After setting out, the group headed straight for the battlefield. Following a long, rapid march, they had barely reached its vicinity when they saw corpses strewn across the ground. The surrounding terrain was riddled with craters, and some stretches of grassland had been completely transformed by ninjutsu into swathes of scorched earth. The sight of several thousand ninja locked in a chaotic melee was rare even throughout the Second Shinobi World War. Almost no one dared remain in the same spot for even a second.
Leading Konoha's offensive this time was the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze. Over the past three years, he had matured a great deal. Compared with before, he now looked even more striking and valiant. The only things unchanged were his eyes, as clear and blue as ever.
Standing atop the enormous Gamabunta's head, he surveyed the entire battlefield with a deep frown. Overall, the situation favored Konoha, mainly because its ninja were proficient in all kinds of ninjutsu, allowing for more varied coordination than the Iwagakure ninja, who specialized in Earth Release. But faced with the enemy's numerical advantage, both sides had fallen into a stalemate, trading relentless blows. The battlefield had become a meat grinder. Every so often, someone died for good, and blood covered the ground, staining the earth red.
Smoke rose on all sides as the blood-red evening glow gradually faded. The two sides remained locked in their confrontation.
A massive Fire Release technique exploded in the center of the battlefield. Numerous columns of black smoke burst upward, forming dividing screens across the already cratered ground.
Another ninjutsu, resembling a whirlwind, shot into the air. The ninja caught within it were swept up, and the attacking crowd scattered, tumbling and vanishing like splashes of water. This was Wind Release.
Piercing shrieks bore down