Naruto: I am Uchiha Shirou [217]

Sage Art · Fire Release · Great Fire Annihilation!

Sage Art · Fire Release · Great Fire Annihilation!

Sage Art · Wind Release · Great Breakthrough!

A massive wave of flames erupted as the colossal Susano'o-clad Nine Tails unleashed a terrifying sea of fire. This was the combined effort of Shirou and Mikoto, who had entered the Cursed Seal Sage Mode, both casting the fearsome Great Fire Annihilation Fire Release.

Meanwhile, Kushina roared as she summoned her immense chakra, transforming it into a powerful Wind Release.

"Haha, don't underestimate the Toad Sage from Mount Myōboku!"

At that moment, a loud and peculiar laugh echoed as Jiraiya, though still unskilled in Sage Mode, finished his hand seals. Together with the two toads on his shoulders, he unleashed another terrifying Fire Release technique.

Sage Art · Goemon!

 This terrifying Fire Release, created by the combination of oil, wind, and fire, joined forces with Shirou's Fire Release, forming what appeared to be a catastrophic fire tsunami under the night sky as it swept forward with devastating force.

Sand Waterfall Flow!

 At this moment, a colossal wave of gold-infused sand surged forth in front of the Ninja Alliance. Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, roared as he attempted to block or at least mitigate the damage caused by Konoha's Fire Release to their forces.

Dust Release · Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!

 Floating in the sky, Ōnoki's expression was grim as a white light glowed in his palm. Just as he prepared to deploy his Dust Release to intercept Konoha's devastating Fire Release, a crimson light suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

"Something's wrong! Retreat immediately!"

Ōnoki, with his vast experience, immediately sensed the danger. He stopped his technique and retreated urgently, but the crimson light had already pierced into the ranks of the Ninja Alliance.

Sage Art · White Rage Technique!

 This crimson glow was Orochimaru's Sage Art. In an instant, it emitted an intense burst of light and a piercing sound in front of the Ninja Alliance. In a flash, the ninja who had been defending with Water and Earth Releases let out cries of agony.

The next moment, their Water Releases shattered, and countless members of the Ninja Alliance could no longer maintain their defensive techniques.

Rasa's colossal sand wave was especially affected, losing all momentum under this technique. Though Rasa himself reacted quickly and endured the excruciating pain, covering his ears as he swiftly retreated, he could not prevent the disaster.

Everything happened in an instant.

The roaring sea of flames descended upon them. At that moment, it was as if a natural disaster had erupted, as the terrifying inferno engulfed the frontlines of the Ninja Alliance.

The ferocious Wind Release fanned the flames, while Jiraiya's Fire Release, fueled by scorching oil, sparked continuous explosions and corrosion.

Cries of agony echoed across the battlefield. Those who managed to escape were considered lucky, but those who stayed to defend were doomed.

The Water Release users fared slightly better, as they were instantly consumed by the flames. However, the Earth Release users faced utter despair.

"No!"

 "I… I can't breathe…"

The ninjas trapped within their Earth Release defenses spoke in raspy, despairing voices. The rising temperature within their earthen walls was visible to the naked eye; their skin was steamed in an instant.

The scorching air burned their lungs the moment they inhaled it. A special jōnin from Iwagakure clutched his throat in despair as his lungs and windpipe were scalded by the intense heat.

The defensive earthen walls turned red-hot and began to melt. The jōnin, with his tenacious willpower, tried to burst out of the defense before his life ended.

However, as the Earth Release shattered, the sea of fire consumed him directly. His flesh was vaporized, and his hardened weapons and bones melted into molten iron and ash.

This combined Fire Release was unimaginably terrifying. Orochimaru's surprise attack with his Sage Art completely disrupted the Alliance's defensive techniques, allowing the Fire Release to reach its maximum destructive potential.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the Ninja Alliance reacted, the frontlines had already become an ocean of fire.

"Damn it!"

