Tōka's Resolve, Battle Against Jūzō Biwa

A chill wind blew through the forest.

Gathered clouds blanketed the sky. Darkness descended, and the cold aura of death swept across the land.

Tōka stared expressionlessly at Jūzō Biwa, but his heart could not calm down.

His hands clenched tightly into fists, his knuckles cracking loudly.

Might Duy had exhausted his life to take down only five of them, then had been dragged to death by Jūzō Biwa after chasing him here.

All Tōka had to do was finish what Might Duy had not.

"Bandage man, you're dead!" Tōka raised one hand, pointed his index finger at Jūzō Biwa, then clenched it viciously.

"Brat, don't get too cocky!!" Jūzō Biwa's eyes split with rage. A mere genin brat actually dared to provoke him!

Jūzō Biwa's eyes were bloodshot, crisscrossed with veins.

The veins on his remaining arm bulged as his palm gripped Kubikiribōchō, making the blade hum.

His fighting intent soared, and killing intent surged wildly.

"Haah! Die!!" Jūzō Biwa roared, no longer able to endure the fury in his chest.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Jūzō Biwa swung Kubikiribōchō, tearing through the air with thunderous roars.

A fierce wind rose, carrying the stench of blood straight at him.

Solid killing intent crashed down like a towering wave of blood.

Tōka stood motionless, as though Jūzō Biwa's killing intent had frightened him stiff.

The great blade rose and chopped down at his head.

"Die!!"

Jūzō Biwa leaped into the air, determined to split Tōka in two!

Buzz!!

Kubikiribōchō fell straight onto Tōka's head, and a savage glint flashed through Jūzō Biwa's eyes.

The muscles in his arm bulged as he exerted even more strength and hacked downward!

Splurt! Blood spurted out like a fountain, pouring madly down the sharp blade.

Just as expected.

Tōka's body was split in half from head to toe by Kubikiribōchō.

Yet Jūzō Biwa showed no joy. Instead, his expression darkened.

Without even having time to retract Kubikiribōchō, he dragged Tōka's corpse and leaped violently backward.

Crack, crack, crack!!

Three strange concealed weapons sank into the ground in a row where Jūzō Biwa had just stood.

"Substitution Technique?" Jūzō Biwa glanced at the piece of wood caught on his blade, his expression turning dark and ugly.

He was a powerful elite jonin, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist who wielded Kubikiribōchō, yet he had been fooled by such a cheap trick!

Jūzō Biwa seemed to have forgotten that he was fleeing for his life. Konoha's ninja would soon catch up.

His rage shot straight upward, completely devouring his reason.

"Brat, you're dead!" Jūzō Biwa raised Kubikiribōchō one-handedly and roared through gritted teeth.

"Is that so?" Tōka stood expressionlessly on a tree branch, looking down at Jūzō Biwa from above.

If Jūzō Biwa had been at full strength, Tōka's odds of winning would have been only one percent.

But now...

Whoosh!!

Tōka flicked his hand, sending out a gray bone as thick as a little finger. It was no slower than a kunai thrown at full force by a chunin.

Though Jūzō Biwa was badly injured and had only one arm left, his strength as an elite jonin was beyond question.

His thick arm lifted casually, placing Kubikiribōchō before him.

Clang!!

The gray bone was knocked away and happened to lodge itself in a large tree.

In an instant, starting from where the gray bone had entered, the tree turned into scraps of paper and drifted away on the wind.

"Gulp..." Jūzō Biwa swallowed in terror. He had raised his arm to block only on instinct.

He had never imagined that this genin brat's ability would be so bizarre.

That seemingly ordinary concealed weapon possessed such terrifying destructive power!

"Is this your Kekkei Genkai?" A bead of cold sweat slid down Jūzō Biwa's temple. Were all Konoha's genin monsters?

That red-skinned genin lying on the ground had killed five of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, crippled one, and seriously injured another the moment they met.

And though this brat before him was not quite as outrageous, that attack...

"Kekkei Genkai?" Tōka sneered, his deep eyes seeming capable of swallowing a person whole.

This was not a Kekkei Genkai, but a Kekkei Mōra that surpassed both Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta!

Tōka slowly raised one finger and pointed at Might Duy's corpse.

Under Jūzō Biwa's terrified gaze, an unbelievable and eerie scene unfolded.

A blood-red figure slowly sat up, its hollow eyes locking onto him like those of a demon from hell.

"How is that possible!!"

Jūzō Biwa unconsciously shuffled backward, staring in shock at Might Duy standing beside Tōka.

Wounds that looked as though they had been burned from within visibly healed before his eyes. It was like a miracle!

