Karasu looked between the three Konoha jonin now standing in front of me.
The scarred jonin.
Genma.
And another veteran shinobi whose flak jacket was torn across the shoulder.
Three jonin.
Against one.
Karasu exhaled slowly.
"You value him that much." The scarred jonin rolled his shoulders.
"He's earned it."
Karasu's eyes flicked past them briefly. Toward the battlefield. Toward the bodies scattered in the sand.
Then back to me.
I see."
"If that's the case"
"then I'll remove him anyway."
The air around him exploded. Karasu lunged forward. The scarred jonin intercepted the first strike. Steel crashed together with a loud clang.
Genma moved immediately. His senbon flashed toward Karasu's neck. Karasu twisted his head just enough to avoid it. Wind chakra erupted outward from his blade. The blast forced the Konoha jonin to jump back.
"Shinji!"
Genma didn't even look at me. "Fall back!"
Raido grabbed my arm again. "Dude listen to him this time."
I exhaled slowly. Then nodded. I was outmatched.
We moved back toward the Konoha formation. Behind us the jonin clash intensified.
Karasu was strong. His wind techniques carved massive trenches through the sand. The three Konoha jonin fought carefully. Keeping him away from me.
Raido glanced at my shoulder while we ran.
"You're bleeding a lot."
"I noticed."
"Try not to die before lunch."
I snorted slightly. We reached another clash of shinobi. A group of Suna chunin were pushing toward the Konoha line. I stepped into the fight.
A sword user attacked first. My Sharingan caught the strike instantly. I parried. Then drove my blade through his ribs.
Another shinobi launched a wind technique toward my head. I ducked. The blast tore through a nearby boulder. I stepped inside his guard.
My elbow crushed his nose. I kicked him away and flashed through handsigns. "Fire style: Fire Ball Jutsu"
With no time to react he was burned alive, his screams caused his partner to freeze.
Raido tackled the opponent beside me
The battlefield was reaching its peak.
Explosions echoed across the desert. Fire jutsu clashed with wind storms. Exploding tags detonated across the battlefield.
Konoha shinobi were pushing forward now. The Suna formation was beginning to bend.
Across the battlefield
Jiraiya stood perfectly still. Fukasaku and Shima sat on his shoulders. Nature energy flowed around them. The air itself seemed to shift.
Then Jiraiya's eyes opened, his nose got bigger, he resembled a toad now.
Fukasaku grinned. "He's ready."
He looked toward Rasa. The Kazekage candidate stood surrounded by swirling gold dust.
Rasa noticed immediately. "A transformation."?
Jiraiya cracked his knuckles. "Let's see how your gold handles this." He vanished.
The sand beneath his feet exploded outward. Even Rasa's eyes widened slightly.
Jiraiya appeared in front of him instantly. His fist slammed into Rasa's golden shield. The impact detonated like a bomb. The gold barrier shattered outward.
Rasa slid back across the sand. Jiraiya grinned.
"Much better."
Rasa raised both hands. Golden dust surged upward again. But Jiraiya was already moving. His speed had doubled. Maybe more.
He appeared behind Rasa. A kick smashed into the man's back. Rasa flew forward. Barely catching himself with a wave of gold dust before hitting the ground.
He turned slowly. But the gold dust was already moving again. Massive spears formed in the air. They shot toward Jiraiya like artillery. Jiraiya weaved through them effortlessly.
"Rasengan!"
A massive sphere of chakra formed in his palm. He slammed it downward. The attack exploded through Rasa's golden defenses.
Back near the center line. Another Suna shinobi lunged toward me. My blade intercepted his strike. Then cut across his throat.
Eighteen.
Raido whistled.
"You're keeping count?"
"No." I grinned .
My injuries were stacking. My shoulder throbbed. My ribs burned.
A Suna chunin charged again. I stepped sideways.
My blade pierced his chest. A chunin was nothing to me now. I had grown during my year in the front lines. But perhaps Karasu was right. Maybe I was relying on my Sharingan too much.
Suna shinobi were starting to pull back. Word had spread across the battlefield. Jiraiya was overwhelming Rasa.
And when a commander begins losing. Armies start breaking.
Another Konoha jonin landed beside us. "Push them!"
He pointed forward. "They're collapsing!"
Konoha forces surged ahead. Fire techniques roared across the battlefield. Suna shinobi began retreating toward the dunes.
Some still fighting. Others running.
Raido grinned.
"Looks like we're winning."
across the battlefield
Rasa rose slowly from the sand.Blood running from the corner of his mouth. Golden dust gathering around him again.
His eyes hardened. The momentum was no longer even.
Konoha shinobi were pushing forward across the sand, forcing Suna forces back toward the dunes. Fire jutsu roared through the air while wind techniques tried desperately to slow the advance.
The desert was covered in bodies. Smoke rose from dozens of craters carved into the battlefield.
I stood near the center line, breathing hard.
My shoulder burned from the deep wound Hataro had left earlier. Blood soaked the sleeve of my flak jacket. My ribs ached every time I moved.
Raido stood beside me, also breathing heavily.
"You still alive?"
"Barely."
"Good."
He wiped blood from his blade. "Would've been awkward explaining that to the squad."
Another Suna chunin rushed us.
Desperation in his eyes.
He swung wildly. My Sharingan caught the movement instantly. I stepped inside his guard.
My tanto pierced through his chest.
The body fell into the sand.
Raido glanced at it.
"That one makes twenty."
I didn't answer. Because more shinobi were already moving toward us. But they weren't coming alone.
