Soon, Kawaki Aoba noticed something was wrong. The Gobi Desert—or more accurately, the vast territory of the Land of Wind—was exhibiting strange anomalies.
Normally, land teeming with life interferes with sensory perception. Even Kawaki Aoba's maxed-out Observation Haki struggled to penetrate it deeply. But now…
His Observation Haki cut through the desert soil with unexpected ease. There was resistance, yes—but so faint it was almost nonexistent.
Kawaki Aoba retracted his Observation Haki. There was no point in continuing.
"This land… it's dead," he murmured. That was the only conclusion he could draw.
As shocking as it sounded, he couldn't sense even a trace of vitality in the terrain. The earth's natural energy—its lifeforce—had been completely drained. It was a miracle that the Land of Wind could still support dozens of Gobi-like desert regions at all.
And the only entity Kawaki Aoba could think of, capable of such devastation, was the Ten-Tails.
More precisely, the God Tree—that ancient parasite that once nearly drained the entire world of natural energy to bear the Chakra Fruit, birthing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, the progenitor of chakra itself.
Compared to those extraterrestrial Ōtsutsuki from millennia past, even Kawaki Aoba's current strength felt insignificant.
Thousands of years ago, Kaguya was sealed by her own sons—Hagoromo and Hamura Ōtsutsuki. And now, in this modern era, how powerful might those two beings be if they were still alive?
Forget Hamura for a moment—just considering the power of Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths—who in the Fourth Great Ninja War appeared spiritually and casually bestowed Six Paths powers upon Naruto and Sasuke—was staggering.
To assume he's truly gone and can never return? Kawaki Aoba didn't believe that, not for a second.
And then there were the otherworldly Ōtsutsuki—those alien invaders still drifting through the stars. Could Boruto—that unreliable "non-flammable material"—really be trusted to handle them?
Kawaki Aoba sighed, weariness washing over him. He only wanted to survive quietly in the ninja world. Why was that so difficult?
Huh—!
He suddenly tensed. The distinct sounds of combat echoed in the distance—ninja techniques clashing, steel slicing air.
A major battle was underway. Fierce.
Without hesitation, Kawaki Aoba motioned to his subordinates. "We flank the Sand Village's position. Harass their rear formations."
He had no intention of stealing Minato's limelight on the battlefield—but that didn't mean he would slack off like a certain neighboring "Yellow Flash" who may or may not have eaten the Wretched-Wretched Fruit.
Kawaki Aoba had his own ambitions. If he wanted to maintain command over his thousand-strong unit once they returned to Konoha, strength alone wasn't enough—he needed battlefield accomplishments.
"Qingke, follow the plan," he ordered. "I'll break through. You expand our advantage from both sides. Cut down as many Sand ninjas as you can."
With that, Kawaki Aoba shot forward like a blade, eyes locked on Mount Kikyo in the distance.
Behind him, over a thousand Konoha shinobi mobilized swiftly, adjusting formation and following in his wake.
Deploying such a rigid formation in a large-scale battle was normally unwise. It hindered both elite combatants and coordination among lower-tier ninjas. But this time, there was an exception—the man leading the charge possessed overwhelming strength.
As they flanked toward Mount Kikyo, Kawaki Aoba extended his Observation Haki—and just as expected, picked up on numerous Sand ninjas hidden in ambush.
Clearly, both sides had strategists. Sunagakure would never let Konoha gain such an advantage uncontested.
But Kawaki Aoba didn't care. A successful ambush required parity in strength. And the scattered Sand forces in his perception—though some were Jōnin—were no match for him.
"Red Fire Cannon: Triple Shot."
He waved his hand. Three incantation-free bursts of fire surged from him in different directions.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rocked the desert as smoke and sand erupted from three locations. In one blast zone, two Sand shinobi stumbled out—bloodied but alive.
They had escaped by sacrificing a comrade, using his body as a shield against the flames.
As they staggered free, they glanced toward the other two ambush sites—no survivors emerged.
Then their eyes fell on the thousand Konoha shinobi forming up below. Realizing the odds, the two didn't hesitate. They fled.
But before they got far—
"Hadō No. 54: Abolishing Flame."
A scorching beam of flame engulfed them. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left but charred ashes scattered on the wind.
Konoha's forces erupted in cheers.
Kawaki Aoba allowed himself a brief smile, then raised his hand. "Don't get cocky," he warned. "Those were small fry. The real threat lies ahead…"
His words stopped short. The smile vanished.
"Ambush—front!" he roared. "Massive numbers—over a thousand! They were baiting us!"