Rasa, one of the survivors, was furious and shocked. A Fire Release of this scale was so overwhelming that even he could only escape by using his sand to burrow underground.

"Damn it!"

Having escaped the attack range, Rasa quickly summoned his gold-infused sand to pull out the ninjas trapped in the Earth Release defenses, hoping someone had survived.

"How is this possible?!"

Countless members of the Ninja Alliance stared in horror. The entire area ahead had turned into a blazing inferno. The intense flames had melted the rocks into magma, and the sand beneath had crystallized into glass.

"Damn it! Stop being so arrogant!"

At that moment, a roar resounded as three Tailed Beasts—Eight Tails, Four Tails, and Five Tails—entered the battlefield. Their Jinchūriki had all activated their Tailed Beast transformations.

The massive forms of the Tailed Beasts roared as they charged forward. Yet, what greeted them was the Susano'o-clad Nine Tails, sprinting out of the sea of fire.

The Five Tails, Kokuō—a hybrid of a dolphin and a horse—charged recklessly at the forefront. But waiting for it was the Nine Tails, wielding a massive ninja blade, which struck with immense force.

With a thunderous impact, the Five Tails was sent flying, its huge body smashing into the ground far away.

Following closely behind were the Four Tails, a red-haired gorilla, and the Eight Tails, the octopus-like Gyūki.

"Get out of my way, beasts!"

A domineering voice echoed from within Susano'o. The two Tailed Beasts roared furiously as they charged. The Four Tails leaped into the air, while the Eight Tails wrapped its tentacles around the Nine Tails' arms and blade.

However, the Susano'o-clad Nine Tails roared back, momentarily halted but immediately gathering strength. With a powerful stomp, it resumed its relentless charge.

"Damn it! That's Adamantine Sealing Chains!"

Golden chains suddenly erupted from Susano'o, ensnaring the Four Tails and the Eight Tails. As the Nine-Tails charged forward, just before it lost momentum, it grabbed the chains with both hands.

With a deafening roar, the Nine-Tails spun the chains wildly, swinging the two massive Tailed Beasts like ragdolls before hurling them away.

The two enormous Tailed Beasts crashed into countless rocks and rolled over many ninjas, finally coming to a stop amidst the thunderous impact.

"Uchiha!"

In the sky, Ōnoki's face burned with rage. He finally realized Konoha's plan—to use the Susano'o-clad Nine Tails to break through their forces in one decisive blow.

"There's no way I'll let Konoha succeed! I've fought too hard to reach this point!"

With a determined gaze, Ōnoki prepared his Dust Release, which glowed with a searing white light.

Although he knew his Dust Release might be countered, he had no choice at this point. Even if it was reflected back, the enemy wouldn't be able to use such taxing ocular techniques repeatedly.

"At the very least, they won't be able to use it again for several minutes! That will give me the chance to strike!"

The Eight Tails' Killer Bee, alongside the Four Tails and Five Tails' Jinchūriki, roared as they prepared to charge again and hold off the Nine Tails.

"Ōnoki, now's your chance!"

The Fourth Raikage's candidate, A, shouted from afar. Over the years, they had gained sufficient experience in dealing with Mangekyō Sharingan users. Casualties were inevitable in war.

"What is this?!"

As the white glow in Ōnoki's palm prepared to fire, his pupils suddenly contracted. Realizing something terrible, his face contorted with shock and anger.

"Quick! Everyone, get out of the way!"

Under the night sky, bolts of compressed lightning illuminated half the battlefield, leaving countless ninjas stunned as they looked on in disbelief.

"This… This has to be a joke!"

"How is this even possible?!"

"Such a large-scale Lightning Release ninjutsu..."

Both sides' ninjas were utterly shocked. Ōnoki quickly shouted and activated his Dust Release, attempting to interrupt the enemy's plan.

Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!

However, just as the Dust Release's light began to shine, the lightning below was even faster.