The older jonin from earlier Karasu had broken away from the Konoha jonin who had intercepted him.
His armor was cracked now. Blood ran down the side of his face. But his eyes were still sharp. And they were still locked on me.
Behind him were three remaining Suna chunin.
Karasu spoke calmly.
"Enough distractions."
His wind chakra flared violently along his blade.
"That Uchiha dies."
Raido sighed.
"Man."
He tightened his grip on his sword. "They really don't like you."
Karasu moved first. His speed hadn't dropped despite the injuries. He appeared in front of me instantly. His blade came down in a brutal vertical strike.
I raised my tanto to block. The impact slammed through my injured shoulder. Pain exploded through my arm.
My guard broke.
The wind-enhanced blade cut across my chest.
.
Raido lunged from the side. Karasu twisted his body and kicked him away mid-strike. Raido rolled across the sand.
Two of the Suna chunin rushed in behind their jonin. One launched a wind blade. The other attacked low with twin daggers.
My Sharingan spun violently. I jumped backward.
The wind blade carved through the sand where I had stood. The dagger user lunged again.
My blade flashed. His throat opened. The second chunin attacked immediately after. I twisted sideways. My tanto cut through his stomach.
.
Karasu didn't hesitate. He stepped forward again. Wind chakra roared along his weapon.
"You're finished.".
A massive crescent of wind tore toward my torso. I barely ducked.
The attack ripped through three Konoha shinobi fighting behind me. Karasu's next strike was already coming.
My body was slowing. The injuries. My Sharingan saw the attack. But my body barely moved fast enough. His blade pierced through my shoulder. The same shoulder already wounded earlier.
Karasu leaned closer.
He twisted the blade.
Trying to rip the weapon free. My vision blurred. My legs weakened.
Karasu stepped back slightly. Wind chakra gathered around his blade again. A finishing strike.
The wind pressure alone made the sand around us swirl.
"This ends now."
He raised the blade. My body refused to move.
My Sharingan saw the attack. But my muscles didn't respond.
Then
Someone slammed into me.
Raido.
He shoved me sideways with everything he had.
Karasu's blade came down. It didn't hit me.
It drove straight through Raido's chest.
For a moment everything stopped.
Raido gasped. Blood spilled from his mouth.
Karasu's eyes widened slightly.
"Idiot."
Raido grabbed the jonin's arm. Holding the blade in place. Keeping him stuck. His grip was iron.
Even with the sword through his chest.
He looked at me. Breathing ragged. Blood running down his chin.
Then he grinned weakly.
"You saved me once…"
His voice barely carried over the battlefield.
"…only right I repay that favor."
My mind froze. Raido shoved Karasu toward me.
"Finish it."
The opening was there.
One second. That was all.
My blade moved before my brain caught up. I had to stab through Raido to kill Kasaru…. I had to act if not Raido's sacrifice would be in vain. Steeling my nerves i acted.
The tanto plunged forward. Straight into Karasu's heart.
The jonin's eyes widened. I ripped the blade upward. Karasu collapsed backward. Dead.
Raido's grip loosened. The wind left his lungs in a slow exhale.
For a moment the battlefield noise faded. I knelt beside him.
"Raido."
His eyes were already unfocused.
His lips moved once. Trying to speak. But no sound came out. Then his body went still.
Footsteps landed behind me.
Genma.
He looked down at the scene.
Raido.
Karasu.
The bodies scattered around us.
His jaw tightened slightly.
"Damn it."
He crouched beside us. Then looked at me.
"You really made yourself a target today."
I didn't answer.
Because Raido was still lying there in the sand.
And he wasn't getting back up.
But across the battlefield
The ground suddenly trembled. Every shinobi paused. Because a massive surge of chakra erupted near the center of the battlefield.
Jiraiya stood across from Rasa..
Rasa hovered slightly above the sand. Golden dust forming an enormous storm around him. The entire battlefield felt the pressure of their chakra. Rasa raised both hands. The golden dust surged upward.
A massive dome of gold forming in the sky above them.
"Gold Dust Emperor's Coffin."
Thousands of pounds of compressed gold began collapsing downward. Trying to crush everything beneath it.
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed.
"Big one."
Fukasaku croaked.
"Then hit him harder."
Jiraiya nodded once. He formed a Rasengan in his palm. But not a normal one. Sage chakra poured into it. The sphere grew larger. Then he vanished.
He appeared directly in front of Rasa mid-air.
"Senjutsu: Giant Rasengan!"
The massive sphere slammed into Rasa's golden defense. The explosion rocked the battlefield.
Sand blasted outward like a hurricane. The golden coffin shattered apart. Rasa was thrown across the battlefield, crashing into the desert hundreds of meters away.
Silence fell across the battlefield.
For a moment No one moved. Then Suna shinobi began shouting.
"The commander is down!"
"Fall back!"
The retreat started instantly. Suna shinobi began pulling away from the battlefield.
Konoha jonin shouted orders. "Don't chase too far!"
"Hold the line!"
The battle was over. The desert fell quiet again.
Smoke drifted across the battlefield.
Bodies lay scattered across the sand.
Genma glanced back at me again. Then at the number of fallen enemies nearby.
"You changed this battle."
I didn't answer. My eyes were still on Raido. He lay where he had fallen. Half buried in the churned sand of the battlefield.
Genma followed my gaze. His jaw tightened slightly.
"He knew what he was doing."
I didn't answer.
My chest felt tight every time I tried to breathe.
Jiraiya watched silently.
Because today
A new name had appeared on the battlefield.
And it had been written there in blood.