The deafening roar made the earth tremble.
On the wasteland bordering the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire, black, foul blood mingled with scorched earth, forming a vast, chaotic mess. Severed limbs and broken armor parts were piled up like a small mountain. The demon horde, which had been roaring and charging just moments before, was torn open, and the charred remains of demon warriors, emitting wisps of smoke, lay headless torsos twitching on the ground, trampled into a pulp by their comrades who followed.
"Load it! Get the hell out of here and load it!"
On the high ground, a Konoha Ninja wearing goggles roared at the top of his lungs, his hands gripping the trembling barrel of the Lightning Fire Cannon. This thing was a powerful weapon developed by Konoha's Scientific Research Department. The barrel was wrapped with dense lightning and fire attribute runes, and what was filled inside was not a cannonball, but a scroll of lightning and fire attribute Chakra compressed to the extreme. The last shot had been fired, and the purple-blue lightning Kakkō was like a living dragon, instantly shredding hundreds of Oni warriors and blasting a scorched crater in the ground.
Two ninjas nearby frantically stuffed the new scroll into the machine. Amidst the clattering of gears, one of them suddenly pointed to the sky and shouted, "Air support is here!"
Three hundred silver-white fighter jets swooped down with a piercing shriek, the runic arrays beneath their wings glowing red as dozens of small bombs, trailing fiery exhaust, crashed into the horde of demons. Explosions rippled through the air, and black shockwaves sent swathes of demon warriors flying. Their tattered armor melted into molten iron under the intense heat, hissing and smoking amidst the demonic energy.
"Awesome!" The ninja operating the Thunder Cannon grinned, revealing teeth blackened by gunpowder. "This is what real warfare is like! Much more exciting than those drawn-out ninja missions!"
Behind him, a dozen figures clad in heavy metal armor were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the oni warriors climbing up. These mechs were about three zhang tall, with glowing runes wrapped around their joints. Their punches whistled through the air, capable of smashing an oni warrior's head into a pulp with a single Space Break. The left arm of one of the mechs was cleaved open by an oni warrior's rusty blade, revealing the hissing sealing runes inside. However, the Anbu Ninja in the cockpit remained unfazed, drawing his light blade from his back and using the mech's momentum to sweep it across, instantly severing seven or eight oni claws that lunged at him.
"First squad of the Anbu, cover the left flank!" came the calm command over the communicator.
"Receive!"
The three mechs immediately changed formation, their light blades and iron fists working in perfect unison. These Anbu were Konoha's most elite spearhead; they were given priority in being equipped not only with conventional ninja tools, but also with the latest rune mechs, lightning cannons, and fighter jets, all still in the experimental stage. The old monsters in the Scientific Research Department had said that the Anbu's equipment budget was more than the combined budget of three ordinary ninja battalions from the five major legions—after all, in a life-or-death situation, every extra second these metal behemoths could hold out could save the entire village.
But there were just too many ghost tides.
Just as one area was blown to pieces, even more surged up from behind, the black tide like an ever-filling hole, charging forward over the corpses of its comrades. A demon warrior missing half his body climbed up the barrel of the Thunderfire Cannon, only to be kicked down by the operator. Just as he was about to curse, he saw a dark shadow suddenly rise from the distant demon tide.
The dark figure was at least five meters tall, covered in tattered, dark gold armor. Its giant axe, accompanied by a foul gust of wind, cleaved through half of the hilltop. The cannon barrel of the Thunderfire Cannon was bent into a pretzel shape, and the operator, unable to dodge in time, was half-buried under the rubble. Just as he reached out to call for help, he was torn to pieces by several oni warriors who rushed up after him.
"It's Ghost General!" someone roared.
"Damn, this is the thirtieth one already!"
The defensive line on the high ground instantly crumbled, and the Oni Warriors surged up like a tide. No matter how fast the mechs' light blades were, they couldn't cut through them. Soon, they were surrounded layer upon layer, and the metal shells were being gnawed at, making a creaking sound.
Just then, a red lightning bolt suddenly ripped across the battlefield.
No one saw how the figure appeared. With a "whoosh," the ghost generals surrounding the mecha suddenly stopped in unison. The next second, their heads all rolled to the ground, and the eerie green ghost flames went out at the same time.
