"Hideki, how is it? Can you handle it? If not, I'll step in."
Uchiha Kamito stood ready to strike.
Defense wins battles, but offense is the best defense.
"It's nothing. No need to panic. I can't interfere with Earth Release formed purely from their chakra—that's not my domain. But once their chakra enters the ground, it's no longer under their control."
Senju Hideki freed one hand, formed the "Tiger" hand seal, and slammed it onto the ground.
An invisible ripple spread out.
The Konoha bunker slowly descended back to the surface.
Uchiha Kamito: Did this guy just turn on some kind of cheat? He barely did anything—how did his presence suddenly skyrocket like that?
...
On the Hidden Stone Village's side—
Hanzan Yūga: "Gengan, what's going on? Your men can only hold out this long?"
Gengan: "Bullshit! Every one of my men is a proud warrior of the Hidden Stone Village!"
"Then what the hell is this situation?"
"Calm down, I need to ask first."
Furious, Gengan immediately called up a squad leader from underground.
"Hey, Kagan, get your ass up here!"
A gray-haired ninja quickly rushed up and dropped to one knee.
"Lord Gengan."
"Cut the crap. Explain what just happened. How did things turn into this in such a short time? You'd better give me a clear answer."
Gengan grabbed Kagan by the collar, shaking him violently.
"L-L-Lord Gengan, our chakra… it can't enter the ground anymore."
"What do you mean? Explain properly."
"Earth Release: Great Moving Earth Core—injects earth-nature chakra into the ground to raise the surrounding terrain. But now our chakra can't enter this land at all. And not just that—Earth Release: Headhunter Technique, Earth Release: Underground Voyage, Earth Release: Earth Turning Palm… none of them work anymore."
"What?! Konoha's ninja can stop us from using Earth Release?!"
Both Gengan and Hanzan Yūga widened their eyes in shock.
What kind of absurd fantasy was this?
If Konoha really had this ability, then what was the point of the Hidden Stone Village even fighting?
Twenty thousand Stone ninja would instantly turn into twenty thousand civilians.
"It's not all Earth Release. Techniques like Earth Spear, Earth Mausoleum Dumpling, Rock Fist Technique, and Weighted Rock still work. But anything that requires contact with the ground… is completely unusable."
"It's like… it's like…"
Kagan hesitated, unsure if the feeling was accurate, but still said it.
"It's like… the ground is rejecting our chakra."
"Rejecting it?"
"Cease the attack. I need to report to the Tsuchikage immediately. Yūga, keep an eye on things."
"Got it."
Gengan hurried toward the rear to meet Ōnoki, while Hanzan Yūga stared at the Konoha bunker ahead, still shaken.
Are those Konoha ninja even human?
Fighting the Hidden Stone Village… and not letting them use Earth Release.
Forget whether it's effective or not—how is that even something a human can do?
...
"Insect Swarm: Sealing."
"Water Clone."
A batch of barrier insects and a Water Clone of the Third Mizukage perished together.
"Aburame, you don't have many of those insects, do you? Burning through them like this—don't you feel the slightest bit of regret?"
"Third Mizukage-sama, do you understand the importance of logistics? What you see as a costly exchange might just be one of the thousands of contingencies I've prepared."
"I see. Truly a cunning Aburame."
On the battlefield between Aburame Shiken and the Third Mizukage, it looked spectacular—dodging and countering—but in reality, the actual damage dealt was almost zero.
"Water Release: Nine Dragons Soaring."
"Third Mizukage-sama, you're quite good at naming techniques. It's just nine Water Dragon Bullets, yet you gave it such a grand title."
"Hmph. Then try it and see if it's really 'just' nine Water Dragon Bullets."
"Extreme Ice: Freeze. Sorry, I'll pass."
Nine dragon-shaped streams of water were instantly frozen—
Then just as quickly thawed—
And slammed violently into Aburame Shiken's insect clone.
"Another insect clone."
Not far away, a swarm of insects gathered once more, forming Aburame Shiken's figure.
At this point, he wasn't even bothering to hide his use of clones anymore.
"Under the flow of water… a powerful spiral, huh? No wonder it couldn't be frozen. So you've already found the upper limit of the Extreme Ice Insects, Third Mizukage-sama?"
"You cowardly Aburame brat. Let's see just how many insect clones you have."
Before he could finish—
"Extreme Ice: Ice Age."
A vast ocean of Extreme Ice Insects descended upon the sea.
The waters along the coast of the Land of Fire froze solid.
"Since it's no longer useful, I'll weaken your environmental advantage first. I assume you don't mind, Third Mizukage-sama?"
The Third Mizukage looked at the surrounding ice and slowly lowered his hand seal.
Without water nearby, continuing his jutsu would consume too much chakra.
And besides—
Aburame Shiken's reserves were far deeper than he had imagined.
The Mist ninja on the battlefield shuddered in fear.
When those Extreme Ice Insects rushed forward just now, they almost thought they were dead.
Thankfully… thankfully—
It only froze the sea.
Wait—
If the sea is frozen, then our Water Release advantage is gone too!
But if they don't use ninjutsu—
"Bzzz…"
"Chitter chitter…"
"Crackle…"
Don't tell me… we have to fight those insects with blades?!
"Where are the Yuki clan? Get them over here! Isn't this their home turf?!"
One particularly sharp Mist ninja shouted.
"Yeah! That's right! Call the Yuki clan over! This is their moment to shine!"
"Exactly! Let Konoha see that true Ice Release belongs to the Hidden Mist!"
The crowd began shouting loudly, calling for the Yuki clan to join the battle.
At that moment, Ao, his vision focused, struck down a Konoha ninja with a single palm and turned back, roaring in anger—
"What the hell are you all shouting about?! Didn't you wipe out the Yuki clan after the Second War?! Why bring them up now? Want their vengeful spirits to come back and kill you bastards?!"
At Ao's words, the Mist ninja fell silent.
But inwardly, they began blaming the Yuki clan.
If we'd known you were this useful, we wouldn't have wiped you out. Honestly—couldn't you have been stronger? Getting wiped out so easily… useless.
The Hidden Mist Village is a rather peculiar place.
How it was founded doesn't matter—what matters is that it exists.
But after the Second Mizukage, ever since Genji seized the position with the support of the ninja clans, the conflict between clans and civilian ninja only grew more intense.
Though the Second Mizukage suppressed everything with overwhelming strength—
He died too early.
And the Third Mizukage, who had once lost the position only to reclaim it, harbored resentment beyond words.
As for what exactly he did—there's no need to go into detail.
Before the Second War, the clans still had enough strength to maintain balance.
But after the war?
The result was—
The Kaguya clan now shouts about rebellion every day.
The Hōzuki clan has only a handful left.
The Yuki clan… after mutually destroying each other with Root during the war…
On some day, in some year—
They were completely wiped out.
The culprit is unknown.
But everyone knows the truth in their hearts.
In short—
In the Hidden Leaf Village, if you bully a ninja clan, you might get severely punished and then forced to apologize to the esteemed clan members.
But in the Hidden Mist—
If you kill a clan member, you might even be rewarded.