On July 23rd, at the third quarter of the hour of Mao (5:45 AM), just as dawn broke, four million soldiers lined up in the morning light outside the capital of the Land of Fire. Queen Tian Flying Swallow wore a crimson-gold royal robe, her cloak trailing three feet on the ground, with a fire phoenix spreading its wings embroidered on the back. The phoenix's eyes were made of blood-red jade, swaying with each step, as if about to peck at someone.
Jūni war drums sounded simultaneously before the capital's gates, their drumheads made of century-old fire rhinoceros hide. The resounding sound caused the bronze bells on the eaves to wail in unison. Tian Flying Swallow raised her hand, and the drumming stopped abruptly. Four million pairs of military boots came together at the same time, creating a thunderous boom, like a muffled clap of thunder from a flat ground.
"Today, the capital is being divided into forces to reclaim, inch by inch, the towns occupied by the nobles, the lost territories, and the lost dignity."
Tian Flying Swallow's voice wasn't loud, but it carried the crackling sound of kerosene dripping into a charcoal brazier. She looked around, her gaze sweeping over each face in turn.
Queen Tian Flying Swallow loudly announced, "The First Legion will be headed by Senju Tenpuku, the former commander of the Azure Dragon Corps."
Senju Tenpuku knelt on one knee to receive the order, his back straight as a newly sharpened spear, the muscles beneath his silver armor causing the armor plates to bulge slightly.
"I will give you 500,000 troops as the vanguard to annihilate the Masataka ' army. Forty-two towns in the east have already been occupied and rebelled by the nobles, and their tribal flags still fly atop the city walls. I want you to defeat the nobles' vanguard with all your might, take the towns, burn their tribal flags to the ground, and scatter their ashes into the moat."
Senju Tenpuku loudly accepted the order and roared, "I swear on my life: if we cannot defeat the enemy and capture the town within a month, I am willing to commit suicide and offer my blood as a sacrifice to the flag."
He pulled a roll of red silk from his sleeve, bit his fingertip, and wrote the eight characters "Conquer the city and defeat the enemy, commit suicide after the deadline." He pressed the blood mark on the silk and raised it above his head with both hands. The fire licked the red silk into ashes, and the ashes fell on his eyelashes like a layer of red frost.
Queen Tian Flying Swallow then loudly announced the appointment, " The Second Army will be commanded by General Nanshin Senju."
Nanshin Senju was clad in rune-inscribed armor, with two rune-inscribed swords hanging at her waist, one in black and one in white, like day and night tucked into her belt. She had been fighting on the battlefield since losing her husband during the Warring States period, and had even fought in a major battle, making her a true female general.
Tian Flying Swallow roared, "Go north to the twenty-one cities, and I'll give you 500,000 troops. Remember, the enemy outnumbers us, so focus on defense and wait for reinforcements."
Nanshin Senju and replied, "I have made a solemn pledge that I will not allow the enemy to cross the defensive line even a single step, or I will offer my head in retribution."
She removed her helmet, cut off a lock of hair from her sideburns, and threw it into the brazier. The hair sizzled and curled up, the smell of burnt hair mixed with the fragrance of pine resin rising high into the air.
Tian Flying Swallow looked at Tian Zhiyun and loudly announced, "Third Army, Legion Commander Tian Zhiyun."
She wore a blue robe, covered by soft armor, with no sword at her waist, only a pair of gauntlets. She once fought the entire Sunagakure Sunagakure alone, forcing them to kneel and surrender. She possessed the strength of High Immortal and was the one that Tian Flying Swallow trusted most.
Tian Flying Swallow said loudly, " Shiun, there are nineteen cities in the west, and the nobles there have no less than two million soldiers. I will only give you five hundred thousand, and I will also give you one more piece of advice: killing those who surrender is inauspicious, but not killing them is even more inauspicious. I hope that after you wipe them out, there will be no more nobles in the west."
Tian Zhiyun smiled slightly, like a spring breeze sweeping across a lake, and accepted the order, saying, "Sister, don't worry, I guarantee that all the nobles in the west will disappear from this world, and there will be no more nobles in the west from now on."
Tian Flying Swallow hesitated for a moment, then announced loudly, "The Fourth Legion will be commanded by the six-year-old Prince Tenbutsu."
The little prince, clad in miniature golden armor, stood on tiptoe to reach the altar, his voice still childish but clear. "Mother, your son will conquer the Southern Territory as quickly as possible."
The hall erupted in a commotion, then fell into a deathly silence. Tian Flying Swallow knelt down and straightened her son's helmet plume, which had tilted to one side.
"The eighteen cities to the south will be attacked by a million-strong army from the Land of Whirlpools. You only need to launch a feint attack. Although you have the mind of an adult, your body is still too small. Are you afraid?"
"I'm afraid," Tenbutsu clenched his small fist, "But I'm even more afraid of the countless people waking up crying in the middle of the night."
He turned and roared at the 500,000 warriors below him, "Are you afraid?"
Half a million people shouted in unison, "We are not afraid!"
The Tenbutsu grinned, his missing front tooth giving him a smile that resembled a crescent moon with a gap in his mouth.
