Boom!!!
The sound of thunder echoed louder and louder in the sky as Konoha's ninja forces, exhausted from the relentless pursuit, finally approached the Land of Lightning.
Tobirama Senju had rejoined the main Konoha force; despite his best efforts with the reanimated ninja he controlled, it was impossible for one man to hold back over a thousand ninja, including two Kage-level opponents, Mu and Shamon.
The remaining elite Konoha ninja had also returned, but their numbers had thinned even further since their stand back at the main camp—several of them had fallen, sacrificing themselves as the rear guard to buy time for the others to escape.
It was inevitable; in their position, death was all but certain.
Boom! Boom!
As they entered the heart of the Land of Lightning, thunder rolled through the sky above them, filling the air with a foreboding roar.
"So, this is the Land of Lightning. I never expected Konoha's forces would retreat all the way here," Shamon remarked, surprised.
Ever since the Moonfall Mountain incident, this region had been considered a no-go zone by the Iwa-Suna Alliance—a place to avoid at all costs.
Even though they knew Mochizuki Hui was far away, back in the Land of Moon, the Alliance troops still preferred not to risk coming here.
But today, in their pursuit of Konoha's forces, they had ended up right in the heart of the territory they had once marked as forbidden.
"Do they really think we're scared of this place and ran here as some kind of last hope? It's laughable, really!" Shamon said, smirking.
"It doesn't matter where they are; today, the Konoha forces in the Land of Rain are doomed," Mu replied dismissively.
He then added, "I wonder, though, why we haven't seen the other ambush unit yet. Where is Yamada Noda?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's still heading toward an empty Konoha camp," Shamon replied with a chuckle, indifferent to the delay.
In his mind, Yamada Noda and his ambush unit were likely unaware that the main attack had begun, still creeping cautiously toward Konoha's camp.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The thunder grew even louder and more frequent as both sides, Konoha's and the Alliance's, moved deeper into the center of the Land of Lightning .
Then, Tobirama signaled for the Konoha forces to stop, prompting some confusion among his troops, who had not expected to halt here.
Nonetheless, they obeyed the order, though their unease grew.
The Iwa-Suna Alliance forces, led by Mu and Shamon, were equally puzzled.
"Tobirama Senju! Are you here to surrender on behalf of Konoha?" Shamon called out mockingly.
"Unfortunately, surrender isn't an option we're accepting today. The only fate awaiting Konoha is annihilation!" he added, making it clear he intended to leave no survivors.
"Damn it! Let's fight them head-on!" one Konoha ninja growled through gritted teeth.
"What's death to us? We're already prepared for it! Lord Second, let's fight to the end! We won't surrender!" one after another, Konoha's shinobi shouted, angered by Shamon's taunting words and steeling themselves for battle.
"Tobirama Senju, you must realize it's too late now. Once you're defeated, Konoha's forces on the other battlefields will fall as well. Konoha will be wiped out, and the Land of Fire divided among us. There's no way we're letting this opportunity slip by," Mu declared, assuming Tobirama was here to make a final plea for Konoha's survival.
Though the primary goal of the war was to eliminate Hui, annexing Konoha as a whole would be a valuable prize.
"Surrender? You give yourselves too much credit!" Tobirama sneered at the two Kage. His gaze was ice-cold as he looked over the ranks of more than ten thousand Alliance ninja.
"It's not over until the end. You think this battle will mean Konoha's end, but you're far too overconfident," Tobirama said, maintaining a calm and defiant stance.
Mu and Shamon were momentarily taken aback, uncertain of Tobirama's intentions.
"Then tell us, Tobirama—what's your trump card here? You deliberately led us into the Land of Lightning. I assume you don't actually expect us to be intimidated by this place? We may avoid it usually, but that's only because we're cautious of Mochizuki Hui, who's far away in the Land of Moon—not of the Land of Lightning itself," Shamon said, his eyes fixed on Tobirama, trying to gauge his reaction.
"Since you already know I led you here on purpose, do I need to spell out my plan?" Tobirama replied with a cold smile, his composure unshaken.
"Hahaha, how ridiculous. So, you're saying Mochizuki Hui is your trump card?" Shamon laughed. "Come on, Tobirama, if you're going to bluff, at least pick something believable. The Land of Moon is far from here. Do you really think Hui would abandon his position and come to the Land of Rain? If he disappears for even a day, Moonfall Mountain would be overrun by kumogakure forces!"
Shamon laughed heartily, convinced he had figured out Tobirama's ruse. He believed Tobirama was just trying to scare them off, much like his previous threat of reanimating Hashirama and Madara.
"This little trick won't fool us. If this is all you've got, Tobirama, it's quite disappointing," Mu added, equally unconvinced that Mochizuki Hui was present.
Hearing their words, the Konoha ninja, who had initially felt hopeful, felt their spirits sink once again.
From the initial exchange, they had thought that Hui might indeed be here in the Land of Lightning, but Shamon and Mu's words cast doubt, making it seem like Tobirama's statement was a desperate bluff.
"This world is full of self-assured fools," Tobirama said. "Ten years ago, you all thought you could defeat Konoha, only to end up surrendering when I led Konoha to victory. Today, you're just as blindly confident, and your fate will be the same as it was back then."
Recalling his victory in the First Shinobi World War, in which he had forced all four other villages to surrender, was a proud memory for Tobirama—a moment of triumph and honor that lived in his memories. Yet for Mu and Shamon, it was a memory of shame, and Tobirama's reminder made their expressions darken with anger.
"Bringing up the past doesn't mean anything now, Tobirama. Today, we'll wipe Konoha out piece by piece until it's erased from history," Mu responded coldly.
"Enough talk. Let's put an end to this, Tobirama," Shamon said, his mood souring further.
"Put an end to us? Let's see who's truly finished here!" Tobirama's mouth twisted into a smirk.
He looked not at Shamon and Mu but upward into the sky, prompting them to do the same.
Both men froze in shock as they looked up and saw a young man with wings hovering above them.
"Hui?!" Shamon cried out, his heart seizing with fear.
"This… this isn't genjutsu?!" Mu exclaimed, quickly performing a release technique to dispel any illusion, yet Hui remained in the sky above them.
The shout of recognition quickly spread through the troops around them. Soon, all eyes, Alliance and Konoha alike, were drawn skyward. There was no mistaking it—there, above them, was the unmistakable figure of Hui, wings beating as he hovered in the air.
Hui raised one hand, and arcs of lightning flickered and danced around it. Shamon and Mu's eyes widened in terror.
"Quick, deploy your defensive jutsus!" they shouted in unison, but it was too late.
From above, Mochizuki Hui reached out, channeling the storm's lightning into his hand, controlling the power of the clouds themselves.
"Demons and fiends, face the wrath of Heaven! Heaven's Calamity!"
In that moment, he unleashed a technique on par with his infamous Divine judgement—Heaven's Calamity.
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