Chapter 309: Super-Gravity Fire Release
"Earth Release—"
Boom! Several quick-reacting Kumogakure shinobi immediately cast Earth Formation Walls to defend, but it was useless. The moment the walls were touched by the sea of flames, they shattered.
In an instant, the massive, crushing fire current engulfed a group of Kumogakure shinobi who had no time to react.
There were no screams.
No sounds of resistance.
Where the sea of flames passed, it was like molten lava from a volcanic eruption, devouring everything. The Kumogakure shinobi were swept away like weeds by the roadside, without even a ripple.
The truth was, most people in the ninja world were still within the range of average power.
Their chakra reserves limited the strength of their ninjutsu. Ninjutsu had never been the sole determinant of a shinobi's true strength.
Combining ninjutsu with taijutsu was the standard combat model in the ninja world.
Only this way could one fight prolonged battles.
Konoha's Sakumo , the Yellow Flash, the Third Raikage—all of them fought this way.
If the Third Raikage had kept his Lightning Chakra Mode active the whole time, he wouldn't have lasted three hours—his chakra would have been depleted within thirty minutes.
So generally, battles between shinobi relied heavily on taijutsu. Ninjutsu rarely killed opponents outright.
Close-quarters clashes were the moments when life or death was decided.
Using ninjutsu often gave enemies more time to react. Those with strong taijutsu could either respond effectively—or dodge completely.
That's how the famous "Fire Release can't kill anyone" theory came to be.
Only monsters like Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama—those who could go full mecha mode—used ninjutsu as their primary offense.
But such people were rare.
For the majority of shinobi, combat was decided in melee. Their worldview was simple: death was decided up close.
Fire Release could burn, yes—but killing? That was hard.
At least… that's what they thought.
Today, however, the Iwagakure shinobi following Earth Release Clone - Shiyan had their understanding completely shattered.
With just one Fire Release jutsu, Shiyan instantly annihilated over fifty Kumogakure shinobi—including more than one jōnin.
Rumble rumble… Shiyan's Fire Release resembled an eruption of lava, rolling forward and crushing all in its path.
Very soon—
The flames disappeared, revealing a scorched and sunken battlefield before the Iwa shinobi, a ten-meter-deep charred landscape stretching over a kilometer.
Staring at this apocalyptic scene, the Iwa shinobi were dumbfounded.
Was this really Fire Release as they knew it?
Since when did a "normal" Fire Release possess such terrifying destructive power?
"Advance. Leave no one alive."
Shiyan's command pulled them out of their stunned daze.
"Yes, Lord Shiyan!"
The Iwa shinobi's eyes lit up with excitement. They instantly activated Body Flicker and rushed forward, pursuing the survivors inside the Kumogakure outpost.
Huff…
Shiyan followed behind, breathing a little heavier, feeling the fatigue in his body.
The Technique of Mass was powerful—but incredibly chakra-intensive.
The reason that Fire Release was so overwhelming was because Shiyan had infused it with a massive amount of chakra from the Technique of Mass, granting the flame sea of "Relentless Head" a fictional mass and density of 500,000 tons.
Only then did a standard Fire Release jutsu reach such devastating levels—even ten users of Water Release couldn't diminish its power.
With power like that came extraordinary chakra cost.
That Fire Release—no, more precisely, that combination jutsu: Super-Gravity Fire Release: Relentless Head—
It had drained 70% of Shiyan's chakra in a single blast.
This clone body had ordinary lineage and chakra reserves—its only strength was high ninjutsu talent.
Even though he'd developed a terrifying jutsu like the Technique of Mass, Shiyan couldn't dominate the ninja world with it like a God of Shinobi.
Truthfully, if Ōnoki had Senju Hashirama's chakra reserves, he might've surpassed him.
Thankfully, Shiyan had already solved the problem of chakra reserves.
Otherwise, he too might've ended up like Ōnoki—a five-second superman with Dust Release but no stamina.
