Amamiya Ten braced himself and took as much as he could. A squad of Amamiya shinobi who'd run west to beg reinforcements returned, breathless, cutting through the mud to reach him.
"How are things? Does the young patriarch have enough support?" Ten asked the moment they reached him.
"We can spare another hour," the runner panted. "The frontal line is in the thick of it now."
An hour. Ten's face went hard. The battlefield had already tilted against the Amamiya. If not for their exceptional chakra reserves, they would have been crushed by the Kaguya long ago.
"We have no choice," Ten said, jaw clenched. "We'll hold this line with our bodies and blood. Every Amamiya shinobi here must keep this ground."
"Lord Ten," one veteran replied, voice ragged, "with how worn we are, holding an hour is a long shot. We'll be breached soon if this keeps up."
Ten met the man's eyes. He was tired, but Ten was colder than exhaustion. "Listen. The family is facing annihilation. Young Patriarch Raizen ordered us to hold the western front until the main line decides the battle. The young patriarch hasn't given the order to fall back. So we don't retreat. No matter what it costs, we hold. If we break here, the main battlefield will collapse. Our homes, our families, our children — everything dies with that collapse. We will not step back."
He turned and let his words wash over the gathered Amamiya. "Today, our young patriarch fights at the front. If we stand for one hour, reinforcements might arrive. An hour is an eternity in battle, I know. But we have no other plan. We hold to relieve the front. We hold so our clan has a breathing chance. If we die here, then let us die with a stand. Take your weapons. Attack. If I fall here, Amamiya Shin will take command. Until the last Amamiya shinobi falls, we fight."
"Defeat Kaguya!" the clan roared back as one.
The shout hit the Kaguya ranks like a physical blow. Commander Kaguya's face contorted when he saw the Amamiya resolve harden. Ninjas who fight with mortal determination are terrifying — the kind who stop becoming predictable targets and start becoming a storm.
Ten led the charge. "Kill them for the clan!" he bellowed, and the Amamiya surged forward.
"Water Release: Great Wave!" Ten roared as he burst to the front, sending a towering torrent across the field. Water poured and pooled, turning the battlefield into slick, hungry mud.
"Earth Release: Quagmire!" another Amamiya shouted. The ground beneath the Kaguya troops loosened and sank; dozens vanished into sucking earth, thrashing uselessly. The more they fought, the deeper they sank. Within minutes, a dozen Kaguya shinobi were swallowed whole.
"Die!" a Kaguya jōnin screamed and lunged, his taijutsu sending four or five Amamiya flying.
"Use earth jutsu to hold them!" Ten ordered, and Amamiya shinobi answered in a chorus of seals. Earth techniques reshaped the terrain, turning open ground into a maze of pits and ridges that swallowed the enemy momentum.
"Fire Release — Incinerating Burst!" Ten yelled. Fire spooled from the Amamiya line and roared over the newly sculpted ground. Trapped by the shifting earth, the Kaguya had nowhere to run; they could only force their bodies through flame.
Commander Kaguya saw Ten leading the front and felt the surge of fury that always came when an enemy refused to break. He laughed, a low, dangerous sound. "So you're here, Amamiya," he called.
"Kaguya!" Ten answered, meeting the commander's stare. Kaguya's eyes hardened with murder.
"Kill me, then," Ten said coldly. "We'll see if you have the strength to do it."
Kaguya roared and charged like a living blade, the two forces colliding in a knot of iron and heat. The outcome hung on a knife-edge — every breath, every step, every jutsu could swing the day.