"I'm not afraid!"
He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and pressed it onto the pledge—the candy wrapper was given to him by his mother this morning, printed with a crooked phoenix.
"This is the seal, expired... expired..." He scratched his head, then suddenly a brilliant idea struck him, "If it's expired, you can have all my candy!"
The soldiers burst into laughter, but then stifled it halfway through, their shoulders trembling. Tian Flying Swallow's eyes curved into a smile, like a blade gliding across spring water.
Tian Flying Swallow declared loudly, "I will personally lead the Fifth Legion."
She drew her sword, named " Star Burner," its blade as thin as a cicada's wing, yet its spine was inlaid with seven obsidian stones.
"I, the King, personally lead a million men as the main force on the eastern front. This battle is for the sake of all the people of the world. The civilians of the Land of Fire have no way out, and neither do I."
She raised the wine cup; the wine was the color of blood.
"Gentlemen, let's drink to victory!"
A million soldiers raised their cups, the wine reflecting the Kakkō, like a surging sea of blood.
Finally Tian Flying Swallow loudly announced the appointment, "The Sixth Army, the Thirteen Ironclad Nobles."
The leader, an old nobleman Fujiwara Morikage no Morikaze, had white hair and beard, but his armor was newly cast and so shiny that it reflected his image.
Fujiwara Morikage roared, "We, your humble servants, will lead the last million to attack the west and aid the south. Thirteen clans, thirteen surnames, thirteen seals—we will forge the final chain of the Land of Fire!"
Thirteen bronze seals were pressed simultaneously onto the military order, the inscriptions overlapping like thirteen scars.
Fujiwara Morikage looked up, two flames burning in his old eyes. "We, your entire clan, will fight, a million sons and daughters, a million soldiers, sacrificing ourselves for the nation's peril, we will surely wipe out all the enemies of the Land of Fire."
At Chenshi (7-9 AM), the six armies set off.
At the East Gate, Senju Tenpuku boarded his chariot, the Fire Kirin Chariot, the latest land armored vehicle from Konoha. He glanced back at the capital, where the Fire Phoenix Banner on the city wall fluttered in the morning breeze.
"My lads, on the day we return home, I will hold a victory celebration at the city gate, and each soldier will receive a jar of wine from the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Tower."
The Fire Kirin Chariot headed east, their roar like thunder, raising clouds of crimson dust. The 500,000-strong army, like a fiery dragon, soared into the sky.
At the North Gate, the Nanshin Senju War Chariot led the way, followed by 500,000 soldiers, ten men per chariot. The wheels creaked and groaned as they rolled over the ground, as if crushing the bones of the northern nobles.
Nanshin Senju and pointed it to the sky. "Remember, we will not let the nobles cross the border. Our swords will turn the northern lands red."
At the West Gate, Tian Zhiyun led 500,000 infantrymen on a march. The clashing of their armor plates created a rhythmic beat as they marched.
She waved her jade flute and suddenly called out, "Nobles of the nineteen western cities, I will play a requiem for you from the city walls! Listen carefully!"
The sound of a flute, carried by the wind and sand, drifts far away, like an invisible thread connecting countless hearts.
At the south gate, the young Tenbutsu stood atop a chariot thirteen times his own height. A tiger skin covered the chariot's roof. The little prince patted the roof and cried out in a childish voice, "Charge! Charge! Charge!"
The war chariots roared, churning up fallen petals. Five hundred thousand southern expeditionary soldiers shouted in unison, "Charge!"
At the back of the procession, the old wizard Kagura called out, "Your Highness, I—I haven't boarded the carriage yet!"
The young prince turned around, grinning from ear to ear. "Then hurry up and catch up!"
In the middle lane, Tian Flying Swallow personally led a million men, her Star Burner Sword pointing diagonally eastward.
"I want no prisoners, only the ashes of nobles. Wherever their ashes are scattered, that will be the new land of the Land of Fire."
A million-strong army marched silently forward, their footsteps crushing the morning dew, following behind the vanguard.
Finally, the thirteen nobles rode side by side on horseback, their respective coats of arms cast on the horseshoes.
Fujiwara Morikage looked back at the capital; the phoenix banner on the city wall had dwindled to a tiny red dot.
"Old brothers," he laughed hoarsely, "This is the last time we'll go to war in our lives—we won't stop until the world is unified!"
The thirteen clan leaders burst into laughter, which startled a flock of crows. Their feathers swept across the waning moon, like a handful of black ash.
On the same day, at the border of the Land of Whirlpools.
Land of Whirlpools Uzumaki Kaito, stood on a high hill, gazing at the million-strong reinforcement army whose fiery red battle robes stretched as far as the eye could see, as if another Land of Fire had been moved to the south.
" The Land of Fire has eight million enemies, we'll fight one million Masataka. Don't those southern nobles look down on our Land of Whirlpools? They Tenten trying to destroy our country! We'll make their entire clan build tombs!"
He drew his sword, pointing it towards the Land of Fire: "Tell Queen Tian Flying Swallow —the million soldiers of the Land of Whirlpools, to wipe out the rebel army of the Masataka!"