Chapter 3 — Excalibur
The moment the ninja shifted his gaze toward Raizen, a chilling sensation ran down Raizen's spine. It was an instinctive fear, the kind that came when a person suddenly realized they were staring directly at death.
The ninja's killing intent was naked and unmistakable.
Raizen's body stiffened. It was as if he could smell the scent of death itself.
"Die, outsider!"
The ninja's voice rang out sharply.
Without hesitation, he raised his arm and hurled a kunai. The small blade cut through the air with terrifying speed, spinning as it flew straight toward Raizen's chest.
A sharp whistling sound echoed as the weapon tore through the wind.
Raizen's pupils shrank.
His mind instantly calculated the distance.
With his reflexes…
There was absolutely no way he could dodge it.
Despair surged through him like cold water.
But just as the kunai was about to strike—
A violent gust of wind suddenly erupted.
Bang!
The invisible force struck the flying weapon like a hammer, sending it spinning violently off course before it clattered uselessly against the ground.
"What?!"
The attacking ninja's expression changed instantly.
Startled, he turned around.
Behind him, the massive fireball that had engulfed Saber moments earlier suddenly split apart. The blazing flames parted as if pushed aside by an invisible wall.
From within the fading inferno, the figure of a young woman stepped forward. Her blue battle dress fluttered lightly in the heated air.
Not a single scorch mark marred her armor. She was completely unharmed.
Seeing this, Raizen finally released the breath he had been holding. Relief flooded through his body all at once. Before he even realized it, a faint smile appeared on his face.
Raizen was still, at heart, an ordinary person.
Back when he was in school, he had gotten into fights before. He wasn't completely unfamiliar with violence. Although the moment just now had terrified him, he hadn't collapsed to the ground in hysterical panic.
Instead, the experience of facing death head-on had strangely sharpened his mind.
His thoughts became clearer.
Calmer.
That attack just now… It should have been one of Saber's Noble Phantasms.
Wind King's Barrier.
By compressing the surrounding air and releasing it in a burst, the invisible wind could be fired outward as a long-range attack.
The technique had a name— Strike Air.
At the same time, Raizen remembered something else.
Saber possessed Magic Resistance at Rank A. In the world of Fate, that meant even powerful magecraft would struggle to harm her.
And in this world… There was no true magic.
At most, chakra-based techniques might count as something similar. Which meant the conclusion was simple.
A C-rank ninjutsu, such as the Great Fireball Technique, would never be able to harm Saber.
Not even slightly.
Meanwhile, Saber's expression had turned icy.
Her emerald eyes were filled with sharp anger.
She had nearly allowed her Master to be killed because of her own momentary distraction.
To a knight, such negligence was unforgivable.
A disgrace.
It was time to end this battle properly. In truth, fighting three ordinary chūnin should never have been difficult for her.
The real problem lay elsewhere.
Her Master.
Raizen was an extremely unqualified Master.
He possessed no magical energy at all.
Which meant he could not continuously supply the mana required to sustain Saber's full strength.
The situation was very similar to the Fifth Holy Grail War. Without sufficient mana support, Saber's abilities were naturally weakened.
Her strength.
Her speed.
Her endurance.
All of her attributes had declined.
Even so— She was still a Heroic Spirit.
Her figure blurred as she instantly stepped in front of Raizen. The speed was so great that Raizen barely saw her move.
"Don't stray too far from me."
Saber spoke calmly without turning her head.
Raizen nodded. He forced himself to remain calm while observing the chaotic battlefield around them.
From what he could see, the ninja sent to suppress the prison break were not particularly high-ranking.
There were no jōnin present. Most were ordinary chūnin, along with a few lower-ranked ninja.
Among them, the only ones who seemed to possess special clan abilities were two members of the Akimichi Clan. Their large physiques made them easy to identify.
As for the prisoners who had escaped with him— There were about a dozen in total.
They were indeed ninja, but their strength was extremely mediocre. Many of them were likely minor criminals or rogue shinobi. More than half had already been subdued by the chūnin guarding the prison.
Even so, Saber was still fighting three chūnin simultaneously—and she clearly still had energy to spare.
