"The winner—Ashina-ryū Isshin!"
One day later, in the Land of Iron, Kyoto.
Before a packed audience, Isshin won exactly as everyone had expected—effortlessly, as always.
From the moment the referee announced the start of the match to the instant his opponent was sent flying out of the arena, less time had passed than it took the referee to finish announcing both competitors' names. With another overwhelming victory, he claimed the championship of this year's National Swordsmanship Tournament.
"And with that, this year's National Swordsmanship Tournament has officially come to a successful conclusion! Please remain seated for a few moments. Shortly, our esteemed General Mifune of the Land of Iron will personally present the awards to all the winners and bestow the title of 'Sword Saint' upon those who have demonstrated truly outstanding skill!"
"But first, everyone in the audience—please give the warmest applause and loudest cheers to this tournament's overall champion, Isshin-shishō!"
Before the announcer had even finished speaking, thunderous cheers erupted from every side of the arena. Wave after wave of applause rolled across the stands as countless spectators leaped to their feet, frantically waving the small Ashina-ryū flags in their hands.
Many of the older spectators couldn't help feeling emotional.
In all their years, they had never seen a competitor this overwhelmingly powerful—or this flamboyant in style.
From the preliminary rounds all the way to the finals, almost no one had managed to survive even a single exchange against Isshin. The referee would barely finish shouting "Begin!" before the match was already over.
Many spectators hadn't even had time to settle into their seats before the fighter on stage was already flat on the ground.
It truly was worthy of the formidable samurai who had fought the legendary "Crimson Flame Shinichi" to a draw a few months ago and declared that the two of them would one day become the strongest.
His overwhelming strength also filled many people in the Land of Iron with a deep sense of pride.
Of course, quite a few spectators also carried a small regret.
Isshin's matches were incredible. They were spectacular. They showcased overwhelming strength.
But they ended far too quickly.
More often than not, the crowd had only just opened their mouths to cheer for what they expected to be an exciting duel before it was already over. By the time they realized what had happened, the only person left standing on the stage was the tall young swordsman, accompanied by the referee's still-shaken announcement.
It was as fast as lightning—gone in an instant.
On the stage, Isshin smiled warmly as he nodded to the spectators on every side of the arena, acknowledging them one by one. His smile was kind, sincere, and dazzling—the kind of grin Homie would wear at a fan meet-and-greet.
At the same time, however, his mind was occupied with something entirely different.
When exactly is the Sword Saint Entry going to appear on my status panel?
He had gone through all kinds of outrageous publicity stunts, turning what should have been a tournament confined to samurai circles into one of the hottest topics across the entire ninja world.
Even so, he still had no idea how much longer it would take for the Sword Master Entry to evolve into Sword Saint.
After all, a clone only gained recognition at half the efficiency of the original body.
Although this tournament had drawn a far wider audience than any previous year, the people paying close attention were primarily the intelligence divisions and upper leadership of the various hidden villages.
As for the ordinary civilians throughout the ninja world...
They simply didn't care about the Land of Iron—a distant neutral nation of samurai. Many had never even heard its name before.
Whether the combined attention of the Land of Iron itself, the intelligence communities of the major hidden villages, and their upper echelons would be enough to push the Sword Master Entry over the threshold into Sword Saint...
Even Isshin couldn't say for certain.
As he pondered the matter, a new thought quietly surfaced.
Maybe... it's time to upgrade the Clone Entry.
Once the Clone Entry advanced, there was a good chance this clone's recognition acquisition efficiency would improve as well.
Back when his Entries were still low-tier, operating at fifty percent efficiency hadn't felt like much of a handicap.
But now that he had reached the blue- and purple-tier Entries, where the amount of recognition required had skyrocketed, that limitation was becoming more and more of a burden.
If he wanted to keep developing efficiently in the future, upgrading the Clone Entry needed to move to the top of his priorities.
There was another issue he couldn't ignore as well.
This clone's combat strength had already begun falling behind the original body.
That couldn't really be helped.
At the moment, the clone could only equip a single purple-tier Entry, and the only one Isshin currently had equipped was Flash Step.
Meanwhile, the original body already possessed four purple-tier Entries, and its total number of Entries was twice that of the clone.
His bloodline talent Entries, Adamant Guard and Innate Divine Strength, both possessed tremendous potential, but neither had fully matured yet. For the time being, their actual effectiveness lay somewhere between blue-tier and purple-tier.
Taken together, the power gap between the clone and the original body was steadily widening.