With a roar, the Susanoo-clad Nine-Tails formed a highly compressed sphere of lightning in its right palm. At the exact moment the Dust Release was unleashed, the lightning flashed and disappeared in an instant.

Sage Art: Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter!

"This is the strongest piercing ninjutsu—Lightning Cutter!"

Shirou, controlling the Susanoo, shouted coldly. This particular Lightning Cutter consumed far more chakra than usual because it was unleashed through the Susanoo.

With another roar from the Susanoo-clad Nine-Tails, its massive figure turned into a blur, slashing through the battlefield with the enormous Lightning Cutter. Along the way, nothing could stand in its path. Even when the Jinchūriki of the Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Eight-Tails roared and stood together to block it, the lightning flashed past, unstoppable.

Moments later, a deafening explosion echoed in the distance. The speed of the Susanoo Nine-Tails' Lightning Cutter was unparalleled—arguably the strongest piercing attack in the ninja world to date.

"Damn it!"

"Unbelievable... even the Tailed Beast forms..."

The Tailed Beast forms of the Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Eight-Tails were left with visible damage. Their bodies bore missing arms or horns due to that single strike.

The Eight-Tails' tentacles, in particular, had several severed cleanly by the Lightning Cutter.

In the distance, the Nine-Tails, which had crashed into a mountain due to the sheer speed of its charge, began to rise again with thunderous footsteps amidst the billowing smoke.

"I'm still not skilled enough. Kushina, you'll need to train more to fully control the Nine-Tails in the future."

The voice of Shirou echoed from within the massive Susanoo. Kushina sighed and nodded helplessly.

"Shirou, controlling the Nine-Tails' chakra is difficult. It's already a miracle I can manage this much..."

As they exchanged banter, the enormous Susanoo-clad Nine-Tails emerged once again in the view of the allied ninja forces, striding forward with heavy steps.

Countless allied ninjas stared blankly at their shattered defensive formation.

All the defenses, traps, and other measures along the path had been completely obliterated. The devastating Lightning Cutter left a deep trench in the ground, the scorched black earth still emitting heat, a testament to the lightning's destructive power.

"Advance! We've broken through!"

"Charge! There are no traps left ahead…"

With the Susanoo Nine-Tails' strike breaking through the allied ninja forces' defenses, the morale of Konoha's side surged dramatically. Loud cheers erupted as they pushed forward with unstoppable momentum.

"Damn it, we must regain control…"

At that moment, the Five-Tails, Kokuō, suddenly roared and charged forward, knocking the Eight-Tails aside, and throwing the allied forces into further chaos.

"Damn it, Gyuuki, what's wrong with you?!"

Killer Bee, in his usual clumsy tone, looked on in shock as the Five-Tails attacked them. Inside him, the Eight-Tails, Gyuuki, spoke in a deep voice:

"Genjutsu! It's the Mangekyō Sharingan's Genjutsu—the Five-Tails has been controlled!"

With the Five-Tails under Genjutsu, the allied ninja forces descended further into disarray.

Meanwhile, the Susanoo-clad Nine-Tails roared, moving at incredible speed as it rampaged through the rear lines of the allied forces. Supplies, logistics, and injured personnel were left in chaos, with screams and wails echoing everywhere.

The sheer speed of its movements left Ōnoki no chance to activate his Dust Release.

Fire Release...

A massive wave of Fire Release swept across the battlefield. The Konoha ninjas, having breached the allied forces, aimed not to completely defeat them but to create as much chaos and destruction as possible.

"Ōnoki, are you still thinking about strategic deployments? With all your frontline supplies destroyed, if something happens to your rear lines at this moment..."

A domineering voice echoed across the battlefield, causing Ōnoki's face to grow even darker and more unpleasant.

"Ōnoki, don't fall for their tactics! Look, the Nine-Tails' form is shrinking!"

The Fourth Raikage candidate, A, shouted. Indeed, everyone could see that the Nine-Tails' form was gradually getting smaller.

"That's enough, Kushina. You don't need to maintain the Six-Tails state anymore. The Five-Tails state is sufficient!"

