"Knife unit, advance!"
At the front of the Amamiya formation, Amamiya Raizen raised his hand, voice cutting through the cold wind. The clang of steel followed. Rows of shinobi stepped forward, blades gleaming with chakra light.
"Release!"
Dozens of kunai and shuriken curved through the air in parabolic arcs, raining down like iron hail. The sound of them slicing through wind was sharp enough to sting the ears.
But the Kaguya clan didn't flinch.
"Defense formation—forward!" a Kaguya commander barked.
Over twenty Kaguya shinobi—those of the awakened bloodline—stepped up, bone spikes bursting from their bodies like jagged armor. As the rain of blades struck, they spun and parried, scattering every projectile as if the storm itself had been deflected.
The Kaguya advanced, line unbroken.
Raizen narrowed his eyes. "Tch. Figures."
They were physical-type monsters—walking tanks made of bone. Unless he broke their rhythm before contact, the Amamiya lines would crumble.
"Earth Release—Swamp Formation!"
At Raizen's signal, a row of shinobi slammed their hands into the ground. Chakra surged. The earth rumbled and sank into a thick mire, swallowing the front ranks in sludge and mud. The battlefield split apart like a wound, a wet chasm between clans.
For a moment, silence.
Then Raizen muttered under his breath, "That's not enough."
He knew the truth—if it came to close combat, they'd be shredded. He needed something decisive, something that could tear through the Kaguya advance before it reached them.
Without hesitation, Raizen bit down on a piece of clay, molding chakra into it. The familiar hum of energy ran through his jaw. A clay bird took shape in his palm and expanded, glowing faintly.
With a burst of air, he leapt onto it.
The bird soared high, carrying him above the plains. From below, the Amamiya troops glanced up—some in awe, some in disbelief.
"He's taking the sky?!"
"Is he insane?"
Maybe. But sanity didn't win wars.
"Shoot him down!" came the roar from the Kaguya commander.
A storm of kunai and bone spurs tore upward. Raizen twisted his body, guiding the clay bird through evasive rolls. Wind pressure cut across his face, each near-miss singing past his ear.
"Persistent bastards," he hissed.
Then his hands came together—palms facing each other, chakra surging between them in a growing white sphere.
"Dust Release—Primary Disintegration!"
A brilliant column of light erupted downward, pure and silent. The air seemed to collapse around it.
Six Kaguya shinobi were caught inside the shining barrier before they could react.
In the next heartbeat—they were gone. No sound. No trace. Only dust.
The ground trembled. Even the boldest Kaguya hesitated, staring up at the unnatural glow. Raizen's eyes narrowed behind the light. "Yeah, that got your attention."
But even that power wasn't enough to turn the tide.
Below, the battle raged.
Fire jutsu flared and mud walls crumbled. Steel clashed with bone. The air was thick with smoke and screams.
"Front line! Push forward!"
"Amamiya won't fall here!"
Chakra bursts flickered through the haze like dying stars. Blood painted the plains, soaking into mud already blackened by soot.
"Fire Style—Burning Out!" shouted Amamiya Kiyomasa, flames roaring from his mouth and engulfing several Kaguya at once. The charred remains fell without sound, but there were too many—always too many.
"Katon squad, regroup! Don't waste chakra—focus your fire!"
At Raizen's command, dozens of shinobi gathered, forming quick seals. Walls of flame erupted, sweeping across the battlefield in waves. The smell of scorched flesh mixed with iron and ash.
The Kaguya retaliated with sheer brutality, charging through the fire, their bodies cracking and burning but still moving forward, bone blades gleaming like white death.
Raizen landed among the chaos, teleporting through the crowd using Flying Thunder God markers. Each flash of light meant another Kaguya throat cut, another heartbeat stolen.
"Dead!"
He vanished and reappeared, his kunai singing as it sliced through a Kaguya's neck.
The enemy roared. "That damned Amamiya devil!"
A bone spear lashed toward him. Raizen blocked with a clang, sparks flying. The Kaguya pressed in, muscles tensed, teeth bared.
But before the blow could land, Raizen's form flickered—gone.
"Behind you," came a cold voice.
A flash of steel, then silence. The Kaguya's head hit the ground before his body did.
Even so, the tide kept turning against them. The Amamiya were outnumbered. Their formation buckled under the relentless assault. The screams of comrades mixed with the roar of flames.
Raizen's breathing was ragged. His chakra burned hot and thin, but he refused to stop. "Not yet. Not while anyone's still standing."
He looked around—the clan's jōnin were still fighting, but the genin and chūnin were barely holding. The Kaguya's strength was overwhelming.
The plains had turned into a graveyard.
And the real storm had only begun.