Infused with Senjutsu Chakra, the flames were far more powerful than before.
The blazing fire lit up the night sky, casting a glow on Pakura's face.
"Unstoppable..."
The thought flashed through her mind.
The pillar of fire descended.
A dozen puppets sprang into action simultaneously.
One grabbed Pakura and pulled her away, while the others raised their shields and rushed toward the incoming flames.
The golems' shadows were instantly swallowed by the fire.
A deafening explosion engulfed the battlefield in flames.
The ground cracked apart, leaving behind a massive crater.
"Cough... cough..."
Pakura covered her mouth, coughing violently.
Beside her lay shattered, charred puppets.
She stared at the sea of fire before her.
If nothing else, the puppet masters who had sacrificed their creations were likely dead.
Sensing the countless auras vanishing in an instant, Simu's expression remained unchanged.
This was war.
Someone had to die. If you didn't want it to be you or your comrades, the only choice was to make sure it was the enemy.
The thousands of Suna Shinobi quickly recovered from the shock of his last attack.
One after another, Wind Style jutsu blasted into the sky.
The massive dragon looming above them began to shrink.
Simu reverted to his human-beast form, and a mace—massive by normal standards—descended from the sky.
Dark red lightning crackled around him.
His overwhelming presence struck fear into every ninja on the battlefield, causing even their hand seals to falter for a moment.
A wave of Wind Style attacks was unleashed.
Turbulent air currents, razor-sharp wind blades, kunai, and shuriken rained down on Simu.
Each impact sent dazzling sparks flying.
One particularly concentrated blast of air slashed across his cheek.
For the first time in this battle, Simu was injured.
Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth.
He stuck out his tongue and licked it, a bloodthirsty gleam flashing in his eyes.
Any other attacks that posed a real threat had already been avoided thanks to his Observation Haki.
Though his movements seemed wild, every action was precise and controlled.
Above him, the sky had turned black with storm clouds.
Thunder dragons roared and twisted within the thick sea of clouds.
Boom!
A deafening thunderclap tore through the battlefield.
Blinding lightning shattered the night sky as if the heavens themselves had been ripped open.
The raging bolts of thunder grew impossibly dense, almost taking physical form as they crashed toward the ground.
Simu descended along with the lightning.
"Sage Art: Kirin!"
Not only did thunder fall with him, but streaks of lightning also rained down from the storm above.
The thunder's glow illuminated the pale faces of everyone around him.
Boom!
A deafening crash of thunder pierced their eardrums.
For a moment, the sheer force of nature made them forget to resist.
The radiance of thunder descended upon the battlefield.
A massive thunder pillar, like the axe of the gods, cleaved through the ground with terrifying force.
Blinding currents of electricity engulfed the Suna Shinobi, and then—silence.
At tens of millions of volts, survival was impossible.
As the thunder finally dissipated, a gap opened in the storm clouds above.
Below, the ground had been reduced to a bottomless abyss.
A crater, hundreds of meters in diameter, swallowed everything within its range.
Nothing remained—no bodies, no weapons, no trace of what had once been.
The only thing left standing was that terrifying man, stepping lightly on a cloud of flames.
"There are 3,054 left."
This single attack had wiped out nearly half of the Suna Shinobi forces.
The strategy of exhausting Simu through wave attacks, gradually wearing him down before delivering a decisive blow, had been completely shattered.
At this level of power, sheer numbers meant nothing.
Just before the Thunder Dragon descended, Pakura and a dozen Suna Jōnin had barely escaped its range.
On their last legs.
That was the only phrase Pakura could think of to describe their current state.
Facing the enemy before her, the once-proud Pakura finally understood the meaning of despair.
Her mind flashed back to the shadow Simu had cast during her Jōnin exam, when she had barely managed to defeat a Vice Admiral-level opponent.
Years of relentless training, pushing her limits, believing she had finally closed the gap—
Yet now, standing before Simu once again, she realized the truth.
She hadn't caught up.
She was being crushed.
Effortlessly. Completely. Without the slightest chance to fight back.
A 360-degree, no-escape annihilation.
Without the support of her comrades, she would have been reduced to ashes long ago.
Another Suna Jōnin muttered bitterly,
"Wasn't this guy supposed to specialize in Light Release ninjutsu? Why is he completely different from the intel?"
Pakura gave a wry smile. "Who knows?"
Simu was famous for Light Release, yet here he was, unleashing Wind, Fire, and Lightning Style techniques one after another.
Descending to the ground on his flame clouds, Simu's deep, commanding voice rang out.
"Are you ready to surrender, or die?"
