Repeated Ambushes

On the other side, the Giant Fuma Shuriken whistled as it spun toward another Sand Hidden Captain.

This Sand Hidden Captain was a genuine jonin, and his strength was anything but ordinary.

Clang!

Worthy of a Sand Hidden Jonin, his reaction was swift enough to raise his blade and block it sideways.

However, he had still underestimated the Fuma Shuriken's power. A terrifying force struck, and the standard-issue ninja blade of the Land of Wind jonin was slashed with spiderweb-like cracks.

At the critical moment, he twisted his blade, barely avoiding the fate of being cut in two along with it.

The Sand Hidden Jonin had luckily evaded that devastating blow, but the chunin behind him was not so fortunate.

Splat!

The rear chunin was sliced in half at the waist. His organs slid from the cut and spilled across the ground, creating a gruesome, bloody scene.

But it was not over yet. Just as the two Giant Fuma Shuriken were about to pass over the remaining sand ninja formation—

"Retract!"

Umino Sasuke grabbed at the air and violently pulled back.

At once.

Two streaks of silver light swept across the battlefield.

Screech, screech, screech...

Two steel-wire grooves appeared on the giant tree ahead. The wires cinched tightly around it, nearly cutting the Embracing Tree straight through.

"Watch out!"

"They're Mechanical Fuma Shuriken!"

The Sand Ninja had not yet recovered from the Fuma Shuriken's terrifying attack when they were once again thrust into a life-and-death crisis.

And this time, it was an utterly unexpected Fatal Ambush.

These Sand Ninja were elites among elites, but unfortunately, they were not Uchiha Itachi.

Even Itachi the God had injured his thigh when faced with Uchiha Sasuke's sudden Mechanical Fuma Shuriken attack, hadn't he?

Though Itachi the God had been holding back, no matter how much he held back, he still had to give Uchiha Sasuke a reasonable explanation. He presumably could not have gone too easy on him.

It could achieve astonishing results even in a battle between Kage-level fighters.

That showed just how terrifying the sudden power of the Mechanical Fuma Shuriken truly was.

However, considering that he was facing a group of enemies, there was no need to slow the Fuma Shuriken's aerial attack as Uchiha Sasuke had done for a single-target ambush.

Instead, using the steel wires attached to it to form a group attack would yield better tactical results.

Dragged at high speed by the Giant Fuma Shuriken, the two steel wires became two silver light blades, like two imitation versions of Water Release: Water Severing Wave, slicing across more than half the battlefield.

The steel wires cut through the smoke-filled battlefield, carving the scorching air into several cross-sections.

The attack had come far too suddenly and far too quickly.

When the wires swept past, they were almost completely silent at first. The Sand Hidden Jonin had no time to react, and all five fingers of his left hand were severed at the roots, bleeding gushingly.

The steel wires did not lose momentum and continued across the battlefield, directly severing the legs of an unprepared Sand Village Puppet Master Chunin.

His legs below the knees were still standing where they had been.

His upper body, meanwhile, lay in a blood pool, wailing without end. He had clearly lost his ability to fight again.

"Worthy of Uchiha Sasuke's classic tactic. It really is impressive!"

Umino Sasuke looked at the severed limbs scattered across the ground. Blood droplets dripping from the steel wires glittered in the firelight, leaving him deeply impressed.

The crisis had finally been mostly resolved. The Sand Hidden Jonin was the strongest and posed the greatest threat, but now that the fingers of his Left Hand had been cut off, he could no longer form hand seals. His strength had been greatly reduced.

After all, few in the ninja world could form hand seals with one hand. Not everyone was Yuki Haku, and this Sand Hidden Jonin presumably lacked that ability.

This had basically reduced the Sand Ninja Main Force to half-crippled wrecks.

If not for the Sand Puppeteers' relatively strong defensive power and their particular advantage against steel-wire attacks, then aside from that Sand Hidden Jonin, the other Sand Ninja likely would not have escaped this wave of ambushes.

