On the 22nd day of the 9th month of the 27th year of the Konoha calendar, the winds of the western border of the Land of Fire, carrying the stench of blood, swept across the wasteland. The crimson banners of the 100,000-strong Vermilion Bird Corps had soaked the soil of the Land of Grass, while the silver-armored formations of the 100,000- White Tiger Corps were crushing the cities of the Land of Rivers. The million auxiliary troops led by the 13 loyal clans under the Queen were like two torrents, taking over the territory torn apart by the two elite legions city by city.
Further west in the Land of Rain, Tian Zhiyun, draped in a dark gold cloak, stood on a high platform. The armor of a million elite soldiers from the Land of Fire gleamed coldly in the continuous rain, and the long sword in her hand pointed directly at the direction of the army from the Land of Wind to the west.
Gentlemen.
Her voice wasn't loud, but it was like a thunderclap splitting the rain curtain, drowning out the breaths of millions and the sound of wind and rain. Her fingers, beneath the dark gold cloak, turned white from excessive force.
"Half of the Land of Rain has been reduced to scorched earth, and the iron hooves of the Land of Wind are trampling across our borders. They don't want the ruins of the Land of Rain; they want the fertile fields of my Land of Fire, and the safe homeland for your wives, children, and elderly!"
She raised her sword, pointing it towards the Land of Wind, the blade flashing coldly in the rain. "Today, I, Tian Zhiyun, lead my army here, not to expand our territory, but to fight for our lives—to buy the Vermilion Bird White Tiger Corps a moment to regroup, and to buy the people of the Land of Fire a sliver of land to live on!"
Below the high platform, the breathing of the million soldiers suddenly became heavy. Some had mud stains on their armor from the overnight march, some had blood seeping from their wounds under their bandages, and some were gazing westward, towards the direction of the Land of Wind's millions of troops.
Tian Zhiyun drew her sword, the blade reflecting the bloodshot veins in her eyes—proof of sleepless nights. "I know this battle is fraught with peril. But if no one offers their body as a shield, how can there be peace behind us? If no one uses their blood as a torch, how can there be light for future generations?" She slammed her sword down on the high platform's foundation stone. In the instant Mars flew, a million soldiers simultaneously drew their swords, the blades merging into a vast, icy sea that stretched across the heavens and earth. Raindrops fell on the blades, shattering into fine mist.
"Kill! Kill! Kill--!"
The roar pierced the rain curtain, startling even the clouds into trembling.
Within the Land of Rain, the Land of Wind's massive army of millions had already deployed in the Nine-Layer Crane Wing Formation. Before the central command tent, the high-ranking nobleman Kaze Mukage, clad in blue-white armor and wearing a wind-patterned iron mask, its patterns gleaming coldly in the rain, lightly tapped his fingertips on the command table. The sand table on the table reflected the Land of Fire's advance route. Outside the tent, three hundred thousand vanguard soldiers had formed the " Wind Scythe Formation," a killing formation centered around ten thousand Wind Release ninjas. When it spun, even the air itself seemed to be churned into sharp blades.
The name " Wind Erosion " was well-deserved. The adjutant beside Kaze Mukage gazed at the sand table and whispered, "General, the Land of Fire's reinforcements haven't arrived. Tian Zhiyun is committing suicide."
A soft laugh came from beneath the iron mask, like ice beads falling onto a jade plate. "Women of the Land of Fire always do foolish things. Pass down the order: the Wind Scythe Formation will go first, let them taste what it's like to be torn apart by the wind."
As the torrential rain poured down, the two armies clashed head-on on the Rain Plain. The vanguard of the Land of Fire charged towards the wind formation like a crimson tide, only to be shredded by the Wind Scythe Formation formation at the Setsuna of contact. Thousands of wind blades formed by Wind Release Ninjutsu spun and cut, the screams of the soldiers were swallowed by the wind, fragments of armor and severed limbs mingled with the rain and flew everywhere. The Land of Fire soldiers who had just stepped onto the battlefield had not even swung their first sword before their heads were severed by the wind blades, scalding blood shooting into the sky, then being drenched by the rain into blood-red streams that flowed down the terrain and into low-lying areas, forming bubbling pools of blood.
"Hold on the left wing!" Gō Shiryō's roar pierced through the battle formation. His body was engulfed in crimson flames, Fire Style: Vermilion Bird Burning City transformed into a giant phantom of a firebird before him, melting away the incoming wind blades one by one. This left-wing vice commander, a graduate of the Kage Academy, wielded a fire spear and charged into the Wind Scythe Formation with his horse. Wherever the fire spear swept, Wind Release ninjas were burned to charcoal, but more wind blades surged from all directions, tearing through his battle robes and leaving deep, bone-revealing wounds on his skin.
