"Wow, just... wow!"
"He actually took it down just like that?"
"As expected of the Lord Tsuchikage!"
Amid the flattery from the surrounding ninja, Ōnoki's feet gently touched the ground. His gaze turned to his blond disciple, looking down on him as he said, "Learn anything from that, Deidara?"
"Tch. Big deal—you're just showing off that Dust Release of yours," Deidara shot back, though there was less bite in his tone than usual. Especially when the old man was in one of his moods.
But honestly, that Dust Release kekkei tōta is ridiculous. Was there anything in the world that could actually stand up to that?
"Everyone, stay alert." Even after taking down that war machine, Ōnoki didn't let it get to his head. "If the Land of Waves dared to launch a surprise attack on us, they definitely have more up their sleeves!"
"Impressive."
Just then, a man clad in a long white coat suddenly appeared on the scene.
"As expected of you Ōnoki—still vigorous despite your age. Compared to you, Hiruzen seems to be struggling a bit."
In an instant.
All eyes were on him, everyone frozen in place.
"It's... him!"
"What's going on? Why is he here?!"
"Hanzo the Salamander!"
"Good evening, friends of the Allied Shinobi Forces," Hanzo said with a polite smile. "I am the 5th Espada of the Land of Waves, Hanzo the Salamander."
"So you really are one of the Espada!" Ōnoki's expression turned grim. "You were once a legendary figure in the shinobi world, and now you've become Hayashi Yuto's lapdog... What would your subordinates think if they saw you like this?"
"They'd probably be pretty pissed," Hanzo replied thoughtfully, his tone dead serious. "Their leader found a better life and didn't bring them along—I really dropped the ball on that one."
"A better life? How does being a dog for that brat make life better?"
"Trying to provoke me, Ōnoki? Your taunts are... underwhelming, to say the least. But whatever, considering this might be the only time you'll ever get to try. Well, mission is accomplished—I'm pissed now, Ōnoki!"
Bzzzt—
A terrifying spiritual pressure erupted from Hanzo, suffocating every living being within miles with a sense of impending doom.
Thud. Thud.
The weaker ninjas closer to him dropped to their knees, sweat dripping from their foreheads.
"This... this aura!" Even Ōnoki was struggling to hold his ground, his back beginning to bend under the pressure.
"Oops, my bad." Hanzo paused, reining in his spiritual pressure. "Using spiritual pressure in a fight would be unfair—might even get me chewed out back home."
"What do you mean?" Ōnoki already sensed something was off.
"A fair fight is more fun, don't you think?" Hanzo smiled and snapped his fingers.
Ripples spread across the night sky as black voids opened one after another.
Modified Menos Grande emerged from the voids—at least two hundred of them, each several times larger than the previous "war machine."
"How... how is this possible?!"
"This can't be...!"
Despair.
A deep, overwhelming despair and helplessness spread through the Shinobi Forces.
–
Achoo!
Walking under the night sky, Hiruzen Sarutobi sneezed, his expression grim.
"I've got a really bad feeling about this, Danzo."
"What kind of feeling?" Danzo glanced at him.
"Our left flank took a devastating blow. What if the other two flanks suffered the same fate?" Hiruzen asked worriedly.
Danzo fell silent for a moment before replying calmly, "Don't undermine morale here, Hiruzen."
"Morale..."
Hiruzen glanced back at the handful of sorry-looking ninjas trailing behind them and couldn't help but twitch his mouth.
'With this ragtag bunch, what morale is there left to undermine?'
"Once we descend from here, we should be out of these barren mountains," Danzo said, turning his gaze to the path ahead.
"Good. Let's hurry and regroup with Ōnoki and the others!" A relieved smile finally appeared on Hiruzen's face.
They'd survived against all odds—maybe their luck was finally turning.
The group rushed down the mountain path, only to find a figure in a long white coat sitting at the foot of the mountain, smiling at them.
"An... an ambush!"
"That outfit—he's definitely from the Land of Waves!"
"Not again!"
True despair doesn't just kill—it lets you glimpse hope before plunging you into darkness. That's the sharpest blade of all.
The orange-haired man in white, a long sword at his waist, approached with light steps.
"I am the 6th Espada, Yahiko. I've been waiting for you. "
*Land of Waves, Main Office.*
"Reporting, Lord Yuto! All three commanders of the Allied Shinobi Forces have been captured!"
The communicator delivered the news of victory, and Uzumaki Rina's face broke into an elegant smile.
She didn't show excessive excitement because every citizen of the Land of Waves knew this outcome was inevitable.
Even if the Allied Forces had ten times their current numbers, they still wouldn't pose the slightest threat to the Land of Waves.
In the eyes of high-level Arrancar with spiritual pressure, numbers were meaningless. The area-of-effect suppression from spiritual pressure alone could turn these ninja into quivering quails in an instant.
But the Arrancar had avoided using their spiritual pressure in this mission.
As Hanzo put it, using spiritual pressure would just be bullying.
"Well done," Yuto said with a gentle smile. "As for the remaining prisoners, proceed as planned. Make sure to separate men and women, and no mistreatment."
"Understood," Rina nodded before ending the communication.
"One hundred thousand soldiers, defeated so easily," Mikoto sighed, then frowned. "But... our Land of Waves doesn't have enough space to hold that many prisoners, does it?"
"We do. Remember the factories we built earlier?" Yuto chuckled.
Mikoto's eyes widened in realization. "You... you planned for this, since back then?"
"Not exactly. I originally intended to have the modified Menos work in the factories," Yuto shook his head.
But things didn't go as planned—the modified Menos were even dumber than "AIi" (Nagato's pet). They couldn't grasp basic logic and couldn't even handle simple tasks like moving bricks.
"So, only that elite unit remains to be dealt with, right?" Mikoto asked quietly.
"Yep. I'm thinking of sending Shisui to just bring them back," Yuto nodded lightly.
"Stupid game! Screw this!" Kushina suddenly stood up from the desk, took a deep breath, and said, "Don't bother sending Shisui. Let me handle the Yagura situation!"
The office fell into silence for a moment before Yuto replied in a flat tone, "Try... not to cause any casualties."
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