With the death of Hangetsu Hozuki and Shinichi's timely arrival on the battlefield, the originally deadlocked situation was quickly broken, and Konoha's advantage snowballed.

However, this force had prioritized breakout and retreat from the very beginning. Therefore, when they finally withdrew from the coastline under the cover of thick fog, although corpses littered the ground, the main force was ultimately preserved, and the losses were not as disastrous as those of the Kaguya Clan.

June 3rd, Konoha Year 47.

On the same day that Konoha was peacefully holding the preliminary rounds of the new Chunin exams and the Land of Iron was about to begin its National Swordsmanship Tournament, another major event capable of shaking the Shinobi World occurred.

Village Hidden in the Mist declared war on Konoha without warning.

Multiple elite forces simultaneously launched large-scale invasions against the southeastern coastline of the Land of Fire from different directions.

At the same time, the Village Hidden in the Sand, which had remained silent for half a year, also launched a fierce offensive from the southwest of the Land of Fire with remarkable coordination.

The eastern and western fronts erupted into war simultaneously.

Thus, the Third Shinobi World War fully escalated, with all Five Great Ninja Villages directly entering the conflict.

However, Konoha seemed to have anticipated this long ago. Every defensive line had already entered maximum combat readiness in advance, with all kinds of defensive deployments in place.

Whether against the Village Hidden in the Sand on the southwestern front or the Village Hidden in the Mist along the southeastern coast, the enemy failed to gain any substantial advantage.

Especially, the Village Hidden in the Mist, which was struck head-on immediately.

On the very first day of the official war, not a single one of the Village Hidden in the Mist's four major landing forces managed to break through the defensive lines.

Among them, the two main forces led by the three great clans, the Kaguya Clan and the Hozuki Clan, suffered especially devastating losses.

The two Clan Heads, Memaro Kaguya and Hangetsu Hozuki, both died on the spot in battle.

And behind these two key victories, there was one person whose presence could not be ignored, Shinichi Higashino.

According to news released after the battle, both leaders of these great Village Hidden in the Mist clans had been personally killed by Shinichi Higashino.

There were even rumors that the reason Konoha had been able to predict the Village Hidden in the Mist and the Village Hidden in the Sand's joint operation so accurately and complete its defenses in advance was because of this young boy's strategic analysis.

For a time, the name of this eleven-year-old boy once again swept across the intelligence desks of every nation and ninja village, as well as the front pages of major newspapers.

The already astonishing military talent and strategic vision he displayed left an even heavier, even terrifying, impression on the world.

The World Weekly, which first published this report, was said to have received a severe warning from Konoha afterward, leading to its war coverage becoming far more restrained.

But the news had already spread; those who needed to know already knew.

Besides that, another piece of information was quietly circulating only among Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Mist, and the upper echelons of the Village Hidden in the Sand.

Shinichi Higashino had created yet another entirely new Nintaijutsu system, the Wind Style Nintaijutsu.

Everyone who learned of this matter was once again shaken by Shinichi Higashino's terrifying talent.

"I acknowledge you as the strongest."

Nine months ago, when the samurai from the Land of Iron named Isshin had spoken those words in Konoha's arena, many of the people who received that intelligence had not taken it seriously.

But now, the weight behind those words was gradually becoming heavier and heavier.

More and more people were beginning to confirm one fact in their hearts.

If Shinichi Higashino continued growing at this speed, he would inevitably become the strongest in the Shinobi World.

And that moment... Probably would not even wait until he reached adulthood.

The next day, on a small island behind the Land of Waves.

At the Village Hidden in the Mist command headquarters.

The atmosphere inside the room was incomparably heavy, and the lights remained cold and dim.

But reflected on every face now were complicated and solemn expressions.

The battle reports had already been organized and distributed to all present core figures, but the numbers and words written on them were extremely glaring.

Within a single day, all four landing forces had failed to achieve their expected results.

The Kaguya Clan, Clan Head Memaro Kaguya died in battle, over half of the clan's elites were lost, and the remaining troops barely managed to retreat to nearby islands to regroup and reorganize. In a short time, they had completely lost the ability to continue fighting.

It could even be said that after this battle, this ancient ninja clan, once renowned throughout the Shinobi World for the Corpse Bone Chain, although still barely maintaining a position among the top three Kirigakure ninja clans in overall strength, had already fallen to the bottom of those rankings. Without more than ten years of recovery, they would likely never regain their former vitality.

The Hozuki Clan, Clan Head Hangetsu Hozuki, also died in battle. Their losses were relatively lighter, but this so-called lightness was only in comparison to the Kaguya Clan's tragic condition.

Having lost their Clan Head and multiple core elites in the command structure, the entire force's morale had fallen to rock bottom. At present, a deputy from the Hozuki Clan had temporarily taken over command, and the troops had already withdrawn to the rear lines to recuperate. In the short term, they likewise could not participate in high-intensity combat.

And the one who killed both leaders of these great clans was the same person, Shinichi Higashino!

The mixed force of the Yuki Clan and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, although they successfully completed the landing according to plan and even established a forward position for a time, had been forced to abandon the territory they had gained and voluntarily retreat because both flanks collapsed too quickly.

And why had the left and right flanks collapsed so quickly?

Because they encountered the true god of slaughter, Minato Namikaze.

That man who wielded the Flying Thunder God Technique, known as the Yellow Flash, had moved across that battlefield like an untraceable streak of death.

Every flash of his movement was inevitably accompanied by the fall of a Kirigakure elite.

And even more terrifying was that, with the support of the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, every one of his attacks was precise to a frightening degree.

The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan handled wide-range enemy detection and penetration tracking, rapidly informing him of the locations of Village Hidden in the Mist commanders, key ninjas, and important nodes.

Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze relied on the teleportation ability of the Flying Thunder God Technique to instantly travel between those locations. The efficiency of his slaughter was terrifying beyond words!

According to Village Hidden in the Mist intelligence, Hiashi Hyuga, the leader of the Hyuga Clan, had almost no interaction with Minato Namikaze before this battle, and this seemed to be the first truly meaningful time the two had ever cooperated on a battlefield.

Yet between them existed a completely natural understanding, as though they had already fought side by side for many years.

Under Hiashi Hyuga's calm command, the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan units had practically become Minato Namikaze's all-seeing eyes on the battlefield.

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