So whether for long-term growth or simply to raise this clone's current ceiling, upgrading the Clone Entry was an unavoidable step.
The question is... which purple Entry should I sacrifice?
Still wearing an enthusiastic smile as he waved to the audience from the stage, Isshin had already begun weighing his options.
Upgrading the Clone Entry required sacrificing a purple-tier Entry.
Yet every single purple-tier Entry he currently possessed was irreplaceably important.
I'll have to give that some serious thought afterward.
As that thought passed through his mind, another question quietly emerged.
After Sword Saint, what comes next? And how do I advance to it?
According to the ninja ranking system, a Swordsmanship Apprentice corresponded to an Academy Student.
A Swordsman corresponded to a Genin.
A Sword Master corresponded to a Chūnin.
A Sword Saint corresponded to a Jōnin.
So what came after that?
If the fifth tier of the ninja hierarchy was the Kage...
Then what would its equivalent be for swordsmen?
General?
Or...
Still maintaining that approachable smile while continuing to wave at the cheering spectators around the arena, Isshin sank into deep thought.
...
The Land of Waves.
A tiny nation with little territory.
Under normal circumstances, this small country, surrounded by sea breezes and fishing nets, attracted almost no attention.
But at this moment...
Its geographic location had suddenly become critically important.
It lay directly on the route Kirigakure had to use to transport supplies and reinforcements from the Land of Water to the front lines, making it an indispensable logistics hub in the village's entire overseas supply chain.
The weather here was now even worse than around Rinkai City.
Violent winds drove sheets of rain across the island at almost horizontal angles, battering everything in their path. Visibility was abysmal. Everywhere one looked, there was nothing but gray curtains of rain and trees bent nearly double beneath the force of the gale.
A Konohagakure force of several dozen shinobi was slowly making its way across the muddy wetlands.
It was Minato's team, accompanied by Hiashi.
Leading the group were Hiashi and several elite members of the Hyūga Clan, responsible for scouting and gathering intelligence.
In weather this extreme, the Inuzuka Clan's tracking by scent and the Aburame Clan's kikaichū detection had become almost useless.
The downpour washed away every lingering scent, while the raging winds scattered the insects in every direction.
Only the Hyūga Clan's Byakugan could still pierce the endless curtain of rain, allowing them to detect chakra signatures and hidden enemies one—or even several—kilometers away.
Still, the terrible weather wasn't entirely without its advantages.
Kirigakure was famous throughout the ninja world for the Hiding in Mist Technique, but that mist was one they created themselves. It was infused with the user's chakra, allowing Kirigakure shinobi to locate enemies within it by sensing the distribution of their own chakra.
The raging storm currently engulfing the Land of Waves, however, was nothing more than a natural weather phenomenon.
There were no traces of chakra.
No artificial markers.
Kirigakure's forces were just as dependent on eyesight and experience as everyone else while navigating these conditions.
In other words, the storm served as a natural barrier for both sides.
And thanks to the Byakugan, Konohagakure actually held the advantage behind that barrier.
Meanwhile, Minato walked in the middle of the formation.
Every so often, he would flick his wrist, silently planting one of his specially crafted three-pronged Flying Thunder God kunai in a concealed location. Depending on the situation, he would also discreetly retrieve others, ensuring every remaining marker occupied the most tactically advantageous position.
His figure would occasionally vanish from where he stood, only to quietly reappear among the team moments later.
With Hiashi's Byakugan providing long-range reconnaissance and Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique granting instantaneous mobility, the squad moved like a fish slipping silently through the deep sea, weaving through the heavily fortified waters behind Kirigakure's defenses without making a sound.
Their objective in venturing deep into the Land of Waves was simple:
Find Kirigakure's logistical headquarters hidden somewhere among the countless islands.
Yet three consecutive days had passed.
They had searched nearly every location across the main island of the Land of Waves, yet still hadn't found the heart of Kirigakure's logistics network.
Clearly, Kirigakure had gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal and protect it.
Some time later, the group gathered inside a concealed cave.
Days of constant vigilance, coupled with the relentless weather, had left unmistakable signs of exhaustion on everyone's face.
The final suspicious location had turned out to be another dead end.
Although they had discovered several scattered supply depots of varying sizes over the past few days, they had deliberately refrained from acting, unwilling to alert the enemy prematurely.
After discussing the situation for a while, Minato finally spoke.
"I'll head back to headquarters first and report what we've found."
Hiashi nodded.
