The black sun lingered in the sky, like a fireball suppressed to its limit. When Tian Yueqing stepped on the talisman and took to the air, he could see the giant wings extending from the black shadow—when the thousand-foot-long wings unfolded, they completely blocked the setting sun of Iwagakure. Black flames flowed from the wingtips, dripping onto the ground and turning it into scorched earth.
"Did this firebird grow up eating gunpowder?" Tian Zhiyun spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. She had just smashed the head of a cursed warrior with a punch when she looked up and saw the Golden Crow swooping down. "Sister Yueqing, can you hold on?"
Tian Yueqing didn't turn around. The rune scroll in her hand rustled, and countless vermilion seal characters flew out, weaving into a smooth mirror in front of her. The mirror reflected the Golden Crow's face, burning with black flames, and even the lines on its beak were clearly visible. "We have to hold on, even if we can't," she said, her voice slightly breathless, the vermilion brush twirling between her fingers. "You guys deal with the trash below first; I'll handle this Immortal Golden Crow."
The words had barely left her lips when the Golden Crow swooped down. The black flames unleashed by its thousand-foot wingspan resembled two moving volcanoes, grazing past Tian Yueqing and even scorching the hem of her hunting robe. Suddenly, the mirror trembled violently, and the Golden Crow's Kageko thrashed wildly within it. The black sun collided with the silver moon in the mirror, unleashing a silent roar—a sound that seemed to be muffled by something, thrashing back and forth within the mirror, shaking the surrounding air.
"Seal— Tsukuyomi: The Universe in the Mirror!" Tian Yueqing shouted, pressing his vermilion brush heavily onto the mirror. The mirror instantly transformed into a silvery-white vortex, forcefully pulling the Golden Crow's Kageko inside. Black flames hissed at the edge of the vortex, distorted by the suction force.
The Golden Crow was enraged, its sharp beak slamming down on the mirror. "Crack!" A crisp cracking sound exploded in mid-air, and Spiderweb- like patterns instantly covered the mirror. Tian Yueqing groaned, a trickle of blood escaping from the corner of her mouth. She wiped her mouth and smeared the blood on her vermilion brush. "Pretty troublesome, huh? Then I'll add some more spice to your life."
"Reseal— Adamantine Nine Chains!"
Nine golden chains suddenly emerged from the void, coiling around the Golden Crow like nine long serpents. One chain locked its left wing, one its right wing, two its three legs, and the remaining four tightly strangled its neck. The runes on the chains shimmered with golden light, even suppressing some of the black flames. The Golden Crow's cry became hoarse, and the black sun churned violently in the mirror, yet it could not break free of the chains—this was the first time it had been completely pinned to the spot, unable to even flap its wings.
"Alright, that bird's been caught!" Tian Zhiyun, who had a clear view from below, kicked a cursed warrior away. " Muyan, you take over the ghost swarm on the left, I'll go take out their rear!"
Tian Muyan stood on the ice platform raised by Wind God Saku using Wind Release, her ice-blue longbow gleaming with cold light. She didn't answer, but simply drew the bowstring taut. The moment the ice arrow left the bowstring, fine snow suddenly began to fall from the sky, and the dense rain of arrows seemed to have eyes, specifically targeting the densest part of the Ghost Legion. "Frost Arrow - A Thousand Arrows Piercing the Heart!" Her voice was cold and clear. Each ice arrow exploded into a ten-zhang-wide ice hell upon landing. Those translucent ghosts that tried to drift over were frozen into ghostly blue ice sculptures, shattering into ice shards with a gust of wind.
"Awesome!" Tian Zhiyun exclaimed in delight. With a light tap of her toes on the ground, she transformed into a blur—when the Taijutsu Body Flicker Technique was used to its fullest extent, her figure weaved through the army of cursed warriors. With each flash, a head clad in black armor flew into the air. Her fists created a series of sonic booms, slamming into the armor of the cursed warriors like hammers hitting tiles, shattering them into crisp fragments.
" Taijutsu Secret: Soaring Dragon Flash!" She suddenly steadied herself in a horse stance and slammed her right fist forward. The fist energy instantly transformed into a golden dragon, and the dragon's roar shook the surrounding three hundred cursed warriors, causing them to bleed from all seven orifices. Their bodies were shattered like paper, and blood mist mixed with broken bones splattered all over the ground.