Shiyan didn't tap into the chakra stored in the devouring-seal array within his body. He didn't want to expose that ability yet.
So during the rest of the pursuit, he played it cool.
The Iwa shinobi, having witnessed that terrifying fire jutsu, certainly wouldn't think any less of him.
And so, led by Shiyan, the Iwa shinobi went on to break several more Kumogakure strongholds. By the time dawn painted the sky red, the counterattack had already lasted through the night.
Without the Third Raikage, and with most of Iwagakure's forces secretly redirected earlier by Ōnoki, they successfully slaughtered the majority of the invading Kumogakure forces.
By the second half of the night, Kumogakure received word of the Third Raikage's death—and completely lost the will to fight. They began retreating toward the sea.
With that, the threat of Kumogakure was officially eliminated.
By morning, while resting in a forest, Shiyan received a message from Ōnoki.
Ōnoki had returned to Iwagakure, and the forces he had borrowed from the Konoha and Sunagakure fronts would also return to their respective battlefields to continue holding off enemies.
The Kumogakure front was now left entirely in Shiyan's hands.
Ōnoki instructed Shiyan to march straight into the Land of Lightning—make Kumogakure taste the pain of having war fought in their own country.
"Heh…"
After reading the message, Shiyan smiled coldly. A faint glint of frost flashed in his eyes.
Time to return.
The Wind Release Clone had been waiting long enough.
The Third Raikage was dead—next would be the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
…
Land of Birds—a small country sandwiched between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind. It had no hidden village and had long served as a battlefield between Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
The small nations in Naruto's world were often tragic. When two great powers went to war, the battlefield never stayed in their own territory—it always spilled into the innocent lands of others.
It's no wonder Nagato, who grew up in Amegakure, held such hatred toward Konoha and the Five Great Nations.
Compared to Nagato, Naruto's "pain" was practically happiness. He never starved, never lived in constant fear of death.
Naruto's pain was loneliness.
Nagato's pain was death and terror.
Which is greater? Well… that's up to the philosophers.
As for this pain—Li Yao stood with Nagato.
Flying through the sky, the Wind Release Clone of Li Yao gazed down at the devastation below. The villages were in ruins. The few who still lived were ragged children and elderly folk—thin, sickly, their eyes hollow and lifeless.
This was the fate of civilians who lived in war. No hope. Numb. Despairing.
Just like what Li Yao once saw in the Land of Rain.
His Wind Release Clone soared indifferently above. He still felt no sense of belonging to this world.
Border of the Land of Birds and the Land of Earth.
After Li Yao's Wind Clone had pulled most of the Sunagakure shinobi to the Land of Rivers, they had withdrawn from the Land of Earth back into the Land of Birds, where they now stood face-to-face with Iwa shinobi at the border.
Small skirmishes continued, but both sides exercised restraint.
There weren't many troops on either side—starting a full-scale war here could trigger massive consequences.
Iwagakure didn't mind—they welcomed Sunagakure's caution.
Sunagakure, on the other hand, was dissatisfied.
But they had no choice. Li Yao's Wind Clone had given the order. They had to obey.
"Sigh…"
Inside a tent at the Sunagakure camp, Rasa stared at the intel coming from the Land of Rivers. At first, he felt a bit pleased—but that quickly faded into silence, ending in a long sigh.
Sasori of the Red Sand had been defeated.
Scorch Release Pakura had also been severely injured.
Both of them—defeated by the same person.
Konoha's Sakumo . The same terrifying man who once forced the Fourth Kazekage to flee—and earned renown across the ninja world because of it.
Rasa hadn't expected that he would still be this terrifying even now.
At first, when he heard Sasori and Pakura had lost, Rasa thought it might be his chance.
But upon seeing that the opponent was Sakumo … he fell silent.
He knew that even if he went himself, he wouldn't be a match.
(END CHAPTER)
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