"The Marshal said to tear open the gap! Brothers, follow me!" Gō Shiryō turned his horse around, his fiery spear pointing straight at the core of the wind formation, and charged into the enemy ranks for the third time. The phantom of the firebird shrank continuously under the cutting of the wind blades. His left arm had already been shredded by the wind blades, with only half of the severed arm still bleeding, but he still gripped the spear shaft tightly.
" Wind Erosion is here!" Kaze Mukage's figure suddenly appeared in front of Gō Shiryō, his blue and white armor like a ghost in the rain. He did not draw his sword, but simply raised his hand and struck Gō Shiryō's heart. The invisible wind pressure instantly tore through the flames and shattered the heart of this Kage Level warrior.
Gō Shiryō's body paused in mid-air, blood gushing from the corner of his mouth. He looked up at the sky, rain washing over his wide-open eyes, and a broken voice squeezed out of his throat. "Marshal... Liao... Undying..." In the instant of falling, he used his last strength to flip off his horse, using his remaining right arm to tightly hug Kaze Mukage's horse leg, his broken body nailed to the spot like a nail.
"Boom--!"
Amidst the vast army, Tian Zhiyun heard Gō Shiryō's final roar. Turning her head, she saw his corpse cut into three pieces by wind blades, yet still maintaining the posture of clinging to the horse's legs.
Beneath her dark gold cloak, her body suddenly erupted with a terrifying aura. With a single punch, she blasted away the Land of Wind's commander of ten thousand men in front of her. The force of her punch swept across three miles like a raging torrent, shattering wind blades wherever it passed. The rain was evaporated into a white mist by the force of her punch, revealing the Wind Kingdom soldiers below who had been blasted into a bloody pulp.
" Gō Shiryō's remaining troops, charge into battle with me!" Tian Zhiyun's voice was tinged with blood. She stepped over the corpses of her comrades, her longsword drawing a crimson trail in the rain, each swing sending up sprays of blood.
Eighty thousand remaining soldiers followed like madmen, throwing away their shields, biting their daggers, and charging into the wind formation. They used their bodies to block the wind blades and their teeth to tear at the enemy's throats. Their life-for-life fighting style tore a ten-foot-wide gap in the Land of Wind's central army. The gap was piled high with corpses on both sides. The wind blades scraped through the mountain of corpses, making a teeth-grinding "crunching" sound.
Kaze Mukage finally stood up, his pale blue armor stained with Gō Shiryō's blood. He slowly drew his long sword from his waist; the blade was unsharpened, yet it whipped up a gust of wind the moment it was drawn. " Tian Zhiyun, do you know why the Land of Wind is fighting?"
"For the thirst of the desert, for the greed of the oasis!" Tian Zhiyun swung her sword to block the gale, the water droplets on the blade shattering into dust. "You are addicted to plunder, yet you have forgotten that blood debts must be repaid in blood!"
"Foolish." Kaze Mukage shook his head, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield beneath his iron mask. "The desert doesn't tolerate the weak; rules are the foundation of survival. Your Land of Fire's extermination of nobles is a cardinal sin. Why can't we fight for a way to survive? Are you waiting for your country to exterminate our nobles one by one?"
As the strongest among the nobles, he raised his hand and slammed it to the ground. Nine tornadoes rose from the ground, and black clouds were drawn into them, transforming into wind pillars that connected heaven and earth. The fangs and claws of wind beasts could be vaguely seen in the pillars, and their roars were so loud that they hurt people's eardrums.
"Do demon nobles even deserve a chance to live?" Tian Zhiyun sneered, her black-gold cloak billowing even without wind. "The light of humanity will be paved with the filthy blood of you nobles!" Her movements were as swift as a blur, and the friction of the air around her suddenly unleashed a burst of wind and fire energy. "Forbidden Technique - Taijutsu Secret - Konoha Dragon God!"
In Setsuna, the world changed color. Crimson flames and dark green Chakra intertwined to form a gigantic dragon phantom. When the dragon's head was raised, it swallowed the dark clouds; when its tail swung, it shattered the rain. The entire dragon's body spun, forming a devastating Tornado. The fire dragon roared and crashed into the nine wind pillars. The shockwave from the collision of flames and wind blades overturned soldiers within a ten-mile radius. The wind pillars shattered piece by piece under the fire dragon's tearing, and the wind beast's roar turned into a wail, which was completely consumed by the flames.