After breaking through the allied ninja forces, Shirou dissipated the Susanoo. As he landed, he and Mikoto unleashed terrifying Fire Release techniques, further creating chaos and eliminating enemies.

"Damn it!"

Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!

Ōnoki, furious, unleashed his Dust Release without hesitation. However, compared to the speed of elimination and the chakra consumption, he was far outmatched by Konoha's group of Kage-level fighters.

Jiraiya, Shirou, Mikoto, Kushina—they were all like ninjutsu cannons, and their taijutsu skills weren't weak either. On the battlefield, their destructive power was overwhelming.

Meanwhile, Tsunade, paired with Katsuyu, continuously healed Konoha's ninjas and replenished their chakra.

And finally, there was Orochimaru...

Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!

With a hoarse laugh, Orochimaru crouched down. In an instant, countless snakes erupted from his mouth, swarming forward like a tidal wave, their fangs bared.

"Damn it, so many snakes!"

"Ahhh! Someone help me!"

The dense mass of snakes advanced in a fan-shaped formation, devouring everything in their path. Some even had blades in their mouths, slicing through countless ninjas along the way.

"Orochimaru's snake-based ninjutsu has advanced this much?!"

From a distance, Jiraiya gasped in shock as he watched the scene. The toad-like features on his face were visibly fading.

"Jiraiya-chan, your Sage Chakra has been completely depleted..."

"I know. Thanks, boss, and thanks, granny."

Jiraiya spoke solemnly. His Sage Mode could only last for about ten minutes at this point, far from the peak he would reach later in life.

In contrast, Orochimaru, who had not yet switched bodies and had long researched the Curse Mark and Sage Body, was far ahead of Jiraiya in terms of Sage Mode proficiency.

Furthermore, since the Second Shinobi War, Orochimaru has been collaborating with Shirou on ninjutsu research. Inspired by ideas provided by Shirou, he had perfected his snake-based ninjutsu long ago and was now deploying them on the battlefield.

"Retreat, Ōnoki!"

In the chaotic allied ninja camp, Chiyo, controlling her puppets, spoke in a grave tone. In the distance, the Fourth Raikage candidate, A, who was fighting Jiraiya, looked deeply unwilling to retreat.

"Konoha's actions suggest they've already targeted our supply lines. Even if we stabilize things here, with so much of our supplies destroyed, if there's even a slight issue at the rear… even a delay of two or three days..."

At this point, Chiyo glanced grimly at the battlefield and said hoarsely:

"Young man from the Cloud, do you expect our ninjas to fight barehanded for the next several days? Kunai, shuriken, explosive tags—even our Sand Village puppeteers rely heavily on supplies!

Right now, we can fight Konoha because of our numbers, and we might even drive them back. But what about tomorrow morning, when the Konoha ninjas recover and launch another attack? Most of our supplies are already gone…"

Ninjas, aside from their ninjutsu, relied heavily on kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags. The latter two, especially, were consumed in vast quantities.

A shortage of these essential tools would significantly weaken the combat strength of any ninja force.

"Retreat!"

Ōnoki raised his hand, and with one Dust Release technique, he obliterated two Konoha shinobi before being entangled by Orochimaru.

"Damn it!"

The Fourth Raikage candidate, A, let out a frustrated roar as he fought fiercely. Although he impulsively wanted to fight Konoha to the death, what Ebizō said made sense.

Their shinobi could still fight at full strength now, but after tomorrow, they would face a shortage of war supplies.

On the other hand, the Konoha shinobi could just retreat to Kikyo Mountain and replenish their resources.

"Prepare to retreat!"

With the simultaneous signals issued by the Cloud, Sand, and Stone ninjas, the allied shinobi forces on the battlefield began alternating their movements to cover each other as they prepared to retreat.

The Konoha side, however, did not pursue too aggressively. After all, the allied shinobi forces had not been completely crushed and still retained counterattack capabilities.