Unlike one-on-one ninja duels, large-scale encounters like this left little room for fancy maneuvers—unless massive traps had been prepared in advance.
This kind of battle was nothing more than head-on collision.
There was no such thing as jōnin versus jōnin, chūnin versus chūnin, or genin versus genin.
That simply didn't exist.
Still, the Third Hokage charging out first, spearheading the assault, sent Konoha's morale soaring.
In theory, the Hokage should have remained in the rear, overseeing the battle and avoiding unnecessary risk.
But commanding from behind and fighting at the very front were two completely different things to the shinobi watching him.
Now, the Hokage wasn't just present on the battlefield—
He was standing on the front line.
Perhaps it was because he understood something very well:
For people to truly come to an understanding, they must first hurt each other.
Badly.
Konoha's battlefield command system was already complete. The Third Hokage knew that his role as a commander could be replaced—but as a combatant, his presence multiplied Konoha's fighting strength.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was first and foremost a Konoha shinobi.
Only after that was he the Third Hokage.
And so he sprinted headlong toward the enemy.
On this day, the Third Hokage had exactly one bodyguard—
Minato Namikaze.
From this perspective, Minato was willingly playing the role of supporting cast.
There was no helping it.
Once the Third Hokage accelerated to full speed, among all of Konoha's forces, only Minato could keep up without strain.
Although Minato's primary role was protection rather than offense, this didn't reduce Konoha's overall efficiency in the slightest—
Because the Hokage himself was a high-speed weapon of war.
The Hokage charged first.
Minato followed just behind him.
Konoha's close-combat units surged forward after Minato.
When both sides could clearly see each other's faces, the Hokage began forming hand seals.
Earth Release: Earth Flow River.
As the seals completed, a massive section of ground instantly softened, turning into a raging, mud-like current. The surging earth swallowed countless Sand shinobi before they could react.
In a single moment, Sunagakure's formation was severely disrupted.
Next—
The Hokage inhaled deeply, then exhaled with force.
Earth-nature chakra condensed.
A towering barrier rose from the ground.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.
This served two purposes:
First, it slowed the Earth Flow River, preventing friendly casualties.
Second, it created an elevated platform for large-scale ninjutsu.
Then came an A-rank forbidden jutsu.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
With a single hand seal, four shadow clones appeared instantly.
They leapt onto the Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall ahead of the original body, looked down upon the Sand shinobi below, and unleashed ninjutsu in unison.
Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!
Wind Release: Great Vacuum Sphere!
And the Third Hokage's true specialty—
Combination Ninjutsu.
Two clones synchronized perfectly.
Combination jutsu: Fire and Earth—Flame Dragon Bomb!
This was a case of one plus one being far greater than two. In range, power, and destructive capability, Flame Dragon Bomb vastly surpassed the individual Earth Dragon and Fire Dragon jutsus.
After that wave of attacks—
The Sand shinobi closest to the impact zone were no longer worth describing.
At this point, the Hokage's true body also leapt onto the Earth-Style Wall.
Original plus clones—five elements in total.
Perfect alignment.
And so, he unleashed an ultimate jutsu.
With the nearest enemies neutralized, the Third Hokage turned his attention to those farther away. What he needed now was overwhelming range and power.
Five Release: Great Combo jutsu!
At the peak of his prime, balancing five chakra natures was effortless for the Third Hokage. This ultimate composite ninjutsu rivaled—and possibly exceeded—the range and destructive force of Jiraiya's forbidden senjutsu, Sage Art: Goemon.
The Hokage's entry and devastating opening barrage caught Sunagakure completely off guard.
This entire sequence was nothing short of a steamroller.
At that moment, large numbers of Konoha shinobi surged past the Hokage, pouring into the breached Sand formation.
They entered through the opening he had carved out, and the enemy's ability to mount an organized counterattack was severely limited.
Forced to fight individually, the Sand shinobi found themselves perfectly matched—and overwhelmed—by Konoha's coordinated teamwork.
With allies and enemies now intermingled, it was no longer suitable to use wide-area jutsus.
The Hokage dispelled his shadow clones.
Then—
He formed another hand seal.
Summoning jutsu!
The Third Hokage's summon was the legendary monkey who was said to possess an indestructible body, once fought the Second Hokage on even ground, and was hailed as one of the strongest contracted summons—
Monkey King: Enma.
Whether those legends were exaggerated was beside the point.
From Hagoromo's aerial perspective, the Hokage summoned a white-furred monkey—
Which promptly transformed into a diamond-hard staff.
Yes.
The Hokage held it.
Because the staff was thick and short, he swung it around himself a few times—
Then leapt down from the Earth-Style Wall and plunged straight into the enemy ranks.
Science had proven one thing:
Any long-tailed primate with facial hair and a staff weapon was bound to be dangerous.
The Third Hokage didn't have facial hair or a tail—
But his surname was Sarutobi.
His taijutsu alone was already terrifying. Add a staff that could extend and retract at will, along with absolutely zero mercy toward the enemy—
Wherever he charged, blood blossomed like flowers.
From Hagoromo's vantage point in the sky, the Third Hokage looked like—
An autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
Occasionally, a few Sand shinobi tried to sneak an attack on the Hokage.
But they forgot one thing—
The Yellow Flash was right beside him.
Minato might have been content to act as support—
But anyone who truly mistook him for decoration was gravely mistaken.
With Minato handling defense, the Third Hokage devoted himself entirely to offense.
Two Kage-level shinobi working in perfect coordination—
They were nothing less than a meat grinder.
This was the power of shinobi who could decide the outcome of a battlefield.
If Sunagakure failed to stop this duo, the battle wouldn't just tilt—
It would collapse entirely.
At that moment, Hagoromo detected new developments from the air.
He immediately urged Yatagarasu back toward Konoha's command center and began reporting.
"New Sand movement detected!
Enemy command center located—straight ahead, five kilometers.
Sand command center advancing forward.
Suspected: Kazekage personally advancing!"
"Repeat—suspected Kazekage and Sand command center advancing as a whole!
Advise extreme caution to the Third Hokage!"
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