Below Howling Valley, five modified heavy transport ships were sailing upstream.
Searchlights swept across the cliffs on both sides, watching for any possible ambush.
On the deck of the lead ship stood Sunagakure Jonin Kazama Sousuke.
The hunched man, carrying a huge puppet scroll on his back, stared grimly ahead.
"Have the puppets extend their sensory net to the maximum!" Kazama Sousuke ordered in a hoarse voice.
"The advance team lost contact just now. There have to be rats nearby."
"Yes, sir!"
A dozen human-shaped puppets rose into the sky under the control of Chakra Threads, circling above the fleet like eerie bats.
High atop the several-hundred-meter cliff, in the grass.
Hyuga Hiroshi's veins bulged around his Byakugan as he fixed his gaze on the scene below. "The enemy has entered the designated area. The lead ship is three hundred meters from the blast site... two hundred... one hundred. That's close enough!"
"Now."
Nishikawa Tetsu's finger, poised on the Explosive Tag's fuse, tightened slightly. He turned to look at the blond boy crouching beside him.
"Minato, it's up to you."
Namikaze Minato took a deep breath. His bright blue eyes became more focused than ever.
He said nothing, only nodded lightly. The Chakra fluctuations around him instantly subsided to the bare minimum, as if he had melded into the vast curtain of rain.
"Three seconds."
Minato murmured.
In the next instant, golden light flashed.
Through the Byakugan, Hyuga Hiroshi saw a sight he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Namikaze Minato disappeared, replaced by a streak of golden lightning darting wildly across the vertical, slick, moss-covered cliff face.
He had no safety gear. He clung to the rock face through sheer mastery of Chakra control.
Every time his feet touched down, they kicked up a ring of spray from the rocks.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Pressed by both gravity and the torrential rain, Namikaze Minato's figure left several afterimages halfway down the cliff.
The first Kunai lodged in a crevice.
The third... the fifth...
The Sunagakure puppeteers below thought they saw a flash of light out of the corner of their eyes, but when they looked up, all they saw was the pitch-black rainy night and cold stone.
"What was th—" A Sunagakure shinobi on lookout rubbed his eyes, but before he could finish speaking—
The streak of golden light had already returned.
"Whoosh—"
Namikaze Minato landed steadily in the grass atop the cliff. His chest rose and fell slightly, and water dripped from his blond bangs.
"Mission accomplished." He grinned, showing his teeth, and gave a thumbs-up.
"Exactly three seconds."
The Chunin nearby stared in stunned silence, looking at the usually gentle, cheerful boy as if he were a monster.
To move across a sheer cliff as if it were level ground and pinpoint twelve locations in just three seconds—could a Genin really do that?
Hyuga Hiroshi was a Jonin of the Hyuga Clan, and he had seen plenty of ninjas known for their speed. But he had never seen anyone manage this while still a Genin.
"Thanks for your effort."
Nishikawa Tetsu wasted no time.
"Now, it's time for science."
He formed the "Tiger" Hand Seal.
"Detonate!"
There was no earth-shattering boom.
The twelve Kunai embedded deep in the stress points of the Rock Layer detonated simultaneously.
A normal explosion would have sounded dull.
But Nishikawa Tetsu had carefully engineered the frequency of these twelve blasts. Together, they created a strange resonance within the Rock Layer.
"Vrrr—!!!"
The entire cliff began to groan, as if a giant beast had awakened deep underground.
Kazama Sousuke's expression changed drastically. He jerked his head up to look at the cliff on his right.
A fine crack suddenly appeared in the hundred-meter-high wall of solid Basalt.
Then, the crack spread wildly like a spiderweb. With a teeth-grating series of snaps, the enormous mass of rock began to separate from the mountain.
"N-no, impossible!" Kazama Sousuke's pupils contracted sharply. "That's one solid Rock Layer!"
"Even the hardest stone turns to tofu in the face of resonance."
Above the cliff, Nishikawa Tetsu watched coldly.
"Rumble—!!!"
At last, the supports gave way completely.
Tens of thousands of tons of rock crashed toward the narrow river below with earth-shattering force, carrying a Mudslide and broken trees with it!
It was a true earth-shattering catastrophe.
A vast shadow instantly engulfed the fleet below. The puppets Sunagakure took such pride in looked no bigger than toys before the overwhelming power of nature.
"Quick, abandon ship!"
Kazama Sousuke's urgent shout was swallowed by the roar.
"Boom!!!"
