Under the shadow of the falling fists, Killer B and Yugito moved first.
The Eight-Tails raised his head as black-red chakra gathered in front of his mouth. Beside him, the Two-Tails opened her jaws, blue-black flames burning across her body as another ball of chakra quickly formed.
The two Tailed Beast Balls shot upward at the same time, cutting through the air and heading straight for the countless wooden arms.
The elite Cloud ninja behind them attacked as well.
"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"
Darui's beams shot through the air and hit the fists from the side. At the same time, Lava Release formed thick rubber walls, Lightning Release flashed across the valley, and dozens of jonin used their strongest jutsu.
No one held back.
There was no time to save chakra. There was nowhere left to retreat. If they could not stop this attack, A's final plan would never get a chance to work.
Their attacks crashed into the giant fists in midair.
Boom!
The Tailed Beast Balls exploded first. Black-red chakra swallowed several wooden arms, while Darui's Storm Release pierced through another group. Lightning, fire, wind, and rubber defenses slammed into the rest, filling the sky with smoke and shattered wood.
For a moment, the falling fists seemed to slow.
The Cloud ninja looked up through the dust, still pouring chakra into their jutsu.
It looked like they had stopped the first wave.
At least for a moment.
Then the smoke above them split apart.
More giant fists came down from above. They pushed through the smoke and broken wood as if the first attack had done nothing. The Cloud ninja had used all their strength, but there were simply too many arms.
A's expression became serious.
"Brace yourselves!"
The Eight-Tails lifted his tentacles and crossed them in front of his body. Beside him, the Two-Tails dug her claws into the ground, and blue flames rose around her like a wall.
Then the first giant fists hit.
The earth shook from the impact. Killer B's huge body was pushed backward, his tentacles straining under the force. Yugito let out a low roar as Matatabi was driven toward the shattered valley floor.
A barely had time to react before the next wave came down.
The Eight-Tails and Two-Tails tried to hold the attack back, but the first hit pushed them apart. A small gap opened between their huge bodies.
That was all it took.
A giant wooden fist came through the gap and slammed into the Cloud ninja behind them. Several jonin were hit, and a large crater formed where they had been standing.
The shockwave threw nearby ninja across the ground. Some rushed to help the injured, while others tried to put up new defenses. But more attacks kept coming, giving them no time to recover.
The surviving jonin looked up at the countless shadows still coming down from above, and no one knew where the next fist would strike.
Farther away, even the ninja stationed outside the main battlefield felt the tremors under their feet.
They had not been chosen for the main fight, but they could still see the giant Buddha towering over the mountains. They saw the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails forced back, and the elite jonin formation breaking under the falling fists.
For a while, no one spoke.
If the main force fell here, there would be nothing left between Shinichi and Kumogakure.
But Kumogakure had not placed all its hopes on the main force.
Deep inside the village, inside a mountain with its peak carved out, a red light flashed across a row of control panels.
Dozens of Cloud ninja stood around a giant cannon. Thick cables covered the floor, and glowing sealing formulas on the walls carried chakra into the weapon. This was Kumogakure's secret trump card, the chakra cannon.
The weapon was not finished yet, and everyone knew it. It could gather and fire a huge amount of chakra at once, but its core was still unstable. If something went wrong, the cannon would not fire at the enemy. It would explode inside the mountain.
Even so, no one left their position.
"Charging complete. Target locked on the giant Buddha's upper body."
"Coordinates fixed. Energy threshold reached."
Reports kept coming one after another. Their voices were tense, but no one stopped working.
In the middle of the control room, a Cloud jonin held a communication device. The red light on it flashed again, showing the order A had sent from the battlefield.
The order was simple.
Fire.
Outside, the main force was close to being defeated. If they waited any longer, there might be no one left to save.
The jonin looked up and tightened his grip on the device.
"Everyone, prepare the chakra cannon."
The ninja around the cannon poured more chakra into the formation. The whole mountain began to shake slightly, and the light at the cannon's muzzle grew brighter and brighter.
"Fire!"
A silver-white beam fired from the hollow mountain.
It crossed the sky in an instant, passing through the clouds above Kumogakure and heading straight for the giant Buddha.
The Wood Clone standing on the Buddha's head looked up. The beam had not reached him yet, but its light was already shining on his face.
"So this is your trump card."
Before the clone could move, the beam hit.
Boom!
A huge explosion covered the upper half of the giant Buddha. The beam pierced through its chest and blasted through the huge disc of arms behind it. Pieces of wood broke apart and flew through the air.
The impact spread across the battlefield, throwing smoke, dust, and broken wood everywhere.
Then the countless falling fists stopped.
The giant Buddha stood still. Its damaged upper body was hidden by smoke, as if the jutsu had been stopped in the middle of its attack.
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