Ambush

"How is this possible?" Everyone in Sunagakure was shocked. The Konoha Ninja had actually used special methods to hide nearby. It seemed that the other party had no intention of escaping from the beginning, but rather intended to attack them.

"Regardless of the enemy's strength, hurry up and eliminate the threat from the rear!" Shashi shouted.

Although the Sunagakure's forces are very strong, the Konoha Village likely has more people, so staying put would be the stupidest decision.

"Note this: we have men on both sides now, and they're nearby—the enemy's vanguard."

Hazuki's expression was extremely grave. "Their speed far surpasses that of ordinary Jonin; they must be top-tier ninjas from Konoha. Be careful of a sneak attack."

Not far away, Shuichi, hiding behind a small tree, scanned all the Sunagakure and found that they were maintaining their formation and rushing towards Namikaze Minato's location, clearly not intending to stay and wait.

"The others will take a little longer to arrive; we need to relieve some pressure on Minato." Shuichi followed the enemy like a ghost, simultaneously touching the seal on his wrist, whereupon he drew a medium-sized Shuriken.

He had prepared this Shuriken specifically based on his chakra reserves; it was almost as long as his arm. He hadn't expected it to be so fast on the first try, especially not on a large-scale battlefield.

"Ox-Dog-Dragon-Rat-Dog-Pig-Snake-Tiger, the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..." The whistling sound that could always be heard clearly from behind the Sunagakure Squad was heard. When they turned around, they saw a huge swarm of ninja tools rushing towards them.

"Defend! Use Earth Release!" Shashi commanded immediately, forcing the entire team to halt their advance. This attack was simply not to be ignored.

The team members beside them reacted quickly. These Shuriken were so heavy that even Wind Release couldn't move them, so the three Sunagakure immediately stopped Hand Seals and activated defensive Ninjutsu to block them. "Earth Release: Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"

Several earthen walls rose up in response, "Boom!" Shuichi's Shuriken had the effect of a cannon, with the foremost Shuriken cutting through many of the earthen walls, though the force had been greatly weakened.

"Clang clang clang..." The deeper you went, the harder the earthen wall became, and the ninja tools, lacking sufficient impact force, ultimately failed to penetrate the opponent's defenses.

Shuichi was not surprised by this. If it were that easy to solve, Sunagakure might as well disband itself.

Even after that attack, he didn't stop. With a slight pang of regret, he took out his most powerful Explosive Tag, grabbed four Kunai in each hand, and the Explosive Tag hanging from the back of the Kunai in his left hand was already on fire.

"Whoosh whoosh..." He timed it perfectly, first throwing the Kunai with the Explosive Tag attached towards the enemy's location, then flicking his right hand to pick up two Kunai and cross them in front of his chest, staring intently ahead.

Just as the Explosive Tag was about to detonate, Shuichi with great force. "Clang clang..." Four Kunai came from behind and hit the side of the Kunai in front. The tool with the Explosive Tag on it changed direction in the air and successfully bypassed the edge of the earthen wall.

"Watch out! Scatter!" A loud shout rang out in the arena, followed by a violent explosion that sent debris flying and dust billowing in the center, a chaotic battle about to erupt.

A Chunin Sunagakure emerged from the smoke and dust. Most of his body was charred black, and the area around one of his eyes was a bloody mess, indicating that he had experienced the power of an explosion at close range.

Before he could make his next move, Trident Kunai landed in front of him.

"Whoosh!" A flash of silver light appeared, and the Sunagakure felt a sharp pain in his throat, unable to make a sound. When he lost consciousness, he only saw a blond youth wearing Konoha Forehead Protector appear out of thin air in front of him.

After taking down one Sunagakure, Minato disappeared again. Not far away, another Sunagakure also met his end. The weakest Chunin in Sunagakure was the first to be targeted by Konoha, and he could only accept his bad luck.

After Shuichi and Minato's continuous attacks bought time, Konoha's reinforcements arrived directly at the battlefield. Hyuga Akiha Akiba immediately said, "The rest of the Sunagakure troops are ahead; they are joining us."

