"What did you say? Konoha forces raided the Land of Grass, and the frontline troops were defeated?"
Kitsuchi, who was in charge of the battle at the forward command post in the Land of Earth, said in disbelief.
Standing beside him was Kari of the Demolition Unit.
They were currently stationed at the vital transportation artery of the Rock Shinobi battlefield—the Kannabi Bridge.
"As expected of the Golden Flash's division, led by Hanyu Simu..."
After reading the intel from Anbu, Kitsuchi could only sigh in admiration.
There was no helping it—Simu's individual strength was simply too overwhelming.
Konoha's victory in this battle was largely thanks to Simu.
First, he single-handedly destroyed the supposedly impenetrable frontline defense of the Rock Shinobi.
Then, using that strange technique of his, he annihilated nearly half of the Iwagakure forces in one move.
Finally, he killed the commander of the Rock Shinobi's Grass Country front, the Eastern Deadman, causing the entire frontline to collapse.
They didn't even get a chance to call for reinforcements.
Originally, with nearly 5,000 Grass shinobi defending, they believed they could at least stall Konoha's first wave.
Unexpectedly, Hanyu Simu tore through them like paper.
"However, the faster Konoha presses forward, the more desperate they must be," Kitsuchi said calmly.
The tension between the Fire Daimyō and the Hokage was practically common knowledge in the shinobi world.
For Konoha to charge straight toward the heart of Iwagakure—there was no question what they were aiming for: a swift victory.
Kitsuchi pressed a finger firmly on the map, right on the Kannabi Bridge.
"As long as we hold this place, Konoha will be forced to retreat within a month due to supply shortages."
This was Rock Shinobi's strategy: drag it out.
Drag the fight until Konoha collapses under its own weight.
But Simu clearly had no intention of letting that happen.
"Enemy attack!"
A scout ninja suddenly shouted the warning.
A massive Tailed Beast Bomb dropped from the sky, flying directly toward the command post where Kitsuchi stood!
"Are you kidding me!?" Kitsuchi shouted and rushed out.
The rest of the Iwagakure ninjas rapidly cast Earth Style: Mud Wall, frantically building barriers to protect the camp.
But in front of the destructive power of a Tailed Beast Bomb, those barriers were like tissue paper—utterly useless.
In the end, Kitsuchi had to step in himself.
As the son of the legendary Ōnoki, and commander of the Rock Shinobi army, his strength was not to be underestimated.
He slammed his palms onto the ground.
"Earth Style: Great Earth Core!"
The ground trembled violently. A deep chasm cracked open in front of the Rock camp, and the far side of the rift rose sharply, forming a ramp.
The Tailed Beast Bomb, still flying parallel to the ground, was redirected upward by the incline and soared harmlessly into the sky.
Crisis averted.
"That kind of power... it must be him."
Kitsuchi and Kari stared ahead with grim expressions.
At present, only Konoha had mastered the ability to use Tailed Beasts as Summoning Beasts.
And sure enough, a lone figure slowly approached in the distance.
It was Simu, carrying his massive spiked mace.
Behind him stood the colossal Matatabi, the Two-Tails.
"Oh, I didn't expect Ōnoki's son to be here in person. Scary stuff."
Simu grinned sarcastically at Kitsuchi and Kari.
In truth, he recognized Kari.
They had crossed paths once before during the joint Jōnin exams.
"You should be the leader of the Rock Demolition Unit by now..."
"Hanyu Simu, I never imagined you'd dare venture this deep into the Land of Earth alone," Kitsuchi said coldly.
Simu's boldness exceeded all expectations.
After all, this place was nearly 200 kilometers from the border of the Land of Fire.
Even getting back alive would be difficult—especially since this area was heavily fortified.
"You don't seriously believe you can break through over a thousand Rock shinobi on your own, do you?"
To ensure the safety of the Kannabi Bridge, Iwagakure had stationed over 1,000 elite ninja here.
But Simu had walked straight into their midst, completely unbothered.
Simu closed his eyes, sensing with Observation Haki.
"One thousand... no, 1,121 ninja."
He grinned.
"That should be just enough to push my Kaido imitation to the next level."
He was talking to himself, but clearly excited.
Since entering combat mode, Simu's Kaido Imitation Progress had steadily increased.
Now, he was at 29%—just a little more, and he could unlock another one of Kaido's abilities.
Kari narrowed his eyes at Simu.
"I don't know what nonsense you're spouting... but showing up here means you've already accepted death, right?"
"Everyone—attack together!"
Neither Kitsuchi nor Kari had any intention of fighting him one-on-one.
Against someone like Simu, the only solution was to crush him with overwhelming numbers.
