chapter 16:Storm of Steel and Blood

The group of Kumo jonin was trying to reorganize after the first assault. One of them, a tall man with a scar running across his face, raised his hand and shouted:

—Don't fall into their rhythm! Remember our advantage, attack in sync!

Two of his companions channeled Raiton chakra and formed a crackling sphere between them.

—Raiton Renkei: Sandābomu!

The sphere exploded in a torrent of lightning that engulfed the battlefield in a storm of death. Sakumo saw the danger and reacted in a fraction of a second. With a fluid motion, he drew his White Light Blade, its edge glowing with blinding energy.

—Konoha Daisenko!

The blade traced an arc through the air and released an explosion of light and chakra that countered the lightning. A blinding flash enveloped the field, forcing the Kumo shinobi to retreat.

Arata, taking advantage of the confusion, activated his Vital Energy Detection. His Sharingan burned like embers as he sensed the enemies around him. He turned toward a group of opponents hidden on an elevation and executed his technique.

—Wind Vortex!

The air distorted, and a tornado surged in front of him, pulling the Kumo shinobi with devastating force. One of them tried to use Chikan Kumogakure to substitute and escape, but he was too slow. The vortex caught him, violently spinning him in the air before tearing his body apart with deep wind-inflicted cuts.

**The Roar of Thunder**

Kumo's response was swift. A ninja clad in dark armor planted himself in front of Arata, his hair standing on end from the sheer amount of chakra he was gathering.

—Raiton: Raigeki!

He launched a barrage of lightning with a flick of his arm, each discharge powerful enough to incinerate a house. Arata dodged the first attacks with superhuman agility, his Sharingan predicting every move.

—You're not as fast as you think —Arata muttered.

The Kumo ninja smirked maliciously and formed another seal.

—Oh yeah? How about this? Raiton: Amigumo!

From the ground, filaments of electricity emerged, expanding into a crackling web. Arata jumped to avoid it but realized his mistake mid-air.

A trap.

—Raiton: Denkō Noroshi!

From the flanks, two enemies launched electric explosions directly at his position. There was no space to dodge.

But he wasn't alone.

A shadow appeared behind him in mid-air.

—Kage Buyō!

Sakumo emerged like a specter and, with a spinning kick, knocked Arata out of the attack's epicenter. Both landed gracefully, barely out of breath.

—You're learning —Sakumo said with a faint smile.

Arata clicked his tongue but couldn't help smirking.

—I owe you one.

In the distance, a squad of Kumo shinobi formed hand seals with precise synchronization.

—Doton: Doro Ōkami!

The ground trembled, and suddenly, a pack of mud wolves emerged ferociously, their fangs glowing with electricity. They charged at Arata and Sakumo, their bodies crackling with Raiton, ready to tear through flesh and bone.

Sakumo surged forward at blinding speed. With his Kōratsui, he destroyed one of the wolves in a single strike, the impact generating a shockwave that forced the others back. But these were no mere earth summons: their composition was reinforced with Raiton chakra, making them more resilient and lethal.

Arata wasted no time. His Sharingan spiraled as he swept his hand through the air.

—Fūton: Shinkūhasu!

A razor-sharp gust of wind swept the field, slicing the wolves in two. But before he could catch his breath, he felt a sudden shift in energy around him.

An ambush.

From the shadows, a Kumo ninja materialized, his hands already forming seals.

—Bakuhatsu Baburugamu!

Arata barely had time to react before a pink, viscous mass exploded against his chest, wrapping him in a sticky substance.

—Damn… —he growled.

The substance crackled and began to harden. The Kumo ninja grinned arrogantly.

—That gum sticks to anything and explodes at the slightest touch of chakra. If you try to free yourself, you'll be blown to pieces.

But before he could celebrate his victory, Sakumo appeared behind him like a shadow.

—Too slow.

His White Light Blade descended in a lethal arc.

The Kumo shinobi barely had time to activate Chikan Kumogakure, substituting himself with a log wrapped in electricity. Sakumo clicked his tongue.

—They flee well.

Still trapped, Arata did the only thing he could. His eyes glowed a deep red as he whispered:

—Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame...

The air crackled. Something fractured in reality itself.

The explosive gum stopped writhing. Its molecules, its very existence, began to break down in a pattern impossible to follow with the naked eye.

And then, in a single blink, it ceased to exist.

The Kumo ninja who had trapped Arata felt his skin crawl. A visceral terror paralyzed him. It was as if his body understood something his mind had yet to process.

—W-What the hell did you do?

Arata slowly turned his face toward him.

—Never try to seal my chakra —Arata whispered as his Sharingan spun.

Then, with a simple gesture, the technique expanded.

A dry crunch echoed in the Kumo ninja's chest. For an instant, he felt no pain. Only a strange sensation of emptiness, of something having been altered inside him.

He looked down.

His torso was open.

The ninja tried to scream, but no sound came out. His eyes, wide in pure horror, reflected his fate before his head tilted back and his body collapsed lifelessly.

The blood did not splash.

With my Sharingan returning to three tomoe, I watched as the final confrontation approached.

Sakumo and I exchanged glances. Although we had defeated several enemies, powerful Kumo shinobi still remained on the battlefield. And among them stood their true rival: an elite ninja clad in armor adorned with lightning symbols, standing atop a rock, watching them with a predatory gaze.

—So these are the famous shinobi of Konoha… —he said in a deep voice—. Not bad.

Lightning crackled around him.

—My name is Raijin no Goro, and I will send you to hell.

**Meanwhile, elsewhere…**

The stench of death. Screams of pain and rage mixed with the roar of thunder as the carnage continued.

Konoha's shinobi fought desperately, facing the speed and power of Kumo's warriors. Every encounter was a dance of death, where a single mistake meant annihilation.

A group of Konoha chunin tried to advance through the trees when, suddenly, the ground beneath them exploded.

—It's a trap! —one of them shouted, but it was too late.

From the earth, mud wolves with glowing eyes emerged, their jaws dripping with chakra. One of Konoha's ninjas tried to dodge, but a wolf leaped straight at his chest, sinking its fangs into his flesh. The man screamed, feeling the pressure crush his ribs before the wolf snapped him in half with a brutal crunch.

—Damn you! —another Konoha ninja unsheathed his katana, coating it with wind chakra—. Fūton: Shinkūjin!

His blade became as sharp as a scythe of air, slicing off the head of an oncoming wolf. But he didn't see the shadow moving behind him.

A Kumo shinobi appeared in a blink, his hand wrapped in pure electricity.

—Too slow.

He plunged his fingers into the Konoha ninja's back with a brutal Raigeki. The Konoha ninja's body arched as electricity burned him from the inside, his mouth open in a silent scream before collapsing, dead before hitting the ground.

The battle was hell.

Corpses littered the land—some charred, others mutilated, others without a single recognizable piece left.

The rain could not wash away the blood.

The fight raged on, with Konoha resisting fiercely and Kumo unleashing its brutality without mercy.

And at the center of it all, the battle between titans continued.

Sakumo and Arata kept fighting.