Once upon a time... wait, that phrase isn't right. It should be in the future.
In the future, there will be a chuunibyou teenager who yells "Art is an explosion!" every day. Using a special Earth Style ninjutsu, he'll casually fly a clay bird at low altitude and effortlessly breach the Hidden Sand Village.
Then, he'll drop a massive variety of clay bombs from mid-air, screaming "Katsu!" as he carpet-bombs the place.
If the Fifth Kazekage of that era hadn't already been hit by a miraculous jutsu rivaling Kotoamatsukami—specifically, an SSS-rank forbidden technique known as "Talk-no-Jutsu" cast by a certain blonde ninja—he wouldn't have possessed a permanent "Protect the Sand" buff. Because of that buff, he stepped up during that catastrophic air raid, sacrificing himself to be captured in order to shield the village.
Just imagine: without Gaara, the Sand Village would have been blown to absolute smithereens back then.
Of course, that chuunibyou teenager's main objective will be the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beast, not just tearing up the village.
But right now, someone else was preparing to use that exact same infiltration method on the Sand. And his sole purpose was pure destruction.
That future teenager's success perfectly highlights the glaring holes in the Sand's air defenses. Honestly, it's not just the Sand; every major ninja village shares this weakness. Aerial attacks have always been incredibly difficult to defend against.
Kamishiro's Yatagarasu might not have a huge variety of attacks, and its individual explosive yields can't match massive clay bombs, but it has one major advantage: sheer volume. One bomb isn't enough to blow you up? No problem, we've got a whole stockpile waiting.
After flying for a while, the sounds of the battlefield completely faded away.
High up in the sky, Kamishiro directed the Yatagarasu to fly at full speed without a care in the world.
Forget effective counterattacks; at that altitude, there weren't even effective detection methods. It was the ultimate realm of stealth: I fly through the sky, but leave no trace behind.
Yes, this was the legendary asymmetric warfare.
Looking at war through a normal lens, attacking enemy civilians is an act that should be severely condemned. But military strongholds are exactly where civilians gather because those places are relatively safe. Collateral damage is inevitable.
Kamishiro was on his way to bomb the Sand Village. He certainly wasn't going to be kind enough to distinguish between ninjas and civilians. In the eyes of a Konoha ninja, any breathing humanoid in the Land of Wind was an enemy.
This was the cruel reality of the Great Ninja War. You couldn't expect a shinobi to understand the concept of humanitarianism.
Think back to when Orochimaru and the others stumbled upon those three famous orphans in the Land of Rain. He had said, "How pitiful. They won't survive the war anyway, might as well kill them now." Honestly, his logic made a lot of sense. That was what passed for mercy among ninjas.
Therefore, Kamishiro felt zero psychological burden. His actions perfectly followed standard ninja protocols.
Yes, Kamishiro had a soft, gentle face, but that didn't stop him from possessing the soul of a total sadist.
He figured the Sand Village was currently suffering a massive power vacuum. Considering their heavy losses from the previous battle and the troops they just committed to the frontlines... the Sand had basically squeezed out every last drop of their combat power.
Both sides were treating this frontline battle as the final clash. It was either surrender or annihilation.
The Hokage had invaded the Land of Wind with Konoha's final reserves. Faced with someone crashing his front door, the Kazekage had to respond with everything he had, whether he wanted to or not.
Because the Kazekage had to strike with full force, the defense garrison left behind in the village was definitely lacking. Timing-wise, this was an incredibly easy opportunity to infiltrate the Sand and cause large-scale destruction.
Worry about maintaining the image of a "Great Nation"? Sorry, that phrase didn't exist in the ninja world. That was a typical non-ninja way of thinking.
Just look at the Hidden Cloud. Despite being a top-tier military power, they constantly sneaked into Konoha to kidnap women and children.
If Kamishiro's bombing run was successful, would it speed up the end of the war? If the results were good, it definitely would.
Was he launching this air raid for such a positive purpose? Maybe. Maybe not. But regardless of his personal intentions, his actions would have a positive impact.
After flying at full speed for four or five hours, Kamishiro had the Yatagarasu lower its altitude. The Sand Village was getting close.
In the middle of a barren wasteland, a massive target like the Hidden Sand was pretty obvious. But you couldn't fly too high, otherwise the dust storms below would completely block your view.
Kamishiro's judgment was spot-on. As he gradually dropped to 500 meters, the Hidden Sand Village actually came into view.
Built to be easily defended, the Sand Village was hidden within a special terrain. Launching a ground assault would be incredibly difficult, but the sky was a different story.
The sky was defenseless.
Still, Kamishiro was careful. No one knew if the Sand had an offensive barrier deployed above them, so he refused to drop below 300 meters under any circumstances.
In reality, he was being too careful. In an airspace like this, the absolute most they could set up was an alarm barrier that triggered upon aerial intrusion. As for a powerful, suspended offensive barrier? Technically speaking, that was genuinely hard to pull off right now.
Besides, Kamishiro was flying so high he wouldn't trigger anything anyway.
As he steered the Yatagarasu to circle above the Sand Village, Kamishiro muttered to himself, "Let's pick the biggest one..."
Since he couldn't tell which building had the most bombing value, he could only judge by size.
Hitting the biggest target. That was the only choice he could make right now.
Of course, it wasn't a wrong choice. The most important people live in the tallest buildings. That's just common sense. The first target Kamishiro picked had a giant kanji for "Wind" (風) painted on its side. It was, in fact, the Kazekage's Office.
With the target selected, next came the full service: aim, load, and drop the payload.
Who knows if anyone noticed the bird. Either way, before the Sand ninja could react, a cluster of white objects plummeted straight onto the Kazekage's roof.
A split second later, a chain of Boom! Boom! Boom! explosions rang out.
The first wave of attacks was loud and flashy, but the Kazekage's office didn't suffer any devastating damage right away. There was a defensive barrier surrounding the building.
But the barrier's defense wasn't infinite. Under the bombardment, it flickered rapidly like a glitching screen. With every blast, the glowing light grew weaker and weaker.
After the third wave, the barrier finally broke. Without it, the office building was nothing more than a pile of bricks and dirt. In just a few hits, it was blown to absolute rubble.