Thick clouds rolled in, only to slowly disperse. The moonlight that had been completely blocked finally found its chance to shine.
Silver light spilled across the battlefield like a hazy spotlight cast upon this battle under the night sky.
Illuminated by the moon, the massed ranks of Konoha shinobi became more clearly visible in the distance. Even veteran Iwa jōnin, seasoned by countless battles, couldn't help but swallow hard at the sight of the dark tide of Konoha's forces.
In the intelligence exchanges before the battle, Iwagakure had suffered a total defeat. They didn't even have a clear idea of how many jōnin the enemy had. This sudden confrontation made even the most confident uneasy.
But there was no time for hesitation—Konoha's shinobi were closing in fast.
The distance between the two sides rapidly shrank. Over 4,000 shinobi combined began forming hand seals in perfect unison.
As soon as they were close enough, both sides would unleash their jutsu without mercy—struggling either to protect their comrades, or to inflict maximum casualties on the enemy.
Within the Iwa ranks, Yōgan scanned the Konoha formation, his gaze searching for a familiar figure.
He looked carefully, trying to pick out Gekkō Hoshiyomi from among the enemy, but his eyes swept across the entire Konoha formation without finding him. A faint unease crept into his heart.
No matter how bold Hoshiyomi is, he couldn't possibly be charging into our ranks solo again, could he?
He chuckled quietly and cursed himself for being paranoid—letting that night raid mess with his mind like this.
But just as he dismissed that unlikely thought, a commotion erupted from the front-left of the formation. He quickly turned to the shinobi beside him and asked:
"What's going on up front?"
At that moment, a messenger reported:
"Ten identical sword-wielding figures suddenly appeared on the left flank. They appear to be shadow clones. Each of them unleashed a wave of terrifying sword energy.
Many shinobi in the left-front ranks have already fallen to the attack."
Yōgan's eyes widened—sword-wielding figures, releasing sword energy? There was no mistaking it—that had to be Hoshiyomi.
Has he gone insane?!
Ten shadow clones for sabotage? Does he think he's a human-tailed beast or something?!
Everyone knew that shadow clones split the user's chakra. To summon ten at once meant burning through a massive portion of his reserves.
If we destroy all ten, even if the real one's not among them, Hoshiyomi's combat ability will be severely reduced.
Yōgan didn't hesitate. He immediately ordered:
"Have the left flank redirect all attacks! That man is Konoha's Silver Moon.
Killing him will be a massive achievement.
Whoever brings back his head or his sword—I'll personally petition Tsuchikage-sama to reward them with an S-rank forbidden jutsu!"
They say money makes the mare go—and in the shinobi world, forbidden techniques were even more tempting than money. With such a reward on the line, countless Iwa shinobi were eager to take the risk.
And so, the entire left flank of Iwa's forces turned away from the advancing Konoha shinobi and instead unleashed their jutsu toward the source of the sword energy.
The location where the ten Hoshiyomis stood was instantly buried in a tidal wave of ninjutsu.
Hurricanes, floods, firestorms, thunderbolts—every kind of ninjutsu imaginable rained down on that area, turning it into scorched earth.
When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a blackened crater. No one could tell whether the real Hoshiyomi had been incinerated, or if they had only destroyed his clones.
Yōgan didn't care if Hoshiyomi had died or not. All that mattered was that his combat strength had surely been compromised.
Sure, most of the genin and chūnin who launched the jutsu would likely be dead before they could cast a second technique—but to Yōgan, the trade-off was well worth it.
But… was that really the case?
...
In the Konoha formation, Hoshiyomi stood safe and sound beside Shinku. His face was full of energy—hardly what one would expect from someone whose combat power had been crippled.
Shinku looked at him skeptically and asked:
"You really summoned ten shadow clones at once? Are you sure you're okay?"
Hoshiyomi rolled his eyes.
"I told you about the Oboro Urazuki: Eleven Forms., didn't I? They weren't Shadow Clones, just regular afterimages.
Sure, it uses a fair amount of chakra, but for me right now, it's no big deal.
That, plus the Mountain-Splitting Earth-Cracking Slash from earlier—altogether, I've only used about one-eighth of my chakra."
Seeing the chaos on Iwa's left flank, Hoshiyomi grinned and shouted back toward the Konoha troops:
"Target Iwa's left flank! That's our breakthrough point!"
The Konoha shinobi had all seen the upheaval on Iwa's left. They didn't know exactly what had happened—but their morale surged. They clenched their fists, eyes burning with anticipation.
In the blink of an eye, both forces entered each other's attack range.
An even more overwhelming barrage of ninjutsu came crashing down—far more intense than what had been unleashed against Hoshiyomi's afterimages.
But the flaw in Iwa's formation, caused by their attack on the afterimages, now became apparent.
Compared to the right side, Iwa's left flank had clearly weakened—significantly.
Konoha had intentionally shifted their defensive focus to the right and their offensive force to the left. As a result, the Konoha forces gained a modest but crucial advantage in the first wave of combat.
On Iwa's left flank, ninja fell like wheat before the scythe—cut down by the hundreds the moment the battle began.
The attempt to mimic militaristic battle formations had left the Iwa shinobi vulnerable. After exhausting their chakra in one wave of jutsu, they were unable to launch a second.
That's exactly what was happening now.
Iwa's right-side attack was blocked by Konoha's focused defensive jutsu, while Konoha's offense—centered on Iwa's exposed left—met minimal resistance.
Only a few mid- and upper-ranked ninja who were either fast at forming seals or had special escape techniques managed to avoid the slaughter. The rest—mainly chūnin and genin—were reduced to cannon fodder.
In a single clash, at least two to three hundred Iwa ninja fell, while Konoha's casualties were significantly lighter.
With Konoha and Iwa fully locked in battle, news of the Iwa camp's surprise attack finally reached Sunagakure's front line.
The battlefield commanders, Chiyo and Ebizō, quickly realized the implications—if Iwa was crushed in a sneak attack, Suna's entire position could collapse.
In haste, they dispatched a team of three to five hundred shinobi to reinforce Iwa.
But they didn't expect that squad to be ambushed almost immediately by Orochimaru's hidden unit.
Chiyo and Ebizō were practically spitting blood at the sight—but there was no choice. They had to go all-in and mobilize their full force to prevent that squad from being wiped out.
And just like that, the Suna front erupted into full-scale battle as well.
After a long silence, the great war between the three villages had finally begun again—with a vengeance.