When it came to defenses against steel-wire attacks, Sand Puppeteers truly had a unique aspect. Facing the sudden Steel Wire Cutting, these puppet masters not only defended against the attack, but even had spare energy to help the teammates beside them.

While the Sand Ninja had just dodged the fatal attack and were still shaken, Umino Sasuke activated his next tactic.

"Brother! Now!"

"Detonate!"

The two formed a Tiger Hand Seal with both hands, clearly triggering the hidden Explosive Tags.

The instant the Tiger Hand Seal formed, the sound of paper rubbing came from inside the Fuma Shuriken.

Both Fuma Shuriken were actually hollow, concealing a large number of Explosive Tags and Poisoned Senbon within.

"Art is Patrick Star!"

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

In an instant.

Thousands of Poisoned Senbon exploded from the hollow Fuma Sword Body, spreading out in a fan shape to cover the entire remaining sand ninja formation.

"Not good!"

"Watch out, there are Mechanical Traps inside the Fuma Shuriken too!"

Before the Sand Ninja could recover, they faced one life-and-death crisis after another.

Their faces changed drastically, turning ashen. With such terrifying mechanical tactics, the Konoha Ninja who had come as reinforcements had to be a Konoha Jonin proficient in mechanical trap techniques.

Now that every one of them was injured, let alone taking the intelligence back from this Konoha Jonin, even surviving would be difficult.

However, they had no room for many other thoughts now. They only wanted to avoid this desperate ambush once more.

Puff, puff, puff...

The Poisoned Senbon shot out in all directions.

That leg-severed Sand Ninja was immediately pierced into a porcupine and sent straight to the Pure Land to meet the Sage of Six Paths.

One Sand Village Puppet Master Chunin had been standing relatively close to the Fuma Shuriken. Though he used his puppet to block most of the Poisoned Senbon, he could not completely withstand the Explosive Tags' devastating blast. His puppet was blown into parts on the spot, and he was badly injured as well.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

At the critical moment, one bald sand chunin unleashed a Defensive Earth Release.

However, because the explosive mechanical attack had come too suddenly, he could only defend himself and was unable to take care of the other colleagues.

The bald chunin who had cast Earth Flow Wall was drenched in cold sweat. As he watched his colleagues get hit one after another, he saw that the jonin captain whose fingers had been severed had three Poisoned Senbon stuck in his right shoulder, and indigo-green bloodlight shimmered from his wounds.

Aside from the Puppeteer Captain, every other colleague had, more or less, Poisoned Senbon stuck in their bodies.

Fortunately, they were all experienced on the battlefield and had avoided Fatal Wounds, especially around the heart.

"Poison!"

The Sand Hidden Jonin looked at the blackened severed finger cut, immediately tore off his forehead protector bandage, tied it tightly around his upper arm, and quickly swallowed an antidote pill.

Only then did the Sand Ninja suddenly realize that the Cell Tissue in their Injured Areas had already lost all vitality and sensation. They had clearly been afflicted by an extremely potent Paralytic Toxin.

"Elder Chiyo's Antidote Pills have actually failed."

The surviving Sand Ninja's expressions changed drastically.

These were Special Antidote Pills developed by Elder Chiyo specifically for special operations ninja like them. Not only could they handle Ordinary Toxins, they could even suppress Hanzo of the Land of Rain's Salamander Poison to some extent.

Yet after taking Elder Chiyo's Antidote Pills, they had discovered that they were unable to detoxify.

Fortunately, they could suppress it with chakra. Otherwise, they would probably have no choice but to kill themselves immediately to avoid being captured and leaking the intelligence.

However, suppressing the toxin with chakra was not a long-term solution. They were currently on a battlefield, and once their chakra was completely depleted, it would be the End Time.

They had now fallen into a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat.

"Everyone, even if there isn't any chance, we must take back the intelligence!"

The Sand Hidden Jonin Captain roared sternly, clearly already possessed of a will to die.

Umino Sasuke's heart tightened. A cornered beast fights hardest when it was most dangerous. These Sand Ninja still refused to give up even in such a state. It seemed the intelligence he had brought back was anything but ordinary.