Fierce Battle

"Where are the Sand and Rain Ninjas?" Dong Siren asked.

"Sir, the Sand and Rain Ninjas are about to loop around behind the Konoha forces. They want us to attack first, so Konoha doesn't have time to set up defenses."

"Good!" Dong Siren ordered. "Better to break one finger than to injure all ten. Iwagakure, attack!"

Jiraiya's expression turned grave. "Are the rolling logs and boulders ready?"

"We only had enough time to prepare one volley of rolling logs and boulders, but we have plenty of shuriken and kunai."

"Mm." Jiraiya nodded thoughtfully. "Set more traps, bury more explosive tags, and fortify positions using the terrain advantage. Once a formation is breached, immediately detonate the tags and fall back to the next defensive point. Remember, our goal is to buy time."

Just as Konoha barely finished their preparations, Iwagakure began their charge.

"Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear!"

"Rotation!"

Hyuga Ao blocked the pursuing jutsu behind her and continued up the mountain.

Konoha used the high ground to strike down at the low ground, then wore down Iwagakure's stamina with traps and explosive tags.

As the saying goes, the first charge is fierce, the second weakens, and the third fades. Iwagakure's assault, repeatedly drained by Konoha, had already lost much of its initial momentum.

By now, even the last outer defensive line had been breached. What remained was the final battle for the summit.

"Rolling logs and boulders, release!"

At the steepest and narrowest part of the summit, the rolling logs and boulders created a decent effect, once again slowing Iwagakure's advance.

Jiraiya came to Hyuga Ao's side. "Ao'er, I know you've been holding back. When the time comes, show everything you've got. This battle—it's going to be grim."

Hyuga Ao nodded to show she understood.

Just then, a ninja hawk flew in.

Jiraiya's face lit up with hope as he retrieved the message and read it. After finishing, he let out a faint sigh. "From now on, we can only rely on ourselves."

Hyuga Ao took the letter.

Konoha's reinforcement unit had run head-on into the Rain and Sand Ninjas circling behind. The Sand Ninjas had a puppeteer unit, so they couldn't be taken down quickly.

The Rain Ninjas had split off a five-hundred-man squad to continue the flanking maneuver. The message told Jiraiya to be careful and hold the line.

Hyuga Ao crumpled the letter, grinding it to dust with her hands. "Sensei, aren't you going to tell the others?"

Jiraiya watched the Iwagakure ninjas climbing upward, deep in thought. "No need to add to their worries."

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly gave an order: "All forces, forward! Charge!"

The Konoha troops hesitated briefly, then sprang into action.

Konoha ninjas suddenly charged down the mountain, intending to break through head-on.

Iwagakure was caught off guard by Konoha's sudden counterattack, but the ninjas who inherited the Will of Stone quickly steadied themselves and began fighting a positional battle.

Hyuga Ao rushed down from the summit, her Byakugan locked onto the densest concentration of Iwagakure ninjas. The wind whistled past her ears, the whoosh slowly turning into a sharp shriek.

Faster. A little faster. Hyuga Ao constantly adjusted her running posture to achieve maximum acceleration.

She spotted a protruding rock ahead, stepped onto it, and launched herself into the air, spinning.

A massive blue orb of light descended from the sky, carrying unmatched speed and impact, plowing viciously into Iwagakure's formation.

Hyuga Ao's Cyclone Charge Tornado Rotation carved a ten-meter gash through the Iwagakure ranks, smashing through countless defensive jutsu along the way, before finally slamming into an Earth Prison: Door of Nothingness cast by an Iwagakure jonin.

Such a violent collision would normally put a heavy strain on the user, but Hyuga Ao merely cycled her qi and blood to shake off the shock.

Her aura flared. Her Byakugan locked onto every Iwagakure ninja within ten meters. Her palms swept out in rapid succession, unleashing countless invisible air blasts from her palms.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm Modification: Consecutive Palms."

Every Iwagakure ninja within ten meters of Hyuga Ao took a full-force Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm laced with hidden force.

Twelve men fell outright. Those struck directly in the chest or abdomen were dead on the spot. Iwagakure lost four squads in an instant.

Hyuga Ao had fired twelve hidden-force palms in quick succession, and with the chakra drain, she needed to catch her breath.

Suddenly, she felt the ground tremble beneath her feet, as if something was about to burst out. She hopped back, retreating one step, just as the earth split open and a massive stone fist punched toward her.

"When did—" Hyuga Ao wondered in confusion, unsure when this enemy had slipped beneath her feet. She crossed her arms and took the rock fist head-on.

Thud, thud, thud. Hyuga Ao stumbled back three steps, the force she channeled downward leaving three clear footprints in the ground, the tread of her ninja shoes visible.

Before Hyuga Ao could react, three earth spears rose up, stabbing toward her. She twisted and flipped between the earthen spikes, charging toward the Iwagakure jonin who had attacked her.

The Iwagakure jonin snorted coldly. "Another little genius brat. Don't think you can take me down so easily!"

He clasped his hands together in a seal. "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wave."

The ground swelled with stone, flowing like a river, arching like a serpent, carrying the Iwagakure jonin as he moved. At the same time, several earth snakes emerged from the ground, chasing after Hyuga Ao and striking at her.

Hyuga Ao dodged the earth snakes' attacks while trying to close in on the Iwagakure jonin.

The Iwagakure jonin controlled the earth snakes to move himself while sending them after Hyuga Ao. For a time, she couldn't find a way to get close.

The Iwagakure jonin taunted, "What's the matter, little brat from the Hyuga branch house? Can you reach me?" As he spoke, he summoned three more earth snakes, making four in total that chased after Hyuga Ao.

"This won't work," Hyuga Ao thought to herself.

Hyuga Ao stopped in place, neither dodging nor evading, waiting for the Earth Snake to strike.

Seeing this, the Iwagakure jonin halted as well, and the four Earth Snakes transformed into Earth Spears, thrusting toward Hyuga Ao.

Hyuga Ao stood her ground, gathering power. As the Earth Spears lunged in, she condensed her Chakra into fine threads at her palms.

"Eight Trigrams Guardian Rotation: Sixty-Four Palms!"

The four Earth Spears were sliced into chunks by the Guardian Rotation and scattered across the ground. Hyuga Ao moved to pursue, but found the scattered clumps of earth re-coalescing, firmly locking half her body in place.

The Iwagakure jonin rode the Earth Snake up to Hyuga Ao. "How about that, you little genius? Never thought I, Iwa Rikito, would get to kill a prodigy one day. Die, you little genius!"

An Earth Spear thrust toward Hyuga Ao. With no room to dodge, a faint smile curled at the corner of her lips. She burst forth with energy, shattering the earth binding her, and charged at the Iwagakure jonin.

"Nani!" The Iwagakure jonin hastily formed hand seals. "Earth Style: Earth Spear."

As Chakra flowed, the Iwagakure jonin's entire body turned black, bracing for Hyuga Ao's attack.

"Can that hardening of yours stop me?" Hyuga Ao sneered inwardly.

"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Hyuga Ao spread her arms, tensing her body like a drawn bow. Chakra condensed at her fingertips into sharp spikes, reinforced with Dan energy, and she stabbed fiercely at the Iwagakure jonin's vital points.

"One palm, two palms, four palms, sixty-four palms!"

After the sixty-four palms were delivered, the Iwagakure jonin's vital points were dotted with red spots, blood seeping out, and his skin surface covered in cracks.

The Earth Style: Earth Spear dissolved as his Chakra was sealed off. Hyuga Ao's final palm struck his chest and abdomen, and the once-arrogant Iwagakure jonin fell—right then and there—dead!