The Gorge of No…
As its name suggests, this gorge lay within the borders of the Land of No.
After just a few days of fighting, the Land of No's forces had been driven all the way back here.
Long and deep, the Gorge of No was considered the nation's last natural stronghold.
Yet if they failed to hold even this final line of defense, it would mean…
The Land of No was truly finished.
"You'd better start praying hard!" one of the Land of No's commanders roared at Aoi, drawing his sword.
"If no miracle happens today, I'll run you through myself!"
With twenty thousand men to hold the gorge, they might have stood a chance of stopping the Land of Birds' advance. But now…
Of the original ten thousand soldiers, only five thousand remained.
After days of retreat and defeat, what was left was nothing but a ragged, exhausted force with no will left to fight.
And all of this, they believed, was due to Master Gen's disastrous command.
"A miracle?"
Aoi scoffed in disdain. "The miracle has been right in front of your eyes this whole time, you fools!"
"Keep chasing them! Wipe out every last one of them!"
"Kill them all, and the Land of No will be ours!"
"Victory belongs to the Land of Birds!"
The retreat had turned into a rout. The Land of No's remaining five thousand soldiers had abandoned their weapons and armor in their flight.
Even so, the enemy refused to let up, pursuing them all the way into the gorge…
Seeing the narrow, winding terrain, the Land of Birds' leaders hesitated. Should we slow down? What if they have laid an ambush here…
But before anyone could finish the thought, their Daimyō, Sagi, waved a hand with a cruel grin.
"You worry too much. Our army is full of momentum right now — this is the perfect chance to secure a legacy that will last a thousand years!"
In truth, Sagi was no fool. The two nations had shared a border for nearly a century, and each knew the other's strength well.
The Land of No could field at most twenty thousand troops…
Half of their original ten thousand were already dead, and the rest were broken and defeated.
Even if they had set traps, with only five thousand men left, they could never hope to defeat his thirty‑thousand‑strong, fully motivated army.
"Forward — charge!"
Sagi laughed aloud, already imagining his territory doubling in size and his name going down in history as a great ruler.
Nearly all thirty thousand soldiers poured into the gorge.
Meanwhile, the Land of No's five thousand retreating troops — even with such a strong natural barrier at their backs — had no intention of turning to fight.
Their courage had completely shattered.
They fled straight through the far end of the gorge and headed back toward the capital.
"This is it — everything is lost!"
The Land of No's nobles and officials sank into despair. The fall of their nation was moments away, and with it, their own ruin.
"Dammit — this is all your fault!"
They drew their weapons, ready to turn on Aoi and fight him to the death.
"Silence!"
Aoi narrowed his eyes coldly, his gaze fixed on the enemy troops swarming like ants far below.
Ten thousand… twenty thousand… thirty thousand…
Only when the enemy's vanguard was nearly at the gorge's exit did Aoi's eyes snap open.
He slammed both palms against the ground and shouted: "Come forth — Giant Salamanders!"
"GRRRAAHH!!" "GRRRAAHH!!"
Two massive creatures rose up, blocking both ends of the gorge, their enormous jaws gaping wide.
"Release the poison!"
A thick, terrifying cloud of purple mist surged out, rolling slowly toward the enemy forces trapped inside.
At the same time…
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
More than a dozen shinobi appeared atop the salamanders' backs.
With practiced skill, they unleashed powerful wind techniques, blasting the slow‑moving poison forward until it filled the entire gorge in seconds.
But this was far from the end.
Facing the Land of Birds — a nation bordering the poison‑specialist Land of Rain — Aoi had taken no chances.
With a wave of his hand, another ten thousand soldiers of the Land of No, wearing newly designed gas masks, rose up from their hiding places across the Plains of No and charged straight into the poisonous mist.
In less than ten minutes, the entire situation had turned completely upside down…
"A… a miracle…"
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