With Fuguki
Fuguki, Yukito, Zangetsu, and the ninja swordsmen drove the Kirigakure troops forward in a direct charge, while smaller teams maneuvered unseen through the branches, following Yukito's strategy to the letter.
A sudden rustle in the bushes sharpened Fuguki's senses, his hand instinctively darting toward his shuriken. He halted at the last moment as a small polar bear cub poked its head through the foliage—then promptly leapt onto Yukito's shoulder.
"Yukito-sama, the traps have been set exactly as you ordered."
With a nod of satisfaction, Yukito allowed himself a small smile directed at the polar bear cub.
"Good work, Pokar. You did well. Go take a break, and tell your father I'll likely need his help soon."
Pokar's eyes lit up with interest after hearing Yukito's words, and replied.
"As you wish Yukito-sama."
"PUFF."
After Pokar replied, it vanished in a puff of white smoke.
Yukito turned his head toward Fuguki and nodded. Without wasting a second, Fuguki raised his fist, his pinky pointing forward.
Seeing Fuguki's signal, the Kirigakure shinobi smirked in silent understanding and pressed on under his command.
Suddenly, Fuguki narrowed his eyes as numerous silhouettes began materializing among the trees. Then, he heard one of his subordinates speak.
"Fuguki-sama, I can sense numerous chakra signatures belonging to shinobi ahead of us."
When Fuguki, Yukito, Zangetsu, and the ninja swordsmen heard this, a bloodthirsty smirk spread across their faces.
Fuguki then gave a brief signal with his index finger and continued charging forward.
The small teams hidden among the trees recognized Fuguki's signal and, without hesitation, executed the ram-hand maneuver in perfect unison.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu."
A dense mist engulfed the battlefield in an instant, advancing with terrifying speed. Fugaku Uchiha and Himari Hyuga widened their eyes at its relentless approach.
They swiftly activated their dojutsu, joined by every member of their clans.
Fugaku and Himari were stunned as they gazed at the mist, which swiftly enveloped them and their entire troops.
'The amount of chakra used to execute this Jutsu is insane, it completely sealed my Byakugan.'
'My Byakugan throbbing painfully just from looking at the mist, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of chakra used to create such a dense fog.'
'Fugaku must be experiencing the exact same pain.'
Himari frowned as he looked around, unable to spot his allies even with his Byakugan.
After a brief pause, Himari's voice rang out, carrying his command to all his subordinate.
"Wind users, clear this mist away using your Wind Style jutsu."
Without pausing, the Konoha shinobi who are adept in Wind Style jutsu started executing their hand seals.
After completing the hand seals, they took a deep breath and exhaled a powerful gust of wind from their mouths.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
"WHOOSH."
The strong gust of wind tore through the mist, but within seconds, it thickened again, leaving Himari, Fugaku, and the other high-ranking Konoha shinobi stunned.
In the next moment, Fugaku and Himari were startled by the piercing screams of their subordinates.
"AAAAAHHHH."
AAAAAGGGHHHH."
"AAAAGGGGHHH."
"THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD."
With every passing second, they could hear the thud of lifeless bodies hitting the ground.
Himari's eyes turned red with anger as he heard the lifeless bodies of Konoha shinobi hitting the ground continuously, and he yelled loudly.
"All Hyuga clansmen execute Kaiten at once."
At Himari's command, all Hyuga clansmen of the main house branch began spinning at incredible speed, forming a blue dome of chakra that shielded them.
"Kiaten."
"WHOOSH."
At that instant, the mist that blanketed the battlefield began to swirl violently, yet no matter how fiercely the Hyuga clan shinobi fought to disperse it, it kept regenerating.
______
With Yukito
Yukito watched the mist swirl violently, but he wasn't worried at all. He gave a small smile and thought to himself.
That won't work. I accounted for the Hyuga Clan's main branch shinobi when I devised this strategy—the number of our shinobi executing the Hidden Mist Jutsu far outnumbers theirs. No matter how hard they try, the Hyuga main branch's jutsu will be useless against this overpowered Hidden Mist Jutsu.'
'If the Hyuga clan's branch household were allowed to learn the main household's jutsus, things might have been different. But thanks to the clan's rigid traditions, everything is going in our favor.'
______
With the Root ANBU
Outside the mist's reach, the Root ANBU stood silently, observing the clash. From their vantage point, they could hear the agonized screams of Konoha shinobi trapped within the mist.
After a few seconds, the Root ANBU captain barked his command.
"Get ready! We will execute our strongest Wind-Style jutsu combination to blow this mist away."
The ANBU nodded emotionlessly and began executing a series of hand seals in unison.
"Wind Release: Great Vacuum Gust."
"WHOOSH."
An incredibly wide and powerful gust of wind blew the thick mist away, stunning all the Kirigakure shinobi.
______
With Yukito
Yukito narrowed his eyes at the sight of the Root ANBU dispersing the thick mist from atop the tree, muttering a curses under his breath.
"Damn it, Konoha's Root ANBU… This is going to be a problem. If we want to win this war, we need to eliminate them fast."
Zangetsu's expression twisted when he spotted the Root ANBU. He glanced at Yukito beside him and asked,
"Yukito, what do we do now? They've countered your strategy."
Yukito nodded, but didn't reply to Zangetsu, his mind racing thinking of a strategy to eliminate Root ANBU.
"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH."
Suddenly, Yukito's heart skipped a beat as he saw multiple water shurikens hurtling toward the Root ANBU, and even more so when he noticed Yukina charging alongside Kotaro, Ichiro, and Hiro.
'Those fools—do they have a death wish? I have to act now. Those four are the future of Kirigakure.'
With urgency in his eyes, Yukito turned to Zangetsu and commanded.
"Zangetsu, let's move and back those kids up. Call Kengetsu to join us as well. Assemble close-, mid-, and long-range combat specialists while you're at it. We can't let those idiots die—no matter what."
Zangetsu's eyes turned serious when he spotted Yukina. He quickly shunshined away and called Kengetsu along with eight other shinobi.
Then, he, along with Yukito and the assembled shinobi, shunshined toward Yukina and the others.
________