More importantly… She still possessed her ultimate trump card.
The Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm—
Excalibur.
As long as they didn't attract the attention of the ANBU, a jōnin squad, or worse—
The Hokage himself—Their chances of escaping were extremely high.
As for Raizen… In this chaotic battlefield, there was only one thing he could do.
Stay alive.
Against ninja like these, he had absolutely no chance of survival. Even the weakest genin could probably kill him without difficulty.
Everything depended entirely on Saber.
At that moment, Raizen suddenly looked down at his hand. The Command Seals glowed faintly on the back of it.
Three crimson markings.
He remembered something important.
Saber's abilities were currently weakened because she lacked mana. Without hesitation, Raizen activated one of the seals.
The crimson symbol flared brightly.
"Saber!"
He shouted.
"Be filled with magical power!"
The Command Seal shattered into a burst of light. Its power instantly surged into Saber's body.
For a moment, Saber froze.
Then— An overwhelming surge of energy flooded through her limbs.
Her weakened magical circuits roared back to life as strength returned to her body.
Her sword strikes became heavier.
Her movements became faster.
Even her instincts sharpened.
Her emerald eyes gleamed.
In a single burst of speed, Saber broke through the encirclement of the three chūnin.
Her invisible blade flashed, a clean arc of steel passed through the air.
One of the chūnin collapsed instantly. His body fell to the ground before he even understood what had happened.
Saber turned her head slightly.
Her gaze landed on Raizen.
He met her eyes and nodded firmly.
"Saber!"
"Fight without holding back!"
A sharp light flashed within Saber's pupils.
At the very least… In this regard, her Master was barely qualified.
Now that she no longer needed to restrain herself— A confident smile slowly appeared on her lips.
The remaining two chūnin immediately felt the difference. The pressure from Saber suddenly became overwhelming.
They could barely keep up with her speed.
Steel clashed repeatedly. But their defenses were collapsing. In less than a minute, both chūnin fell beneath her invisible blade.
Silence briefly returned to the battlefield.
Raizen immediately spoke.
"Saber, let's go!"
Saber responded with a firm nod, her emerald eyes steady and unwavering. Without hesitation, she stepped forward and burst into motion, charging straight toward the enemy line.
Raizen followed closely behind her, trusting completely in the knight who stood at his side.
Saber's sword moved like a flash of silver lightning. Despite the weight of the blade, it moved with astonishing speed and precision, every swing carrying both elegance and overwhelming force.
The chūnin who stood in their path had no way to resist. Steel rang out again and again as kunai and katana were raised in defense—but every weapon that touched her blade was severed instantly, sliced apart as if it were nothing more than brittle wood.
After all, the sword she wielded was no ordinary weapon. It was Excalibur—the legendary Sword of Promised Victory.
A holy blade whose renown had echoed across ages. Its edge could cleave through iron as effortlessly as cutting through soft mud.
Not far away, hidden among the shadows where the battlefield could be observed, two ANBU agents watched the unfolding scene from the branches of towering trees.
Their masked faces turned slightly as they exchanged a silent glance.
The next instant, both figures disappeared from the branches in a blur of movement.
Their hands moved rapidly, forming hand seals with practiced precision.
A moment later, chakra erupted violently.
A massive fireball roared into existence in the sky above the battlefield. At the same time, a fierce gale surged around it, feeding the flames and causing the inferno to swell larger and larger.
Within seconds, the blazing mass had expanded into a colossal sphere of fire nearly ten meters across. Like a miniature sun, it plummeted downward toward Saber.
The intense heat distorted the air as it descended.
But Saber had already sensed the danger.
Her Instinct ability flared to life instantly, warning her of the threat before the attack had even fully formed.
The invisible barrier surrounding her—the Wind King's Barrier—compressed tightly around the blade of her sword.
Without hesitation, she swung.
"Strike Air!"
A violent burst of compressed wind shot forward. The invisible blast collided head-on with the enormous fireball. For a split second the two forces struggled against each other—then the fireball was violently torn apart.
The thousands-degree flames split down the middle and were blasted to either side, scattering like burning fragments across the night sky.
Raizen, meanwhile, reacted just as quickly.
