"That was a tailed beast's attack!"
"That kid… Golden Thunderflame! It's the Golden Thunderflame Wen Lan!"
Voices erupted among the Iwagakure ninja as many recognized Wen Lan's identity.
In an instant, discussion surged like a tidal wave—shock, disbelief, and fear mixing together.
Even the Konoha side began to stir, murmurs spreading rapidly through the ranks.
But Nara Shikaku didn't freeze for even a second. He immediately issued the order to advance!
Two kilometers away, Konoha ninja surged forward toward the Uchiha and Hyūga positions. Thousands of ninja faced off against Iwagakure.
Dust billowed into the air, chakra pressure rolling like waves. The oppressive tension between the two sides was almost suffocating.
Wen Lan descended from the air and stood at the center of the battlefield. Golden lightning danced around his body as his cold gaze swept across the enemy formation.
"Mūō," Wen Lan shouted, pointing at the massive form of the Five-Tails. "Are you sure you want to be my enemy?"
Mūō's pupils shrank violently. Its enormous body trembled slightly, as if that single sentence had pierced memories buried deep within time.
It remembered its carefree days after being born… remembered the kindness of the Sage of Six Paths…
"Who are you?" Mūō lowered its head to look at Wen Lan, its voice trembling. "How do you know my name?!"
"Who I am isn't important," Wen Lan replied calmly. "I'll ask you again—do you intend to be my enemy?"
Mūō's eyes flickered. It didn't know Wen Lan's true identity, but its name had never been told to anyone—not even to its compatible host, Han.
Yet this boy knew it.
That meant only one of two possibilities:
Either he was connected to the Sage of Six Paths…
Or he was a direct inheritor of the Sage's will.
Mūō's breathing grew heavy. Tailed beast chakra surged around it, yet it failed to condense into an attack.
It stared at Wen Lan's eyes—eyes that seemed to see through everything.
Finally, it lowered its head.
"I understand," Mūō said slowly. "But I hope that one day, you'll tell me why you know my name."
"Of course," Wen Lan answered.
Boom!
Steam exploded outward as Mūō's form dispersed, revealing Han, now visibly weakened. Han frowned, clutching his abdomen.
He had seen everything from inside.
To be honest, when Wen Lan sliced apart the Tailed Beast Bomb, even Han had been terrified.
But what truly unsettled him now was Wen Lan calling Mūō by name. After so many years together, Han himself hadn't even known Mūō's true name.
Han staggered forward a step. Releasing the tailed beast had nearly drained all his chakra; he was in a severe weakened state.
In a deep, hoarse voice, he said:
"This war… you've won."
More importantly, Wen Lan cutting the Tailed Beast Bomb had utterly crushed Iwagakure's morale. And Wen Lan's aura hadn't weakened at all—if fighting resumed, every Iwa ninja present might die.
As Han spoke, the Iwagakure formation collapsed in spirit. Many hands gripping weapons began to tremble.
"Don't worry," Nara Shikaku stepped forward and said calmly. "We'll treat the prisoners well. You'll be detained, and once the war ends, Iwagakure can pay to redeem you."
Han nodded, then raised his hand, signaling the remaining Iwagakure ninja to lay down their weapons.
"There's one more thing," Han added. "I want to let one person go—to report what happened here to the Tsuchikage."
"No problem," Shikaku replied.
The dust slowly settled. Silence reclaimed the battlefield.
Then the Konoha side erupted in cheers of victory.
Amid the cheers, countless ninja looked at Wen Lan with reverence, shouting his name at the top of their lungs:
"Golden Thunderflame! Golden Thunderflame!"
"Hero Wen Lan! Hero Wen Lan!"
Even the Uchiha and Hyūga clans gazed at Wen Lan with gratitude. They all knew—if not for him, once that Tailed Beast Bomb landed, they would all be dead.
Standing amid the ruined battlefield, Wen Lan calmly looked over every exhausted, yet relieved face.
He raised his voice and shouted:
"Everyone! Victory in war never belongs to one person alone. My strength by itself means nothing—only unity allows us to move forward!
The peace of Konoha, the future of Konoha, is built with your flesh and blood!
This victory belongs to every single one of you!
I am only a part of Konoha. Every one of you… is a hero!"
As his words echoed, pride surged through the crowd. Eyes reddened with emotion.
A Hyūga ninja suddenly shouted:
"To hell with being a hero! I don't care about that—I just know I owe you my life, Wen Lan!"
"Damn right! I owe you my life! If anything ever happens to you, I'll go through fire and blades to help you!"
"I owe you my life too!"
In an instant, voices shouting "I owe you my life" surged like a tide, echoing across the battlefield ruins.
Nearby, Shikaku stared at Wen Lan in astonishment.
He understood perfectly what those words meant.
This was the highest art of uniting hearts—achieving leadership through humility.
By deliberately lowering his own value, Wen Lan made others feel injustice on his behalf.
Once that emotion fermented, it would transform—on future missions and battlefields—into absolute trust and unwavering loyalty.
And that trust was far harder to destroy than raw power.
Hizashi walked up beside Wen Lan and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I know why you said those things," Hizashi said firmly. "But they're right—I owe you my life."
Wen Lan smiled slightly and gripped Hizashi's hand.
After returning to camp, Konoha forces imprisoned the Iwagakure captives.
Meanwhile, news of the battle spread across the ninja world as if it had grown wings.
Kumogakure
A stood grim-faced, staring at the intelligence report in his hands. He read it over and over, his head buzzing.
Back then, when his father fought the Eight-Tails barehanded, the entire ninja world had been shaken—but that was still just physical combat.
Now someone had blocked a Tailed Beast Bomb with a human body.
It was utterly unbelievable.
"Golden Thunderflame… Wen Lan…"
A suddenly stood up. Lightning chakra flared, instantly reducing the report to ash.
He regretted it now—deeply.
Why hadn't he killed Wen Lan the moment he first heard of him?
Now he could only watch as Konoha produced yet another terrifying powerhouse.
Iwagakure
Ōnoki sat on his stone chair, gripping the battle report so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Standing beside him were his son Kitsuchi and the Four-Tails' jinchūriki, Rōshi.
The three of them wore different expressions.
They didn't want to believe the report—but Han had been captured, and the account had come directly from returning Iwagakure ninja.
Belief was no longer optional.
Ōnoki slowly closed his eyes. After a long moment, he opened them again, exhaustion filling his gaze.
"Iwagakure… has lost…"
Rōshi said nothing, only closing his eyes in silence.
In raw strength, he was comparable to Han. But when it came to the power of a Tailed Beast Bomb, the Five-Tails was undoubtedly stronger than the Four-Tails.
Yet a single Konoha ninja had sliced apart the Five-Tails' bomb.
That alone was enough to inspire fear.
And the most terrifying fact of all—
That opponent was only five years old.
Five years old.
Above Kage-level.
In the past, no one would have dared to even speak such words.
Yet now, it stood unmistakably before them as reality.
—------------------------------
Pat reon Advance Chapters: patreon.com/YonkoSlayer