Let us turn the clock back three minutes.
Along a forest route in the Land of Fire, a large unit of ninja was dismantling a temporary camp. Tents were being folded, supplies packed, and sentries rotated. The plan was simple, once the sun rose, the unit would continue advancing toward the coastline.
For a short time, the quiet forest clearing was filled with voices, footsteps, and the sounds of equipment being secured.
After completing a routine inspection of the camp, Commander Hayashi made his way toward the central tent. Inside, a white-haired ninja sat hunched over breakfast.
The man looked up the moment Hayashi entered.
Sakumo Hatake raised a rice ball casually.
"Have you eaten?"
Hayashi pulled over a stool and sat down.
"I just finished eating with Mikoto."
A faint sigh escaped Sakumo.
"Must be nice. Someone actually looking after you. Your sister Oichi isn't a ninja, otherwise I would have brought her along too."
Hayashi rolled his eyes when he noticed the somewhat wistful look on Sakumo's face.
"I don't believe that for a second. Even if she were a ninja, you still wouldn't allow her to come."
Sakumo chuckled.
"Ha, maybe you're right."
He finished the rice ball quickly and brushed the crumbs from his hands.
"Anything unusual in the camp?"
"Nothing so far," Hayashi replied calmly. "At our current pace we should reach the front line by tomorrow."
Sakumo nodded thoughtfully.
"I wonder how Kirigakure compares to Sunagakure."
Hayashi was just about to warn him about the strange nature of that village, and especially about the leadership in Kirigakure, when his expression suddenly stiffened.
Something had called to him.
Sakumo noticed the change immediately.
"What is it?"
Hayashi did not answer right away. Instead, he rapidly formed a series of hand seals.
A cloud of smoke burst inside the tent.
When the smoke cleared, a large white snake had appeared.
"Big White?" Sakumo blinked.
Hayashi looked at the summon sharply.
"What happened?"
The large snake raised its head.
"Little Black sent a message. Kirigakure attacked the outpost. Himeji is in danger."
Hayashi's pupils shrank instantly. The relaxed look on his face vanished.
Sakumo frowned.
"Little Black? The front line is in trouble?"
At the moment, command of the forward forces had been given to Shikaku Nara. His intelligence was unquestionable, but his combat strength was not suited for overwhelming enemy forces.
Hayashi stood up.
"Little Black is the snake I left with Himeji to carry messages. If it sent word, it means Kirigakure launched an attack. I have to go."
Sakumo immediately realized the problem.
"Support the front? How? You're hundreds of kilometers away."
Even at full speed, no shinobi could reach the battlefield in time. By the time he arrived, the fighting would already be over.
Hayashi lifted Big White and placed the snake around his shoulders like a scarf.
"Himeji carries some of my blood. That means she can summon Big White. And Big White can summon me."
Sakumo understood immediately.
"The Summoning Jutsu."
Hayashi nodded.
"Be careful. The front line is yours."
"Understood."
He paused briefly before adding,
"Please explain it to Mikoto for me."
Sakumo gave a small wave.
"Go."
Hayashi disappeared instantly.
The moment his vision returned, the scenery had completely changed.
He had arrived at the battlefield.
The first person he saw was Himeji.
She stood tall in white robes, her posture calm and composed. Even on a battlefield, she maintained her usual quiet dignity. When she saw Hayashi appear, a faint smile appeared on her normally stoic face.
Hayashi stepped forward, intending to greet her warmly.
However, before he could reach her, a man suddenly stepped between them with an obvious cough.
"..."
Hayashi stared at the sour expression.
For a moment, he genuinely struggled to remember which Hyuga this was.
Normally, his younger brother Hizashi Hyuga wore that gloomy look, especially after receiving the Caged Bird Seal.
But the deep wrinkles on this man's forehead made it look like he had aged ten years overnight.
Considering the situation, Hayashi chose the safest option.
He smiled brightly.
"Good morning, Hiashi-nii."
Fortunately, he had guessed correctly.
Hiashi Hyuga only gave a quiet grunt.
In the distance, Kirigakure forces were already approaching. The enemy was roughly five hundred meters away.
Five hundred meters sounded far, but on a battlefield it was extremely close.
Back on Earth, trained snipers could strike targets from more than a kilometer away. If Hayashi possessed that kind of long-distance weaponry here, he could have eliminated the entire enemy force without leaving the camp.
His relaxed expression disappeared.
"Go," he said calmly. "I'll hold them off."
The surrounding Konoha ninja hesitated.