His Observation Haki had detected it—hundreds, possibly more than a thousand, Sand Village shinobi lying in wait further up the slope.
Something was off. Terribly off.
Even if Sunagakure had planned an ambush, there was no reason to commit so many ninja to this flank. It suggested either a desperate gamble—or a misdirection.
If they had stationed similar numbers elsewhere, it meant one thing:
Sunagakure had no intention of winning the main battlefield.
The only way the Sand Village (Sunagakure) shinobi could have intercepted them so precisely was if information had been leaked—and the one who leaked it had to be from within Konoha itself.
Kawaki Aoba was confident in his heightened sensory perception, a refined application of chakra sensory techniques. If there were spies from Sunagakure among the Konoha jōnin, they wouldn't have been able to hide from him.
He had two theories regarding the leak. Either someone from Minato Namikaze's forces had acted independently, trying to create friction between him and Orochimaru, or it was Danzo Shimura's Root division, executing one of their covert manipulations to steal credit from Minato on the battlefield.
Between the two, Aoba leaned toward the latter.
Ever since Orochimaru hinted that Danzo had plans to use him as a counterweight to Minato's rising fame, Aoba had suspected that the old war hawk wouldn't sit idle.
Still, he hadn't expected such a scheme to unfold on the decisive battlefield. He couldn't tell whether Danzo was overconfident in his skills or subtly trying to get him killed.
After all, the opponents waiting ahead were no ordinary enemies.
Aoba sensed two formidable chakra signatures through his sensory abilities.
One male. One female.
The woman gave off a wild and unrestrained aura. Though she tried to suppress her chakra, Aoba could still feel the simmering heat beneath the surface. This had to be Yura—known in Sunagakure as the Crimson Mirage, one of their elite jōnin.
The male presence, however, was entirely different. His chakra was strong but subdued, ancient yet turbulent, peaceful on the surface but laced with beast-like ferocity and killing intent so dense it felt tangible.
Aoba recognized this type of contradiction—it could only be a jinchūriki.
But this one was different. The harmony between the host and beast was uncanny.
Then the name clicked—Bunpuku, the previous host of Shukaku, the One-Tail, and spiritual predecessor to Gaara. Bunpuku was known to be a monk of deep wisdom and an advocate of jinchūriki peace, unlike most others.
But why would a jinchūriki like Bunpuku be deployed here, rather than the main battlefield?
Why target him?
Unless…
A sudden realization struck Aoba.
It was the Nine-Tails. Or more accurately—the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails. Him.
Only the weight of such a host could justify the Sand Village diverting a jinchūriki to intercept him.
The leak had to have come from Danzo's Root. That scheming old man wanted him to unleash his power—perhaps to prove something, or to rival Minato's brilliance.
So be it.
Aoba exhaled slowly, narrowing his eyes as they neared the ambush site.
"Everyone, listen up!" he called out. "There's a large Sunagakure ambush ahead. Watch the high ground—expect ninja tools from above!"
His warning had barely left his mouth when a rain of weapons fell upon them—kunai, senbon, and shuriken descending like a storm.
Caught unawares, even a seasoned jōnin could falter against such a sudden onslaught—let alone chūnin or genin.
And these weapons bore the signature of the Sand Village—laced with poison.
Even a minor scratch could incapacitate a shinobi in seconds, antidote or not.
But thanks to Aoba's sensory prowess, the trap was exposed before it triggered.
He stepped forward, forming a one-handed seal. "Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
A powerful vortex of wind surged from his palm, forming a spinning current that intercepted the barrage. The sharp gusts scattered the poisoned tools, redirecting many of them back toward the hillside ambushers.
Cheers broke out among the Konoha shinobi.
"What wind jutsu! That's Lord Aoba for you—the battlefield legend!"
Some even started calling him a "legendary ninja," a term often casually bestowed upon those who shone in war. Aoba, however, winced slightly at the title. He didn't feel worthy of that just yet.
Meanwhile, chaos erupted among the Sunagakure ranks.
Their own weapons—meant to disable or kill—were now falling back on them. Several lower-ranked shinobi were hit, some even fatally. Many of the chūnin and genin had already been poisoned and would be unable to fight effectively.
Yura gritted her teeth in frustration. "Damn that bastard," she muttered, surveying the damage. Despite her anger, she quickly issued orders.
"All units except for jōnin and sealing team members, retreat! Special jōnin, cover the wounded and pull them back. We'll take over from here."
Though the plan had called for these forces to withdraw after Bunpuku unleashed the One-Tail, the premature exposure of their ambush meant they had to accelerate the retreat.
And now, the true battle would begin.
Visit patreon.com/Akeyno to get 30+ chapters