World-Destroying Lightning

At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, fierce winds howled as a killing aura permeated every inch of the air.

"Byakugan! Activate!"

Hizashi Hyuga formed hand seals, veins bulging around the corners of his eyes.

He poured every last drop of chakra in his body into his eyes, stretching the range of his pale pupils to the limit.

Beyond the dense forest and rolling mountains, the scene dozens of kilometers away gradually became clear within Hizashi's Byakugan vision.

"Found them!"

Fine beads of sweat covered Hizashi's forehead. He turned toward Lu Ming beside him, who wore a black Divine Robe, his voice trembling.

"Clan Head Lu Ming, we've located Kumogakure's main encampment thirty-five kilometers straight ahead!"

"They number around three thousand, and their chakra signatures are extremely dense."

"The Fourth Raikage A is at the center of the formation. They've stopped their forced march and are setting up a defensive formation in place."

Hearing Hizashi's report, Lu Ming nodded.

"Very good. The Hyuga clan's Byakugan is one of the greatest reconnaissance tools in the Shinobi World."

Lu Ming drew the short blade at his waist, its edge gleaming coldly beneath the dim sky.

He turned to face the forty-three Uchiha Shrine elites behind him, who had long been poised for battle.

"Uchiha Shrine, heed my command!"

Lu Ming gave the order loudly.

"Target: Kumogakure's main camp, thirty-five kilometers ahead!"

"Wipe them completely off this land!"

"Yes, sir!!!"

Nanami Uchiha, Tekka Uchiha, and more than a dozen other Shrine captains roared in unison as over forty pairs of scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun.

None of them prepared for close combat.

The forty-three Shrine elites swiftly spread out, forming more than ten perfect formations in groups of four.

"Temple Formation, activate!"

With Nanami and the others' explosive shout, more than ten Shrine squads formed hand seals at once.

The ground shook violently as more than ten enormously thick pillars of blue chakra shot into the heavens.

They unleashed their full combat power without reservation.

The Shrine captains, who had been tempered by the Bloodline Tempering Elixir and had long stepped into the Kage Level or Half-Step Kage Level, drove the chakra within their bodies to its limits.

Under the formation's effects, the chakra of more than forty people blended and resonated perfectly, forming a terrifying energy storm powerful enough to make heaven and earth change color.

Hizashi Hyuga and dozens of Hyuga Branch Family elites standing nearby

were forced back again and again by the violent waves of chakra. They raised their arms before them, their faces filled with horror.

"Good heavens... this chakra intensity is several times more terrifying than it was in Konoha last night."

Hizashi widened his Byakugan as he stared at the more than ten pillars of light that reached the sky, his voice trembling.

"Combined Ninjutsu: Lightning Cloud Summoning!"

Within the Shrine formation, Nanami rapidly changed her hand seals,

leading all the Shrine disciples in unleashing the strategic-level ninjutsu personally improved by Lu Ming.

Traditional Lightning Cloud Summoning

required Water Release and Fire Release ninjutsu to collide in midair first,

using water vapor to create lightning clouds. Not only was it time-consuming, but it could also easily be interrupted by the enemy.

But now, empowered by the immense chakra of the Temple Formation, comparable to that of Tailed Beasts, they had no need to shape it through ninjutsu at all.

More than ten squads poured the incomparably pure water-attribute and fire-attribute chakra within their bodies

directly into the sky ten thousand meters above as visible torrents of energy.

Extremely cold and extremely hot chakra collided and tore each other apart madly in the high sky!

Heaven and earth changed color!

The sky, which had merely been somewhat gloomy,

was completely blanketed by a thick layer of dark clouds in just a few seconds.

The sky-covering Lightning Cloud spread madly from the Uchiha position toward Kumogakure's main camp thirty-five kilometers away.

The winds surged and lightning flashed. Countless thick blue electric serpents rolled and roared within the pitch-black clouds, their thunderous booms shaking the heavens.

Meanwhile, thirty-five kilometers away, inside Kumogakure's main camp.

Several thousand elite Kumogakure shinobi were stationed on the plains within the valley.

The Raikage had given the order to defend, but most Cloud Ninja showed little nervousness.

In their eyes, Kumogakure was the strongest military power among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. No matter how wildly the Uchiha Family struggled, they were nothing more than ants trying to shake a tree.

At the center of the camp, Karu, a Kumogakure Jonin, sat atop a huge boulder with a wine pouch in hand, taking a deep swig of strong liquor.

"Burp—"

Karu burped, wiped the alcohol from his lips, and mocked the companions beside him.

"Lord Raikage is really being too cautious, making us form a defensive formation here."

"Konoha's higher-ups are all spineless cowards. That brat called Uchiha Lu Ming is probably just putting on an act in the village to fool the civilians."

Several Cloud Ninja beside him burst into laughter as well.

"Exactly. Even if they had ten times the guts, they wouldn't dare leave Konoha and clash head-on with Kumogakure's army."

"Once Lord Raikage runs out of patience, we'll charge straight into Konoha, twist off Lu Ming's head and kick it around like a ball, then dig out every last Sharingan from those Uchiha!"

The Cloud Ninja shouted wantonly, treating this war as nothing more than an easy hunting trip.

Just as they let down their guard and assumed this was merely a political game of border pressure,

"Wh... what is that?!"

From a watchtower at the edge of the camp,

a Kumogakure scout suddenly let out a shriek.

He pointed toward the distant horizon,

and Karu and the others rose impatiently, following the direction of the scout's finger.

The moment they looked, the smiles vanished from every Cloud Ninja's face.

Thirty-five kilometers away, at the horizon,

more than ten enormous blue pillars of chakra shot into the sky, violently stirring the winds and clouds.

Immediately afterward, the sky-covering black clouds rolled toward the top of Kumogakure's main camp at a terrifying speed that defied all reason.

The world went completely dark as night arrived early.

Violent lightning churned within the clouds. That destructive pressure made every Cloud Ninja in the camp feel their scalps go numb and their breathing stop.

"Wh... what level of chakra is this?!"

The wine pouch slipped from Karu's hand with a slap. Liquor spilled across the ground as his legs began to shake uncontrollably.

"Enemy attack! It's an enemy attack!"

Piercing alarm bells echoed madly throughout Kumogakure's main camp.

The Fourth Raikage A turned into a streak of blue lightning and rushed out of the commander's tent.

When he raised his head and saw the terrifying Lightning Cloud already fully formed above him, crackling with lightning and thunder, the expression of the Raikage—who had never feared anything—changed drastically.

"Not good!"

Raikage A's eyes turned blood-red as Lightning Release chakra erupted wildly from his body. At a glance, he saw through the true nature of the Lightning Cloud.

"This is a natural Lightning Cloud created with immense chakra. Those Uchiha lunatics are planning to use natural lightning to launch a devastating attack."