The autumn winds in the Land of Fire have never been so fierce.
In the autumn of the 27th year of the Konoha calendar, the flames of war had spread southward along the official road from the central capital. Smoke billowed in the sky like gray-black ribbons, and even the southward-flying geese circled around the smoke, as if even the migratory birds knew that this land was about to change.
The battle first broke out on the Eastern Plains. Queen Tian Flying Swallow personally led the charge, with General Senju Tenpuku Tian Flying Swallow an army of 500,000 at the forefront, followed by a million-strong army. Opposite them, the camps of a six-million-strong noble coalition stretched for miles, their banners bearing the emblems of two commoner families fluttering in the wind—the last gasp of aristocratic forces that had survived for centuries since the Warring States period. But no one could have predicted that the true turning point in the war would not be on the main battlefield in the East, where the forces were vastly outnumbered, but rather in the seemingly peaceful heart of the South.
The moonlight in the south should be gentle and warm.
There was no warmth in Tian Flying Swallow's royal tent. The tallow candlelight flickered in the wind outside, illuminating the queen's sharply defined profile. Her fingertips tapped on the map on the table. The area in the south, densely marked with the fiefdoms of nobles, had been circled seventeen times in red.
"Are the Golden Crow Army's armor and uniforms all ready?" Tian Flying Swallow asked without looking up, her voice hoarse from days of hard work.
The young boy under the tent responded, "Reporting to the Queen, the 500,000-strong army is fully equipped with red armor, and the banners are all sewn with flame patterns."
This young man was none other than the Crown Tenbutsu of the Land of Fire. Although he was only six years old, his brows held a calmness completely out of character for his age. Today, he wore a plain-colored robe, with a black-sheathed longsword hanging at his waist. The tassel on the sword was embroidered by his mother with a Golden Crow pattern—the totem of his army and the origin of his name.
Tian Flying Swallow finally raised her eyes, her gaze as sharp as a hawk's. " Butsu, do you know the important purpose of this trip?"
"Your subject understands." The Tenbutsu bowed, "Entangle the enemy."
"Not just pestering, but relentlessly pestering." Tian Flying Swallow emphasized, her finger tracing an arc on the map. "The seventeen southern clans may seem numerous, but they are actually a disorganized mob. Your 500,000 Golden Crow Army isn't there to fight for victory; it's there to trip them up. For every inch the enemy advances, you retreat a foot; for every foot the enemy retreats, you advance ten feet. Within a month, you must ensure that these million miscellaneous soldiers in the south dare not even raise their heads to the north, let alone send troops to reinforce the south."
She rose and walked to the Tenbutsu statue, reaching out to stroke the armor plates on her son's shoulder—polished to a gleaming reddish sheen, forged from a mixture of red copper and refined iron unique to the southern iron mines. "Remember," she said, "You are there to hold them by the nose, not to slit their throats. One month later, regardless of the battle's outcome, immediately turn back to support the western front. Absolutely no one is to be greedy for battle or reckless, understand?"
"Your subject obeys." Tenbutsu knelt on one knee, his forehead pressed against the cold ground. "The entire Golden Crow Army obeys only the Queen's commands."
Tian Flying Swallow waved her hand. "Go, let the nobles of the South see how the little sun of the Land of Fire rises."
Two days later, at dawn, the outposts of the Masataka alliance spotted a crimson tide in the distance.
First, tiny red lights appeared on the horizon, like wildfire spreading along the valley. Then, the sounds of drums and horns drifted on the wind, muffled like distant thunder. As the crimson light drew closer, it became clear that it was countless armored soldiers, all dressed in crimson, even the chariots were adorned with red ribbons. A tall banner, ten feet high, stood at the very front of the column, its golden flame patterns dazzling in the sunlight—the banner of the Golden Crow Army.
"Prince Tenbutsu is personally leading 500,000 troops to attack!" The scouts scrambled into the main camp.
Inside the main tent, the heads of the seventeen noble families were arguing over a sand table. The head of the village family slammed his ivory cane into the sand table. "Just five hundred thousand greenhorns! Tian Flying Swallow is being held back in the east; this is clearly a feint!"
"But the people of the Land of Whirlpools haven't made a move yet." The old man beneath the city stroked his beard. "Could they be planning a pincer attack from the north and south?"
Just as the commotion was raging, a deafening shout suddenly erupted outside the tent. The sound pierced through the barriers of the camp and clearly reached everyone's ears, "Those who surrender will be spared! Those who surrender will be spared!"
The tent fell silent instantly. The head of the Murakami family, his face ashen, roared, "Insolence! Pass on my order: anyone who dares to speak of surrender will be executed on the spot!"
