The border battlefield was unrecognizable. The wreckage of the Thunder Cannon lay in the ground like blackened iron pillars; mech parts were scattered everywhere, some still crackling with electricity; the wings of fighter jets were stuck in a huge shell crater, crawling with metal-eating demon warriors.
Kagami Uchiha knelt on the ground, his right hand clutching his bleeding ribs, his left hand supporting him to keep from falling. His Hokage robe was torn in several places, revealing the bleeding wounds underneath. The most serious wound ran from his shoulder to his side, grazed by the Demon King's bone spear—the demonic energy from that thing was seeping into his bones, making half of his body almost numb with cold.
"Cough cough..." He coughed up a mouthful of black blood, which dripped onto the ground and was instantly absorbed by the scorched earth. The Sharingan's rotation slowed down, and the patterns of the Mangekyō Sharingan appeared and disappeared intermittently. The aftereffects of overuse began to take effect, and his eye sockets felt like they were filled with scalding sand.
Opposite them, three ghost kings stood in a triangular formation.
The one on the left was shrouded in a thick black mist, with only two beams of crimson light visible. It swung a barbed chain in its hand, with half a piece of mech wreckage hanging from it. The one in the middle was a stark white skeleton with green will-o'-the-wisps flickering in its eye sockets. A thick layer of black ice had solidified on the bone sword in its hand. The one on the right was the most disgusting, resembling a fleshy ball pieced together from countless severed limbs. Wherever it rolled, the ground began to rot.
There were five more just now.
Jing grinned, then aggravated his wounds, gasping in pain. The bull-headed demon king had its core shattered by his " Space-Time Divine Slash "; and the one that spewed acid had been pinned to the ground with Lightning Release Shuriken severe injuries—it was probably already turned into pus by now.
But the remaining three are all more troublesome than the last.
" Uchiha Clan..." The Black Mist Demon King's voice was like a broken gong, "Far inferior to an Onmyoji."
"An Onmyoji?" Kagami slowly stood up, twirling a Kunai between his fingers. "You old fogies, you have good memories. Too bad, he can seal you once, but I can send you back to Hell again."
"Arrogant!" The Skeleton Demon King pointed his bone sword at him. "Those two attacks just now were only because we were holding back. Now, your Chakra is almost depleted, isn't it? Your Sharingan is about to give out too, isn't it?"
Jing didn't speak, but his Chakra flowed slowly within him. He was indeed nearing his limit. He had used the Body Flicker Technique no less than a hundred times, and he had activated the Mangekyō Sharingan's " Space-Time Divine Slash " seven times. Now, even maintaining his Sharingan felt strenuous. But he couldn't retreat—behind him were his clansmen who were retreating, and the land of the Land of Fire. One step back meant an abyss.
"How is Chief Tomioki doing?" Jing wondered to himself. When the troops were divided earlier, Tomioki led half of his people to block the gap on the right flank. There was also a Ghost King stationed there. He wondered how things were going.
Just then, a deafening roar came from afar, followed by the intense light emitted when Susanoo collapsed. Mirror's heart sank. He was all too familiar with that purple light—it was Tomioki's Susanoo.
"Looks like... your companions can't hold on either." The Fleshball Demon King let out a sickening sneer. "Give up, obediently accept your death, and you'll suffer less."
"Shut up!" Mirror's eyes instantly turned sharp, Chakra erupted. " Tomioki Chief Fuxing won't die! He's waiting to go back and hold his newborn grandson!"
He moved, not with the Body Flicker Technique, but with a full-force charge. He gathered his last Wind Release Chakra on his Kunai, and with a Sky Splitter, he charged straight at the Black Mist Demon King.
"Court death!"
The three ghost kings attacked simultaneously. The Black Mist Ghost King's chains coiled around Jing's limbs like living snakes; the Skeleton Ghost King's bone sword, radiating coldness, blocked all escape routes; the Flesh Ball Ghost King suddenly exploded, sending countless severed hands and feet flying like cannonballs.