Everyone knew Hayashi was strong, but there were more than one hundred enemy shinobi approaching.
Seeing the hesitation in their eyes, Hayashi said nothing further.
Inside, however, he sighed.
These subordinates were really not up to standard.
When a commander gave an order, it should be obeyed immediately.
Perhaps the disciplined spirit of Konoha's high-level command had not fully spread to these lower ranked ninja yet.
Naturally, in Hayashi's mind, everyone present except Himeji and Hizashi fell into that category.
By now, the Kirigakure force had closed to less than fifty meters.
Both sides could clearly see each other's faces.
Hayashi stepped forward and began forming hand seals.
"Earth Release, Great Mud River."
The moment the jutsu was completed, the ground across dozens of meters suddenly softened and collapsed into a vast swamp.
The soil churned violently like a raging beast.
Several unprepared Kirigakure ninja were instantly dragged into the flowing mud.
Before the enemy could even react, Hayashi formed another seal.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Four clones appeared beside him.
The instant they materialized, each clone began forming a different sequence of hand seals aimed at the approaching enemy force.
As a direct disciple of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hayashi had mastered all five basic chakra natures.
For him, combining multiple elemental techniques felt as natural as breathing.
"Stop him from finishing those seals!" someone shouted.
The man yelling the order was the Mist squad leader, Fuguki Suikazan.
But his anger was pointless.
If he had possessed the ability to interrupt Hayashi's hand seals, he would not eventually lose Samehada to the shark-faced ninja who would wield it in the future.
Still, Fuguki was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. His strength was real.
Since he could not stop the technique directly, he chose another option.
Chakra surged through his body. His belly expanded dramatically.
"Water Release, Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
A massive torrent erupted forward like a rising tsunami. Fuguki intended to flood the battlefield and create a lake, weakening the power of whatever attack Hayashi was preparing.
However, Water Release techniques required a long sequence of hand seals.
Even this technique needed seventeen seals.
By the time Fuguki finished them, Hayashi had already completed his own.
The clones spoke simultaneously.
"Wind Release."
"Lightning Release."
"Fire Release."
"Water Release."
"Earth Release."
Then all five voices merged into one.
"Five Element Unison, Great Blast!"
This powerful combination technique, once created by the Third Hokage, erupted across the battlefield once again during the Third Great Ninja War.
The violent explosion swallowed everything ahead.
When the blast finally faded, the forest in front of Hayashi had completely vanished.
The Kirigakure formation had instantly lost more than one hundred ninja.
On most battlefields, such devastating results were extremely rare.
Even the famous Great Fire Annihilation used by Madara Uchiha could be countered if enough ninja used Water Release together.
Experienced commanders usually kept reserve units prepared specifically to neutralize large scale ninjutsu.
Sometimes flashy techniques ended up killing fewer enemies than a few precise attacks.
But this time was different.
Hayashi's sudden arrival had caught Kirigakure completely off guard.
Fuguki had spent half the day hunting the Konoha unit, never imagining that a monster like this would suddenly appear among them.
From above, the battlefield now looked strangely divided.
On one side stood the Konoha ninja.
On the other stood the remaining Kirigakure forces.
Between them stretched a wide empty field.
Even though the Mist forces still had the numerical advantage, not a single one dared step forward.
Every pair of eyes was locked onto the black-clad shinobi who had appeared from nowhere.
Hayashi stood calmly.
His appearance was tall and handsome, yet the aura surrounding him felt like that of a grim reaper collecting lives.
His crimson Sharingan slowly swept across the Kirigakure ranks.
Wherever his gaze passed, Mist ninja involuntarily swallowed and stepped back.
The pressure was overwhelming.
Hayashi finally turned away.
"Let's go."
He gently took Himeji's hand and led her back toward the Konoha camp, treating her with the calm protectiveness of an older brother guiding someone under his care.
Beside them, Hizashi's eyes were wide with disbelief, but he said nothing.
What he had just witnessed had clearly shaken him.
As they walked, Hayashi asked,
"Any reinforcements?"
"Yes, sir!" replied Inuzuka Iwao, his eyes bright with excitement. "The Second Column should arrive very soon."
His small ninja dog, Kuromaru, barked once and rolled its eyes with an almost human expression.
Hayashi nodded.
"Good."
He looked back toward the distant Kirigakure army.
"We'll regroup with the Second Column."
Then he issued his second command since arriving.
"And then we wipe them out."
This time, not a single ninja hesitated.
Everyone moved immediately.
The terrifying power they had just witnessed had erased all doubt.
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