During the Third Great Ninja War, Iwagakure mobilized ten thousand shinobi to confront the Third Raikage.
The strategy was simple — and brutally effective.
Two thousand ninja remained at the center of the battlefield to temporarily contain him.
Six thousand raised four colossal walls using the combined technique Doton: Banri Doryūheki, forming a massive square around him.
The Raikage had no means of flight. If the walls were high and thick enough, he would be confined.
The remaining two thousand, along with those retreating from direct combat, positioned themselves atop the walls and launched continuous attacks using explosives, explosive tags, long-range techniques, and projectiles.
Meanwhile, the walls were constantly reinforced, compressing the available space.
After three days and three nights of uninterrupted combat, the Third Raikage fell from exhaustion.
Now, before the gates of Kusagakure, the Grass ninja attempted to replicate that same tactic.
Dozens of elites advanced to engage Yūma in direct combat, while hundreds spread out to erect four walls around him.
Yūma observed in silence.
"You are not the Third Raikage… but you are also not ten thousand shinobi of Iwa."
The flames came first.
"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!"
"Katon: Garuda!"
Waves of fire blanketed the battlefield. Since Fūton is traditionally vulnerable to Katon, the Kusa ninja bet on overwhelming him with raw power.
The flames swallowed him whole.
"Fūton: Kaiten!"
A white explosion burst from the center of the inferno. Chakra spun violently around Yūma, forming a high-rotation variation of the Hyūga Kaiten, fueled by wind nature.
The flames were drawn in and compressed by the rotation, transformed into a blazing sphere that detonated back toward the attackers themselves.
"What?! Katon is supposed to suppress Fūton!"
The ninja retreated in disorder. Some raised earth walls; others simply leapt backward.
Yūma immediately perceived the flaw: lack of coordination.
If they had acted like Iwagakure, they would have raised the walls simultaneously and sealed his movement the instant he activated Kaiten.
But they hesitated.
And that was enough.
Yūma moved like lightning.
A palm strike hit a jōnin square in the chest. Chakra pierced through the tenketsu, devastating internal organs. The ninja was dead before hitting the ground.
The true terror of Jūken revealed itself.
Any physical contact — hand, shoulder, elbow — was sufficient. The Hyūga clan is the only one capable of releasing chakra from any tenketsu in the body.
Yūma had mastered that control at an extreme level.
Touch — death.
"Do not engage him in close combat!" the Kusa leader shouted.
Few could follow his speed; even fewer survived three exchanges.
Then the leader advanced, wielding a sword wrapped in flames.
"Katon: Tenrō no Ken!"
Yūma recognized it instantly.
It was a variation of Katon: Tenrō no Jutsu, a technique used at Hōzukijō — the "Blood Prison Castle" — under the jurisdiction of the Land of Grass. The flames sealed the target's chakra upon contact, preventing its molding.
Yūma avoided direct contact, using a chakra scalpel to deflect the blade.
"Hakke Kūshō!"
The vacuum palm struck the leader, sending him flying backward.
Breathing heavily, he retreated to the top of a newly formed wall.
The four walls rose simultaneously, sealing Yūma within a colossal square.
"Even the Third Raikage fell like this!" the leader declared confidently. "You will not escape!"
Yūma lifted his gaze.
Indeed, the execution was now nearly perfect.
No elite Kage-level fighter, but enough collective discipline to pressure even a lower Kage-tier opponent.
He smiled.
"Fūton: Tsuruyoku."
Hand seals were formed.
Wind-nature chakra emerged from his back, condensing into translucent white feathers. The feathers merged, forming a massive pair of wings.
With a single beat, Yūma ascended into the sky.
The Kusa ninja froze in disbelief.
The Raikage could not fly.
But he… could.
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