No one spoke. They followed Hyuga Akiha straight towards the enemy's direction. With the Byakugan, they weren't worried about an enemy sneak attack at all; even if they burrowed underground, they would be detected in advance.

Ahead, the Sunagakure members who had dodged the explosion quickly regrouped. Upon seeing the number of people, Shashi gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, two of them were killed by Konoha Ninja."

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle..." Several dozen meters away, three kunai with spell markings Kunai in the ground, and Minato and Aburame Shibi appeared in the middle.

"Whoosh!" Shashi manipulated a Big Head Puppet beside him. It opened its mouth and spat out countless steel needles. At the same time, the shell on its back opened directly, and several small balls shot out from the two cannons.

A large number of Black Insect flew out from inside Aburame Shibi's top. "Secret Technique: Insect Wall!" The insects spun rapidly and enveloped themselves. The steel needles struck the insect wall without making a sound; many insects could only be seen falling from the sky.

Namikaze Minato immediately moved to another Kunai position. Upon seeing the steel needles and the small ball hidden within, he immediately threw out several Shuriken, which intercepted them mid-flight.

"BOOM!" A pale purple smoke burst out between the two sides. Aburame Shibi sigh of relief. The insect wall couldn't stop the spread of the Poison Smoke. Fortunately, Minato acted quickly and helped.

The fight had barely begun when the Konoha Ninja on the other side were also busy. The Sunagakure members suddenly felt their vision darken as the sunlight was blocked by two enormous hands, which then slammed down on them from above.

"Super Expansion Jutsu!" Akimichi Choza didn't care that his move would reveal his position. He wasn't far from the enemy's signal point at all, and he only wanted to finish the battle quickly.

"Boom!" The location of Sunagakure was slammed so hard that the sky and earth seemed to collapse, but when they raised their hands, they found that there was no one there.

They dispersed, and the two closest to us stood together...

"Fire Release: Blazing Flame!" "Wind Release: Great Storm!"

Two Sunagakure ninjas simultaneously unleashed Combination Jutsu at the pursuing enemy, and flames towering over ten meters high pressed down directly on them. The Konoha members felt a wave of heat rush towards them even before they got close.

"Leave it to me, you guys hurry up and get there." Shuichi completed the Hand Seals almost instantly, and a water wall several meters high shot out from his mouth, "Water Release: Water Wall!"

"Sizzle..." The clash of the two Ninjutsu created a tremendous impact, with the high-temperature flames vaporizing a large amount of water, and the surrounding area was immediately enveloped in water vapor.

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!" The Sunagakure did not stop its counterattack. Several Wind Blade swept through the white mist and slashed directly at Akimichi Choza's feet.

Akimichi Choza immediately began to shrink his body and dodge to the side. Shuichi, seeing that he was in danger, immediately used his remaining chakra to help him.

A gust of wind blew to the side of the Great Wind Blade, its length visibly shrinking until it finally grazed Akimichi Choza's right leg, leaving several shallow wounds.

"That was close! Thanks, Shuichi." Akimichi Choza was also startled; the Expansion Jutsu made him an easy target for the enemy.

After being rescued and finding that his injuries were not serious, he got up and rushed to support his teammates at the front.

Shuichi had already used up all his chakra twice with his consecutive Ninjutsu attacks, so now he could only stay back and catch his breath, letting the pressure on his meridians ease.

"Using Water Release like this is such a waste. If I were alone, I could use multiple methods to deal with it. It seems that in a ninja team, more members are not necessarily better," Shuichi thought to himself.

The scene he just witnessed reminded him of the time in the original story when Kakashi led Team 8 to fight Kakuzu. Kakashi could use Earth Release to burrow underground and high-speed movement to dodge Combination Jutsu, but Shikamaru and the others had no way to deal with it, leaving him with no choice but to grit his teeth and endure the attack.

"Once I recover some strength, I'll ambush them from the shadows. For the main battle, we can only trust them for now. With Minato there, we should be fine."