In the distance, Rasa narrowed his eyes, his expression dark and unreadable.
Death was normal on the battlefield. Where was there a war without casualties? In the Land of Wind, far greater losses had been endured before, in far more brutal ways.
As the Third Kazekage once said, "Do not pity them. The village spends resources training ninja. To put it bluntly, it is like raising dogs. When it is time to bite, they must bite hard."
Because of this belief, Rasa felt no emotional attachment as his subordinates fell one after another.
What he could not accept was meaningless death.
And right now, that was exactly what was happening.
No matter how many Sunagakure ninja were sent in, whether they used jutsu indiscriminately or attacked in groups, none of it had any real effect.
On Hanzō's side, things were slightly better. Without the cooperation of his Salamander and with Chiyo's antidotes suppressing toxins, dozens of ninja were barely managing to hold him back.
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage was rampaging on another part of the battlefield, but Rasa and Ebizo had personally moved to intercept him, preventing further large scale destruction.
But then there was Konoha's Lightning Flash.
What were they supposed to do about him?
Hayashi was tearing through the battlefield without even relying on Sage Mode or his Mangekyō Sharingan. He was using pure taijutsu and layered ninjutsu combinations, and with Samehada in hand, his endurance seemed limitless.
To put it simply, he was functioning like a humanoid Tailed Beast.
For a moment, uneasy thoughts surfaced in Rasa's mind.
From an outside perspective, however, it looked as though Rasa was simply watching Konoha's Lightning Flash move through the battlefield, almost frozen in place.
On a battlefield like this, he was actually spacing out.
Ebizo felt his blood pressure spike. He had never seen such a disastrous commander behavior.
If you are going to go idle, at least finish the fight first.
At that moment, the Third Hokage's gaze sharpened. Sensing the Gold Dust pressure weakening, he surged forward with his Adamantine Staff. With a powerful strike, he shattered three of Ebizo's puppets and used the momentum of the Gold Dust to close in on Ebizo himself.
Rasa snapped back to focus. He quickly formed a hand seal, lifting Ebizo with a mass of Gold Dust just before the attack could land.
The Third Hokage glanced at them mid air but did not pursue further.
Compared to wasting time here, eliminating the surrounding Sunagakure forces was far more important.
Every second, dozens of ninja were falling across the battlefield.
Ebizo, suspended in the air, took a breath and glared at Rasa.
"Do you want us both dead?"
"Sorry," Rasa replied, rubbing his forehead. "What do we do now?"
"Stop Konoha's Lightning Flash," Ebizo said after a brief pause. "We cannot allow him to continue like this."
There was a silence between them.
From the beginning, both commanders had been focusing on the Third Hokage.
On the surface, it was to eliminate him. In reality, neither of them wanted to directly confront Hayashi.
The Third Hokage had not fought at full strength since before the Second Great Ninja War. His true current ability was unknown.
But Hayashi was different.
Since the Third Great Ninja War, his combat record had become increasingly terrifying.
There were very few ninja willing to directly face him anymore.
Especially Rasa.
Even if he refused to admit it, a kind of psychological pressure had already formed. Just seeing Hayashi made his body feel slightly tense, his chakra circulation subtly affected.
"What, you are afraid to go?" Ebizo asked coldly.
"It is not that," Rasa replied. "If I go, what happens here?"
"I will hold the Third Hokage with Shimazu and the others," Ebizo answered.
The battlefield could only realistically support a few dozen people engaging directly at any given point. The rest could only observe or support from the sidelines.
Most genin had already been pulled back from the front lines.
"Fine," Rasa finally said after a moment of hesitation. "I will go."
Meanwhile, Hayashi moved across the battlefield in a straight line.
No wasted movement. No elaborate technique chains. Just pure, efficient killing.
He cut through enemy formations, occasionally using Rasengan to deflect incoming attacks, and when surrounded, he released combinations of five nature transformations to erase everything within range.
Several chakra signatures were tracking him from a distance.
Elite jonin, waiting for an opening.
And among them, Rasa himself.
They were waiting for a mistake.
Hayashi smiled faintly.
After breaking through another stretch of one hundred meters, he continued his movement pattern, weaving through the battlefield like a blade cutting through cloth.
Soon, the enemy could no longer hold back.
Three Sunagakure jonin moved in simultaneously. At the same time, more reinforcements rushed in from behind.
One of them swung his blade down with Wind Release chakra coating its edge.
Another flanked from the side.
At the same moment, Rasa descended from above, Gold Dust gathering like a storm.
The killing intent exploded outward.
The sword wielding jonin struck first, fully committed to his attack.
Hayashi casually raised a hand and caught the blade between two fingers.
Lightning Release surged instantly along the metal and into the attacker's body.
"Gold Dust Spear."
A golden spear shot through the air at high speed.
Hayashi twisted his body slightly and avoided it.
"Earth Release, Rock Pillar Prison."
Sixteen stone pillars erupted around him, sealing his movement.
Before he could leap, Gold Dust surged beneath his feet, binding his lower body.
The ground on both sides rose and converged inward.
"Magnet Release, Gold Dust Imperial Funeral."
A massive pyramid of sand and gold collapsed onto him.
The impact swallowed everything.
Rasa exhaled sharply.
"Did it work?"
But the next moment, a blue light erupted from within the pyramid.
The structure began to crack and distort.
A massive fist burst through the surface.
Hayashi's voice came low.
"Susanoo."
Blue chakra exploded outward like a second sun.
A towering skeletal figure rose from the sand, its presence overwhelming the battlefield.
Hayashi stood within its core, arms folded, eyes cold and focused.
The skeleton rapidly evolved, gaining muscle, armor, and structure. A massive blade formed in its hand.
Rasa's expression changed instantly.
"What is that…"
The Susanoo raised its blade.
And brought it down.
Sunagakure ninja in the path froze in terror. Many collapsed immediately, accepting death.
Rasa forced himself to move, manipulating Gold Dust to block the strike.
Several jonin simultaneously attempted to resist with Wind and Earth Release techniques.
But the blade moved first.
A blue arc swept across the battlefield.
All incoming techniques were obliterated instantly.
The Susanoo's spiral sword continued its descent, cutting through everything in its path with overwhelming force.
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