The four-man patrol team behind the rocky platform saw everything clearly and froze on the spot.
They had not suffered any real injuries, but after watching thirty-seven Iwagakure ninja, including six jonin, lose all ability to fight in just a few breaths, none of them could bring themselves to face Shinichi again.
"Cap... Captain..."
The youngest ninja's lips trembled nonstop. His voice shook as he tugged at Ishikawa's sleeve, his eyes full of despair.
Before this, he had still held onto a faint hope that their comrades might arrive and turn the situation around. Now, he finally understood that they were not facing an ordinary ninja, but a monster.
Ishikawa's whole body was tense.
After regaining a little strength, he tried to push himself up with his fingertips against the ground, but the moment his gaze met Shinichi's casual, oppressive figure in black, all his courage drained away.
He could only watch as that black-clad figure slowly stepped forward. The soft splash of water beneath his feet sounded especially clear in the silence.
The water spread outward, leaving the rocky platform in complete ruin.
Looking at the miserable state of the Iwagakure ninja before him, Shinichi flicked his hand without much interest.
"Earth Release counters Water Release?"
He repeated the words softly, his eyes filled with mockery.
"That only works when both sides are on the same level. Otherwise, elemental counters are nothing but a joke."
As Shinichi finished speaking, his brow suddenly twitched.
He looked up toward the sky in the direction of Iwagakure.
Two figures were flying through the air, with nothing beneath their feet, crossing the sky from a distance.
"Flying ninja?"
The corners of his mouth curled up.
"It seems... the main players have arrived."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand and casually pressed his palm against the slick rock wall beside him, still wet from the flood.
Chakra spread through the rock.
The next moment...
Hum!
Centered on his palm, an invisible sensory ripple expanded outward, sweeping through every inch of land, every building, and every moving figure in Iwagakure in an instant.
All movement inside Iwagakure appeared in his mind like an unfolding scroll. Troops were gathering, ninja were running, defensive fortifications were activating, and chakra reactions surged underground.
Shinichi slowly withdrew his hand, his eyes sharpening with the interest of someone who had found worthy prey.
"The main force is finally here..."
He muttered to himself, his voice filled with undisguised interest.
"They think this is a large-scale invasion..."
"So they gathered more than five thousand people in an instant, and over seventy percent of them are elites..."
Before Shinichi's words had fully faded, Ōnoki and Akatsuchi landed on the edge of the rocky platform.
Akatsuchi stepped in front, arms crossed as he stared warily at Shinichi.
Ōnoki swept his gaze over the groaning Iwagakure ninja on the ground, his expression dark. But when his eyes landed on Shinichi, his pupils shrank.
He recognized him at once.
"Tejima Shinichi!"
Ōnoki's voice sank. "You Konoha brat. How dare you barge into Iwagakure and attack my village's ninja?"
As a Kage, Ōnoki had long kept an eye on Shinichi. He was Konoha's fastest-rising genius, a boy who had held off a tailed beast and personally defeated Orochimaru.
But Ōnoki had never expected him to appear here, deep inside Iwagakure.
"Tejima Shinichi?!"
The defeated Iwagakure ninja reacted at once. Even those lying on the ground struggled to raise their heads, horror filling their eyes.
"It's that monster genius from Konoha?!"
"The one who defeated a tailed beast at twelve... and even captured Orochimaru alive?!"
Hearing the cries around him, Ōnoki's brow tightened.
He had considered the Raikage, the Mizukage, even Akatsuki, but not Konoha. And certainly not Shinichi, standing here alone.
None of it made sense. Konoha held the most fertile land among the Five Great Nations and had always been the least willing to start a conflict.
More than ten years had passed since the Third Great Ninja War, and every nation had rebuilt its military strength. If war broke out now, the other four nations would turn their eyes on Konoha first.
And Shinichi himself made it even stranger. He was already seen by Konoha's higher-ups as a future Kage. Sending someone like him into the heart of Iwagakure alone was basically asking to die.
Ōnoki frowned deeply. No matter how he looked at it, this smelled like a conspiracy.
"Konoha and Iwagakure may not be allies, but we have no direct blood feud either." Ōnoki stared at Shinichi, his voice low.
"Since the Third Great Ninja War, our villages have maintained a ceasefire agreement. So why did you come here and attack my ninja?
His voice grew heavier.
"Does Konoha intend to tear up the agreement and declare war on Iwagakure?"
His question rang across the ruined platform, and for a moment, no one spoke.
Then the Iwagakure force led by Kitsuchi arrived at the battlefield.
The thousands of Iwagakure ninja stared at the scene before them. There was only one enemy, yet the ground was filled with their fallen comrades.
No one moved.
Shinichi looked over the gathered troops and slowly crossed his arms.
On the battlefield, the four Wood Dragons had already gathered around Shinichi, guarding him at the center. Their heads rose together, cold eyes fixed on the ninja army below.
Shinichi stood with his arms crossed, almost relaxed, as if he had been waiting for this moment all along.
"Agreement?"
He gave a faint sneer. "Ōnoki, you really are getting old. In the Ninja World, agreements have always been nothing more than scraps of paper in the hands of the strong."
Ōnoki's face darkened.
Shinichi's voice carried across the battlefield. "As for why I'm here... it's simple."
He raised his hand, pointing first at Ōnoki, then sweeping his finger across the mass of Iwagakure troops.
"I'm going to use Iwagakure to tell the entire Ninja World that the old era is over."
Chakra surged from his body, making his clothes flutter despite the still air.
"From today on, the Ninja World will remember my name..."
"Tejima Shinichi."
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