But military orders can't stop people's hearts. The army of the Masataka looked large, but in reality, nine out of ten were tenants and slaves, and their weapons were not as handy as hoes. They followed the nobles to fight only because they were afraid of being whipped and having their fields confiscated. Now, upon hearing the words "exemption from death," the hand holding the spear shaft trembled a little.
The Golden Crow Army's offensive was peculiar. They didn't form large formations; instead, they moved in groups of five thousand, ten groups in a single formation, darting between the linked camps like swarms of red ants. Sometimes, just as the sounds of battle rose in the east, the troops in the west had already circled around to the rear of the camp; just as the nobles on one side were sending troops to meet the enemy, the Golden Crow Army on the other side had already fled far away with their spoils.
Tenbutsu sat in his command tent, listening to his subordinates report on the battle, "The third squadron on the left wing harassed the village's main camp, killing three thousand enemies and capturing fifty carts of grain." "The fifth squadron on the right wing set fire to the village's fortress below the city. Their troops pursued for ten miles before we lured them into the swamp."
Tenbutsu casually flipped through the deployment map of the noble alliance. The map was densely marked with the defense zones of seventeen families, the gaps between the camps larger than the holes in a sieve. "Order each unit to beat the drums and carry torches more at night, so that they won't even be able to sleep peacefully."
As night fell, the southern allied camp descended into chaos. The Golden Crow Army lit bonfires everywhere within a ten-mile radius of the camp, drums beat incessantly, and every now and then small squads of soldiers would rush to the front of the camp, fire a few arrows, and shout, "Those who surrender will be spared death." The seventeen noble families each controlled a section, some beating their clappers, others blowing their horns, and by the latter half of the night, even the sentries could not distinguish which alarms were real and which were false.
There was a servant of a minor noble family in Ma Yi. During his night shift, he heard the voices of his fellow villagers outside the camp. "Run! The Golden Crow Army doesn't kill civilians or surrendered soldiers. I saw Uchiha Sasuke from Liuxia Village surrender yesterday and even got some rations!" He gripped the cold spear shaft and thought about it for half the night. Before dawn, he took his three brothers from the same tent and secretly broke through the camp fence and ran away.
This escape continued uninterrupted from the very first night.
On the afternoon of the third day, the Masataka finally reached a consensus.
"The army of the Land of Whirlpools is gathering in the south; they're definitely going to attack our home!" The head of the Murakami family slammed his hand on the table. "These 500,000 Golden Crow Army are just a stumbling block. We must take them down first, then reinforce the main battlefield in the east to defeat the Tian Flying Swallow. Only then can we achieve final victory!"
Seventeen noble families mustered 300,000 heavily armored infantrymen, all clad in identical iron helmets and wielding twelve-foot-long halberds. Just standing there, they resembled a dark, imposing wall. Leading the army was Murakami Tora, the eldest and most formidable son of the Murakami family. This man, with a face full of fierce features, was flushed red from drinking before the battle. "Today, we will turn the Golden Crow Army into roasted chickens!"
When the news reached the Tenbutsu's tent, he was drinking tea while looking at a map. After hearing the entire report, the young prince put down his teacup, a smirk playing on his lips. "Good that they've arrived. Issue the order: the left and right flanks feign a rout, while the central route advances cautiously towards Falling Star Gorge Valley."
Falling Star Gorge is a rare and dangerous place in the southern hinterland. It is flanked by steep cliffs, with only a narrow gorge a few meters wide in the middle, which at its narrowest point can only accommodate two vehicles side by side. When the Golden Crow Army retreated to the gorge mouth, Gi Tora's heavy armored army had already caught up behind them, and the clanging sound of their armor clashing made the valley vibrate.
"They can't escape!" Murakami Tora laughed wildly on his summoned beast. "Order the entire army to pursue them at full speed! Enter the canyon and don't let that little prince get away!"
Three hundred thousand heavily armored soldiers, like a long black serpent, burrowed into the canyon. The soldiers at the front had just passed the canyon entrance when they heard shouts overhead. Before they could even look up, rolling logs and rocks rained down on them. The soldiers in the front ranks were instantly crushed, their bones broken. Those behind tried to retreat, but were pushed forward by the ever-flowing tide of people. The canyon instantly descended into chaos.
"Attack!" Tenbutsu stood on the cliff top and waved the red flag.
The Golden Crow Army on both sides of the cliffs fired down arrows with powerful bows and crossbows, each arrow carrying Explosive Tag. The muffled thuds and explosions as the arrows pierced through the armor echoed one after another. Some clever soldiers even threw fireballs into the canyon, igniting the firewood they had prepared beforehand. Thick smoke spread along the canyon, choking people so much that they couldn't open their eyes.