In the blink of an eye, blood-colored mist wrapped around Might Duy, and that terrifying aura surged outward in all directions once more.

That monster came back to life?!

Jūzō Biwa's mind went blank as he stared vacantly at Might Duy.

Facing someone so inhumanly powerful, Jūzō Biwa no longer even had the will to resist.

As his opponent stood dazed, Tōka's gaze sharpened and killing intent surged.

"Scattered through distant time and space, rot away with the bones!"

A string of obscure chanting suddenly echoed through the air.

Then, a terrifying surge of chakra erupted, and an aura capable of decaying time and space enveloped the entire forest!

Boom!!

A bolt of thunder flashed through the dark sky, illuminating the curtain of blackness.

Crash!!

Raindrops as large as beans fell in a furious patter, and in the blink of an eye, a misty veil of rain covered the ruined forest.

"All-Killing Ash Bones..." Tōka crouched halfway down, a pained expression appearing on his small face.

The chakra within his body frantically gathered between his palms.

Creak, creak, creak...

The sound of bones growing was eerie and chilling.

"Earth Spear Pierce!"

With a thunderous shout, Tōka slammed both hands onto the ground.

The vast chakra gathered in his palms seemed to find an outlet, transforming into a raging torrent that surged wildly outward.

Splurt, splurt, splurt!!

Countless gray bones as thick as arms, carrying the aura of death, burst out of the ground.

Within a hundred-meter radius, decaying gray bones covered everything, and the earth fell into lifeless silence.

Great trees, grass...

Everything alive in the world that was pierced by the gray bones turned into scraps of paper within a breath, vanishing into nothingness.

"Those are bones?!" Jūzō Biwa stared in astonishment at his pierced body and muttered.

Then the flesh around his wounds turned into scraps of waste paper...

His tall, muscular body collapsed in an instant like a shattered clay statue.

In the final moment before his consciousness vanished, Jūzō Biwa finally noticed Might Duy's corpse...

It was still lying motionless not far away.

"So... that was only genjutsu." Jūzō Biwa's lips twitched slightly, his voice as faint as a mosquito's hum as it drifted away with the wind.

Thud!

Exhausted, Tōka dropped to one knee, his face deathly pale as his vision repeatedly darkened.

The sensation of the world spinning slammed into his mind, as though he would faint the next moment.

But Tōka gritted his teeth and endured.

Looking at the world transformed into a forest of bones, Tōka knew this was the result of overexertion.

With his current cultivation, using a large-scale secret technique like All-Killing Ash Bones: Earth Spear Pierce was truly difficult.

Tōka flipped his palm and pulled a Soldier Pill from the ninja tool pouch he carried with him.

Though Soldier Pills tasted terrible, they were rich in protein and could replenish the nutrients lost by the body.

Looking as though he had swallowed a fly, Tōka gulped down the Soldier Pill, then sat cross-legged and began recovering his strength.

At this moment, the bone forest was the best defensive trap.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!

About three minutes later, rustling sounds came from beyond the bone forest.

Tōka's ears twitched, and he immediately determined that they were approaching from the west.

Konoha Main Camp, stationed along the border of the Land of Wind to the west, was not far from here. Tōka guessed that Konoha's reinforcements had arrived.

They had come just in time. Tōka took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes, and looked toward the source of the noise.

Sure enough!

Ninja wearing jonin flak jackets and Konoha forehead protectors landed outside the bone forest.

Tōka had recovered somewhat and quietly formed hand seals.

Rumble!!

The bone forest within a hundred-meter radius collapsed in an instant and turned into nothingness.

The properties of All-Killing Ash Bones were terrifying. It was already certain that even a graze meant death, beyond even divine salvation.

As for whether anyone besides Tōka could touch them...

Tōka had not tested that yet, but there was no need to take the risk. He still needed to remain at the Konoha camp for some time.

The group surrounded the battlefield, and Might Duy's corpse and Kubikiribōchō were also discovered.

As for Jūzō Biwa, he had turned into a pile of scraps of paper.

"There's a genin brat here!"

"Weren't all the reinforcements supposed to be chunin and jonin?"

"Guard this place first. We'll wait until Lady Tsunade arrives before deciding anything else."

Everyone spoke at once and quickly reached a decision.

Tōka calmly stood up. As he secretly recovered, he made no unnecessary movements.

The Konoha ninja around him remained highly vigilant. He did not know whether the Hyūga brothers had done it on purpose or simply had not had time to ask.

These people seemed not to know about him and Might Duy.

Before long, a disturbance came from the forest at the edge of the area.

A figure with blonde twin tails, a diamond-shaped mark on her forehead, and a green outer robe walked through the crowd.

"Lady Tsunade!"

