High atop the massive Earth Flow Rampart, only Tsunade, Taiichi, and a handful of guard shinobi remained.
Fugaku and Hiashi had already led their teams down into the fray, determined to cut down as many Mist ninja as possible before the enemy's second wave could reinforce them.
"How are you feeling, sensei?" Taiichi asked, watching the chaos of limbs and blood below. His voice carried genuine concern.
Tsunade knew exactly what he meant. She took a moment to check her own reactions, then broke into a wide smile and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Great. Your genjutsu is working perfectly. No discomfort at all."
Taiichi let out a quiet breath of relief. If the real battlefield test had gone smoothly, then the technique was solid. He could finally stop worrying.
Below them, the second wave of Mist forces had reached the shore. Taiichi didn't linger on the wall any longer.
"Sensei, I'm heading down to fight!"
He flicked his wrist. A Flying Thunder God kunai flew out, crossing twenty-plus meters and burying itself in the throat of a Mist ninja trying to sneak up on someone. Blood sprayed as Taiichi appeared beside the body. His short blade flashed, cutting down a charging Kaguya shinobi in the same motion.
This was the tail end of the first clash, right where the Mist second wave was pushing hardest.
Taiichi's hands blurred through seals, then he slapped the sea surface.
Water Style: Water Chaos Wave.
The water around him churned violently. Dozens of thin, high-pressure water bullets lanced out toward the advancing Mist ranks. The fastest Mist shinobi became perfect targets—several of them were punched through before they could react.
The Mist forces responded instantly. A sudden surge of water rose in front of them, forming a living shield that absorbed the incoming bullets. The water spears drilled in only a few meters before dissipating harmlessly into the ocean.
Taiichi didn't waste time being frustrated. He cut down a couple more opportunistic Mist attackers with quick slashes, then dove straight into the melee.
The fighting turned chaotic. In this kind of close-quarters brawl, lone shinobi were extremely vulnerable—surrounded by enemies and sometimes even friendly fire from blood-drunk allies. Plenty of jonin had died in exactly this kind of mess.
But Taiichi moved with terrifying confidence. Thanks to his Pyrofication technique, he didn't have to worry about stray attacks landing cleanly. He carved through the Mist ranks like a reaper, switching between ninjutsu and kenjutsu without pause. Whenever he spotted a group of Mist shinobi trying to organize, he charged straight into them and scattered them again in seconds.
His reckless slaughter quickly drew the attention of Mist's top fighters. Yagura and Mizunotsuki Hiyori moved in together to pin him down.
Despite his baby face, Yagura's taijutsu was excellent. He spun his iron staff with enough force to whip up gusts of wind.
While Taiichi was occupied with Yagura, Hiyori activated his secret technique.
Ice Style: Demon Mirroring Ice Crystals.
Dozens of ice mirrors erupted from the sea around them in the blink of an eye, encircling both Taiichi and Yagura. It wasn't a single layer—the mirrors formed seven concentric rings, each one spinning and shifting irregularly.
Taiichi spared a quick glance and snorted inwardly. White had never mastered the real Demon Mirroring Ice Crystals. This was just a cheap imitation.
"Focus on the fight!" Yagura roared, swinging his iron staff straight at Taiichi's head.
Taiichi didn't want to clash his short blade against that heavy staff. He stepped back. The staff slammed into the water where he'd been standing, sending up a spray.
At the same time, Hiyori finished preparing. Countless ice senbon rained in from every direction.
Taiichi stomped the water, raising a Water Formation Wall around himself. Then he formed another seal.
Ice Style: Freezing Domain.
The seawater around him flash-froze into solid ice. The Water Formation Wall turned into an Ice Formation Wall in an instant. Yagura's staff, which had just been pulled back for another swing, got caught and locked in place by the sudden ice.
Ice spikes exploded outward from the frozen ground, stabbing into the surrounding mirrors. Cracks spread rapidly. Several thick ice pillars pierced straight through the mirrors or jammed between them, bringing the entire spinning formation to a grinding halt.
Hiyori was forced to slow down dramatically inside the mirrors. One wrong move and he'd impale himself on the new spikes.
The three of them had created such a massive disturbance that both Leaf and Mist shinobi had cleared a wide circle around the fight. Getting caught in the crossfire here would be fatal.
Across the rest of the battlefield, Leaf was clearly gaining the upper hand. Uchiha fire style, Akimichi expansion techniques, and Nara shadow manipulation were all shining brightly.
Tsunade watched from the rear and decided it was time to tip the scales. She was the final straw that would break the camel's back.
She leapt forward from the wall, bit her thumb, and formed the summoning seals in midair.
A huge cloud of white smoke erupted. A massive slug over thirty meters tall appeared on the battlefield.
"Lady Tsunade. It's been a long time since you summoned me like this. Are we fighting?"
The voice sounded gentle, but coming from a beast that size, the volume was deafening.
