479. Fourt Great Ninja War

While Danzo was launching a surprise attack on Kumogakure and engaging in an intense battle with the other Kage, news of the assault quickly spread to other nations.

Without hesitation, they began mobilizing their forces to support the Konoha Liberation Alliance.

Thus, the Fourth Great Ninja War officially began.

On the battlefield of the Land of Iron, a sudden, deafening roar echoed through the air.

As General Mifune and his samurai stood in stunned silence, hundreds of land combat tanks emerged from the golden sands.

Under the sunlight, these steel behemoths gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen, forming a terrifying tide of iron that surged forward, ready to crush the samurai forces of the Land of Iron.

"So these are Konoha's tanks…?"

Many samurai gulped in fear at the sight before them.

Before General Mifune could rally his troops, the tanks' massive barrels began to glow with condensed chakra.

One after another, highly compressed chakra shells shot out at blistering speeds, raining down upon the samurai forces.

Thanks to research into the relics of the Land of Sky, Konoha had successfully overcome the most troublesome hurdles of chakra application—chakra storage and ninjutsu containment.

Naturally, these breakthroughs were also applied to their newly developed weaponry.

For instance, the steel tide standing in the samurai's way was powered by energy extracted from the Zero-Tails.

Additionally, the chakra shells were designed to mimic Tailed Beast Bombs.

While they were far inferior to the real thing, they were more than enough to deal with the traditionally armed samurai of the Land of Iron.

And as for the weapons they had sold to other nations?

Those were nothing more than Konoha’s outdated, obsolete equipment.

Everyone knew that Konoha’s military industry always followed a strict principle:

One generation on display, one generation in development, and one generation kept in secret.

Only weapons that were considered too outdated were ever revealed to the public.

Or as the saying went:

"If it's too outdated, it can be shown!"

Now, the ultra-compressed chakra shells whistled through the air, roaring as they descended upon the samurai forces.

In an instant, a series of deafening explosions erupted within their ranks.

Though the samurai were skilled warriors, the relentless bombardment took a devastating toll.

Countless ordinary samurai were blown away by the explosions, some so severely that their armor melted, leaving behind only blood and scattered remains.

Seeing this, General Mifune, leader of the Land of Iron, erupted in fury.

"Damn you, Konoha!"

Watching his subordinates fall one after another, Mifune could no longer contain his rage.

"Charge with me! Cut these metal monstrosities to pieces!"

Without hesitation, the remaining samurai seized the brief pause between bombardments and launched a full-speed assault on Konoha’s forces.

Seeing this, Pakura, the commander of the Konoha unit, immediately gave an order through her radio:

"Fire everything, then crush them! Roll over them all!"

At Pakura’s command, the tanks unleashed another devastating volley.

After blasting away another wave of Iron Country samurai, they revved their engines to full power and charged forward like prehistoric beasts, crashing into the enemy lines.

The roar of engines and the screech of metal clashed with the desperate cries of the samurai as they collided.

The samurai, who had once believed that close combat would turn the tide, now realized they had stepped into an even greater nightmare.

Their swords were razor-sharp, but against the specially reinforced armor of the tanks, they were utterly useless.

Ordinary samurai had no means of fighting back against these steel behemoths.

Only those at the level of Special Jōnin or Jōnin could pose any significant threat to Konoha’s forces.

But Konoha's trump card didn’t end there.

After a round of brutal charges, Pakura issued another order:

"Keep advancing until you leave the battlefield."
"It’s time for the next unit to take over."

Following the command, the tanks accelerated, disengaging from combat and leaving the samurai behind.

"Don't let them escape!!"

Blinded by rage, the surviving samurai refused to let the killers of their comrades go unpunished.

They chased after the Konoha forces with all their might, determined to bring them down.

Unfortunately, their hopes were shattered as Konoha’s air units arrived for support.

From above, a massive fleet of flying units swooped down, unleashing a new wave of bombardments upon the samurai army.

Explosions ripped through their ranks, cutting them down like wheat before the scythe.

General Mifune's eyes burned with fury as he watched his men fall one by one.

Yet, beneath his rage, a creeping doubt began to take hold—

Had the Land of Iron chosen the wrong path from the very beginning?

Was the samurai way of life destined to be abandoned by this era?

Almost as if to answer him, Konoha’s next wave of attacks began.

Just as the dust from the air raids had yet to settle, monstrous Chimera Beasts erupted from underground!

These creatures bore terrifying forms, resembling centipedes, scorpions, and other insectoid horrors.

They were the result of fusing Hiruko’s Chimera Technique with Aburame Ryouma’s insect technology, creating an elite army of super-chimeric war beasts.

Possessing immense strength, speed, and resilience, each one was a natural-born weapon of war.

And when they activated "Shocking God’s Attraction", their bodies rapidly swelled in size, forming a faintly red Tailed Beast-like cloak around them.

This sight plunged the samurai into complete despair.

"What… what kind of monsters are these…?"

As they watched their comrades get devoured one after another, their faces turned pale with horror.

Some even dropped their weapons to the ground, surrendering completely.

"Stand your ground!! Get a hold of yourselves!!"

General Mifune roared, slashing through a chimera beast with his katana.

But looking around, his heart sank.

At this rate, the Land of Iron’s decades of strength would be wiped out in a single battle.

Without their warriors, the Land of Iron would become like the Land of Grass or the Land of Fields—weak, powerless, at the mercy of greater nations.

No…

If Konoha won this war, there might not be any great nations left at all.

With this realization, Mifune exhaled heavily.

He raised his katana high, chakra surging around him.

"Then let this be the final chapter of my samurai way!"

With a fierce battle cry, he charged back into the fray—

—And in the end, surrounded by countless chimeric beasts…

He fell in battle.