The ninja along the way saluted one after another, then led Tsunade to inspect Might Duy's corpse first.

Tsunade crouched down. With only a brief examination, she understood Might Duy's condition.

His life force was gone. There was no saving him.

Even she could not bring him back.

With that thought, Tsunade stood up and prepared to examine the other survivor.

But before she had taken two steps, Tsunade noticed two ninja opening a scroll, preparing to seal Might Duy's corpse directly inside.

On the battlefield, the best way to deal with corpses was to seal them in a scroll, then bring them back to Konoha for burial.

Except...

"He is a hero of Konoha!" Tsunade snorted coldly, an overbearing light shining in her eyes.

The two ninja preparing to seal him changed expression slightly and stopped what they were doing.

Tsunade's meaning was simple.

A hero had to receive the highest honors!

"Brat, where is Jūzō Biwa?" Tsunade swept her gaze over Tōka and immediately knew that his life was not in danger.

He had merely used some powerful secret technique and exhausted too much of his strength.

"Dead." Tōka calmly glanced at Jūzō Biwa's "corpse" and answered flatly.

"Dead?" Tsunade followed Tōka's gaze and saw only a pile of scraps of paper heaped into a small mound in the distance.

Tōka watched expressionlessly as Might Duy was taken away. His feelings were like a bottle of mixed flavors overturned within him, complicated and chaotic.

This time, he had come closer to death than ever before.

Without Might Duy, what the final outcome would have been, only heaven... knew.

The rain poured down in torrents, pattering loudly.

It fell coldly upon everyone, and a faint sorrowful air permeated the surroundings.

The battlefield was a merciless meat grinder.

No one could be certain that, in the next moment, they would not become a cold corpse as well.

"Let's go. We'll return to camp first." Tsunade clearly knew about Tōka's arrival. Minato, who had returned after leaving, had gone back to deliver Jiraiya's message.

Sakumo Hatake, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and several other higher-ups at Konoha Main Camp also knew.

Tōka followed at the back of the group expressionlessly, not seeming to reveal the slightest trace of grief on his face.

Tsunade frowned as she watched Tōka's retreating figure. That little brat...

Konoha Main Camp, Western Forest.

Sakumo Hatake sat at the head of the table. He was the supreme commander for this campaign against Sunagakure, with two of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru and Jiraiya, at his side.

Tsunade had to oversee the medical division, and because she suffered from hemophobia, she took part in nothing except rescue operations.

"Kirigakure and Sunagakure have joined forces. It looks like they intend to split their forces toward the east," Sakumo Hatake said gravely, frowning.

Perhaps Konoha's army at the Land of Wind border would not need to be redeployed, but one of their top fighters would certainly be sent to the Land of Water border.

Part of the strategic supplies Konoha sent to the front lines would also be diverted.

"Sunagakure can't afford to keep burning through its resources, so they brought in reinforcements?" Jiraiya asked.

"Over all these years, you've only grown bigger. Has your brain not grown at all?" Orochimaru sneered darkly, licking his lips.

"Damn it, Orochimaru!" Jiraiya's thoughtful expression froze. He had never been particularly good at things that required too much thinking anyway.

"It probably wasn't Sunagakure that asked for aid. Kirigakure likely chose to get involved on its own," Sakumo Hatake said, seeing through the situation clearly.

And it was not just Kirigakure. The other two great nations also did not want Sunagakure to collapse so quickly.

All Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had died within the Land of Fire, and Kirigakure's seven ninja swords had fallen into Konoha's hands.

That left only two possible outcomes.

The favorable outcome would be for Kirigakure and Konoha to negotiate peace.

Kirigakure was in the midst of internal strife. If it rashly launched a war and won, that would be one thing, but if it lost, the consequences would be unimaginably disastrous.

The unfavorable outcome would be for Kirigakure to throw caution to the wind, declare war directly, defeat Konoha, and reclaim the ninja swords.

No matter which outcome came to pass, Konoha would definitely send troops to garrison the Land of Water border in the east.

"What about the seven swords?" Jiraiya asked.

"Send them back to the village. Lord Hokage will make the decision." Sakumo Hatake paused, then continued, "The two of you should prepare yourselves as well."

"Prepare for what?" Jiraiya looked utterly confused.

"Idiot." Orochimaru curled his lips and said coldly.

"What did you say?!" Jiraiya's face twitched as he shouted.

Sakumo Hatake stepped in at the right moment to stop Jiraiya, explaining in a deep voice, "The garrison at the Land of Water border needs a strong fighter to hold it down."

As he spoke, Sakumo Hatake's gaze fell on Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

Clearly, the strong fighter Sakumo Hatake meant would be one of Orochimaru or Jiraiya.