Although Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique couldn't teleport him directly back to headquarters in a single jump, the distance between the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire's coastline wasn't particularly great.
He had already left a sufficiently dense chain of Flying Thunder God kunai along the route.
By using those markers as stepping stones, he could leap from one to the next and return to headquarters in an extremely short time.
"Stay hidden. I'll be back soon."
With that, Minato disappeared from sight.
...
Just as Isshin claimed the championship of the National Swordsmanship Tournament...
And just as Minato returned to headquarters...
High above the eastern and southeastern coastline, deep within the massive storm clouds that had blanketed the region for days with unceasing lightning and torrential rain—
A phenomenon suddenly appeared.
The lead-gray thunderclouds, which had been churning evenly until then, abruptly began collapsing inward toward a single point, as though an invisible giant hand had plunged into the heart of the cloud sea and violently stirred it.
The clouds within nearly a kilometer of that point trembled violently.
Their outer edges were torn into countless wispy strands before being swallowed by even fiercer currents an instant later.
Deep within the clouds, countless bolts of lightning writhed like frenzied serpents.
At the center of that storm...
Shinichi floated in midair with his eyes closed, suspended amid endless thunder.
Hundreds of longswords, each flowing with nearly liquid golden lightning, surrounded him.
Their tips pointed outward as they revolved slowly.
Fine golden arcs linked every blade together, weaving an enormous electromagnetic lattice that pulsed rhythmically.
The violent natural lightning raging throughout the storm clouds seemed to be irresistibly drawn toward it.
From every direction, countless bolts converged upon the massive network, pouring into the floating golden swords.
Some of the hilts were the first to give way beneath the overwhelming energy.
They emitted strained buzzing sounds before bursting into clouds of golden smoke that vanished into the lightning.
But every time several swords shattered, Shinichi formed hand seals.
New golden lightning swords materialized from the void to fill the gaps.
Old swords collapsed.
New swords were born.
Destruction and rebirth repeated endlessly within the thunderclouds, like a silent tug-of-war.
Sword of the Thunder God.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
Inspired by the Second Hokage's Shadow Clone Technique, the Third Hokage—known as the Professor—created this A-rank ninjutsu by combining ninja tools with ninjutsu.
Unlike ordinary Shadow Clones, the replicas produced by the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique possessed far greater durability and resistance to damage.
After all, Shadow Clones were meant for probing, distraction, and support.
The replicas created by the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique were genuine weapons, intended to kill enemies and clash directly against hostile ninjutsu.
At this very moment, Shinichi was using the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique to multiply the Sword of the Thunder God into hundreds of copies.
Using those replicated swords as nodes, he was constructing a massive electromagnetic guidance network throughout the thunderclouds.
The difficulty of this operation exceeded that of simply performing the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique by an unknown margin.
Not only did Shinichi have to maintain the physical durability of hundreds of Sword of the Thunder God shadow clones, he also had to preserve as much of each blade's lightning properties as possible.
He had to divide his attention between controlling the chakra structure, electrical capacity, and energy threshold of every single sword.
The slightest imbalance would cause a blade to collapse on its own amid the thunderclouds.
The sheer level of precision and mastery of Lightning Release required for such fine control was staggering. Even with the support of multiple Entries, Shinichi could barely sustain this nearly insane concept on a theoretical level.
Even so, one Sword of the Thunder God after another continued to reach its limit under the relentless bombardment of natural lightning, dissolving into clouds of smoke amid the churning storm clouds.
However, empowered by Piercing Insight, every sword that collapsed gave Shinichi a deeper understanding of the conditions required to maintain it.
And every newly forged blade became slightly more stable than the last...
Able to endure just a little longer.
Hundreds of Sword of the Thunder God clones revolved slowly around him.
Another massive silver-white bolt erupted from deep within the storm clouds, crashing violently into the formation of golden lightning swords.
Yet the rate at which they shattered gradually slowed...
While the speed at which new swords formed steadily increased.
No one knew how much time had passed.
Then Shinichi slowly opened his eyes.
Every Sword of the Thunder God clone surrounding him had disappeared.
Only the original remained.
Picking up the Sword of the Thunder God, Shinichi silently studied the fine cracks spreading across its hilt, his expression unreadable as he stared at it in silence.
...
A short while later, at Konohagakure's Southeastern Army temporary headquarters.
Following Minato's return, Utatane Koharu convened another emergency meeting.
After quietly listening to Minato's report, everyone fell into thoughtful silence.