The boulder slammed into the river.
A wave dozens of meters high surged into the sky, instantly smashing the first two transport ships to pieces.
The immense shockwave forced the river water toward both banks. The ships were tossed into the air like matchboxes and smashed against the cliffs.
The rushing river was cut off in an instant. Within seconds, the water level rose rapidly, forming a Barrier Lake.
Smoke, spray, and shattered rock turned all of Howling Valley into a boiling, muddy stew.
"That power... it's terrifying."
On the cliff, Chunin Kaito swallowed hard, his legs trembling.
The look he gave Nishikawa Tetsu was no longer one of contempt, but of fear.
He had caused an artificial landslide with only twelve Explosive Tags?
What on earth was going on in that kid's head? He was a freak.
"Stop gawking!"
Uchiha Fugaku drew the short blade on his back. His voice was as cold as iron, snapping everyone out of their shock.
"The rockslide only killed the cannon fodder. The real fighters won't go down so easily."
"Everyone, attack!"
"Yes!"
The Konoha ninjas surged with morale and charged down the cliff under Uchiha Fugaku's lead.
Among the wreckage in the river.
"Cough, cough, cough! Damn it! Damn Konoha rats!"
Kazama Sousuke stood miserably on a plank floating in the water.
At the last possible moment, he had used Chakra Threads to pull himself beneath a jutting rock on the bank, narrowly avoiding a direct hit from the boulder. But his left arm had still been smashed by flying debris, leaving him bleeding profusely.
Looking at the supply ships, most of them already sunk, and the corpses of his subordinates floating on the water, his eyes instantly filled with blood.
It was over.
All the supplies were destroyed.
Even if he made it back alive, Hanzō and the Kazekage wouldn't spare him.
"Come out! Get out here!"
Kazama Sousuke roared as he flung open the huge scroll on his back with one hand. "Summoning Technique: Puppet Army!"
"Poof! Poof! Poof!"
Clouds of white smoke burst into the air. Though he had lost quite a few, he still summoned thirty combat puppets of various shapes.
"I'll tear you all to pieces!"
"Your opponent is me."
A cold voice cut through the rain.
Uchiha Fugaku landed heavily on a boulder in front of Kazama Sousuke.
He slowly raised his head. His pair of blood-red Three Tomoe gleamed with an unsettling Dojutsu in the darkness.
"Kazama Sousuke, the Sunagakure Jonin. Uchiha will claim your life."
"Uchiha?!" Kazama Sousuke's heart sank when he saw those eyes, but murderous intent soon surged within him. "Perfect. I'll take your head to atone for my failure!"
"Kill him!"
Kazama Sousuke's fingers danced. Blades and poisoned needles sprang from the puppets as they surged toward Uchiha Fugaku in a sweeping wave.
"Hmph."
Uchiha Fugaku charged forward instead of retreating, his hands forming seals so quickly that they blurred.
"Tetsu was right. I used to waste too much."
He took a deep breath. Chakra spun and compressed furiously in his throat.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique: Modified!"
"Vrrr—!!!"
That familiar, terrifying pillar of dark blue fire appeared once more.
This time, it was no longer a target for training. It had become a Reaper's scythe on the battlefield.
The blue flames tore through the five puppets at the front in an instant.
The specially treated wood and metal of the puppets had no chance to explode under that heat. They were simply melted through.
"What?!" Kazama Sousuke cried in alarm. "Blue fire?!"
The flames continued unabated, hurtling straight toward Kazama Sousuke's face.
Meanwhile.
On the flank of the battlefield, a golden flash darted through the ranks of puppets.
Every time Namikaze Minato swung the Kunai in his hand, he precisely severed a Chakra Thread.
Meanwhile, high above, Nishikawa Tetsu was kneeling as he set up a modified heavy Fuma Shuriken launcher. Beside him, Hyuga Hiroshi precisely called out the coordinates of each Sunagakure ninja hiding in the shadows and trying to launch a sneak attack.
"Direction 105, elevation 30, distance 200." Hyuga Hiroshi spoke at breakneck speed.
"Got it." Nishikawa Tetsu adjusted the angle and pulled the trigger.
"Thunk!"
The Fuma Shuriken, fitted with an Explosive Tag, whistled through the air and precisely blasted a Sunagakure Chunin who had just poked his head out.
"Perfect teamwork."
Nishikawa Tetsu watched the battlefield below.
"This battle was already over the moment that cliff collapsed."
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