The impact came.
A shockwave of heat and steam flattened trees and eroded rock as Nanashi's Great Fire Annihilation threatened to instantly evaporate the combined water defense.
Impressively though, the dense dome of water held, something not unnoticed by the Uchiha weapon.
Floating in the air, held aloft by the force of its fire jutsu, Nanashi did not hesitate for a moment.
Lungs inflated with even greater chakra and the living weapon breathed it all out with even greater force.
The orange yellow flame of Great Fire Annihilation began to brighten more and more.
Senju and Sarutobi shinobi in the distance, rushing towards the battlefield to support the ambush group, could only avert their eyes in awe and terror.
Already blindingly white, it hurt to even look at the flame.
A different kind of horror from the unquenchable black flames of Amaterasu.
However, even though chakra was rapidly expended, the five shinobi holding the dome of water above their allies held firm, thanks in no small part to their rock steady leader.
The middle aged man, the one noticed before by Nanashi, outputted massive amounts of chakra from his own substantial reserves to make up for the weakening of his four supports.
But the Uchiha's goal was not to blow through the defense.
Sure, that would be ideal but Nanashi had already determined that the main enemy, the Senju shinobi leading the ambush would not fall so easily.
And so, a more insidious tactic was deployed.
One making use of Nanashi's absurdly powerful Fire Release and seemingly endless reserves of chakra.
Temperature.
Though the water dome kept the flames themselves at bay, the temperature within it kept rising and rising, it was already worse than a sauna.
As sweat soaked through their clothes, the terrified ambushers finally realized the plot.
'Can she really spit fire continuously for long enough!?' The middle aged man was internally shocked but let nothing show on his face.
If he looked rattled, his subordinates would crumble and all of them would die, himself included.
"Hei-dono! What should we do!?" A Sarutobi shinobi questioned, panic seeping into his voice.
The two Senju within the dome not keeping up the water barrier looked calmer and awaited Senju Hei, the middle aged man's commands with patience.
But, not having the benefit of extensive combat experience against the Uchiha, the four remaining Sarutobi shinobi were not quite as calm.
Unfortunately silence was what they received.
The seconds trickled by one by one and, just as the pressure was about to make them blow up-
"Comrades from the Sarutobi, the Chakra Transfer Jutsu we learned in preparation, use it to replenish and boost the four holding the barrier." Senju Hei finally spoke.
"As for you two . . ." He turned to his two subordinates not holding the water dome.
"Start digging a way out." The man solemnly commanded.
At this, they all came to a grim realization, though none spoke of it.
"The Chakra Transfer Jutsu. Was that not for the plan later?" One of the Sarutobi asked.
This time, Hei did not even need to respond.
"If we don't use it now, there'll be no later." Another Sarutobi admonished.
And so, all four of them stepped up to back each of the four Senju holding the water dome together and replenishing it.
Only Senju Hei remained alone at the center.
Using earth release, even under the intense pressure of Nanashi's fire jutsu, the two Senju in charge of digging the escape tunnel completed their work fairly quickly.
"It's done boss." One of them solemnly addressed Senju Hei.
"Good. It's been an honor." Hei responded and spoke no further.
With stony yet mournful expressions, the four Senju holding the corners of the formation abandoned their position simultaneously, dragging their Sarutobi allies with them into the escape tunnel while the two in charge of making the passage collapsed it behind them.
If no one stayed back to block the flame, it would dig into the ground and incinerate them all.
When Senju Hei ordered the tunnel to be made, he had already made his decision.
The moment he became the sole pillar of the Great Explosive Water Shockwave, the pressure on him increased exponentially.
"Haaaah!" With a shout of exertion, he dredged up all of his remaining staminal and mental energy, molding chakra to hold back the burning tide until his subordinates escaped.
With its Sharingan fixed below, Nanashi naturally noticed the masses of chakra escaping but she paid them no attention.
After all, their escape only made the elimination of her priority target a certainty.
'I outlived all of my peers. I left behind fine descendants and helped shape and train the new generation. So let me become the kindling for the next champions of the Senju.'
Those were Senju Hei's last thoughts before he was reduced to ash in the wind.
Finally letting off on its fire jutsu, Nanashi fell back onto the ground with an unbothered face unsuited for one who should have just burned through a massive amount of chakra.
In fact, she showed no signs of exhaustion in the slightest.
The Senju and Sarutobi survivors glared at the living weapon of the Uchiha with reddened eyes, fear and hate filling their gaze in equal measure.
"What a foolish sacrifice. Without him to save you, you'll all die anyway." Nanashi carelessly commented.
It was pure mockery.
Mockery of shinobi, their ideals and their sacrifices.
Nanashi despised all of it, all of THEM.
"SHUT U-"
The Senju shinobi did not even get a chance to speak.
'Engraved Tsukuyomi'
Instead of bounding light off the Moon, Nanashi released a blinding flash directly from her gaze.
It had much less range and coverage but it could trap everyone in her left eye's cone of sight within Tsukuyomi, even without eye contact.
A moment later, the Uchiha cut down all of the paralyzed enemies who died without even realizing it.
This sight was what the reinforcements arrived to see.
Utter devastation.
Charred ground, trees burned to the root, melted rock and, at the center of it all . . .
A living weapon of terror in the form of a little girl, standing over ten corpses in remarkably good condition when the surroundings were considered, except for their expertly slit throats.
"The first wave was less effective than we hoped." A solemn, tan skinned young adult with shoulder length black hair and hazel eyes spoke.
"We confirmed the Uchiha have no one else in the area and can't come to that little monster's rescue. That was the original purpose of the first wave, was it not?" A paler young man, seemingly in his late teens with spiky light brown hair and brown eyes unhurriedly spoke.
"Not that we told them." The tan skinned man spoke, making it clear he was not in support of that particular decision.
He believed that even if one had to send men to their deaths, they deserved to know and be given the chance to prepare.
"If we told them they wouldn't have sold it well enough." The younger paler man responded.
"The only disappointment is they did not even get the chance to try out the effectiveness of our sealing plan so we'll have to go in blind." He added.
The two men, each leading a group of subordinates, stepped onto the scorched land.
Their names, Senju Gouki and Sarutobi Kyosuke.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -