The nominal commander of this 3,000-strong ninja coalition is General Yoshida of the Land of Fire.
However, General Yoshida knows all too well that he has no real control over them.
His primary role is to act as a mediator between the different shinobi factions.
After all, the tensions between villages run deep, and it's only natural that old grudges would resurface.
General Yoshida's main concern is making sure these stubborn, battle-hardened shinobi don't start tearing into each other before they even face Uchiha Shin.
"Everyone, stay alert! We're close to Konohagakure!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eldest son and daughter-in-law immediately stepped forward, speaking with urgency.
As some turned to them with puzzled expressions, the two quickly explained:
"Uchiha Shin has an incredibly sharp sense of perception. The moment we get too close, he'll sense us!
From now on, we must be prepared to encounter him at any moment!"
Though this had already been discussed, there were those who took the warning lightly.
Repeating it now ensured that everyone was on high alert.
The shinobi, who had been somewhat lax, quickly fell into formation, sharpening their focus.
Unbeknownst to them, Uchiha Shin had already sensed them long ago. He stood atop a treetop, only a hundred meters away, watching them with an amused expression.
"What difference does it make whether they're alert or not?" he mused. "Still, I see quite a few key players among them."
A dangerous glint flashed through his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
If he took them all down in one strike, the entire shinobi war would be settled in an instant.
That way, he could finally focus on "farming" properly.
After all, his next move was to develop Konohagakure and the Land of Fire—and after that, it would be a grand game of conquest, painting the entire shinobi world in a color that belonged solely to him.
A wide, almost feral grin stretched across his face.
He no longer bothered to suppress his chakra, letting his overwhelming presence flood the battlefield.
Immediately, the perception-type ninjas in the coalition flinched.
"What the hell is this chakra!?"
"He's—he's right there!!!"
Before they could even finish their words, their minds were crushed under an unseen force.
A brutal pressure slammed into them, rupturing their very souls.
Their bodies stiffened, their eyes rolled back, and they dropped forward, lifeless.
The rest of the coalition barely spared them a glance. All eyes were now locked onto the boy standing in the distance.
No one had seen him approach.
Moments ago, they had been brimming with confidence. Now that they were truly in front of him, an uncomfortable sensation crawled down their spines.
"He's just one person! What are we afraid of!?"
"We're the best of the best! And he's only a twelve-year-old kid!"
"Even if he has the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, so what?! We have three thousand elite ninja on our side!"
Shouts rang out through the ranks, their voices growing louder as they hyped themselves up.
Slowly, the initial fear began to fade, replaced by a fragile bravado.
Through it all, Uchiha Shin remained silent.
He simply stared at them, his eyes radiating an almost divine sense of judgment.
That unrelenting, unmoving gaze drowned out their confidence, suffocating them in its sheer weight.
Then, without a single hand seal, his chest expanded—and in the next instant:
"Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!"
From a hundred meters away, a massive sea of fire erupted forward, roaring like a tidal wave of hellfire.
The shinobi army barely had time to react before their instincts screamed at them.
"Suiton users! NOW!"
General Yoshida roared, scrambling to organize the counterattack.
A formation of Water Release specialists immediately leaped forward, moving in unison.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!"
Dozens of ninja weaved signs at the same time, releasing torrents of water that crashed together, forming an enormous water barrier.
PSSSHHHHHHHHH!!!
The moment the flames met the water wall, superheated steam exploded outward.
The entire battlefield was engulfed in scalding mist.
The Suiton users barely managed to hold back the attack—but the cost was high.
The dozen or so standing in the front line screamed in agony as the searing steam boiled them alive.
Their flesh blistered, their screams cut short as their bodies collapsed, cooked from the inside.
There was no time to mourn.
"Disperse the steam! Now!"
"Don't let it form storm clouds!!!"
The shinobi from Sunagakure and the Konoha defectors were the most panicked.
They knew all too well why.
Uchiha Shin wasn't just a fire user. He was known as "Konoha's Thunder God."
If the rising steam formed cumulonimbus clouds, he could summon a lightning storm capable of wiping them all out.
Shinobi scrambled into action, deploying vacuum-based ninja tools to suck in the mist. Others used Wind Release to scatter it before it could rise into the sky.
Uchiha Shin watched them with amusement.
"Raiton?" he chuckled. "I wasn't planning on using it anyway."
They wanted to be smart? Fine. He'd let them experience what true despair was.
"Susanoo—Perfect Form."
His chakra surged violently, warping the very air around him.
Golden skeletal structures expanded from his frame, rapidly layering with muscle and sinew.
A roaring chakra cloak enveloped the form, molding into towering armor.
As the legs and waist took shape, enormous wings sprouted from its back, and the final form of a celestial war god emerged.
BOOOOM!!!
The earth trembled as the nearly 200-meter-high Susanoo stood tall among the mountains.
Compared to it, even the tallest peaks were reduced to mere hills.
Uchiha Shin stood at the crystal core within its forehead, arms crossed, gazing down with an expression of supreme arrogance.
GULP.
More than 3,000 elite ninja stared up at the titan before them, their minds blank with disbelief.
They had to tilt their heads just to see its full size.
A suffocating dread wrapped around their throats.
Shin's grin widened.
"Well then… let the game begin."
With a mere flick of his will, Susanoo unsheathed its massive golden sword.
Black flames licked its edge as the blade hummed with raw power.
The sword, longer than a fortress, descended from the heavens.
"RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!"
Panic erupted as shinobi abandoned all sense of strategy.
Screams and cries filled the battlefield as the enormous blade came crashing down.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
The very earth split apart.
A gale force stronger than any hurricane ripped through the forest, annihilating everything in its path.
Chunks of terrain were blasted skyward. Shinobi were flung like ragdolls, helpless against the shockwave.
The golden sword carved through the land like a god's wrath, its energy slicing deep into the mountains.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM!!!
One slash. One instant.
And the valley became a wasteland.
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Bonus Chapter - 100 Power Stones