Red Moon

"Is what you said... true?!!"

At the border of the Land of Earth, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, shot up from his seat upon hearing the report, roaring in fury.

The ninja kneeling before him trembled all over in fear, but not because of the Tsuchikage's rage.

Recalling the horrific scene on the battlefield, his voice was hoarse to the extreme.

"Two thousand one hundred and forty-two ninja. Over fourteen hundred dead... and there was only one attacker."

"Salamander... Hanzo..."

At the mention of that name, he could no longer endure the immense psychological pressure and actually fainted from fright!

On the main seat, the nearly fifty-year-old Ōnoki breathed heavily. In all his years leading Iwagakure, he had never encountered anything like this.

He had seen Hashirama Senju, the man who had pacified the chaotic era through his own strength.

He had even fought that man, who was comparable to the God of Shinobi.

Without question, those two had transcended the very concept of ninja. They were legends walking the lands of the Shinobi World.

But...

Even they had never slaughtered over a thousand people in a single battle!

More than two thousand ninja...

Even if two thousand pigs had run wild, surely one person could not have killed all but a few hundred of them, could he?!!

Iwagakure did need war to reduce its surplus of ninja, but it could not withstand losses like this!!

After great difficulty, Ōnoki calmed himself. He stared fixedly at the intelligence report in his hand, his eyes burning as though they could set the paper ablaze.

"So that's how it is..."

Salamander Ibuse, a Summoning Beast capable of unleashing wide-area lethal poison...

And it was not just the poison.

According to the intelligence, Hanzo possessed the miraculous Water Body Flicker Technique. In an environment like the Land of Rain, his speed nearly rivaled the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique.

That allowed him to freely reap the ninja paralyzed by poison, with no one able to contend against him.

Along with his large-scale Explosive Tag formations...

Combining all those factors, Hanzo had achieved this miracle-like feat, an unprecedented accomplishment no one had ever managed before.

Ōnoki quickly realized it.

To ordinary ninja, Hanzo was an unsolvable existence, an enemy who absolutely could not be defeated through superior numbers!

A faint gleam flickered in his half-lidded eyes.

Hanzo's poison was not a problem. Ōnoki was one of the few ninja in the Shinobi World who could fly, naturally standing in an invincible position in most battles.

Besides, no matter how powerful the poison, it was nothing before Dust Release.

If Hanzo relied solely on poison to wreak havoc, Ōnoki would immediately set out in person, kill Hanzo for revenge, and restore Iwagakure's prestige!

To him, the Water Body Flicker mentioned in the report was the real difficulty...

No matter how powerful Dust Release was, it meant nothing if it could not hit its target.

Of course, Dust Release was not Ōnoki's only ability. His Earth Release, honed to perfection, was his most commonly used means of attack and defense.

But that raised another issue. To defeat Hanzo at close range, he would have to face his deadly poison...

Before finding a solution to Salamander Ibuse's poison, fighting Hanzo was not a good choice.

Having held a position of power for so many years, Ōnoki would not let rage cloud his judgment.

He slowly sat back down and said in a low voice, "Make preparations..."

"March around Amegakure. Our target... is the Land of Fire!"

--

--

With Iwagakure's fate as a warning, the ninja of Sunagakure and Konoha tacitly retreated to the borders of the Land of Rain, awaiting orders from headquarters.

At the Konoha camp, ninja scattered throughout the Land of Rain had gathered together for the first time.

Everyone had been affected by the news from the battlefield, their faces grim.

Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha existed in legend, but Hanzo's terror was something they had witnessed firsthand.

This could no longer be called a battle. It was a massacre.

The Konoha ninja had laughed when Hanzo declared war, but now not a single one of them could laugh.

"Orochimaru-sensei, is that Hanzo... really that terrifying?"

Watching his companions wear faces as mournful as though their mothers had died, a boy with two red patches on his cheeks asked innocently.

Nawaki had graduated from the Ninja Academy not long ago and officially become Orochimaru's second disciple.

