Chapter 103: The Crushing Thunder
The Night War Began
The valley outside Konoha was alive with war.
Lightning tore the heavens apart, illuminating the battlefield in flashes of violent light. The ground trembled beneath the weight of thousands of shinobi charging forward, their war cries swallowed by the howling wind.
Kumogakure's army rushed like a flood, their chakra roaring in the air, a storm of lightning and steel. Their footfalls shook the earth, their presence a monstrous force of sheer, undeniable power.
And yet—
From the ridges above, Konoha stood, waiting.
Their eyes burned with silent resolve. Their hands trembled not with fear, but with anticipation.
Their blood boiled. Their breath came in steady, measured beats.
And then—
The first strike fell.
Minato vs. The Raikage: The Clash of Titans
The Raikage vanished.
A streak of pure electricity shot forward, a blur of destruction so fast the air itself seemed to shatter around him.
And yet—
Minato was already gone.
The moment the Raikage's fist obliterated the boulder where Minato had stood, the golden-haired shinobi flashed behind him.
A glint of metal.
A kunai pressed to the Raikage's throat.
For the first time in his life—A stopped moving.
His breath caught. His body stiffened.
A single flick of the wrist, and he would die.
"How?" His voice was barely a whisper, thick with disbelief and rage.
Minato's voice was calm, utterly unshaken.
"You rely on strength." His grip never wavered. "I rely on speed."
The Raikage's pulse pounded in his ears. His pride burned hotter than the storm around him. He clenched his fists—and exploded.
A roar that split the battlefield.
Lightning surged outward, blasting Minato away in a violent surge of raw, unchecked power. The Raikage landed, muscles twitching, burning, ready to kill.
Minato skidded to a halt a dozen meters away, unscathed, his golden hair swaying in the wind. His blue eyes glowed with unshaken confidence.
The Raikage's lips curled.
"You're fast, kid," he admitted, rolling his shoulders. "But let's see how long you can keep up."
And then—
They vanished.
The Chains of an Uzumaki
Kushina fought like a storm given form.
Her Adamantine Chains erupted from the ground, gleaming golden-red under the storm's glow. They coiled through the battlefield like hungry serpents, ensnaring shinobi mid-motion, yanking them into the air, crushing their bodies before they could scream.
She felt no hesitation. No mercy.
A Kumo jonin surged toward her, sword crackling with lightning—
Her chains lashed faster than thought.
The blade snapped.
The man's breath hitched—before his lungs collapsed under the force of her grip.
Another enemy down.
Her violet eyes were wild, burning.
"This is for Konoha," she whispered.
And her chains rained death.
Nawaki Senju: The Forest Awakens
The land obeyed him.
Nawaki's hands pressed into the ground, his chakra thrumming into the earth, into the roots beneath.
And then—
The forest was born.
Massive trees exploded from the battlefield, their branches stretching like claws, vines whipping through the air, pulling enemy shinobi into their grasp.
A Kumogakure captain leaped forward, blade glowing with electricity—
Only for a massive root to burst from the soil, slamming into his chest, crushing him beneath its weight.
Another group of shinobi screamed as the vines wrapped around their throats, dragging them beneath the earth.
Nawaki exhaled, feeling the raw pulse of life thrumming beneath his fingertips.
His heart pounded.
His blood sang.
"I will not fail my clan.
I will not fail my village.
I will become a legend."
The trees heard him.
And they answered.
Inari's Genjutsu: The Death of Sanity
Uchiha Inari's Sharingan spun.
From the cliffs above, he watched the battlefield with uncaring precision. Every movement, every weakness laid bare before him.
He breathed out slowly.
And unleashed hell.
His Genjutsu slithered into the minds of Kumo's shinobi, unseen, unfelt—until it was too late.
A captain blinked.
The battlefield was gone.
Instead, he stood in a sea of blood, bodies floating around him, their faces frozen in horror.
He screamed.
A nearby shinobi turned—only to see his own squadmates shifting into grotesque monsters.
He lashed out in terror—stabbing his own comrade.
One by one, Kumo shinobi fell screaming, their minds shattered, their bodies trembling in madness.
Inari's lips barely moved.
"This battle was lost before it began."
His Sharingan gleamed.
And another squad collapsed into insanity.
Reji and the All-Seeing Eye
Amidst the chaos, Hyūga Reji never faltered.
His Byakugan saw everything.
Every pulse of chakra. Every trembling heartbeat. Every hidden kunai.
A Kumo shinobi lunged—Reji had already moved.
A single gentle tap, and the man's body collapsed, his chakra network severed beyond repair.
Reji did not stop. Did not hesitate.
His heart pounded. His resolve was steel.
He flowed through the battlefield, cutting down enemies before they even knew they had been struck.
And from above—he saw it.
The Raikage was being herded.
A slow smirk curled his lips.
"Checkmate."
The Raikage's Fall
The Raikage roared, his Lightning Armor flaring, his rage boundless.
His men were dying.
His army was crumbling.
And Konoha's forces hadn't even broken a sweat.
With a thunderous snarl, he launched himself forward—
Only for the shadows to stretch.
His body locked in place.
Akimichi giants descended.
The Yamanaka seal activated.
His vision blurred. His limbs stopped obeying.
And then—
His knees hit the dirt.
For the first time in his life, the Raikage had fallen.
The End of the Battle
Orochimaru watched from the cliffs, his golden eyes glinting with cruel amusement.
Danzo exhaled slowly. "So this is the power of the next generation."
Hiruzen nodded. "The war was over the moment they stepped onto the battlefield."
Below them, the Raikage knelt in chains, his army shattered.
The thunder had come.
And Konoha had silenced it.
Orochimaru turned, already walking away.
"This is only the beginning," he murmured.
Konoha had won.
But the world was still watching.
And soon—
They would all have to make a choice.
Submit.
Or suffer the same fate as Kumogakure.
The first battle had ended.
The war for the future had just begun.
End of Chapter 103.