"This is impossible..." The iron face of Kaze Mukage, Super Kage Level expert, twisted in the Kakkō. He tried to summon the wind blade again, but found that the surrounding air had been ignited by the flames. The Setsuna the fire tornado crashed into the central army of the Land of Wind, he saw the contemptuous smile in Tian Zhiyun's eyes. Then his body was engulfed in the wind and fire, his blue and white armor shattered inch by inch, and he and tens of thousands of ninja soldiers behind him were turned to ashes in the raging flames.
However, the Land of Wind's offensive did not stop. The Second Kazekage Shamon, Shamon, raised his banner in the rear, and the army filled the gaps like a tide. The defensive wall formed by Wind Release Ninjutsu blocked the remaining power of the fire tornado. By the seventh day, the Land of Fire's million-strong army had only 200,000 wounded soldiers left, all of them wounded, their armor shattered, and almost exhausted even to draw their swords.
The three thousand ninjas of the Land of Rain suffered an even more tragic fate. Hanzo of the Salamander became the sole survivor. His body was bound with chains bearing the heads of three Kage Level ninjas from the Land of Wind. Blood flowed from the hollow of his right eye, while his left eye shone with an astonishing light.
"The debt to the Land of Rain must be settled!" Hanzō roared as he charged atop the mountain of corpses, chains dragging behind him over the mountain of bodies with a grating screech. He ripped off his gas mask, revealing a scarred face, and opened his mouth, spewing out dark green poison gas. "Scum of the Land of Wind, taste the wrath of the Land of Rain!"
He leaped into the army of the Land of Wind, detonating all the venom sacs of the Ibuse that had accumulated within him over half a lifetime. The dark green poisonous mist, propelled by Chakra, instantly spread, withering vegetation and rusting armor wherever it passed. The soldiers of the Land of Wind screamed in agony as their bodies festered, their flesh turning into pus and blood, and even their bones were corroded into black powder.
In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, tens of thousands of troops in the central army of the Land of Wind were turned into a stinking swamp of pus, and Hanzo of the Salamander's body was reduced to skeletons in the poisonous mist, yet he still maintained the posture of swinging his chain, remaining upright until his death.
Tian Zhiyun leaned on her chipped longsword, her black-gold cloak soaked with blood, clinging heavily to her body. Gazing at Hanzō's remains, her voice was hoarse as a broken gong. " The Land of Rain also has heroes; the Land of Fire will forever remember the name of the demigod."
Although the Land of Wind lost 3.6 million troops, it still had 6 million soldiers pressing on its borders. Tian Zhiyun led 200,000 remnants of her army to retreat to the ruins of the old Land of Rain. The city walls had long since collapsed in the days of war. She stuck her chipped longsword into the broken wall, and the blade whistled in the wind.
"Hold on for one more day." She wiped the blood from her face, her gaze sweeping over the exhausted soldiers. "Reinforcements will surely arrive."
No one dared to ask who the reinforcements were. They had only seen the Marshal create miracles in desperate situations, seen her shield the fallen soldiers from the wind blades with her own body, and seen her close the eyes of the fallen soldiers with her own hands. If the Marshal said reinforcements would come, then they would definitely come.
At dawn on the eighth day, just as the rising sun pierced through the dark clouds, the Land of Wind's all-out attack began. Six million soldiers swept in, their banners like black clouds pressing down on the city, and the sound of spirit beasts' hooves shook the ruins. Tian Zhiyun, her hair disheveled, stood at the front of the battle line.
The nobleman of the Land of Wind, Wind Erosion Moon, rode a white camel, his silver spear bearing the severed head of Gō Shiryō. He sneered before the enemy lines, " Tian Zhiyun, surrender and you may have a whole corpse; otherwise, I'll scatter your ashes!"
Tian Zhiyun looked up, the morning sun shining on her face and reflecting the resolute look in her eyes. "In the Ten Family's dictionary, there is no word 'surrender'."
Wind Erosion Moon pointed his gun forward, the sunlight reflecting off the tip so bright it was blinding. "Stubborn fools! Kill!"
Six million troops surged forward like a black tide. Just Setsuna the two armies were about to collide, a beam of moonlight suddenly shone in the east. The silver light pierced through the dark clouds and fell straight to the center of the battlefield. When the light dissipated, Tian Muyan arrived on a cloud with three thousand disciples of the Moon God Cult. They were dressed in white, their light armor gleaming coldly in the morning light. When the Ice Divine Bow in their hands was drawn, fine ice crystals condensed on the bowstring.
