The dragon wings behind Erza unfurled with a sharp whoosh, their span stirring the air violently. In the next instant, she vanished in a blur, the sheer force of her take-off leaving a crater where she once stood. The earth cracked and splintered beneath her explosive movement.
Her blade met Hanzo's sickle mid-swing with a deafening clang, the clash unleashing a shockwave so immense that the ground around them split apart, spiderweb cracks racing outward. Dust and shattered rock flew in every direction.
But Hanzo's monstrous strength proved greater—his poisoned kusarigama pressed her sword back with brutal force, driving Erza a few meters away. Her feet dug trenches in the soil as she slid back, forced into retreat.
At that exact moment, a ripple of chakra cut through the battlefield. In a flash, Guy appeared behind Hanzo using teleportation. His right fist, hardened and glimmering with dragon-like scales, shot forward like a cannon toward Hanzo's back.
Sensing the danger, Hanzo spun instantly, his reflexes razor sharp. With a metallic clang, the chain of his sickle whipped around, intercepting the scaled punch just before impact. Sparks crackled as chain links rattled against Guy's scaled knuckles, the force of the collision shaking the air.
Yet, even as Hanzo was focused on Guy, danger brewed just meters behind him. Another figure emerged—Antares. His entire upper body was encased in golden-red dragon scales that gleamed like molten metal under the pale light. His eyes had turned pitch black, save for pupils that blazed like molten gold. Two curved horns jutted from his forehead, and even his face was masked in scale, giving him the visage of a living dragon clad in a natural helm.
Antares' chest swelled as he drew in a deep breath. Heat shimmered around his maw, cracks of red light glowing between the scales at his jawline.
"Breath of Destruction!"
In the next heartbeat, a roaring inferno burst forth from his mouth, a torrent of blazing fire engulfing the battlefield as it surged straight toward Hanzo. The flames tore through the air, searing everything in their path, their intensity warping the very ground beneath.
Hanzo's instincts screamed a warning even before the searing heat reached his back. He whirled his head slightly and his eyes widened—Antares was already unleashing a torrent of fire, the Breath of Destruction tearing toward him like a collapsing sun.
For a brief instant, Hanzo's thoughts flickered: Does he not care if his own kin burns with me? Or is he so certain they can endure? The recklessness—and confidence—behind such an attack unsettled him.
But Hanzo had no time to dwell. He knew well enough—if that inferno struck him head-on, even his body would not escape without devastating injury.
With a burst of power, he blurred sideways, his movements so sharp and precise they cracked the ground beneath his feet. The massive wave of flames thundered past, scorching everything in its path.
Guy, standing directly in Hanzo's escape route, clenched his scaled fist and tried to intercept, his punch swinging like a battering ram toward Hanzo's side. But Hanzo's speed and agility were greater—he twisted just out of reach, the kusarigama's chain snapping taut as he propelled himself clear.
Realizing the futility of blocking Hanzo's escape, Guy narrowed his eyes. In the blink of an eye, he vanished using teleportation, reappearing well outside the devastating trajectory of Antares' fire breath.
Behind them, the flames roared like a living beast, devouring the battlefield in an expanding wall of destruction, the ground blackening and molten cracks spreading where the inferno struck.
…
When the Breath of Destruction finally ceased, silence fell for a moment. A long, seared line scarred the battlefield, stretching far into the distance. At its end, the earth was not only blackened but molten, glowing faintly through the sheets of falling rain—an undeniable testament to the overwhelming heat of Antares' attack.
But the battle was far from over.
High above, Erza was already descending, her black wings spread wide as she dived like a hawk toward her target. With a single sweep of her blade, she unleashed a horizontal slash, followed instantly by a vertical strike—the two arcs of sword energy forming a blazing cross that tore through the air toward Hanzo.
Hanzo's sharp instincts never failed him. He raised his kusarigama high, the chain rattling as the curved blade intercepted the attack. The cross-shaped energy slammed against his weapon, erupting in a shockwave, but Hanzo's stance did not waver. The attack left no real wound, only sparks dancing across the steel.
But Erza wasn't finished. Sword in hand, she came down like a falling star, her momentum shaking the air itself. Her blade met Hanzo's sickle in a bone-jarring crash, the impact gouging a fresh crater beneath their feet. The ground split and shuddered, cracks racing outward like lightning.
Hanzo's knees bent slightly under the force, his muscles tightening as he absorbed the blow. Yet his expression remained calm, unshaken. With a sharp push, he forced Erza back, sending her skidding across the torn earth.
But Erza did not falter. She surged forward again, her movements a blur.
Steel rang against steel, again and again—ten times in the span of a breath. To ordinary eyes, their fight was no more than a storm of sparks and afterimages. But to those with powerful strength can see the clash like those of Sannin in the distance.
From a safe distance, Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the sight of the battlefield.
"They're incredible… No wonder they wiped out an entire Amegakure battalion without a single survivor," he muttered, awe mingling with unease.
Beside him, Tsunade folded her arms and gave a slow nod, her gaze fixed on the red-haired warriors who clashed fearlessly with Hanzo. The air shook with every exchange.
Orochimaru, however, remained silent for a moment, his golden eyes glinting in thought. He had crossed blades with Shanks nearly three years prior and knew firsthand the threat these Uzumaki posed. Now, watching Erza lead her siblings with such overwhelming force, he could see the clan's growth had not stalled—it had accelerated. One after another, their unique powers flared across the battlefield, most of them unmistakably Kekkei Genkai.
"The Uzumaki clan," Orochimaru finally murmured, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips, "has become far more troublesome than Konoha would ever wish."
He already knew what would follow. Once this news reached Hiruzen Sarutobi and especially Danzō Shimura, it would strike deep unease in their hearts. The Hokage had always preferred the Uzumaki name to fade quietly into history, reduced to scattered remnants at best. Danzō, on the other hand, would see no future but their eradication.
But the sudden, undeniable emergence of these siblings—alive, united, and monstrously powerful—was not just a complication. It was a disruption great enough to unravel the very balance Konoha's leaders sought to maintain.
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