Kagami's Sharingan activated at high speed. At the last second, he dodged the bone sword, Kunai a chain with his kunai, and kicked away the oncoming severed hand. But he was still a step too slow—another chain wrapped around his ankle, and the immense pull caused him to lose his balance instantly.
"Now!"
The Skeleton Demon King's bone sword came with black ice spikes. Jing watched helplessly as the blade magnified in his pupils. He wanted to use the Space-Time Divine Slash, but his Chakra ran out at that moment.
"Pfft--"
The bone sword pierced through his left shoulder, drawing out a spray of blood. A chilling ghostly aura spread along the wound, and Jing felt his arm instantly lose all feeling.
" Lord Hokage!"
A roar came from afar; it was the Uchiha Clan members. They had seen the carnage and wanted to rush over to help, but were held back by the surging tide of demon warriors.
"Don't come any closer!" Mirror roared with all her might, "Retreat! Get back to Konoha and report!"
He whirled around, grabbed the bone sword with his uninjured right hand, and simultaneously plunged the Kunai into the Skeleton Demon King's eye socket!
"Aww--"
The Skeleton King let out a piercing scream, its green ghostly flames flickering violently. The bone sword was instantly drawn, drawing even more blood. Using the force of the impact, Jing was sent flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground, unable to rise again.
The Black Mist Ghost King and the Fleshball Ghost King surrounded them, their scarlet eyes full of mockery.
"It's over." The Black Mist Demon King's chains slowly tightened, wrapping around Mirror's neck.
Kagami's vision began to blur. He seemed to see Tomioki —that guy, who always argued with him, was the one who supported him the most in crucial moments. They went to the battlefield together this time, back to back, cutting down the enemy. Yesterday, he was saying that after they won the battle, he would ask Kagami to be the godfather of his newborn Fugaku.
He seemed to see the streets of Konoha, his son running on the training field, Tsunade on her hips cursing, and Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu playing chess under the shade of a tree.
He seemed to see Teacher Tobirama, that man with the always stern face, and the subtle smile that appeared on his lips when he first praised his Body Flicker Technique.
"Yes... it's over." Jing laughed, black blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "But you... won't get away with it either."
His Sharingan suddenly burst forth with a blinding red light, and the patterns of the Mangekyō Sharingan became clearer than ever before.
Space Collapse!
The last of his Chakra was channeled into his eyes, and the space in front of the mirror began to distort violently, forming a constantly spinning black vortex. Caught off guard, the Black Mist Demon King and the Fleshball Demon King were sucked into the vortex, letting out terrified screams.
"You're insane! Even you..." The Black Mist Demon King's roar was torn apart within the vortex.
Mirror didn't answer; he just looked south, towards Konoha.
"Protect Konoha well..."
The black vortex suddenly contracted, then exploded.
A blinding flash of light left only a bottomless crater in its wake. Kagami Uchiha's figure, along with the two demon kings, vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.
When Tomioki died, he was still clutching half of the Uchiha clan crest in his hand.
His Susanoo already shattered, and his body was torn open with seven bloody holes by the Demon King's claws. One of his legs was also broken, so he could only kneel on the ground, supporting his body with a short sword.
The Ghost King opposite—a monster with six arms—was approaching step by step, each arm wielding a different weapon, and each dripping with black blood.
" The Uchiha clan leader? Nothing special." The Six-Armed Oni King's voice was like the scraping of metal. "Your clansmen have all fled, what are you still holding on for?"
"It's good that I ran away..." Tomioki gasped for breath, his vision blurry. "I... am the head of the Uchiha... and I'm going to die... in front of my clansmen..."
He suddenly raised his head, his last remaining Sharingan flashing red light, and with his last bit of strength, he charged forward.
The six weapons of the Six-Armed Oni King fell simultaneously.
Tomioki couldn't get even a step closer to him.
His body was cleaved into several pieces, falling to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. But until the very end, his eyes remained fixed on the direction in which his people had retreated.
The news reached Konoha just as the sun was setting.