The moment he finished speaking, an attack came slicing through the air toward him.
Without haste, he lifted a claw and casually swatted it aside.
A Suna shinobi stepped forward, his voice ice-cold.
"Sand Shinobi never surrender."
Simu let out a sigh.
"I respect your courage."
Raising his dragon claw, a glowing light began to form at his fingertips.
Pakura's expression shifted instantly.
She recognized that technique—Light Release, a devastating large-scale attack!
Simu was just about to unleash Sage Art – Nuclear Bomb when his face suddenly changed. Without hesitation, he leaped to the side.
A white, rectangular beam of light shot through the air, striking the exact spot where he had been standing.
The beam pierced the ground like a sword, erasing everything in its path into nothingness.
Crouching, Simu slowly rose to his feet, his golden, commanding eyes turning toward the sky.
Floating in mid-air with both hands raised was a small, bald old man with a noticeable Mediterranean hairline.
On his wrinkled face, a massive red nose stood out.
If there was no mistake, that terrifying beam had come from those frail-looking arms.
A smirk curled at the corner of Simu's lips.
"So scary"
"I didn't expect the famous Master Tsuchikage to show up in person."
Indeed, the powerhouse of Iwagakure had arrived—Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki
In the distance, on the Rock Shinobi battlefield, the Four-Tails clutched its shoulder. A circular hole was burned straight through, dark red chakra flickering around the wound as it struggled to regenerate.
Glaring toward Simu's battlefield, the beast growled, "That damned old man… I'll rip him apart one day!"
As Tsuchikage, Ōnoki had rushed to the battlefield first, striking the Tailed Beast with his Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique the moment he arrived.
That attack had left the gaping wound in the Four-Tails' shoulder. If not for its quick reaction, the blast might have taken its head instead.
At this point, even Ōnoki had abandoned the idea of recapturing the Tailed Beast.
Now, he was directly trying to kill the enemy outright.
Eliminating Hanyu Simu was the top priority now.
"The old man is here; things just got more difficult," Kokuō growled, waving its tail.
It and the Four-Tails had been sealed for years, mostly due to Ōnoki's efforts. Despite the lack of a successor in Iwagakure, Ōnoki's power was undeniable.
The Two-Tails spat out a stream of blue flame, reducing the Rock Shinobi in front of it to ashes.
"See? Lord Simu will crush that old man," it said with a dismissive tone.
Ōnoki hovered in mid-air, coldly observing the scene.
"Hanyu Simu, you killed my son and stole our Tailed Beasts. Don't you think you're going too far?" he demanded.
Simu didn't flinch. The backlash of their conversation was mild at best.
"If I recall correctly, it was Iwagakure that attacked Konoha first," Simu retorted, narrowing his eyes.
"I'm not stupid enough to let two Tailed Beasts appear on the battlefield at the same time."
Clearly, he suspected that the two Jinchūriki's simultaneous appearance was part of a Konoha plot.
Otherwise, how else could these two Tailed Beasts have surrendered to this brat so easily?
Simu, of course, knew the truth of the matter. After all, his disciples were still receiving intensive training from Old Ghost Madara.
But he wasn't about to share that with Ōnoki. Instead, he casually said, "It's normal for an old man like you to be used as a weapon now and then."
"What did you say?!"
The thing Ōnoki hated most was being called old, especially by someone younger. And his red nose didn't help matters.
Simu smirked and repeated, "I said you're old."
"Hmph, brat, you don't know the limits of your own power!"
A white cube formed in Ōnoki's hand, glowing with light that radiated an overwhelming force.
"Dust Release: Primary Realm Stripping Technique!"
The white square elongated into a beam of light, shooting straight at Simu.
There was a hint of caution on Simu's face.
With his current strength, there are few in the ninja world who can harm him, and even fewer who can threaten his life. However, the old man in front of him is one of those few.
After all, this so-called Dust Release technique claims to break things down to atoms. With that kind of power, Simu couldn't guarantee his body would survive the attack.
Fortunately, thanks to his top-tier Observation Haki, Simu could see every move Ōnoki made.
Since he couldn't take the hit, all he had to do was avoid it.
Simu quickly moved, leaving only a shadow behind. The beam of light passed through the shadow and struck the ground, but missed entirely.
"Looks like I was right. You're getting old if you can't even aim properly." Simu continued to provoke Ōnoki.
Combat is not only about skill and power, but also about psychology.
Ōnoki was angry, his beard bristling, as he stared at Simu.
"Do you know why your movements are being tracked by Rock Shinobi troops?"
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TO BE CONTINUED
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