A Brutal Battlefield

Warriors could fight on willpower alone, but an empty stomach would drain away their last ounce of strength.

"Onoki..."

The Third Raikage's voice was like muffled thunder rolling through a valley, carrying bone-deep hatred and a trace of barely perceptible exhaustion.

He knew perfectly well that Onoki was using the lives of Hidden Stone ninja to pave the road to victory.

As long as they killed him, as long as they completely swallowed this force of three thousand men, the Cloud Hidden Village would no longer pose any threat to the Hidden Stone.

The tent fell silent.

Troy lowered his scroll, and Aroi stopped bandaging wounds as well.

Both of them turned their eyes toward the Third Raikage.

If not for the Third Raikage's bloody battles over these past seven days, all three thousand of them would have long since been devoured by the Hidden Stone's assault.

But...

"You should withdraw, sir."

After a long silence, Troy spoke in a low voice.

He looked at the Third Raikage, the air so heavy it seemed to have solidified into lead.

The Third Raikage, A, was the Cloud Hidden Village's spiritual pillar and symbol of invincibility. If he fell here, it would be a catastrophic blow in every respect—to the Cloud Hidden's morale, its future development, and everything else.

They could die, but the Third Raikage absolutely could not fall!

"What nonsense are you talking about, Troy?!"

Yet in response to Troy's words, the Third Raikage abruptly rose to his feet and smashed the table before him to pieces with a single slap.

His rugged face carried unquestionable authority and fury, and the strongest Raikage's voice was like muffled thunder rolling through a valley.

"Do you think I'm afraid of dying?!"

"The reason I'm here is to get you all out! If you're telling me to run away by myself now, then why the hell did I go through all that trouble to come here in the first place?!"

"But, Third Raikage-sama..."

Boom!!

Violent chakra blasted Troy off his feet and sent him crashing to the ground.

"Don't you dare spout such nonsense again!"

"If those Hidden Stone bastards want to kill you all, they'll have to step over my corpse first!"

"...Yes."

Troy and Aroi exchanged a glance. Both saw the emotion and helplessness in the other's eyes.

But more than that, there was bitterness and despair.

A Kage like this should have led the Cloud Hidden Village to its peak.

Yet because of them, the strongest of Kage had now become a trapped beast...

Just then, a heart-pounding tremor traveled up from the ground. Accompanied by a dull, thunderous roar, it drew closer and closer, growing louder by the second!

"Enemy attack—!!"

A shrill alarm instantly tore apart the valley's brief silence.

The Third Raikage, who had not yet rested, transformed into a streak of lightning and charged out to meet the enemy without hesitation.

Inside the tent, Troy took a deep breath and patted Aroi on the shoulder.

"You rest up first. Come relieve me tomorrow morning!"

"This..."

Before Aroi could say anything, Troy had already left the tent.

Only Aroi, one-armed and one-eyed, remained behind in silence. Given the current situation, there was no such thing as changing shifts or rotating defenses.

For seven days, the Third Raikage had not slept a wink. Troy and the others were no different.

That so-called shift change... was merely that guy trying to give his severely wounded self a little time to rest.

"You bastards!"

His remaining arm hammered fiercely against the ground.

But Aroi did not rest.

He bit his finger, and dense curse markings spread across the ground. A hawk appeared amid a cloud of white smoke.

"You're injured this badly? The war must be exceptionally fierce, Aroi."

"Where are the reinforcements?! Why haven't the village's reinforcements arrived yet?!" Aroi shouted angrily. "It's been seven days! Why hasn't support come?!"

To prevent the village's losses from expanding further, the Third Raikage had never asked the village for reinforcements.

But as the battle grew increasingly brutal, Aroi had secretly used the Reverse Summoning Technique several times to send intelligence from here back to the village.

Yet after so many days, reinforcements had still never appeared.

"They should have sent reinforcements from the village already... Wait here, I'll go confirm."

The goshawk looked somewhat puzzled, then vanished in a puff of white smoke with a bang.

"Those damned bastards!"

Aroi punched the ground furiously and left the tent as well.

But the sight before him made his pupils constrict uncontrollably.

The Hidden Stone ninja they had repelled only that morning were now emerging once more in dense masses, like a swarm of ants.

The sounds of slaughter and shouting filled the air.

Boulders rolled and crashed, the earth trembled and roared, lightning and shattered stone flew everywhere—the nighttime battlefield was somehow even fiercer than it had been during the day!

"Earth Release: Rock Stealing Staff!"

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"

"Added-Weight Rock: Flying Gravel Technique!"

Countless Earth Release techniques were unleashed, and in an instant, the ground shook.

Countless massive rocks were imbued with terrifying momentum by chakra, howling down into the valley like a meteor shower.

Sharp stone spikes burst from the ground like bamboo shoots after rain, instantly turning the valley floor into a deadly forest of thorns.

There were also enormous boulders reinforced to the extreme by Added-Weight Rock, their density astonishing as they charged straight at the Hidden Cloud positions with the destructive force of siege rams!

"Defend!!!"

The Third Raikage's furious roar exploded through the battlefield. Blinding lightning erupted from his entire body as violent Lightning Release chakra formed tangible armor around him!

Deafening explosions and impacts blended into one continuous roar, and the earth seemed to groan in agony.

The Third Raikage's figure flickered wildly among the falling rocks.

His fists, elbows, knees, even his head became deadly weapons, smashing every boulder hurtling toward the core positions into dust.

Behind him, the Hidden Cloud ninja also sprang into action, doing everything they could to withstand the Hidden Stone's repeated bombardment of ninjutsu!

Even with the chakra affinity advantage.

Even though every Hidden Cloud ninja present was an elite, with the Raikage himself on the battlefield.

Against an overwhelming advantage in numbers, the Hidden Cloud ninja were still stretched thin and struggling to keep up.

Screams rose and fell one after another.

With a single misstep, dozens of Hidden Cloud ninja were instantly crushed into pulp or pierced through by sharp stone spikes that suddenly shot from the ground.

Aroi's eyes nearly split with rage. He wanted to join the battle, but his weakened body could no longer support him.

"Die, you Hidden Stone scum!"

A figure flashed into view. Troy formed hand seals at lightning speed, and Magnetic Release chakra erupted.

A mass of square shuriken glinting with cold light swarmed around him like bees, forming a deadly metal storm that shredded every Hidden Stone ninja who dared approach.

But before long, he too was wounded.

The entire valley had become the bloodiest, cruelest meat grinder. Every inch of ground was contested again and again, soaked in blood and mangled flesh, while large numbers of ninja died every moment.

Aroi was almost driven mad with rage, but he seemed to sense something and hurried back into the tent.

"I found out!"

White smoke rose, and the goshawk quickly said, "The reinforcements were stopped! It was Konoha!"

"The village dispatched three groups of reinforcements. All of them were attacked by Konoha just as they were about to enter the Land of Earth."

"Konoha!!!"