The first to bring back the news was an Uchiha Clan with a broken arm. He rushed into the village, stumbled and crawled to the Hokage's office, and roared at the tightly closed door:
" Lord Hokage... is dead! Chief Tomioki... is also dead!"
His voice was hoarse, tinged with blood and tears.
Mitokado Homura, who was tidying up documents, suddenly dropped the scroll. Utatane Koharu's face turned deathly pale; she grabbed the table to keep from collapsing.
"What did you say?" Mitokado Homura's voice trembled. "Say it again!"
" Lord Hokage... to cover us... was killed by the Demon King... his body was never found... Tomioki... is also... gone..." The clansmen sobbed uncontrollably, "The border defenses... have fallen... the demon tide... the demon tide is about to surge into the Land of Fire!"
The news spread throughout Konoha! Boom!
It sounded like thunder exploding in the sky above Konoha.
The ninjas who were training stopped what they were doing, the housewives who were cooking stood frozen in place, and the children who were playing were held tightly by the adults.
No one spoke; the entire village fell into a deathly silence.
After an unknown amount of time, someone started crying.
First it was one person, then a group of people, and finally the entire Konoha was engulfed in weeping.
The Hokage, always with a gentle smile and Body Flicker Technique was as fast as the Lord Hokage; the Konoha Military Police Force with the scar on his face, who always said he was the strongest Uchiha; the hero who could single-handedly hold off thousands of troops on the battlefield... just like that, gone?
"No... impossible..." a young girl who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy muttered to herself, the amulet that Jing had given her last year still hanging around her neck.
"The ghost tide... it's in?" An old man grabbed the young man beside him, trembling. "Then... what do we do?"
Panic spread like a plague.
Mitokado Homura abruptly wiped away her tears and grabbed Utatane Koharu's hand. "Don't panic! We can't panic!"
"But... Jing and Tomioki are both..." Utatane Koharu's voice was trembling with tears.
"They're gone, so we must hold on even stronger!" Mitokado Homura's voice suddenly rose. "Immediately summon all ninja! Issue the highest level of alert! Have all the strongest members of each clan assemble in the plaza! And... prepare that thing left behind by Lord Tsubasa!"
Utatane Koharu, suddenly looked up. "You're going to use that?"
"What else?" Mitokado Homura looked out the window, the afterglow of the setting sun turning Konoha blood-red. "The border is gone, now it's this place. We must hold it... no matter the cost."
Just then, the northern sky suddenly darkened.
It wasn't the kind of darkness that comes with nightfall; it was a darkness obscured by something, carrying a thick aura of death.
Someone pointed north, their voice trembling:
"Look... what's that...?"
Everyone looked up.
On the distant horizon, a black wave was approaching, leaving trees withered, rivers dried up, and even the sun's rays swallowed up in its wake.
That's a ghost tide.
It was a horde of demons that had broken through the border defenses and were heading towards Konoha.
Leading the group were several figures radiating terrifying pressure—the surviving Ghost Kings.
Their gazes, traversing the wasteland and mountains, were fixed firmly on Konoha.
The crying in Konoha stopped.
Everyone stared at the approaching black wave, their faces filled with fear.
But some people gripped their weapons tightly.
Hyuga Tensei Hyuga Clan, stood up, his Byakugan gleaming; the heads of the Nara Clan and Yamanaka Clan clans began organizing the ninjas of various clans; the fat man from the Akimichi Clan patted his belly, and his Chakra began to surge.
Countless Uchiha Clan wiped away their tears, their Sharingan swirling in their sockets, the crimson light particularly dazzling in the setting sun.
Their Hokage is dead, and their clan leader is dead too.
But the Uchiha still exists, Konoha still exists.
"Prepare for battle!" someone roared.
"Defend Konoha!"
"Avenge Lord Kagami!"
"Avenge Chief Tomioki!"
Shouts rose and fell, gradually coalescing into a torrent.
The black tide of demons drew ever closer, and the Yin Shadow of death loomed over the entire Konoha.
An even more brutal battle is about to begin.