Back Mountain, Leaf Perimeter.
After sending the distress signal, Saiki's squad had initiated a tactical retreat, but they couldn't outrun the inevitable. Turning a corner, they slammed directly into the first wave of Leaf reinforcements.
The command wanted the battle kept as far from the Medical Camp as possible. Consequently, Saiki's group was swept up in the momentum and forced to turn back, charging straight toward the incoming Cloud horde.
Because they were the ones who had "fled" first, Saiki's squad was—whether by accident or deliberate spite—pushed directly into the vanguard position. He felt the weight of several cold, judgmental glares from the other ninja.
"Sitrep!" Inoichi Yamanaka shouted to Tsume as they ran.
Relieved that they had numbers but worried that Jiraiya wasn't among them, Tsume shouted back, "The Cloud are out in force! The AB combo is leading them! Didn't you get the report?!"
Inoichi's heart skipped a beat. The Uchiha captain, Uchiha Ka, also darkened at the news.
A Perfect Jinchuriki and the heir to the Raikage leading six hundred elites... the death toll required to stop them would be astronomical.
Inoichi suppressed his dread and continued. "Is the report logged?!"
"Logged and transmitted!"
"Good." Inoichi turned to his adjutant. "Spread the word: squads are to operate independently! Avoid direct, static engagements! Use the terrain to set ambushes! We need to stall them until Jiraiya arrives!"
The distance from the camp to the patrol line was several kilometers. For a unit as fast as the Cloud, that was almost no distance at all.
Time was up. On a small ridge, Inoichi ordered a frantic setup of traps and defensive positions.
The squads worked with clinical efficiency, vanishing into the trees and shadows, waiting for the first sound of a boot hitting a tripwire.
The night air grew heavy. The Cloud were close; the atmosphere was vibrating with the pressure of six hundred trained killers.
"Kurenai, Genhai... stay close to me!" Saiki whispered.
The two kids were drenched in cold sweat, their knuckles white as they gripped their weapons. They gave him a frantic nod.
Saiki's warning wasn't just for them. He was looking at Tsume and Shinku Yuhi as well.
With his daughter on the line, Shinku had naturally moved to the front to protect her.
Saiki had often felt that sensory jutsu in this world were useless plot devices—like how Madara could eavesdrop on the Senju brothers from right outside their window without being noticed.
Hashirama could sense the Eternal Mangekyo, and Tobirama could track signatures across hundreds of miles. Madara's ability to hide was the only explanation.
But on a battlefield, hiding is impossible. When the Cloud were within two hundred meters of the line, Inoichi barked the order.
"FIRE!"
The night erupted. A volley of kunai rigged with explosive tags rained down on the Cloud unit like a storm of fire.
"COUNTER!"
A's voice boomed. The Cloud ninja moved like lightning, scattering to evade the impact while simultaneously launching their own elemental counters.
Shadows blurred and collided. Lightning, Fire, Water, and Wind Style jutsu tore through the canopy. The brilliance of the ongoing explosions turned the pitch-black forest into a strobe-lit nightmare.
The war began as it always did: a frantic exchange of chakra and projectiles. Once the reserves were drained, the real horror—the close-quarters butchery—would begin.
The Cloud assault was ferocious, but the Leaf had the advantage of the ridge. They held the line with desperate tenacity.
As the first wave of projectiles ended, Saiki looked over at Genhai and Kurenai. They were both trembling, their hands over their ears to block out the roar of the detonations. He then looked at Tsume and Shinku.
"Watch them!"
Battle is a peculiar thing.
It doesn't matter if you want to fight or not.
In a place where lives are snuffed out every second, if you don't kill the enemy, your friends die. It was that simple.
Saiki sighed. "I've been trapped by these damn 'bonds' after all."
If it weren't for Genhai, Kurenai, Tsume, and the others, why would he care if the Leaf burned? Why would he risk his neck for this village?
As the war cries of the second wave began, Saiki stood up.
POOF! POOF! POOF!
In a flurry of petals and smoke, four clones materialized around him. Two Shadow Clones took up positions around Genhai and Kurenai, while two Flower Clones prepped themselves for the slaughter.
"Saiki!"
Tsume was baffled. She knew he had massive reserves, but wasting chakra on clones in the middle of a battle of this scale seemed like suicide.
"The clones will protect you!"
With that, Saiki's eyes went cold. He drew his blade, the steel flashing in the firelight. He transformed into a blur of motion and plunged into the enemy ranks.
Lightning arced across the clearing. Saiki moved like a ghost, his blade a silver crescent that left a trail of bisected corpses in its wake.
"What the...?!"
Where the lightning and the blade passed, the Cloud ninja fell like wheat before a scythe. Genhai, Kurenai, and Tsume were paralyzed with shock.
They had heard the rumors this morning, but seeing it—seeing a nine-year-old child move with such clinical, terrifying lethality—was a different reality entirely.
While the kids were frozen, Tsume snapped out of it. She and Kuromaru transformed into a pair of high-speed whirlwinds, intercepting a group of Cloud ninja attempting a flank.
Shinku Yuhi was also in the fray, his hands a blur of signs as he exhaled a massive Fire Style jutsu. The heat was so intense it turned the grass to ash instantly, driving back a group of attackers.
He looked over his shoulder to see his daughter and Genhai still dazed. Shinku roared with a mix of fear and fury: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! MOVE! PREPARE FOR CONTACT!"
This battlefield was too much for them. Their power was a drop in the ocean here. All they could do was huddle near Shinku and hope for the best.
Saiki's Shadow Clones stood like silent guardians, making no move to attack. Saiki had created them for two purposes: to shield his friends and to act as a battery, storing chakra for the inevitable exhaustion.
The Flower Clones, however, were tireless. Their hands never stopped weaving signs, providing Saiki with a constant stream of Body Flicker and Substitution support.
With his "manual labor" handled by his clones, Saiki was like a fish in water. Every strike was precise, every movement was efficient. He was systematically dismantling the Cloud vanguard.
He seemed to merge with the lightning itself, a shimmering, lethal specter of the night.
His style was fast, ruthless, and absolute. He was a living embodiment of the "Thunder Fang" title.
Squelch!
In the heart of the Cloud formation, blood sprayed across the trees. Another Cloud ninja collapsed, his eyes wide in a final moment of realization. In a three-meter radius around Saiki, there was nothing left but dead men.
The forest was burning, the air thick with the smell of ozone and roasted meat, yet Saiki's expression remained frozen in a mask of icy calm. His eyes radiated a chilling, sharp killing intent.
Standing amidst the carpet of corpses, Saiki's blade pointed toward the dirt, his small, slender silhouette looking impossibly large against the fire.
"Fifteen!"
The number left his lips like a death sentence. In less than thirty seconds, he had executed a man every two seconds along his path.
The remaining Cloud ninja in the sector turned their full attention toward him.
On a battlefield, monsters find monsters. A and Bee were currently being stalled by Inoichi and the Uchiha, separated by a desperate Leaf defensive maneuver.
They were a nightmare for anyone to face, but Saiki was proving to be a different kind of horror.