A massive quantity of tailed beast chakra with both Yin and Yang attributes was rapidly condensing and compressing within a dark cannon barrel at a 2:8 ratio.
The chakra technology installed by Kumo inside the cannon precisely regulated the state of the tailed beast chakra, ensuring not the slightest chaos or loss of control during the high-speed compression and condensation process.
When the tailed beast chakra was finally pressurized to its limit, it was like a ferocious beast about to break free from its chains, suddenly bursting out from the cannon's muzzle.
In an instant, a pitch-black, ink-like pressurized Tailed Beast Ball shot out like lightning, streaking across the sky with an orange-red tail flame and expanding rapidly along the way.
The very next second, as the massive sphere reached its predetermined altitude, internal sealing mechanisms activated. It split into dozens of regular-sized Tailed Beast Balls, accurately covering nearly all the strategic points Konoha had previously occupied.
Seeing such a fierce offensive from their side, many Kumo ninjas couldn't suppress their excitement. They exclaimed with joy, marveling at how their village had finally risen, even managing to go toe-to-toe with Konoha.
This was exactly what the Kumo leadership intended. The death of the Third Raikage, caused by Ōnoki's scheming, had been a massive blow to them. For Kumo's leadership, this wasn't merely about territorial gain. His death had shaken the village's confidence, and rumors of weakness spread among both civilians and ninja alike.
So, this assault on Konoha wasn't just about coveting the Land of Fire's rich resources, it was more about scoring a decisive victory to prove to the people of the Land of Lightning that Kumo remained powerful.
Konoha, being the top ninja village and victor of the previous two Great Ninja Wars, was currently fighting on multiple fronts. It made them the perfect target.
Faced with the apocalyptic wave of attacks descending from the sky, the expressions on the Konoha forces on the ground were different from those of the Kumo ninjas.
"Those are... a lot of Tailed Beast Balls," one Konoha ninja said.
"Hold position. Command knows what they're doing," another replied firmly.
A Konoha veteran turned to a younger ninja beside him. "I've seen worse odds. Konoha doesn't break."
To avoid panic, the mission details regarding Ryouma intercepting the Tailed Beast Balls hadn't been disclosed to the frontline troops. To them, this looked like certain death, yet their discipline held. Years of training and absolute trust in their command structure prevented panic where lesser forces would have crumbled.
So, even though their hearts were filled with fear of death, they still followed every order from Inoichi in the command center to the letter.
Ryouma stood atop a high-standing boulder, gazing at the sky-blotting barrage of Tailed Beast Balls. His eyes tracked each incoming projectile, the Rikugan even allowed him to perceive trajectories, speeds, and impact points simultaneously.
He slowly drew Lostvayne from the leather sheath on his back and held it horizontally in front of him.
Below the boulder, Shisui looked at the countless Tailed Beast Balls and felt a chill run down his spine. He shouted up, "Are you confident you can handle this many?"
After all, the original plan didn't account for Kumo being able to fire this many Tailed Beast Balls at once.
Shiori glanced at Shisui and said calmly, "If he says he can, then there's no problem."
She wasn't worried about whether they would succeed. Even if the Tailed Beast Balls exploded, she could just pull Ryouma into her shadow space. As for the rest of Konoha?
She honestly didn't care.
"Just like Shiori said, leave it to me."
With that, Ryouma slashed the blade against the wind toward the sky. Full Counter was activated at its limit for the first time.
He was ready to deflect the entire barrage.
An invisible field rapidly expanded from his body, this time with a scope larger than ever before. To observers, nothing seemed to happen, yet the field continued to grow even larger.
Birds in flight suddenly changed direction without flapping their wings. Dust motes in the air began moving in patterns that ignored gravity.
At the very moment the Tailed Beast Balls touched the invisible domain, they seemed to trigger a chain reaction.
A sound like mechanical parts snapping echoed across the battlefield for dozens of kilometers.
To all the Konoha and Kumo ninjas watching, those Tailed Beast Balls suddenly froze in the air for a split second.
Those bizarre sounds were actually shockwaves, air being violently displaced by the immense mass of the bombs. And in the next instant, the Tailed Beast Balls that had nearly covered the entire sky, likely capable of leveling the whole battlefield, were all returned.
The orange-red tails once again streaked across the sky, now flying back at even greater speed due to the double acceleration.
