Chapter 48

Elsewhere, more than a quarter mile away, A held the blood-soaked Hizashi Hyuga by the throat with one hand. He had won easily and was about to deliver the finishing blow.

But he suddenly stopped.

He turned toward Xuan Zhe and Killer B, his brow tightly furrowed. "This presence... it's B! He used Tailed Beast Transformation without my permission. Just how strong is his opponent to force him to use that?"

Even A had little confidence in subduing Killer B in his Tailed Beast Transformation state.

"Shadow Imitation Technique!"

Suddenly, a black shadow shot across the ground and connected with the shadow beneath A's feet.

"What?!"

A's expression changed sharply. By the time he reacted, his body no longer obeyed him.

Hizashi Hyuga slipped from his grip.

Turning his head, he saw Shikaku Nara holding his index and middle fingers together, one pair above the other. Shikaku sighed in relief. "Shadow Imitation Technique, successful."

"Tch! The Nara Clan?!"

A cursed through gritted teeth.

Damn it, I let my guard down.

Chōza Akimichi hurried over from nearby and caught the blood-soaked Hizashi Hyuga.

A suddenly strained violently, making Chōza Akimichi shudder as he rescued Hizashi.

Shikaku Nara looked strained and gritted his teeth. "He's so strong... he's trying to break my Shadow Imitation Technique through brute force."

He screamed inwardly, Inoichi, fucking hurry up!

"A humanoid Tailed Beast Transformation?"

Dark red chakra enveloped Killer B, turning him into a half-human, half-beast monster. Xuan Zhe remained unruffled, his expression as calm as ever.

"Roar!!!"

The transformed Killer B opened his mouth and roared at Xuan Zhe.

The shock wave from that roar alone was enough to make most Shinobi's knees buckle.

The surrounding Cloud Ninja had all retreated far away.

Everyone knew that Killer B in this state was a powder keg, ready to explode at a touch.

"Still, looks like you haven't quite figured it out."

Xuan Zhe could tell at a glance that this guy's control over the Eight-Tails' power was shaky, nowhere near his future level.

"But you're good enough for me to test my skills. All right, let me show you what that thing inside me looks like."

As he spoke, Xuan Zhe leveled his Zanpakutō across his chest.

Just as the two were about to clash-

A jonin wearing a Konoha Forehead Protector landed behind Xuan Zhe and shouted frantically:

"X-Xuan Zhe, sir, please cover the Konoha troops' retreat! Our losses are horrific!"

Xuan Zhe glanced sideways.

It was Inoichi Yamanaka.

He turned to glance in the direction the main force was retreating.

Tch.

Everywhere he looked, Konoha ninjas' corpses lay strewn across the ground.

Since most Cloud Ninja used swords, the bodies had mostly been hacked beyond recognition.

A few Cloud Ninja corpses lay among them.

But the ratio was wildly lopsided.

About five to one, perhaps even worse for Konoha.

"I stopped watching for just a few minutes, and this many died?"

Xuan Zhe raised an eyebrow.

"Roar!"

The transformed Killer B roared again and lunged at Xuan Zhe.

Xuan Zhe turned his wrist, holding his blade horizontally to block the incoming claws, and said unhurriedly:

"What's the rush? I'm not ready yet."

"Lord Xuan Zhe, stop wasting time with him, hurry-"

Inoichi Yamanaka was so anxious he was almost crying.

He knew perfectly well that his Shadow Imitation Technique could not hold A for long.

"Tch, no choice."

The moment he finished speaking-

The atmosphere across the entire battlefield suddenly grew heavy, with Xuan Zhe at its center.

Everyone felt their vision growing increasingly blurred.

Weaker Shinobi dropped to their knees on the spot, and some passed out outright.

Even the transformed Killer B froze in place.

Though he had lost his reason, he instinctively feared a power stronger than his own.

Was this... the Konoha Black Blade's true strength?

"Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-"

The next instant, ominous black flames rose from the blade in Xuan Zhe's hand.

It was different from before, when Amaterasu's fire merely coated the blade's surface.

A closer look would reveal that this time, the fire burned from within the blade itself.

Xuan Zhe turned his wrist, pointing his Zanpakutō straight ahead-right where the Kumogakure and Konoha forces met.

Those black flames feel completely different from before.

Rin Nohara narrowed her eyes and murmured inwardly.

"Boom-whoooosh!!!"

Wrapped in sword energy like thick smoke, the black blade slashed savagely downward.

Where the blade passed, the ground split like tofu, and the entire battlefield instantly became a burning hell.

"Shikaku, release your shadow, now!"

Watching that roaring wave hurtle toward them, Chōza Akimichi went pale with panic.

Shikaku Nara broke into a cold sweat as well and hastily severed the connection between his shadow and the one beneath A's feet.

The moment the shadow released him, the two shot away in opposite directions.

They moved barely a blink apart.

The savage sword energy thundered through the space between them like an out-of-control war chariot.

Half a second slower, and both of them would likely have been cut in two.

"Aaaah-"

Not everyone had A and Shikaku Nara's combination of skill and luck.

Many Cloud Ninja were hacking away at Konoha's fleeing survivors and never noticed what was happening behind them.

They were either shredded into minced flesh by the sword energy or swallowed by the black flames, frantically beating at their bodies to put out the fire.

But the black flames burned ever more fiercely, consuming anyone they touched as the blaze intensified.

"Whoosh-whoooosh-!!!"

A fissure more than a thousand meters long tore through the ground. A wall of black flames nearly ten meters high surged above it, forcibly separating the Konoha and Kumogakure forces completely.

"Cross this line, and you die."

Xuan Zhe's tone was calm, without any deliberate menace.

But those words struck every Cloud Ninja's ears with perfect clarity, carrying an oppressive force they dared not defy.

Not one of them dared take even half a step beyond that wall of fire.

"Damn it!"

A gritted his teeth, his face contorted.

With his taijutsu, getting over this wall would not be particularly difficult.

But aside from him, few of the remaining Cloud Ninja could manage it.

Continuing the pursuit was clearly no longer feasible.

A turned, raised his right arm, and roared at the Cloud Ninja army behind him:

"We won this battle!"

Though they had failed to enter the Land of Fire, they had beaten Konoha's commander half to death in their very first battle.

And Kumogakure's casualties were less than a fifth of Konoha's-this was unquestionably a major victory.

"Yeaaah!!!"

Hearing A's words, the Cloud Ninja who had been stunned by Xuan Zhe's slash moments earlier felt their fear turn instantly to wild joy.

They raised their swords and shouted at the top of their lungs.

The first battle was over.

The first direct confrontation between Konoha and Kumogakure had ended in a crushing defeat for Konoha.

Of the thousand troops, nearly seven hundred had died.

Hyuga Hiashi stood in the stronghold town, staring at the people approaching him as though he had been nailed to the ground.

Danzo had lost an arm and was covered in blood. The Shinobi following him numbered less than thirty percent of those who had set out.

Several nearby Hyuga Clan members stood stunned for several seconds before reacting, rushing forward to carry the wounded to the medical room.

In truth, few wounded had returned alive. Nearly all those injured on the battlefield had died at the Kumogakure ninjas' hands. The few who survived owed their lives entirely to Xuan Zhe's final slash, which had forcibly separated Kumogakure's forces from Konoha's.

Hizashi Hyuga was one of them. A had beaten him until he was barely breathing, and he now lay on an operating table.

Hyuga Hiashi stood outside the medical tent, his fists clenched white as he stared fixedly at the flap.