Murakami Tora, hearing the screams from inside the canyon, became frantic, his eyes bloodshot. He personally drew his sword and ordered, "Charge! Anyone who retreats will be killed!" But the canyon was already completely blocked, with corpses piled up almost half a person's height. Those behind could hardly turn around, let alone charge.
The battle raged from noon until the Tensei. By the time the Golden Crow Army withdrew, blood flowed like streams in Falling Star Gorge, staining the entire gorge crimson. The gorge was littered with corpses, broken halberds, and shattered armor scattered everywhere. When the spoils were tallied, the soldiers' reports astonished everyone. "Your Highness, we killed 80,000 enemies, captured Jūni, and the seized armor piled up like a small mountain!"
Tenbutsu, well-versed in military strategy, stood at the mouth of the gorge, watching the sunrise rise from behind the cliffs. The morning light shone on his blood-stained red armor, giving it an eerie red glow. "Take all the prisoners to the rear for investigation. Execute the nobles, give the commoners a good meal, those who want to work can go transport grain, and those who want to go home... let them go home."
He knew that once these prisoners returned, they would spread the news of the horrific scene at Falling Star Gorge throughout the south, which would be far more devastating than an army of 100,000.
News of Falling Star Gorge Valley spread like wildfire, reaching the camps of seventeen noble families in the south within a single day.
No one in the joint camp mentioned "destroying the Golden Crow first" anymore. When Murakami Tora led his remaining troops back, half his face was burned, and all he could say to anyone was, " Falling Star Gorge Valley can't be gone... can't be gone..."
With more than half of the 300,000 heavily armored troops lost, the remaining seventeen noble families were in complete panic. One feared that the other was preserving its strength, while the other suspected the other of colluding with the Golden Crow. In the end, no one was willing to send troops first, and the million-strong army was stuck in its camp, watching helplessly Golden Crow Army swaggered around outside the allied camp.
Tenbutsu's schemes became increasingly cunning. He ordered ninjas to dig trenches and set up traps between the various noble camps, cutting the already loosely connected noble alliance into pieces. The Liuxia family's army camp in the east was short of food and wanted to borrow from the Shushang family's army camp next door, but found that it was separated by various traps set by the Golden Crow Army. It would take them 30 miles to get there, and they would also have to be wary of various ambushes along the way.
The shouts of "Those who surrender will be spared death" became even more frequent at night. Sometimes, the Golden Crow Army would throw ration bags into the camp. The bags were printed with flame patterns and contained snow-white rice cakes. Starving soldiers risked being beheaded to secretly scavenge the fence at night. As they scavenged, they ended up escaping with the Golden Crow Army.
"Another two thousand people escaped today," the guard reported, head bowed, not daring to look at the village head's face.
The nobles in the tent looked at each other, no one spoke, the torchlight flickering on their faces. Everyone knew that this battle was hopeless. They boasted a million-strong army, but now less than 30% were capable of fighting. The rest were either wounded or tenant farmers ready to desert at any moment. Even the small teams sent out to gather firewood had to be supervised, for fear they would never return.
Standing atop the high slope, Tenbutsu gazed at the lifeless allied camp in the distance, a slight smile fading from his lips. He looked up at the sky, calculating the days. "It's about time, isn't it? We can completely defeat the enemy, but I don't want to inflict unnecessary casualties."
The messenger behind him straightened his back. "What are your orders, Your Highness?"
"Order all teams to consolidate their defenses. Only send 30% of your forces to harass each day. Take in any deserters, and kill any nobles." Little Tenbutsu gazed at the eastern horizon, where thicker smoke could be faintly seen. "The people of the Land of Whirlpools should be on the battlefield soon. Our 'Entanglement' technique needs a new twist."
Autumn winds swept red leaves across the hilltop, where soldiers in crimson Golden Crow stood in formation, their uniforms glowing warmly in the setting sun, like a flock of migratory birds awaiting sunrise. The smoke from the southern camp grew thinner and thinner, and the once-arrogant noble crests were slowly fading and falling in the autumn wind, just like the old era that was about to pass away on this land.
With the twenty-day deadline approaching, the million-strong army in the south was like a trapped beast, with no strength left to send reinforcements eastward. Tenbutsu knew that his mother on the eastern battlefield should have received the news by now, and his and the Golden Crow Army's next stop was the battlefield further west. As for those Masataka trapped in their camps, their fate was already sealed—under the pincer attack of the Golden Crow Army and the Land of Whirlpools, only annihilation awaited them.