"Wait—what?" a Kumo ninja stammered.
"Hey, hey? Aren't they flying the wrong way?! How is that possible?!" another cried in panic.
"It's an illusion! It has to be! Tailed Beast Balls don't just reverse direction!" another one shouted in denial.
"They're headed for us!"
On the other side of the battlefield, countless Kumo ninjas hidden in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning were still waiting for the Tailed Beast Ball to break Konoha's forces.
After the battlefield was leveled, they could enter the fray and clean up easily. But now, what was going on with these Tailed Beast Balls that were, absurdly, taking up half the battlefield sky and heading right back at them?
These questions were destined to remain buried in their hearts.
At the far end, Killer B stared wide-eyed at the dispersing Tailed Beast Balls that had seemingly turned around.
Yo, you seeing what I'm seeing? he asked internally.
Yes. This is not a genjutsu.
The cannon operators below him also wore confused expressions, having no idea what had just happened in those few seconds.
Killer B didn't even have time for his usual rap lines anymore and shouted urgently, "Can we still intercept it?!"
Of course not, and he knew that deep down.
Just charging that last compressed Tailed Beast Ball had nearly consumed 80% of the Eight Tails' chakra reserves. In previous battles, they'd only ever fired a few standard Tailed Beast Ball.
This time, because the Konoha formation was tightly packed, they'd decided to go all-in, and now they'd lost everything in one blow.
One of the Kumo ninjas below the cannon murmured in a daze. "We're finished…"
The words carried across the Kumo positions like a plague, spreading the reality that their ultimate weapon had become their ultimate downfall.
And on the other side of the battlefield, in the horrified eyes of the Kumo ninjas, doomsday arrived.
Explosions and extreme heat, forever the deadliest weapons against living beings.
In a deafening roar that echoed across the entire battlefield, the ground was like fragile glass, mercilessly torn apart by the raging wave of red energy. The ground didn't just crack, it liquefied under the intense heat, transforming solid stone into flowing glass that glowed like molten rivers.
As the superheated glass began to cool and harden in irregular patterns, jagged cracks formed like wounds on the earth, rapidly spreading in all directions in an instant.
Towering peaks were broken in half under the immense chakra shockwave, crumbling into countless stones that were swept up by the enormous circular blast wave, rolling outward like a raging flood.
Wherever it passed, everything was pulverized.
The explosions lasted for several minutes. Since the chakra quantities given to each Tailed Beast by the Sage of Six Paths were different, the power of their Tailed Beast Balls also varied.
But this wave, fired with the Eight Tails' power, was even stronger than the chain explosion Ryouma had once caused using the Three Tails' Tailed Beast Balls.
At this moment, the region once occupied by the Kumo ninja forces had been completely reduced to scorched earth, still radiating intense heat.
At the center of the explosion, the temperature distortions rising from the impact zones created mirage-like effects, making the devastation appear even more surreal.
Broken stones stood like jagged pillars, stained with the bloody remains of ninjas, shreds of flesh and red blood tangled with ghastly white bones, forming a scene both gory and grotesque.
To call it a hell on earth would be no exaggeration.
Achieving this result wasn't solely due to the power of Full Counter. Much of the credit belonged to the Rikugan as well.
This pair of eyes gave him limitless possibilities. While deflecting the Tailed Beast Balls, his brain was working at full speed, recalculating the trajectories of all dozens of them in real time, analyzing every detail of the battlefield with perfect precision.
He redirected all the Tailed Beast Balls precisely back to the area where the Kumo ninja forces were concentrated. In fact, his targeting was even more accurate than the calculations made by Killer B's team earlier.
With just this one counterattack from him, Konoha had essentially secured the victory. From here on, the Konoha ninjas only needed to mop up the remnants and rack up battle merits.
Ryouma jumped down from the massive boulder and said to Shisui, "You can go there and take charge of the frontline. Don't pursue too deeply, the main goal is to eliminate the Kumo ninjas still on the battlefield."
Shisui nodded. "Understood."
Shiori typically never refused Ryouma's orders. She nodded slightly to show her understanding, but still asked out of habit. "What are you going to do next?"
Ryouma turned his head in a certain direction and replied with a slight smile. "Me? I'm going after the king to end the game."
[email protected]/Malphegor