Kagami Uchiha stood atop the mecha, his black Hokage robes fluttering in the wind, the Tomoe in his crimson Sharingan spinning rapidly. The Kunai in his hand was still dripping black blood; in that instant, he had used the Body Flicker Technique to circle the horde of demons at least three times, each strike precisely hitting the demon generals' necks—one of these monsters' few weak points.
"Mirror! If you had arrived a second later, I would have been gnawed to pieces!" The laughter and curses of Torifu Akimichi, the captain of the Anbu Ninja, came from the cockpit of the mecha, tinged with the relief of surviving a disaster.
Kagami Uchiha didn't turn around; his Sharingan on the axe-wielding demon general in the distance. It was this very thing that had destroyed the Thunderfire Cannon, and the residual pressure on the axe blade was far stronger than that of an ordinary demon general.
"That's the vanguard general under the Ghost King," Jing's voice came through the mask, cold as ice. "Leave him to me."
Before he finished speaking, he had already disappeared from the spot.
The axe-wielding demon general had just cleaved a thunder cannon in two and was roaring when it suddenly felt a chill down its spine. It whirled around, its giant axe slashing behind it with a whooshing sound, but it missed its target. Only a faint afterimage of Chakra remained in its wake, while Kagami Uchiha appeared beside it, his Kunai piercing through the gaps in its armor.
"Laugh--"
Blackish-green liquid spurted out, and the demon general let out a deafening roar, sweeping his giant axe and forcing Jing to retreat Body Flicker Technique. But this had already worked; the Lightning Release Chakra attached to the Kunai was burning its internal organs, and white smoke was rising from the wound.
"Interesting." Mirror licked his lips, a hint of excitement flashing in his Sharingan. He could sense a familiar aura emanating from this demon general—energy similar to that of the demons sealed by the Uzumaki Clan, only stronger and purer.
The Ghost General was completely enraged, swinging his giant axe like a storm, each strike shaking the ground. But Jing's Body Flicker Technique was faster than the wind; he moved like a red lightning bolt through the axe's shadow, his Sharingan precisely capturing the gaps in each attack, occasionally delivering a slash, each strike landing in the same spot—the gap in the armor he had just stabbed.
"Die!" Ghost General suddenly abandoned his defense, and his giant axe slammed into the ground with the force of a self-destruction, the shockwave instantly raising a cloud of dust.
Mirror appeared amidst the smoke and dust, his left sleeve torn by the blast, blood seeping through. But he didn't care; instead, he smiled, "Now."
Chakra condensed into a spiral of Lightning Release on Kunai in his palm. He hurled the Kunai, Kunai lit up instantly. The Kunai didn't attack the demon general directly, but instead grazed its neck, the resulting wind blades precisely slicing through the gaps in the armor that had been repeatedly attacked.
" Space-Time Divine Slash!"
With a low shout, Jing's Sharingan pattern suddenly changed, revealing the Mangekyō Sharingan. The space around the Ghost General's neck twisted violently, a dark crack flashed by, and when viewed again, its head was gone. Its massive body swayed, then crashed to the ground, turning into black smoke and dissipating.
Having dealt with the Ghost General, Jing was just about to catch his breath when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a blinding purple light on the right flank of the battlefield.
That was Uchiha Tomioki's Susanoo.
A massive purple skeleton rose from the ground, quickly covered with muscles and armor. The giant, wielding a giant sword, was like a war god amidst the horde of demons. Tomioki stood atop Susanoo's head, his Sharingan bloodshot from overuse. His left arm hung limply, clearly injured, yet he still wielded his sword with incredible speed.
"Chief Tomioki! Zuo Yi is about to collapse!" Jing used Body Flicker Technique to appear beside him.
"We have to hold on, even if we can't!" Uchiha Tomioki roared back, his Susanoo's giant sword sweeping across, instantly clearing a space. "You think you're the only one who can fight? I have the reputation of 200,000 Uchiha behind me!"
This is not an exaggeration.
Since Konoha encouraged childbirth, the Uchiha Clan, relying on its large population, managed to swell its population to nearly 200,000, becoming the largest clan in Konoha. Although most of them were still infants, unable to even hold a sword, the sheer number was enough to leave other clans far behind. Tomioki often said that even in a war of attrition, the Uchiha could afford to wait—of course, he didn't want to wait now; every one of these wretches killed was one less to lose, and he would cut down as many as he could.
The purple light of Susanoo grew brighter and brighter, and each time the giant sword fell, it carried a world-destroying momentum. However, there were simply too many demons. Every time one was cut down, another surged up. The giant's armor was already covered with claw marks, and the runes were growing dimmer and dimmer.