"Sister Shiun, I'm late." Tian Muyan's voice was ethereal, like heavenly music, yet it carried an undeniable air of authority. " Moon God Cult disciples, form ranks and fight!"
Three thousand disciples of the Moon God Cult simultaneously drew their bows and nocked arrows, the arrows wreathed in silvery-white Chakra, like blades formed from moonlight. They formed an arrow formation on the clouds, the arrowheads pointing directly at the Land of Wind army below. The uniform sound of bowstrings rang out in unison, like a series of thunderclaps.
"Release the arrows!"
Three thousand rune arrows were released simultaneously, transforming into thirty thousand streaks of silver light in the air, which then split into three hundred thousand arrow raindrops, densely covering the entire battlefield.
Before the soldiers of the Land of Wind could even reach the front lines, they were pierced by a rain of arrows. The icy Ninjutsu on the silver arrows instantly froze their blood, and countless men remained in their charging postures, turning into ice sculptures, only to be shattered into ice fragments by subsequent arrow rain.
Even more terrifying were the arrows imbued with Fire Style, which exploded into seas of fire upon landing among the crowd, burning huge gaps in the Land of Wind's formation. Screams echoed everywhere, and the death zone, a tapestry of fire and ice, continued to expand.
Tian Muyan hovered in mid-air, the Ice Divine Bow drawn taut once more. This time, intricate patterns appeared on the bow. " Tenseigan, activate!"
Her eyes suddenly turned pure white, with pale blue patterns appearing in the whites of her eyes. She released a powerful pressure that spread outwards from her. Wherever she passed, the soldiers of the Land of Wind were as if they were trapped in quagmire, their feet sinking deep into the ground, unable to move, and could only watch helplessly as the rain of arrows from the Moon God Cult Sect fell.
" Super Repulsive Force!"
Tian Muyan let out a soft shout, and the power of her Tenseigan combined with the repulsive force, transforming into a silver light barrier that erupted from her body. The light barrier surged towards the Land of Wind's army like a tsunami, causing the earth to collapse and forming bottomless ravines in its wake. Land of Wind soldiers were twisted and deformed within the light barrier, instantly crushed into dust by the repulsive force, leaving not a trace. Wherever the light barrier advanced, it created a vacuum, instantly clearing the vanguard of the million-strong army and revealing the panicked central army behind.
"This is not human power..." Wind Erosion Moon stared at the silver light screen that devoured everything. His silver spear clattered to the ground. He turned to run away, but Tian Zhiyun teleported and punched him in the back.
Tian Zhiyun's figure appeared behind him like a ghost, her fist still burning with lingering fire energy. "It's time to avenge Gō Shiryō!" She unleashed the Konoha Dragon God once more, and the wind and fire dragon roared, engulfing Wind Erosion Moon and his personal guards, turning them all to ashes in the flames.
Seeing the situation was dire, the Second Kazekage Shamon, immediately waved his banner to order a retreat. But Tian Zhiyun wouldn't give him the chance. Using the fire tornado as cover, she teleported behind Shamon and pierced his heart with her Kazekage: "The ambitions of the Land of Wind must be extinguished."
Shamon's body collapsed limply, and the banner of the Land of Wind fell with a crash. The millions of troops, now without their commander, completely scattered. Tian Zhiyun and Tian Muyan led their army in pursuit for three days and three nights, until they reached the edge of the desert. The Land of Wind's army, once boasting tens of millions of soldiers, was reduced to less than two million survivors who fled into the depths of the desert, leaving behind weapons and armor that paved a path to despair.
The rain stopped, and the rising sun finally dispelled the dark clouds, shining on the battlefield of the Rain Plain. Corpses and weapons gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and blood flowed into the soil, nourishing the new shoots. Tian Zhiyun and Tian Muyan stood side by side in the desert, their figures in black gold and snow white overlapping in the morning light. Behind them were two hundred thousand remnants of the Land of Fire's army and three thousand disciples of the Moon God Cult. They gazed eastward, towards the direction of the Land of Fire, the homeland they were willing to protect with their blood and lives.
"It's over," Tian Muyan said softly, Ice Divine Bow in her hand turned into specks of light and vanished.
Tian Zhiyun gripped her dulled longsword, the bloodstains on its blade gradually drying in the sunlight. "No, this is a new beginning. I will lead my army into the Land of Wind and annihilate all the nobles of this country."