Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 173: Utter Devastation

Hold out for two days?

Can they even last an hour?

Yamada Hidenori watched the scene before him, a sense of despair welling up inside.

In his eyes, Susano'o swept across the battlefield with overwhelming power. Each of its attacks radiated massive chakra waves, sending Sand shinobi flying or outright obliterating them.

The tailed beast clad in Susano'o unleashed massive Tailed Beast Bombs, creating devastating explosions. The surrounding buildings and terrain were reduced to rubble under the combined assault of the Tailed Beast and Susano'o.

The once neatly arranged ninja formations were torn apart by the shockwaves of the Tailed Beast Bombs. Dust and smoke obscured the sky, transforming the bright daylight into a dim twilight. At the center of the explosions, everything was vaporized in an instant, leaving behind only bottomless craters and scorched earth.

On the edges of the blast zones, scattered ninja were thrown about, some crashing heavily into crumbling walls, others engulfed in flames from the explosions, their clothes and armor scorched, their bodies severely burned.

The surviving ninja struggled to crawl out of the rubble, their eyes filled with shock and terror. Some, too gravely injured to move, could only lie helplessly on the ground.

This scene was even more despair-inducing than Shukaku's rampages.

The Sand shinobi resisted in vain. They couldn't even breach Susano'o's outer defenses, let alone face the Three-Tails directly, especially with Konoha's ninja forces assisting in the attack.

Ten minutes. In just ten minutes, the colossal force had broken through the outer walls, entered the fortress, and begun "clearing the battlefield."

Standing on a rooftop, Yamada Hidenori watched the "giant" bulldoze its way into the fortress under a hail of attacks, while the Sand shinobi fought helplessly. His face turned increasingly pale as he urgently turned to Uchiya Shinji beside him.

"Elder Shinji, do you have any way to counter this?"

"No."

"Then… if we release the Konoha envoys now, do you think we can earn their forgiveness—"

"What do you think?" Uchiya Shinji shot him a cold glance, cutting him off. Yamada Hidenori's breath caught, and he fell silent.

There was no way out.

But Yamada Hidenori couldn't bear to face the nightmare unfolding before him. Even if it meant escaping momentarily, he wanted to leave this place.

After a brief silence, Yamada Hidenori muttered, "The main enemy force is small. There are bound to be more Konoha ninja at Moonlight Castle. Should I take a team to reinforce them?"

"…"

Uchiya Shinji glanced at Yamada Hidenori, his lips twitching slightly, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Go ahead… I'll join you in supporting Moonlight Castle."

Elder Chiyo and the Konoha envoys had already been sent to the rear. There was no reason for him to remain here.

The outcome of this war was decided long before it began… and the role he had to play was destined to be a tragic one.

"…"

Yamada Hidenori was surprised that Uchiya Shinji didn't reprimand him or insist on staying. But after a glance at the approaching Susano'o, he found it unsurprising.

Faced with such a monster, perhaps only the Third Kazekage—once the strongest of Sunagakure—could have stood a chance.

Unfortunately, he was long gone.

Amid the devastation wrought by Susano'o and the Tailed Beast, the two commanders quietly led a group of Sand shinobi away from the battlefield.

…

Inside the fortress, the once orderly wooden and stone buildings were now reduced to charred remains and shattered rubble. Burned wood and broken stones were strewn across the ground, while the air reeked of dust and scorched earth. In the distance, faint crackling sounds could still be heard from lingering fires.

Massive craters littered the ground, their edges blackened by intense heat. Scattered around them were debris and fragments of furniture hurled by the shockwaves. Roads were reduced to traces of destruction, with even the original signposts unrecognizable.

The entire battlefield was unrecognizable. The carefully planned tactics and strategies had become meaningless in the face of the devastating power of Tailed Beast Bombs and Yasaka Magatama.

"Yasaka Magatama!"

Three massive magatama were hurled like shuriken, obliterating the last visible group of Sand shinobi within sight.

Seeing no more enemies around, Yakumaru deactivated his Susano'o and sighed.

"How boring. Is this really the current strength of Sunagakure? This is far too pathetic."

"Don't let your guard down," Kakashi warned, his brow furrowing. "The Land of Wind's actions don't add up. Didn't we discuss this earlier?"

"I know," Yakumaru said with a smirk, though his tone carried a hint of irritation. "It's just that at this rate, we might as well lead our forces straight to the Wind Daimyō's capital and capture him."

"Don't get cocky. The two of us alone can't take down an entire nation," Kakashi replied, his voice heavy as he listened to the sounds around him.

The air was thick with the smell of burning and blood. From time to time, the groans and cries of the wounded could be heard.

Even though they had prepared themselves, Kakashi couldn't shake an unfamiliar sense of unease. This was an invasion.

Facing this war initiated by the Land of Fire, Kakashi realized that he had grown softer over time. In the past, such thoughts wouldn't have crossed his mind.

"What's wrong, Kakashi?"

Noticing Kakashi's mood, Yakumaru refrained from his usual banter about storming the daimyo's palace. Instead, he asked in confusion, "Is there something wrong with the Three-Tails?"

Kakashi shook his head and, after a moment's thought, said, "It just feels different from before."

"Different how?"

"This war…" Kakashi glanced around at the destruction, his tone somber. "We're the aggressors this time."

…

"Your son Kakashi seems a bit lost."

Outside the fortress, Pakura watched the fading chaos in the distance, her tone casual. "The battle was led by Susano'o, after all."

But he probably wasn't mixing personal feelings with his duty—he just hadn't adjusted his mindset yet.

The Land of Fire initiating a war was indeed unprecedented.

The changes were significant.

"From any perspective, this is an invasion. The Land of Fire has never launched such a war before. Kakashi has lost much in past conflicts, so it's only natural for him to feel some psychological dissonance," Hatake Sakumo said calmly. "This is a path he must walk to grow."

The day Sakumo died, Kakashi's growth had halted.

Obito helped him move forward, only to leave him again.

Kakashi's time had stalled once more.

Then came Rin, the Fourth Hokage…

In Sakumo's view, Kakashi's progress had been delayed for far too long. The war had taken much from him, and now, as part of the attacking side, he needed time to adapt to the ever-changing shinobi world.

Or rather… the entire shinobi world needed time to adjust and transform its mindset.

"Are you going to talk to him about it?"

"It's not the right time yet," Sakumo replied with a slight shake of his head.

The ruins of Roran, which lay on the road to the Wind Daimyō's capital, were nearby. That was the real reason they were here, and their base wasn't far off.

They could meet again later.

With that in mind, Sakumo asked, "Have reinforcements from the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth arrived?"

"They have. All familiar faces. And the Land of Wind's reinforcements have also arrived. For those who experienced the Third Shinobi World War, this scene feels oddly familiar."

(End of Chapter)