Koharu's gaze unconsciously settled on Shinichi.
To her surprise, after remaining silent for a long moment, the young man finally raised his head and said something utterly shocking.
"Elder... launch the general offensive in three days."
The entire command headquarters instantly fell silent.
After a moment, Chief Strategist Nara Shikaku was the first to break it.
His voice carried obvious hesitation.
"Captain Shinichi, according to our original plan, we only need to continue harassing Kirigakure, wearing down their fighting strength while waiting for Captain Minato to locate their logistical headquarters. Once that happens, we can close the net at our own pace. We've been steadily building our advantage, and the situation is becoming increasingly favorable for us. Why disrupt our momentum at such a critical moment?"
"Time isn't on our side."
Shinichi shook his head.
"Tell us your reasoning, Shinichi," Koharu said.
"Elder, because right now, Heaven, Earth, and Man are all on our side."
After a brief pause, he continued.
"As for the terrain, I've already explained that several times before, so I won't repeat it. Instead, let me begin with the timing."
"According to my calculations, around noon three days from now, an enormous typhoon will sweep in from the eastern sea. It will engulf Rinkai City and the entire surrounding coastline."
The moment those words left his mouth, puzzled expressions spread across everyone's faces.
A typhoon was coming.
But what did that have to do with launching a general offensive?
If a typhoon restricted Kirigakure's movements, wouldn't it restrict Konohagakure's as well?
Nature's fury didn't care whether someone was a shinobi of Konoha or Kirigakure.
Torrential rain.
Howling winds.
Towering waves.
It treated everyone equally.
If anything, Kirigakure's shinobi came from the island nation of the Land of Water.
They had spent their entire lives dealing with storms.
When it came to fighting in the middle of a typhoon, their experience and adaptability far surpassed that of Konohagakure's shinobi.
Logically speaking, once the typhoon arrived, Konoha should suspend all operations and remain on the defensive.
So why launch a full-scale assault instead?
Though confused, no one interrupted him.
They simply watched the young man in silence, waiting for him to finish.
"As for why this timing is so important..." Shinichi smiled faintly.
"That brings us to the human factor."
As Shinichi continued explaining, the expressions around the room gradually began to change.
At first, there was confusion.
Everyone frowned more deeply with each passing sentence.
Then came surprise.
And finally...
Shock.
"And when Kirigakure falls into complete chaos, that'll be our opportunity to launch the general offensive and crush them in one decisive blow."
With that, Shinichi concluded his explanation.
The room fell silent once more.
There was no other reason.
His plan was simply too insane.
Without giving them any time to process it, Shinichi turned toward Minato.
"Minato-senpai, when the time comes, you and Captain Hiashi should use the opportunity to eliminate every supply depot you've already identified. It doesn't matter if we still haven't located Kirigakure's main logistical headquarters. Destroy whatever you can and inflict as much damage as possible. If this battle succeeds, Kirigakure will suffer devastating losses. After this campaign, they won't be capable of launching any meaningful offensive for quite some time."
After a brief pause, he added, "And if you finish your mission quickly enough, come rendezvous with us and join the general offensive."
Shinichi knew perfectly well that, compared to destroying a handful of secondary supply depots, Minato remaining on the main battlefield would have a far greater impact on the overall battle thanks to the efficiency of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
But if that happened...
Minato's role in this grand performance would rise to that of the second male lead.
And in Shinichi's mind, this story only needed one undisputed protagonist.
There was no need for a second lead to steal the spotlight.
The fewer supporting characters, the better.
Just as Minato was about to respond, Shikaku spoke first.
"Captain Shinichi! This is far too risky! We absolutely cannot do this!"
Using the fury of nature?
Harnessing the might of heaven through human hands?
Was that even something humans were capable of?
If it failed...
The consequences would be unimaginable.
"Shikaku."
Koharu interrupted him.
Her eyes remained fixed on Shinichi as she asked only one question in a calm, solemn voice.
"Are you confident, Shinichi?"
Shinichi nodded.
"I am."
Hearing that, Koharu turned toward Homura.
Without saying a word, he simply gave a slight nod.
Seeing this, Koharu turned back to the others.
"Very well. We'll do it."
"Shikaku, pass the orders. Have every unit make the necessary preparations. Three days from now, the moment Shinichi makes his move, all forces are to coordinate with him and launch the general offensive immediately."
Shikaku opened his mouth, but in the end swallowed the words that had reached the tip of his tongue.
He gave a firm nod.
"Yes."