The moment he saw the attack descending, he made the only sensible choice. He threw himself forward and dropped flat onto the ground beside Saber's feet.
Above them, the two ANBU had already landed atop nearby rooftops and tree branches.
Their hands moved again, forming another sequence of seals.
A violent gale erupted instantly.
Dozens of razor-sharp wind blades materialized within the storm, screaming through the air as they shot toward Saber and Raizen like a deadly swarm.
Saber's gaze sharpened.
Magical energy surged from her body. She stood her ground, enduring the storm of blades head-on.
The wind blades slammed against her armor and the magical aura surrounding her, sparks flying as she absorbed the barrage. At the same time, she shifted her stance slightly, positioning herself so that every attack was intercepted before it could reach Raizen behind her.
Not a single blade touched him.
Raizen let out a slow breath and pushed himself back to his feet. His eyes swept across the area behind them, landing briefly on the prison complex they had escaped from.
He wasn't entirely certain what exact point in time this world corresponded to—but some things about Konoha were consistent throughout its history.
For example, the Konoha Military Police Force, controlled by the Uchiha Clan, and the village prison were almost always built in remote corners of the village, far from the civilian population.
A faint glint flashed in Raizen's eyes as an idea formed.
He turned toward Saber.
"Use Excalibur."
Saber glanced back at him.
For a brief moment, hesitation flickered in her expression. If she released Excalibur here, the destruction might spread far beyond their enemies. Innocent people could easily be caught within the blast.
Raizen seemed to understand her concern immediately.
"Don't worry," he said quickly. "This area is on the outskirts of the village. There aren't any civilians nearby—only ninja."
His gaze hardened.
"And if we drag this fight out any longer and attract the strongest force in the village… the Hokage… escaping will become impossible."
Saber fell silent. Her hesitation was not without reason.
Excalibur was no ordinary weapon. It was a Noble Phantasm capable of obliterating an entire city in a single strike.
Once unleashed, the devastation it caused could not easily be undone.
But…
Her Master had given the order.
The hesitation vanished from her eyes.
Slowly, she raised the holy sword.
The Wind King's Barrier dissolved.
And in the next instant— Golden light exploded from the blade.
A radiant brilliance flooded the darkened sky, illuminating the battlefield as if dawn itself had suddenly arrived.
The light was not merely power. It was the crystallization of countless hopes.
The noble dreams carried by every soldier who had fallen upon battlefields throughout history—past, present, and future.
Dreams filled with sorrow…
Yet also with dignity.
Wills worthy of pride.
Faith that must never be forgotten.
And now—
The king who had never known defeat spoke the true name of the miracle held within her hands.
Raizen stared in awe at the dazzling radiance gathering around Saber.
"So beautiful…" he murmured unconsciously.
"Ex—calibur!"
The moment the words left her lips, the power erupted.
A colossal torrent of golden light surged forth from Saber—no, from the hand of King Arthur herself.
The beam tore across the battlefield in an instant, devouring everything in its path.
Buildings.
Trees.
Defenses.
All were swallowed by the overwhelming radiance as the attack surged forward into the distance, carving a blazing path across the night.
"What is that?!"
Shouts of shock erupted from every direction.
The ninja who witnessed the scene could scarcely believe their eyes.
What kind of ninjutsu was capable of producing such terrifying power?
At the very least… it had to be S-rank!
Perhaps even beyond that.
When the light finally faded, silence fell over the battlefield.
Where the attack had passed, nothing remained intact.
The surrounding buildings had been completely obliterated.
Even the powerful barrier that protected Konoha Village had shattered instantly under the impact.
As for the two ANBU and the ninja who had stood in their path— They had been erased entirely. Not even a trace remained.
---
Deep within the Hidden Leaf Village…
Inside a massive building built into the cliff beneath the towering Hokage Monument…
A middle-aged man sat before a crystal ball, quietly observing the scene that had just unfolded. He wore the hat that symbolized the authority of the Hokage.
Slowly, he reached up and removed the white robe draped across his shoulders.
Beneath it— He was already wearing battle armor.
His expression remained calm.
But his eyes had grown sharp.