Bang!
The attacker was the Scaled Wood Dragon.
It was the same Wood Dragon that had been circling above the battlefield, seemingly only responsible for spreading scale powder and barely drawing any attention.
Without anyone noticing, it had folded its wings and slipped behind Ōnoki.
At the last instant, Ōnoki sensed it. His chakra surged, and his body lightened as he twisted aside, but Dust Release was still active, and his focus was locked on the white pillar in front of him.
He was a fraction too slow.
The Scaled Wood Dragon's armored head clipped across his lower back and side, sending his small body flying through the air.
"Ugh!"
Ōnoki let out a sharp cry. The impact did not crush him outright, but it shattered his balance and broke his chakra control for an instant.
The Dust Release pillar collapsed at once, scattering into pale points of light.
For a brief moment, the Iwagakure ninja below froze. The white pillar that had carried all their hope had vanished before it could reach its target.
"Father!"
Kitsuchi rushed forward and caught the tumbling Ōnoki. His arms tightened around him as he asked anxiously, "Are you all right?"
Ōnoki clutched his lower back, cold sweat sliding down his aged face. The hit had not landed cleanly, but even a glancing blow from that monster was enough to make his old back injury flare. For a moment, even breathing was difficult.
He forced himself to look up at the Scaled Wood Dragon as it circled back into the sky.
With Akatsuchi trapped, no one had been there to keep that beast pinned down. It had slipped behind him and ruined his attack with one strike.
Ōnoki's gaze shifted to Shinichi, who stood calmly in the distant woods. His face darkened as he cursed through gritted teeth.
"Damn it... I miscalculated."
The chakra in his body was almost exhausted. Dust Release already consumed a huge amount of energy, and that full power attack had nearly drained what little he had left. Now, let alone using Dust Release again, even maintaining flight was difficult.
He had been played from the beginning.
"Father, maybe we should retreat first. Akatsuchi is still trapped, and you're injured..."
Kitsuchi spoke in a low voice, his heart sinking as he glanced at the Iwagakure army still being ravaged by Wood Release around them.
"Retreat?" Ōnoki pushed him away and forced himself upright. "Where do you expect us to retreat to? This is Iwagakure."
At that moment, a clear female voice came from the sky.
"Old man!"
Kurotsuchi arrived first through the air with Earth Release: Light Weight Rock Technique. Behind her, reinforcements poured in from the village streets and surrounding cliffs.
But before she could land, her expression changed.
From above, the battlefield spread out beneath her. The front line was gone, giant vines covered the ground, and four Wood Dragons rampaged through the army while the Wood Human towered at the center like a mountain.
The reinforcements that had rushed in with killing intent slowed one after another. Some were still holding their hand signs, but the jutsu died in their throats before they could release them.
This was not the battlefield they had expected.
The surviving Iwagakure ninja were scattered everywhere, struggling just to hold the line. Kurotsuchi's excitement vanished before she even reached the ground.
Then she saw Ōnoki.
He was clutching his lower back, his face pale, with blood at the corner of his mouth.
"Old man... you're injured?"
She landed beside him, her voice no longer steady.
Kurotsuchi forced herself to look across the battlefield again. She had brought reinforcements, the village defenses had been stabilized, and the evacuation was complete.
But looking at the battlefield now, none of that felt reassuring.
"Where is the enemy army?"
Her gaze swept across the battlefield, growing more confused the longer she looked. Aside from Iwagakure's ninja and those Wood Release monsters, she could not see any invading force.
For a moment, she thought the enemy's main force had already withdrawn, leaving these giant jutsu behind to hold the line. But that made no sense. Something this powerful could not be simple cover for a retreat.
"Don't act rashly."
Kitsuchi spoke in a low voice, his eyes still fixed on Shinichi in the nearby woods.
"The enemy is only one person... Konoha's Tejima Shinichi."
His expression darkened.
"Akatsuchi is trapped. Father is injured. And the army is barely holding."
"What...?"
Kurotsuchi froze. Only then did she follow Kitsuchi's gaze and notice the black clothed figure standing calmly in the distant woods.
"One person is controlling all of this?"
She had long heard of Konoha's Tejima Shinichi, but she had never imagined he could force Iwagakure into this state alone.
Even Ōnoki had been injured.
Only now did Kurotsuchi understand what kind of monster had come to Iwagakure.
Shinichi looked past her and swept his gaze over the reinforcements entering the battlefield. More and more Iwagakure ninja had gathered behind Ōnoki and Kitsuchi, but no one charged forward recklessly.
He did not move, only letting his chakra spread quietly to confirm that no more Iwagakure ninja were approaching.
Everyone who needed to see this was here.
Ōnoki stared at him and asked in a heavy voice, "After all this... what exactly are you trying to do?"
Shinichi looked back at him calmly. Chakra surged from his body, making his black clothes flutter despite the still air.
"I'm using Iwagakure to tell the entire Ninja World one thing."
His gaze swept over the battlefield.
"The old era is over."
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