Bloody Retribution

"Hyah!" Thump! Thump! THUMP!

The tough shell of the rampaging ultralisk finally cracked under Tsunade's relentless assault. Leaping back, panting, she allowed the other ninjas to take advantage of the opening she created with their supporting barrage.

Glancing down at her bruised hands, Tsunade channeled her chakra to aid their recovery, ignoring the scratches and bruises covering the rest of her body. "Why are their hides so tough?!" she grumbled in frustration.

"Milady..." the slug on Tsunade's shoulder spoke up hesitantly.

"Katsuya, how are the others?" Tsunade's fierce eyes remained fixed on the giant ultralisks, their scythe-like limbs tearing through the forest and trampling everything in their path.

Katsuya sighed, her tiny mouth shrinking. "It's not looking too good, Milady. Even with my assistance, their injuries aren't light. Many unfortunate ones took direct hits from those large creatures..."

Tsunade's clenched fists trembled, her face solemn as she surveyed the countless bodies scattered on the battlefield. Her gaze settled on Hiashi, his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven coming to a stop, the large barrier around him gradually dissipating. "Hiashi, how many more are there?"

Gasping for breath, Hiashi scanned the area with his Byakugan. His face grew somber as he raised his palms, "Lord Hokage... Leave it to us here. You should return to Konoha first. There's no need for you to-"

"There is no need to say more! Why am I putting my life on the line? Because now... I am the Fifth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves! And Konoha is right behind us! There is no room for retreat!" Tsunade's voice grew fierce as she slammed her fist into the ground.

BOOM! The crater on the ground sunk in further, and cracks spread out like a spiderweb, with strange blood seeping from them.

Her attack cleared the ambushing zergs in her vicinity. Yet, Tsunade's eyes turned even fiercer as she witnessed bony spikes emerging in the other areas like a deadly wave, slaughtering many of the ninjas who had come to support from Konoha. "Damn it!"

In the midst of chaos, Tsunade witnessed the horrifying sight of corroded bodies falling from the forest canopies above. These ninjas had chosen to fight atop the trees, seeking to avoid the sneak attacks from underground, but they had tragically succumbed to a barrage of suicidal insects bombarding them from the skies.

Rushing to aid a still-living ninja with missing limbs, Tsunade unclenched her fists as she knelt down, applying medical ninjutsu. "I knew it wouldn't be a good thing to listen to that old man! Now, we've poked a hornet's nest! And where is he when we deal with the aftermath?!" Her frustration and anger were palpable.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions echoed through the forest, flames setting off a deadly firework in the background. Tsunade watched helplessly as the injured ninja took his last breath. Bowing her head, her hand trembled slightly as she clasped the bloody pendant handed to her by the fallen warrior. "But I am also responsible," she whispered, the weight of her duty as Hokage heavy on her shoulders.

"Milady... don't blame yourself. Enemies like this weren't expected... even we from the Holy lands have no knowledge regarding these creatures." Katsuya tried to console her, her antennas twitching as she received signals from her counterparts. "My little ones have analyzed their compositions after decomposing them, and it's determined that they are mindless creatures following instincts, and now they are most likely controlled by another life form. Unless you find that one..."

Stashing the pendant, Tsunade stood up, her fists clenched and her eyes fierce as she glared at the ravaged forest. "Shino Aburame! You've trampled on our ancestors' treasure... their dream... and you will pay the price! As the Hokage, I will put a stop to you sooner or later!"

The forest was alive with the sound of chirping lightning as Kakashi's Raikiri finally drilled through the thick carapace of an ultralisk. The beast let out a final roar of anger before collapsing to the ground, causing the earth to tremble under its weight.

Leaping through the air to avoid the ultralisk's last instinctive clamping of its scythes, Kakashi landed next to his panting comrade, Guy. As they watched the ultralisk vanish in a puff of smoke, both warriors were drenched in sweat, their bodies showing signs of exhaustion and injuries from the fierce battle.

Despite the strain on his trembling limbs and blood seeping from his green tights, Guy flashed a smile towards Kakashi, "As expected of my eternal rival! I'll have to admit you've taken the lead by far this time, but we can never determine the true winner until the end!"

"Guy..." Kakashi's Sharingan eye was hanging limply as he gasped for breath. "Don't push yourself."

"Hahaha! Don't worry! It's not that easy to beat the Green Beast of Konoha! I still have plenty of youth to burn!" Guy declared, mustering his strength as he stomped his feet and rushed forward to face another incoming ultralisk.

