Beside him, Kakashi Hatake was drenched in cold sweat but continued to track the speed and flow of the lightning with the Sharingan. This technique, this act of commanding the sky, was the technique Yunchuan called "Takemikazuchi." It demanded absolute precision.
There could not be even the slightest mistake.
Suddenly, catching that critical instant, Kakashi Hatake snapped his head up and shouted hoarsely, "Yunchuan!"
"Received," Yunchuan Hyuga replied softly.
He slowly raised his arm, palm facing upward, aligning it with the gathering sky above his head. Lightning Release Chakra spread from his body in an instant, and the twisted, chaotic lightning was guided by his will. The current obeyed.
Countless thick, terrifying white lightning bolts surged together, releasing a shriek louder than thunder itself. The sound tore through the sky and the ground alike. Every eye was forced upward.
At last, Yunchuan Hyuga lowered his hand, as if he were a god. The motion was gentle and deliberate, aimed at the land marked as an execution ground. It was like passing judgment on the fate of those below.
At the same time, the ferocious beast covered in deep blue flame patterns revealed its massive, mountain-like true form on the battlefield. Its presence dominated the land. Nothing could ignore it.
"Roar!"
Two tails burning like flowing fire rose high into the air as the Two-Tails lifted its head and roared toward the sky. The cry shook the ground beneath it. The confrontation reached its peak.
In the next instant, the world lost all color, leaving only a blinding white silence. If the lightning within the clouds had been branches, then what appeared now was the trunk grown from the fallen seed. Between heaven and earth, only a single white pillar remained.
This was beyond "Lightning Release·Kirin." Lightning Release·Takemikazuchi.
Boom.
The first thing to appear was light. A blazing white that swallowed all color, a white beyond the limit of vision that burned the eyes. It almost lit up the entire Land of Moon and most of the black sky above.
That pure light pierced the lead dark clouds and washed the whole battlefield below into a single pale sheet. The bleak ground soaked by Water Release, along with mud, corpses, and the people of Kumogakure, lost all detail under the glare and became a flat white surface.
Then the impact arrived at last, carrying terrifying force as it crashed down. With a thunderous roar, the white tree of lightning plunged into the ground, and visible arcs spread wildly across the surface. The earth flipped open like a brittle cracker under the blow.
Soil and rock were thrown up and crushed into dust, and a huge ring-shaped crater formed amid the noise. The lightning rods driven deep into the ground shattered piece by piece under the shock wave. Puddles were completely evaporated, and the terrified fleeing Kumogakure Ninja were turned to ash before they could even scream.
Rainwater and even the air in this area were forced away in an instant, forming a brief vacuum. In the next moment, the violent blast exploded outward like a flood and hurled the Konoha Ninja who were retreating as fast as they could. Several at the rear were slammed into trees and the ground, and their vision went black.
When the light strong enough to tear the Lie from their sight finally began to fade, the deafening roar settled into a constant ringing in their ears. The people of Konoha clutched their swollen, dizzy heads and staggered to their feet. The sharp stench of burning rushed into their noses, mixed with a strange smell of cooked flesh.
When they looked up, the expressions on their faces turned blank. The tide of white light was retreating, revealing flames first, then curtains of thick smoke rising behind the fire. Darkness returned after the light, but heat and gloom twisted every frightened gaze.
This part of the battlefield in Land of Moon had completely changed. Charred black had become the only color ruling the land. It was as if an invisible giant hand had pressed a huge and savage ring brand into the earth, leaving nothing but a massive crater.
The soil had long since become a mix of ash and charcoal, covering every inch in sight, and raindrops hissed into steam the moment they fell. Puddles were gone without a trace, even their last vapor scattered, replaced by cracked, hardened scorched earth like folds in a devil's skin. The lightning rods dropped from above stood like burned black dead trees, twisted by heat into ugly lumps of metal, with a few tips still glowing faint red.
As for those Kumogakure Ninja, kacha. A blackened arm pushed out of the hardened ground, and the surface bulged as a figure slowly forced aside slabs of earth and crawled up.
"Cough, cough, cough, urgh." Samui was burned black all over with severe injuries, and a strange meat smell clung to her as every cough sent stabbing heat through her chest. A sharp, spreading pain throbbed in her head, and she collapsed forward to retch.
After a moment, she struggled to prop herself up, her pupils focusing with effort through the thick smoke as she tried to find her bearings. Then she saw it, Two-Tails Matatabi. The once mighty symbol of violent power among the Tailed Beasts was now sprawled beside her in misery, small arcs of electricity still crackling over its body.
Large patches of its beautiful fur, once flowing like blue flames, were now blackened and carbonized. A huge charred gash ran across most of its shoulder and back, exposing white structures beneath that looked like bone. The sight was brutal and unmistakable.
Samui's muddled mind cleared, and she immediately understood that Two-Tails Matatabi had shielded her at the last moment and saved her life. She stared around in a daze as chill and fear settled into her chest. The Kumogakure Ninja closest to the blast center had been completely vaporized, leaving only piles of shapeless ash on the ground.
Those a bit farther away were even more horrifying to look at. Their bodies were blackened, all moisture gone, twisted and shriveled, skin pulled tight over carbonized bones like overbaked corpses. Some were frozen in the posture of trying to flee, lifelike and tense like statues, eerie beyond words.
Forehead Protectors and other gear had melted and fused with the burned bodies, forming glossy, disgusting lumps that leaked black smoke into the rain. Broken remnants of Earth Style Earth Wall lay half buried in the soil, scorched black. Scattered across the battlefield were short, painful screams and groans filled with despair and fear.
Those were the lucky Kumogakure Ninja who had reached the outer edge and avoided instant vaporization. Some rolled on the ground clutching arms burned so badly that the skin had peeled away, while others curled up with their abdomens pierced by splashed metal or burning gravel. More lay flat with empty eyes, only the stains in their pants proving they were still alive.
The entire battlefield of Land of Moon, whether surviving Kumogakure Ninja or the Konoha Ninja on the battlefield, fell into a strange, trembling silence. This force of nature, driven by human will, had completely destroyed the main strength of Kumogakure. No one spoke, and no one moved.
"Atsui…" The call was so faint it barely escaped Samui's dry, cracked lips as her eyes swept over the land filled with death and scorch marks. Then she saw the familiar blade, the one almost completely melted, and her hollow pupils began to shake.
"No!" Samui screamed, her voice torn and raw. Her reason, her calm, and her pride were crushed at this moment by that pure and terrifying power.