"This won't work!" Uchiha Tomioki coughed up blood. "We're almost out of ammunition, and the mecha's energy is nearly depleted!"
The mirror looked behind him.
There, a group of gray-haired ninjas were dragging their weary bodies forward. There was an old man from the Hyuga Clan, whose Byakugan was not as sharp as it used to be, but Gentle Fist was still precise; there was an elder from the Nara Clan, who was drawing Shadow Possession Jutsu on the ground with a cane, his movements were a bit slow, but he could always trap a group of demon warriors at the crucial moment; and there was a fat man from the Akimichi Clan, who, even though he was old, was still powerful when using the Multi-Size Technique, and could kill more than a dozen demon warriors with one sit.
These are all powerful elders from various villages. They should be enjoying their retirement at home, but upon hearing of the emergency at the border, they insisted on rushing to the front lines with their canes. Just now, Jing also saw the old elder of the Uchiha Clan, that nearly eighty-year-old grandfather, who managed to build three lines of defense using Fire Style, but he himself was torn open by the demon warrior's claws.
"How much ammunition do we have left?" Jing asked through the communicator.
"The Thunder Cannon can still fire three more rounds, the fighter jets only have one last round of bombs left, and the mechs' energy can only last for an hour at most!" The Anbu's answer was filled with despair.
Kagami gritted his teeth, his Sharingan scanning the entire battlefield.
The demon horde was driven back into the Land of Iron, but the enormous rift in the Gate of Hell remained, and new demon warriors continued to pour out. In the Yin Shadow further away, an even more terrifying aura seemed to be surging—that was the true terror... the Demon King.
He suddenly remembered the scroll that Biwako had given him before he set off, saying it was the Third Hokage's last trump card, and should not be used unless absolutely necessary.
Now, it's probably a last resort.
Just as Jing reached out to touch the scroll, the battlefield suddenly fell silent.
It wasn't the silence of a paused battle, but a deathly stillness where all the Oni warriors simultaneously stopped moving.
They all turned their heads in unison, their empty eyes gazing northwards, as if waiting for something.
Immediately afterwards, a suffocating pressure came from afar, a hundred times stronger than the axe-wielding ghost general from before.
The fighter jets in the sky suddenly went out of control, as if crushed by an invisible force, exploding into fireballs in mid-air. The ninjas on the ground all knelt down. The purple light of Susanoo flickered violently, and Tomioki groaned, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth—a sign that his mental power was being forcibly suppressed.
Kagami's Sharingan suddenly widened as he saw the demon horde part in the distance, creating a path, and a figure dressed in white armor slowly approached.
The figure wasn't tall; in fact, one could say he was slender. But with each step he took, the earth trembled. The long sword at his waist gleamed with an eerie red light, and the black gemstones on its blade seemed to come alive, flowing with a blood-like luster in the sunlight.
One by one, ghost generals were respectfully following behind him, half of their bodies still emanating black mist, clearly indicating that they were up to no good.
The white-clad ghost general stopped, raised his head, and pointed his empty helmet at Jing and Tomioki.
" The Uchiha Clan of the Realm of the Living... must be killed!" A cold voice rang out, like countless wronged souls whispering simultaneously, "The remnants of the Sage of Six Paths... This time, no one can save you."
He slowly drew his long sword.
The moment the sword was drawn, the ghostly energy in the air suddenly surged, and the previously stilled demon warriors let out deafening roars, once again forming a black tide. This time, they had only one target—
Kagami Uchiha and Uchiha Tomioki stood on the high ground.
Jing gripped the scroll tightly, and Tomioki's Susanoo stood upright again, its giant sword pointing directly at the white-robed ghost general.
In the distance, the older generation of ninjas helped each other to their feet, the Byakugan of the Hyuga elder lit up again, and the Kageko of the Nara elder on the ground stretched and contracted erratically.
"Chief Tomioki, let's see who can kill more enemies," Jing's voice was unusually calm.
Tomioki laughed, the blood at the corner of his mouth particularly glaring. "Nonsense, this time I'll definitely get more than you!"
"Then let's give it a try."
Kagami's Mangekyō Sharingan spun again, and black flames ignited on Tomioki's Susanoo giant sword.
At the end of the battlefield, where steel and blood clashed, the white-clad ghost general's long sword fell.
A new wave has begun.