Both Sides Suffer Heavy Losses

"Crack!" A horrific gash was sliced open on Pakura's shoulder. The laceration was completely frozen, without a single drop of blood spilling out.

If the human body is frozen below zero degrees Celsius, the movement of molecules will stop, and human life activities cannot be sustained.

For ninjas, resisting external cold is not a problem, but the cold that penetrates deep into the body is deadly.

Sode no Shirayuki's -18°C Ice Slash can penetrate the enemy's body through the wound, lowering the target's internal temperature to -18°C.

For an ordinary person, life would have withered long ago below freezing.

However, Pakura was different. She possessed an extremely hot Chakra within her body. When faced with the freezing cold of death, the scorching Chakra within her body was automatically activated, firmly protecting the vital organs throughout her body and counteracting most of the cold.

Despite this, Pakura suffered extremely severe frostbite, her whole body was frozen stiff, and she finally collapsed helplessly to the ground.

On the other side, Shunren's condition wasn't much better. The frost that had covered him had completely evaporated. In the previous clash, he had successfully slashed Pakura, but Pakura's Extremely Steaming Murder Mark was also deeply imprinted on his chest.

This is a terrifying technique capable of instantly evaporating the target, including blood, water, and all bodily fluids, turning them into a mummy!

Shunren should have been roasted into a mummy after taking this blow, but at this moment, his skin was only red and his lips were cracked. Of course, this was only on the surface; his internal organs had obviously suffered damage to varying degrees as well. This was also thanks to the cold air from the Sode no Shirayuki, which offset most of the burning heat.

"Hiss~" Hot steam kept coming out of his mouth, nose and ears. Shunren body swayed and he fell down, losing consciousness.

The life-or-death duel between Shunren and Pakura ultimately ended in mutual destruction.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Sand Waves!"

"Puppet Technique: Manipulating Attack Blades!"

Rasa's Gold Dust waves and Chiyo's puppet blades slammed heavily into the crimson barrier. Under the frenzied bombardment of the two Kage Level powerhouses, even the most sturdy barrier began to crack.

Fugaku formed the "Tiger" hand seal, representing Fire Style, and continuously channeled his Chakra into the barrier, rapidly repairing the broken barrier.

Knowing he was no match for the two opponents, Fugaku abandoned all attacks from the start and focused on defense, relying on a powerful barrier he had set up beforehand.

"Uchiha Fugaku! Are you a turtle?!"

Rasa was so angry that he cursed loudly. In his opinion, Fugaku was, after all, an outstanding member of the Uchiha Clan and the recognized successor to the Uchiha clan head. How could he resort to such a shameless and cowardly tactic!

However, compared to Rasa's curses, Fugaku Chiyo. She thought to herself that this man was calm and decisive, and despite the sudden collapse of his clan head and such a drastic change, he had reacted quickly, immediately setting up a barrier to defend himself with all his might. No matter how much they pleaded with him, he hadn't uttered a single word. He truly lived up to the saying "Mount Tai collapses before him without changing color," showing the demeanor of a great general. After today, even if Uchiha Kyosho died, the Uchiha Clan would definitely not be without a successor.

"Kazekage, calm down. Don't use large-scale jutsu attacks. Uchiha Fugaku wants to use the barrier's power to further deplete our Chakra." The shrewd Chiyo saw through Fugaku's thoughts at a glance and said calmly, "The advantage is on our side now. Even if we stand here and do nothing, once Pakura leads his army to capture Kikyo Mountain, it will be our victory."

"Of course I know that..." Rasa frowned slightly.

She murmured softly, "What's wrong with Pakura? Hasn't she reached the high ground yet?" Chiyo flicked her finger, sending Chakra Threads deep into the ground. Her eyes flickered. "The Chakra fluctuations have been gradually decreasing since just now. We should have results soon."

"..." Fugaku was inside the barrier, single-mindedly maintaining the spell. No matter how the battle on the mountain was going, he had no energy to interfere. All he could do now was to hold the barrier and hold back the two strongest Sand Ninja in front of him.

Faced with Fugaku's mindless defense, Rasa and Chiyo were unable to do anything to him in a short time. First of all, their strengths were not too far apart; they were at least on the same level as ninjas. Therefore, when one side was completely huddled up, the other side was like a mouse pulling a tortoise, unable to find a way to attack.

However, at that moment, a Sand Ninja arrived from not far away to report on the battle situation.

"Lord Kazekage! Chiyo- sama!"

"How is it? Has Pakura taken Kikyo Mountain?" Rasa seemed very confident; he had already set a goal for himself before his subordinates even reported back.

"No... we were driven back by the Konoha Ninja," the Sand Ninja said, head bowed in shame.

"What? They were driven back? What the hell is Pakura doing?!" Rasa was furious when he heard the most improbable and unwanted news.

"Lady Pakura... has been defeated and is currently severely injured..."

"That's impossible! How could Uchiha Yashiro have that kind of strength!" Rasa had calculated Konoha's fighting strength very clearly. With Kyosho down and Fugaku staying here to wear them down, Konoha's only high-level fighter was Yashiro. According to the intelligence he had gathered, Pakura had a winning percentage of over 75% against Yashiro.

Chiyo's expression darkened slightly. She suddenly realized a worrying possibility and said urgently, "Explain! Did Konoha send reinforcements? How could they defeat Pakura... Which expert from Konoha sent this time?"

"Uh, that shouldn't be the case..." The Sand Ninja stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief and bewilderment. He was from the Sand Ninja Communications Team. After receiving the intelligence from the front lines, his first reaction was disbelief. Only after several verifications did he confirm the intelligence's authenticity, and he had no choice but to truthfully reply, "According to the intelligence from the front lines, the Konoha Ninja who defeated Pakura is named Uchiha Shunren, and his characteristics... well, he's a boy about ten years old."

"Uchiha Shunren? Where did this guy come from?" Rasa thought carefully about the unfamiliar name, but then he seemed to realize something was wrong, his eyes widening suddenly. "Wait! What did you say at the end... ten years old?!"