Most Mist ninja had no idea what Katsuyu was truly capable of. All they saw was a colossal monster suddenly materializing in their midst. Morale cracked instantly.
"Slug! Target the Mist forces—use Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid!" Tsunade shouted from atop Katsuyu's head.
Thick acid sprayed from the slug's mouth in wide arcs. Most of it missed, but the few Mist shinobi it hit screamed in agony. The acid ate through flesh and bone in seconds, exposing white bone beneath. The horrific cries echoed across the battlefield.
That was all it took. The already faltering Mist lines broke completely. Ninja began retreating in droves. Once a few started running, panic spread like wildfire.
Leaf morale surged. They chased the fleeing Mist forces with renewed fury.
"Two of you still want to stick around?" Taiichi taunted Yagura and Hiyori while casually cutting down another enemy. "Mist is collapsing. If you don't run now, you'll just get surrounded with the rest of them."
Yagura and Hiyori weren't staying because they wanted to. They were staying because they didn't dare run. The two of them together could barely keep Taiichi occupied. If one of them broke off, the other would be left alone—and neither was confident they could survive a one-on-one with him.
The situation was growing more desperate by the second. Sweat beaded on Hiyori's forehead. Yagura kept trying to maneuver closer to him so they could escape together.
During one shift in the fight, they drifted near a retreating Mist jonin—Black Hoe Raiga, one of the remaining members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Hiyori spotted him and grinned. While blocking Taiichi's attack, he shouted, "Raiga! Get over here! The three of us can take Matsushita Taiichi down together!"
Raiga hesitated, but under pressure from both men he finally charged in to help. He crossed his lightning blades and called down a bolt of lightning straight at Taiichi.
Taiichi clicked his tongue. Lightning style from this guy was always annoying—simple to use but powerful, and way too fast.
He raised a quick water curtain to intercept the bolt. The lightning dispersed into the water.
Raiga kept his distance, circling and probing. Once he realized the lightning was working, he gathered power for a bigger strike.
Taiichi felt the difference this time. He eased pressure on Yagura and Hiyori, forcing them back as the lightning fell. At the same time he crossed his arms and raised two intersecting Water Formation Walls overhead, blocking the enhanced attack.
The moment the lightning faded, Yagura and Hiyori didn't press the advantage. Instead, they turned and ran in perfect sync.
Raiga stared in stunned disbelief. He had come to help, and they were using him as a decoy.
Anger flared—then instantly turned to fear when Taiichi's gaze locked onto him. There was something almost pitying in those eyes.
"Funny how things come around, Black Hoe Raiga," Taiichi said as he walked toward him, voice light but eyes cold. "You and your friends abandoned Jinpachi back then. Now you're the one getting abandoned. Karma's a bitch, isn't it?"
Raiga gave a bitter laugh. "Yeah… guess it is."
Then the laugh turned manic. He charged straight at Taiichi, blades sparking as he called down another lightning bolt.
Taiichi sidestepped the lightning and exploded forward. Their blades met in a shower of sparks and ice. Raiga's triumphant grin froze when he realized Taiichi's short blade was coated in thick ice that extended the reach like a longer sword, with wind chakra layered over it for extra cutting power.
Despair flooded Raiga. He tried to retreat, but it was already too late. Taiichi dismantled him in a few clean exchanges. The lightning blades were knocked from his hands, and a simple thrust ended the fight.
Taiichi flicked the blood from his blade, then used water currents to retrieve both lightning blades. With Raiga's pair added to the one he already held, he now had a complete set.
By the time he finished, the rest of the battlefield had quieted. Any Mist ninja who could run had already fled far enough that pursuit wasn't worth the risk—especially with the open sea hiding potential ambushes. Tsunade had already released the summoning and returned to the top of the earth wall, surveying the field.
Katsuyu had only been on the battlefield for a short time, but the psychological damage she caused had been devastating. That was the mark of a truly skilled commander—knowing exactly when and where to deploy the right force.
Taiichi leapt back up onto the wall and immediately started laying it on thick.
"Sensei, your summoning came at the perfect moment. You completely shattered Mist's will to fight and kept our losses to a minimum."
Tsunade gave him a sideways glance, but the pleased look on her face was impossible to hide. Fighting on the front lines herself felt far more satisfying than sitting in the command tent.
"You did well too," she said. "Holding off two of their top fighters and then finishing off Black Hoe Raiga. If those two had joined the main battle, things could've gotten messy."
Taiichi just grinned.
Fugaku and Hiashi returned shortly after, having wrapped up their part of the fight. Both men were noticeably more respectful toward Tsunade now. They had seen firsthand how her single move had broken the enemy.
"Lady Tsunade," Fugaku said. "What are your orders?"
Tsunade looked out at the sea, then answered calmly.
"Clean the battlefield. The priority right now is building a proper forward camp. Once that's done, we'll discuss the next phase of the attack."
She kept her own ambitions in check—and kept her subordinates' aggression in check too. Staring at the distant horizon, she began calculating exactly how long it would take to finish this war with Mist.