That confirmed what even more people had believed: Orochimaru was the only candidate for the next Hokage. Even the First's grandson had become his disciple, let alone...

There was another, even more terrifying Uchiha genius, known as "invincible" among his generation.

Destroyer, Crimson Blood Demon, Deep Red Nightmare, Indestructible Vajra Body, Battlefield Tyrant, Ruthless Butcher...

Over the past year, enemies had bestowed too many titles upon that person. Konoha's ninja could only choose one that was less bloody and somewhat more acceptable to the public.

Red Moon.

To see him was like witnessing a blood moon descend, leaving no chance of survival.

Famed alongside the White Fang, he had displayed strength that made hearts tremble on the Land of Rain battlefield!

Orochimaru had just been about to answer Nawaki when he sensed something and looked in one direction along with everyone else.

"You don't need to know. Someone like you is practically dead weight on a battlefield."

A lazy voice sounded as a tall, black-haired youth walked over.

He stood around five foot seven, silky hair falling beside his ears. He was handsome, but lacked the effeminate air of his clansmen.

His eyes carried a faint detachment, and even more than that... indifference.

"Kamizuki! You're back!!"

Nawaki ran over excitedly, gestured with his hand to compare their heights, then shook his head in slight disappointment. "I've been working hard at eating. Why am I still so much shorter than you..."

Kamizuki picked Nawaki up by the collar and tossed him aside, then walked to the conference table where the jonin were seated, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Not long ago, he had broken the record held by Hatake Sakumo and become Konoha's youngest jonin at only twelve years old.

Tsunade shot him a displeased glare. "Nawaki is your little brother too. Can't you be a little gentler with him?"

"Don't make it sound like you and I have some special relationship. I'm not interested in old women."

"What did you say, you bastard!!"

"Old woman. Didn't you hear me?"

"Ahhh!! I'm going to kill you!!!"

"Here we go again..."

Jiraiya and Orochimaru each stopped one of them before the conflict could erupt.

Ever since their first meeting at the Ninja Academy years ago, every encounter between Kamizuki and Tsunade had been filled with gunpowder.

A few months ago, they had happened to meet when no one was around to stop them, and they had truly fought. Their terrifying destructive power had left no one daring to watch from nearby.

No one knew the exact details. All anyone knew was that Konoha camp's medical supplies had been consumed in greater quantities over those few days than during wartime.

From then on, Konoha's ninja had done everything possible to keep the two from meeting unless at least five jonin were present.

Tsunade's face was flushed red. After the others soothed her and got her seated, she glared viciously at Kamizuki. "Kid, don't let me catch you alone!"

Kamizuki crossed one leg over the other and sneered. "I wonder who was crying after getting beaten up last time."

"Damn it! I wasn't crying! You shameless bastard kept aiming for my face!"

"Besides! You were obviously more seriously injured than I was!"

"Still better than some old woman who cries like a baby."

"Bastard!! Say that again!!"

"I have no obligation to repeat myself for a deaf old woman."

"Ahhhhhhh!!!!!"

When it came to verbal arguments, Kamizuki was always the victor.

He did not need to say anything too vicious. He only had to seize the thing his opponent cared about most and strike hard.

Tsunade could have her defenses shattered in just a couple of lines, while her upbringing prevented her from launching attacks involving Kamizuki's family.

Bastard, shameless, bad guy, and the like...

Kamizuki did not even consider those insults.

Tsunade's face was so red it practically dripped blood. If looks could kill... well, the Senju did not have that ability, but the Uchiha did.

"Little Tsunade, calm down."

"And you, kid... forget it."

From the main seat, a round-faced middle-aged man who looked quite kind shook his head with a wry smile, afraid that anything he said would draw the flames of war toward himself.

His old comrade Danzo had told him just how "eloquent" this descendant of Kagami was.

Torifu Akimichi, head of the Akimichi clan, had once been a member of the Second Hokage's Shadow Guard.

He was Konoha's highest-ranking official in charge of its peacetime defense system, and currently served as the frontline commander of the Land of Rain battlefield.