Pak. Pak. Pak
A dense rhythm of rushing footsteps thundered across the land.
Sunagakure's main forces crossed directly into the territory of the Land of Fire.
Not long after...
They arrived at the location where the advance unit had been wiped out the previous day.
"Is this the place…?"
Ebizō's voice was low and heavy as he stared at the crimson-stained ground before him.
After the five surviving members of Takashi's advance squad retreated last night, they had already reported everything that happened to Ebizō in detail.
"Yes."
Guizhi nodded, his voice subdued.
"This is where it happened. Yesterday… I encountered Konoha Jōnin Yagami here."
"…The captain and the others probably didn't make it."
Returning to the battlefield, the fierce clash from yesterday seemed to replay itself vividly in his mind.
Without realizing it, his body trembled again.
"Spread out. Search the area."
With confirmation in hand, Ebizō led the Sand shinobi forward.
The deeper they went, the darker the ground became—soaked in dried blood.
Yet not a single corpse lay in sight.
Bodies were valuable bargaining chips after a war.
They had already been sealed away into storage scrolls by Yuhi Shinku and the others long ago.
Though the blood had dried, the stench lingering in the air was still thick and choking.
Every Sand shinobi present wore a grave expression.
The sheer volume of blood, the shattered terrain, the countless pits and gouges—
All of it spoke silently of how brutal yesterday's battle had been.
"…This is the slash you mentioned?"
When they reached the center of the battlefield, several massive trenches stretching across the land drew everyone's attention.
Shock rippled through the Sand forces.
Yesterday's reports claimed that the enemy's sword strike had carved through the battlefield at a height of ten to twenty meters.
No one—including Ebizō and the other commanders—had believed it.
In the ninja world, such swordsmanship bordered on the impossible.
Even Konoha's legendary White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, could only cut three or four meters at most—and only by channeling chakra.
But now—
Standing before these vast trenches that split the battlefield apart, disbelief faded.
The evidence was undeniable.
"Yes…"
Guizhi pointed toward one of the massive gouges, his face pale.
His voice trembled as he spoke.
"That single attack… killed thirty people from the advance unit."
Gulp… Gulp…
The sound of swallowed saliva echoed through the Sand ranks.
It felt unreal.
Absurd.
Yet the truth was carved directly into the earth beneath their feet.
"…This Yagami is far more troublesome than expected."
A calm but solemn female voice broke the silence.
The speaker had short golden bangs framing her cheeks.
Her backless outfit exposed smooth, pale skin beneath the desert sun.
She was Sunagakure Jōnin—
Pakura of Scorch Release.
At this point in time, she had not yet become Sunagakure's "hero."
"He will pay for this slaughter."
Ebizō spoke like an oath.
Behind him, the Sand shinobi nodded sharply.
The advance unit hadn't retreated.
They had fought until every last one of them died.
Though the loss weighed heavily on morale, hatred now burned hotter.
And hatred—
Was fuel.
"Move out. Target—Kikyō Castle!"
Ebizō gave the order.
He stepped over the trench first, heading straight toward the fortress.
Patta. Patta. Patta.
The marching resumed.
Sunagakure's forces advanced once more.
"Lord Yagami!"
"Lord Yagami!"
After leaving the pavilion, Yagami walked along the walls of Kikyō Castle beside Kushina.
Every Konoha shinobi they passed greeted him respectfully.
It left Yagami feeling oddly speechless.
Can't you see I'm clearly developing something here with Kushina?
Why are you all interrupting like this?
He smiled and nodded politely, complaining silently in his head as they continued walking.
Soon, they reached the highest point of the castle.
Yuhi Shinku was already waiting.
As the commander of the garrison, he hadn't relaxed for even a moment.
"Shinku-san," Yagami asked, "when will reinforcements from the village arrive?"
His system mission required him to hold Kikyō Castle until Konoha's support forces arrived.
"The battlefield report should've reached Konoha last night," Shinku replied after a brief pause.
"If my estimate is correct… reinforcements should arrive tomorrow."
"Tomorrow…?"
Yagami frowned.
The system's condition was clear—defend the castle until reinforcements arrived.
Which meant—
Sunagakure would attack before tomorrow.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Yagami's expression darken, both Shinku and Kushina looked at him with concern.
Yagami didn't answer.
[Kagura's Mind.]
He closed his eyes.
His perception surged outward, chakra flowing at full force.
Ten kilometers.
Twenty.
Thirty.
The chakra drain intensified as his sensory range expanded far beyond normal limits.
Then—
Something entered his perception.
A massive presence.
Forty kilometers away.
A vast number of chakra signatures surged into his awareness.
More than a thousand.
Boom—!
Yagami instantly cut off the chakra flow.
The overwhelming sensation snapped back into his body like a crashing wave.
"Haa…"
He exhaled deeply.
"The Sunagakure army is approaching," Yagami said solemnly.
"Their numbers… are roughly a thousand."
"…What?! A thousand?!"
Shinku and Kushina both froze.
At present, Kikyō Castle had barely a hundred defenders.
Even counting Yagami himself—whose strength could compensate for many—it was still equivalent to perhaps three hundred combatants at best.
Three hundred—
Against over a thousand Sand shinobi.
How were they supposed to fight that?
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