Thousands of Earth Style jutsu lit up the sky, transforming into massive boulders that rained down from above—aimed to bury Simu under a landslide of stone.
Simu grinned. He had already packed his coat of justice into the scroll ahead of time.
Then, he slowly took off his shirt, revealing his powerful, muscular build.
"Let me make a big fuss!"
He stomped hard, and the ground beneath his feet collapsed instantly, pushed away by an unbelievably huge force—like a rocket.
He pulled the mace in his hand and charged toward the endless rocks coming at him, like a beast.
Thunder Eight Trigrams!
Lightning surged, and all the rocks that dared to stand in front of him were shattered to pieces.
Ripples appeared under his feet one after another.
The rocks kept piling up, forming a towering mound, eventually crushing down on Simu like a massive mountain.
Finished?
All the Rock Shinobi thought, almost with a sigh of relief.
But how could this be possible?
The deafening sound of thunder suddenly roared.
Cracks spread across the rocky mountain.
Infinite lightning flashed from the cracks.
"Overlord!"
A massive shockwave shot into the sky, instantly shattering the mountain that had been threatening to overwhelm Simu.
An indescribably terrifying aura instantly enveloped the entire battlefield.
Simu's figure slowly emerged from the ruins.
"Next, it's my turn."
Simu dropped from the sky, the heavy mace resting on his shoulders.
Thunder Eight Trigrams!
The purple lightning struck instantly.
The Rock Shinobi in front of him hurriedly erected an Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall to defend.
But it was utterly futile.
The immense force instantly obliterated the rock wall.
The massive mace shattered it into pieces!
Rock Shinobi followed suit, but Simu had only one move for everyone.
That move was smashing!
Like a wild beast, he frantically swung the mace, devouring all the enemies in front of him.
Huang Tu's face became increasingly grim.
An hour had passed since the battle began.
At least three hundred ninjas had tragically fallen at Simu's hands.
But the man showed no signs of exhaustion.
If this continued, more than a thousand Rock Shinobi would truly be massacred by him.
"Let me handle this."
Kari's figure shifted in the crowd, reappearing behind Simu in the blink of an eye.
"Explosion Style: Red Flame Breakthrough!"
Terrible flames surged from Kari's fist, and the powerful explosion instantly blasted Simu away.
"Explosion Style?"
Simu planted his mace into the ground and slowly stood up.
A dangerous grin formed at the corner of his mouth.
"What a good opponent..."
He grabbed the heavy mace from the ground again.
Without a moment's hesitation, the mace wrapped in Armament Haki and Thunder crashed forward.
Kari didn't expect his explosive punch to have so little effect on Simu.
"This physique... it's even more exaggerated than that of a Tailed Beast..." Kari said in disbelief.
Little did he know, Simu had covered his body with powerful Armament Haki before the punch even landed.
It appeared as if he had been struck, but only a small amount of damage was dealt.
And for someone with an Admiral-level physique like Simu, this kind of injury was nothing. It healed in minutes.
Facing Simu's attack, Kari certainly did not dare to be careless.
As the mace came crashing toward him, he punched again.
Dazzling flames flickered between Simu and Kari.
There were explosions, and after twenty minutes of bombardment, the entire ground was a mess.
But Simu still showed no sign of fatigue.
Instead, he yelled at his opponent with great enthusiasm:
"Come on, keep going!"
He swung the mace in his hand with even more force.
Thunder Eight Trigrams!
Lightning surged outward.
Finally, Kari couldn't withstand the blow and was sent flying by the terrifying strike.
The ground beneath Simu's feet suddenly softened.
A figure emerged from the ground behind him.
It was Huang Tu, the leader of the Rock Shinobi forces.
His arms were completely encased in rock.
"Earth Style: Rock Climbing!"
With the terrifying power of the earth, Huang Tu struck Simu hard.
Luckily, Simu had sensed the attack in advance using his Observation Haki.
He turned and slammed the iron bar down hard!
A terrifying force erupted between the two.
Simu stared at Huang Tu and suddenly pulled the wine gourd from his waist and took a long swig.
"Gurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"
Fragrant wine dripped from the corner of Simu's mouth.
Huang Tu's face twisted with anger.
Has this guy not used his full strength yet?
Huang Tu stepped back and quickly began forming seals with his hands.
"Earth Style: Mountain Soil Technique!"
Two massive mountains rose from the ground and clamped down on Simu from both sides.
"Just in time!" Simu muttered as wine dripped from his face.
He slammed the wine gourd onto the ground, and blue-black scales appeared all over his body.
"Your imitation value has reached 30%."
"Extracting ability..."
"Ability extraction completed."
"Congratulations! You have obtained the Devil Fruit: Mythical Beast Species—Fish Fruit, Blue Dragon Form!"
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