Sunagakure's Fuinjutsu, Stalemate
"Oh!" someone nearby exclaimed in realization. "He not only launched a strong attack at the start, but also unleashed a large-scale Water Release Wind Release later on. His chakra must be almost depleted."
"As expected of Lord Hazuki and Lord Shashi," the Sunagakure Village brothers, skilled in Combination Jutsu, thought in unison. "With this, we can easily complete our defensive mission."
Soon, Hazuki Hand Seals, pressed them to the ground, and numerous Fuinjutsu techniques appeared within a radius of several meters centered on her.
"Take your positions!" At the command, Shashi stood next to her, while the other three Sunagakure took up positions at three points on the edge of the area, beginning a positional battle against the Konoha Ninja.
Namikaze Minato's expression tightened upon seeing this. He immediately Body Flicker Technique to Hyuga Akiha's side, wanting to ask what the enemy's situation was.
"Their chakra is constantly flowing, following the Rune Formula beneath their feet," Hyuga Akiha reported. "Furthermore, Hazuki's chakra is being transferred to other Sunagakure."
Namikaze Minato frowned. "I slashed that Sunagakure's neck earlier. Can you check if there's any change?"
"There are almost no wounds left," Hyuga Akiha replied. "It's Medical Ninjutsu! Not only that, the chakra of the three on the outer ring has also recovered significantly."
It's clear that Hazuki shared her chakra with her teammates and healed their injuries; the opposing side is now determined to wear down Konoha to the bitter end.
In the nearby woods, Shuichi, who had been watching the battle through the Ink Bird, also knew that the situation might reach a stalemate.
"Minato will probably test the waters. The enemy dared to separate these people by several meters, so they must have prepared a plan," he thought to himself. "Otherwise, given the speed Minato demonstrated earlier, this would be tantamount to suicide."
Namikaze Minato and Shuichi thought similarly; the elites of Sunagakure couldn't possibly be that stupid.
Now that he's the team leader, he has to make a decision quickly, so he has no choice but to take the risk and test the waters.
He waved his hand, and the Konoha Ninja around him understood his meaning. Everyone took out their ninja tools and threw them at Sunagakure. In an instant Shuriken from all directions surged toward the enemy.
"Crack crack crack..." Shashi's ten fingers separated Chakra Threads, and he fully controlled the three puppets. The head of the Big Head Puppet split open and turned into a shield to protect the Kazamaki, while the other two boxes with rotating blades also blocked in front of his teammates.
"Clang clang clang..." All ranged attacks were blocked, and ninja tools were scattered all over the ground around the formation.
"Whoosh!" Minato seized the opportunity and used the Body Flicker Technique to rush to the side of a Sunagakure. He ducked to avoid the blade attack and thrust his Kunai straight at the enemy's upper body.
The moment he stepped into the range of the technique, he immediately felt an anomaly in his chakra flow. The Sunagakure in front of him wore a mocking smile, completely unconcerned that he was about to be killed.
Without the slightest hesitation, he abandoned the attack, braced himself with one hand on the ground, and dodged to the side. "Boom!" The spearhead, glowing with an eerie light, pierced straight into the ground, almost piercing through Minato's stomach.
The thick Steel Cable behind the gun head spun around like a python several times before slipping off the Minato.
"Snap!" The Iron Ring tightened rapidly, and just as he was about to be bound to death, Minato, who had escaped the edge of the formation, felt his chakra flow return to normal and immediately activated the Flying Thunder God to retreat.
"Whoosh!" In the end, the binding attempt failed to capture him; he managed to escape at the last moment.
"That was really dangerous. Minato used pure Taijutsu just now. Luckily, he kept his strength up to deal with unexpected situations." Shuichi also felt extremely scared after seeing it. It was obvious that the Sealing Formula could interfere with the enemy's chakra. If it were any other Jonin would probably be dead already.
"You're lucky, kid." Shashi thought with a bit of regret. This blond youth reacted really quickly and acted quite cautiously. It would probably be difficult to hurt him again.
If the opponent uses Kunai dash in, Shashi will pretend not to see it at first, and then attack the Kunai's location after the opponent flies in, giving the opponent no time to change their move. At most, it will result in a one-for-one exchange with Sunagakure.
Sunagakure has now set up two safeguards to deal with Minato's Flying Thunder God attack. The giant, belly-shaped puppet in the Shashi once again fired two spearheads, and three long Steel Cable flew through the air, immediately blocking Kunai with a spell mark.
Even if Minato could throw Kunai in, as long as he dared to fly, he would have to endure a period of chakra flow disorder. Before he could adapt, he could only use Taijutsu to move within the small area of Sunagakure, which was too dangerous.
"This Puppeteer is incredibly skilled!" Shuichi exclaimed in amazement.
These three puppets are highly versatile, with no single type that is purely defensive or offensive. Yet, they work together perfectly, and their timing of attacks is just right.
"His presence rendered many of Konoha's techniques ineffective. The Sunagakure has truly fallen; Kankuro is far inferior to him."
"What should we do now?" The Konoha members surrounding Sunagakure were getting a little anxious. Hyuga Akiha and Inuzuka Tsume only had close-range attack methods, and the enemy puppet's Poison Smoke was making them very uncomfortable.
Akimichi Choza's Expansion Jutsu will be countered by the opponent's powerful Wind Release and that blade puppet. The opponent's three Ninjutsu -type ninjas are constantly recovering their chakra, and together they have the three attributes of wind, earth, and fire. The Aburame Clan's insects that go there will either be blown away or burned to death.
"Looks like it's up to me to break this deadlock in the end." Shuichi felt like he had been given a sacred mission. "To break their formation, the key is to use methods that can disrupt their positioning."
While the two sides were locked in a stalemate, the Sunagakure side remained vigilant.
"That hidden Konoha Ninja used Water Release and Namikaze Minato Wind Release. We're not sure what kind of ninjutsu Minato Namikaze knows yet." Hazuki controlled the sealing formation while continuously relaying information to her teammates.
"Considering the worst-case scenario, we can counter Lightning Release with Wind Release, and defend against Water, Fire, and Wind Release with Earth Release," Shashi said coldly. "We don't know if the enemy can use Earth Release, but we must be careful that they don't destroy the surrounding terrain."
"No problem. Although our Earth Release aren't as strong as Kazamaki -chan's, we can still reinforce it," a Sunagakure immediately chimed in.
The three Sunagakure standing on the outer circle began to transfer chakra to their feet, trying to prevent Konoha from having any opportunity to attack.
After the dangerous probing, Namikaze Minato knew he couldn't delay any longer; reinforcements from Sunagakure might arrive soon, and he needed to decide quickly whether to retreat or fight.
Hiding not far away, Shuichi's mind was also racing, trying to find the enemy's weakness.
"Right now, only I (Shuichi-kun) can use Water Release and Earth Release to open the breach, and it would require a lot of chakra to achieve that effect." The two of them thought of the same problem that Sunagakure had considered at the same time.
"It seems I can't use Chidori anymore." Shuichi began preparing his chakra, intending to reserve some for either Body Flicker Technique or escape after this attack.