"Konoha Strong Kick!" With a mighty leg sweep, Guy's struck the front leg of the ultralisk, causing it to lose balance and roar in pain.

Yet, its deadly scythe still swung towards Guy. With a tilt of his body, Guy barely evaded the scythe's edge, feeling the rush of air as it grazed his hair. Panting, he slid back, watching Kakashi rush forward with a sharp lightning blade in his hand.

Noticing his rival's exhaustion, Guy clenched his fists, the weight of their desperate situation bearing down on him. "Is it time? But... even if I burn my youth... I can only stop a couple, but how many are there? Unless I can find that shonen..."

In another location, as the chaos raged around him, Asuma leaned against a tree, biting a cigarette as he bandaged his own wounds.

After struggling up, he clenched his hands over his trench knives, observing the giant insects that seemed to deliberately avoid his position, and he couldn't help but feel a suspicion taking hold, "Are you behind this... Kurenai?"

No answer came, and despite his injuries, Asuma forced himself back into the fray.

In the canopies of the forest above, the battle was relentless, with streams of fire, lightning, and wind erupting into the air above, destroying the swarms of scourges descending from the skies.

In many parts of the forest, Konoha's defense was in full force, with barriers and seals established at multiple points in the forest to fend off the relentless waves of zerglings charging over the land.

The zergs were numerous, but Konoha was not to be underestimated. As one of the most powerful ninja villages, it couldn't be easily overrun by sheer numbers alone.

However, the cost of the battle was high, and it was turning into a war of attrition. The controller of the zergs knew this, and so did Konoha.

The controller of the zergs had successfully retreated, but Konoha couldn't afford to do the same.

Even now, the zergs could simply detour around them and attack the village directly, yet they didn't.

But if they retreat, then the battlefield would be moved to Konoha, and the civilians will definitely not be able to survive the onslaught.

It was clear. They were being forced to stay and face this desperate challenge, and it seemed to be a retaliation for their earlier assault on the enemy.

Tsunade understood the precarious situation they were in. It felt as if they may have fallen into a mastermind's scheme, being pushed out to confront Shino in order to deplete Konoha's strength.

Despite that, she couldn't forgive the man for the destruction he had brought upon her village. Though he may have been justified in retaliating, they were now on opposite sides.

As the battle raged on, Tsunade knew she had to make a difficult choice. Should she compromise to save lives, or should she stand firm and defend her village, risking even more casualties?

The weight of the decision was heavy on her shoulders, but the Fifth Hokage knew she had to act, regardless of the consequences.

Yet while Tsunade hesitated, a new variant of zergs emerged in the distant skies, their presence forcing Tsunade's hand.

Carried aloft by leathery wings, their long, annelid-like bodies dangled in the air as they swiftly soared through the air in packs. These creatures were mutalisks!

As they closed in on the aerial defense line, unlike the blind scourge, the mutalisks were agile and evaded the destructive ninjutsus targeting them with ease!

Swooping down towards the enemies and structures below, the mutalisks aimed their tails and pumped out green bolts composed of small, voracious sentient parasites!

These were the glaive wurms, and as they swiftly approached their targets, the bolt transformed into an emerald-green shade! Crashing onto their targets with a devastating force, the parasites dispersed, flying between multiple targets as they degraded explosively and wreaked havoc upon their targets!

The defensive lines crumbled under the sudden disruption, leaving the blind scourges free to dive down, preparing to inflict even heavier damage!

The situation seemed dire, and Tsunade felt the weight of impending heavy casualties and uncertainty about the ability to fight back after the devastation.

But just when all hope seemed lost, the battlefield fell into a sudden stillness, as if time had paused.

All the Konoha ninjas below seemed to have become statues, many staring at their impending doom with horror on their faces.

Even powerful elites like Kakashi, Guy, and Tsunade were no exception, their expressions frozen with resolve, shock, anger, and other emotions that hinted at their confidence, yet betrayed their helplessness regarding the others.

The same was applied to the zergs everywhere, and the zergs suspended in mid-flight, as if held by an unseen force.

Suddenly, an intangible force swept through them, and within mere moments, all the zergs on the battlefield were swept away, shattering into dust and erased from existence, vanishing from the world!

In the midst of this surreal scene, traveling on the Overlord far away from the battlefield, Shino, Karina, and Konan were unaffected by the force that had wiped out the zergs and the battlefield, but their gaze had turned skywards in unison as they felt an immense pressure descend upon them.

And moments later, they too vanished.