilled ninja could be shredded before realizing it.
"Stay away from the Kaguya ninjas!" Kiying bellowed, grim. But retreating wasn't safer. Several defenders fell immediately, caught in the unrelenting charge.
Raizen barely had time to breathe before Amamiya Tian leapt into the fray. Despite losing an arm in a prior battle, Tian's prosthetic allowed him full mobility. "Fire Style—Great Fireworks Technique!" he shouted, spitting a torrent of flames toward the rushing enemy.
But the Kaguya ninja moved like living bone spurs, their bodies surging with raw energy. Tian's flames met their speed and force head-on, and sparks flew as the fire was torn apart, redirected back toward him. "Bone veins…" Tian muttered, eyes narrowing.
At the same moment, Raizen entered the battlefield, moving with ghost-like precision. Every step, every leap, was calculated. He was a shadow weaving through chaos, a man with the uncanny advantage of foresight. His enemies were strong—but predictable, in the ways that mattered.
The battlefield erupted into elemental chaos. Flames and water collided, sending clouds of vapor into the night. Screams pierced the mist as ninjas fell, and every strike carried the weight of survival, not honor.
"It's time to strike!" Raizen muttered under his breath. Flying Thunder God flared, his form vanishing and reappearing like a ghost among the enemy ranks. Kunai flew like shadows, each one a silent execution.
Within minutes, seven Kaguya ninjas lay dead, their bodies crumpled, their strength nullified by Raizen's deadly precision. Cheers erupted from the Amamiya clan, while Daitō Temple's ninjas stared, wide-eyed at the display of supernatural speed.
The Kaguya clan's fury roared. "I'll deal with you, kid!" one snarled, summoning bone spurs from the ground to impale the surrounding defenders. But Raizen was already gone—Flying Thunder God rendering him untouchable.
"Beside you!" His voice echoed like a phantom. The Kaguya ninja swung at the sound, bone knives slicing the air—but only passing through a shadow clone, leaving the real Raizen laughing silently in the mist.
The battlefield had shifted. Fear and awe rippled across the defenders. For the first time, they could see that this underdog from a forgotten clan was not just another shinobi—he was a force capable of bending the chaos of war to his will.