On the other side, Tian Uguisu was panting, clutching her chest. Snake patterns spread from her forehead to her neck, and a purplish-black Susanoo from the ground, reaching a height of a hundred feet. Its arms transformed into the shape of a dragon's head and a snake's body; its left hand gripped a long spear gleaming with an earthy-yellow aura, while its right hand held a giant shield covered in snake scales. " Susanoo - Dragon-Snake Form..." she murmured, slamming the spear tip into the ground. "Finally made it."
The Purple Flame Peacocks of the Star Ninja were charging towards the Tsuchikage Building. Tian Uguisu saw this and Susanoo raised his spear. "Take this!" she shouted, and the spear swept out horizontally. The wind pressure and spear light drew a hundred-mile-long arc in the air. Those Purple Flame Peacocks that had just spread their wings did not even have time to let out a cry before they were cut in half at the waist, and their fiery feathers fell to the ground.
"And you lingering ghosts!" Tian Uguisu turned her spear and thrust it fiercely at the Ghost Legion to the north. "Serpent Escape: Dragon Serpent Eight Desolations!" The moment the spear tip pierced the ground, the earth suddenly surged, and countless rock dragons emerged from the ground, opening their huge mouths to swallow the ghosts in their mouths. The scales of the rock dragons shimmered with Senjutsu Chakra, even able to lock the ghosts' spirits.
The Wind God Saku, standing at the very edge, remained motionless until he saw the increasing cracks in Tian Yueqing's mirror. Only then did he slowly clasp his hands together. The wind pattern between his brows gradually spread to his entire body, and azure Chakra enveloped him like flowing water. " Wind Release: Divine Soul Formation." His voice was even lower than the sound of the wind. The surrounding sandstorm suddenly began to swirl and condense, quickly forming a thousand-foot-tall Fujin statue—the statue held two swords, the sand swirling on the blades, exuding an aura of world-destroying power.
"Let me loosen your muscles first." Wind God Saku raised his eyes, and the left sword of the Fujin statue suddenly slashed down, accurately striking the left wing Kageko of the Golden Crow. The Golden Crow struggled wildly in pain in the mirror, and the black flames on its left wing instantly weakened by more than half. Immediately afterwards, the right sword swept out, and a visible wind blade tore through the sky, snapping the main flag of the Three Nations Allied Forces planted on the plain with a crack.
"All troops—retreat!" Wind God Saku's voice suddenly rose, rolling across the battlefield like thunder. The twin swords of the Fujin Shen statue fell simultaneously, two wind blades plowing deep furrows in the ground. The Star Ninja's Purple Flame Peacock Flock was swept by the wind blades and instantly scattered into Mars full of sparks; the formation of the Cursed Warriors was torn to pieces by the gale, and their cries mixed with the sound of the wind, making people's scalps tingle.
Taking advantage of the moment, Tian Yueqing caught her breath and drew another talisman on the mirror with her vermilion brush. "Trying to run? Not so easy." She glanced at the Ten Family members fighting below and suddenly laughed, "When have we Ten Family members ever suffered such a loss? If we don't wipe these birds out today, we'll be letting down the Kitsuchi of Iwagakure."
The Golden Crow cried out in despair in the mirror, and the black flames gradually dimmed. Tian Uguisu's Susanoo was still sweeping across the army, Tian Zhiyun had already reached the rear camp of the allied forces, Tian Muyan's ice arrows were still falling, and Wind God Saku's wind Fujin still stood in mid-air.
On the crumbling walls of Iwagakure, someone shouted "Kill!" and immediately, countless remnants of Iwagakure's army rushed out from behind the ruins, wielding broken swords, stones, or even just their fists. Their shouts, mingling with the battle cries of the Ten Family, drowned out the cries of the Golden Crow, and a burst of scorching smoke ignited under the dark sun.
As Tian Yueqing looked down, she saw Tian Uguisu's Susanoo protecting several wounded Iwagakure Ninja as they retreated, and a smile involuntarily curved her lips. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and pointed her vermilion pen at the mirror again. "Give it a little more effort, this roast chicken... it'll be almost done."