Heavenly Blade Chaos

"What powerful Ninja Will."

As expected of a Sand Hidden Jonin. The Ninja Will he erupted with had actually reached the point where it could affect his teammates.

That roar was practically equivalent to a small-scale genjutsu.

Unlike Konoha's Will of Fire, whose core belief was that wherever leaves danced, fire would endlessly flourish, emphasizing sacrifice and inheritance.

The Will of Wind meant: hear my roar.

Its core belief was based on the laws of desert survival, emphasizing the eruption of potential in desperate situations, becoming a sandstorm to protect the oasis and the tribe.

Though both were wills of protection, its protective core differed from Iwagakure's Will of Stone. The Will of Stone sought inward, while the Will of Wind was the exact opposite, seeking outward through explosive force.

The Will of Stone's inward protection was reflected in greatly increased defensive power.

The Will of Wind's outward protection, meanwhile, manifested as berserk offensive power like a sandstorm.

Therefore, once faced with desperate circumstances, Sand ninjas could often unleash tremendous combat strength, especially those Sand ninja elites who had already awakened the Will of Wind.

However, these Sand ninjas had been struck by Poisoned Senbon and were already poisoned, so the explosive effect of the Will of Wind was greatly weakened.

What was more, after his three-axe tactical routine just now, he had basically beaten these Sand ninjas half-crippled. If he truly were a Konoha Jonin as they believed, they would have had absolutely no chance of winning. Whether they could even escape with their lives would have been a question.

No matter how strong the Will of Wind was, it was futile before the absolute crushing strength of a Konoha Jonin.

After all, these Sand ninjas had indeed been crippled by him.

Originally, a two-thirds-strength standard elite Sand ninja squad consisted of one Sand Hidden Jonin leading two ordinary Chunin teammates, and one Special Jonin Puppet Master leading two Puppet Master Chunin, for a total of six people divided into two pursuit teams.

After his three-axe tactical routine, one Chunin teammate had been bisected on the spot by a Fuma Shuriken.

After that, Uchiha Sasuke-style Mechanical Fuma Shuriken Wire Trap had severed both legs of a Puppet Master Chunin, who had then been turned into a pincushion by Poisoned Senbon.

Just like that, they had lost two people outright, leaving only four.

That was not even the most important part. After all, those who had died were only Chunin. The key was that, aside from the Special Jonin Puppet Master, the other three had all been struck by Poisoned Senbon, and their chakra was being rapidly drained.

The Jonin Captain, the strongest among them, had had the five fingers of his left hand severed by wire. He could no longer form hand seals, and his combat strength had plummeted.

The only one still capable of posing a major threat, the Special Jonin Puppet Master, had had his Puppet shattered by the Fuma Shuriken's slash at the very beginning, instantly losing the advantage of the Puppet Master combat system.

But he was still a Special Jonin from Sunagakure, not one of Iwagakure's worthless frauds. Even without a Puppet, he was certainly much stronger than an ordinary Chunin.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Sure enough, the Special Jonin Puppet Master formed hand seals with both hands, his ten fingers becoming afterimages. At nearly four seals per second, he swiftly unleashed a C-rank Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.

He exhaled a massive high-speed whirlwind that swept through the air, blowing away all the smoke across the battlefield.

Clearly.

These Sand ninjas had been frightened by the successive ambushes. The first thing they did was not relocate, but clear the battlefield and widen their field of vision to prevent another sneak attack.

At the same time, they gathered together into an advantageous formation and cooperated in defense.

"Didn't check the almanac today. My luck's a little rotten."

Judging by that hand-seal speed and the power displayed by that Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, there was no need to think further. Besides being a Puppet Master, this man was also a Special Jonin exceptionally skilled in Wind Release.

With that, Umino Sasuke suddenly realized that although the Sand ninjas had become a battered remnant after his three-axe tactical routine, after using chakra to suppress the biological protease toxin, they were actually stronger than his side in the short term.

Only four Sand ninjas remained: one Jonin with severed fingers, one Special Jonin whose Puppet had been destroyed and who excelled in Wind Release, one bald Earth Release Chunin with over half his chakra depleted, and one Chunin controlling a half-damaged Puppet.

His side had seven people. Aside from the cat-faced Chunin, who seemed to have been poisoned and was nearly unable to hold on, everyone else retained relatively intact combat strength.

That meant his side had exactly three Chunin and three Genin.

They appeared to have the numerical advantage and were in better condition, but every one of the enemy was an elite among elites, and they were prepared to die.

No matter how he looked at it, his side held no advantage in a frontal clash.

Their only advantage was probably that the Sand ninjas still did not understand the battlefield situation and believed he was a Konoha Jonin skilled in Tool Manipulation.

Yet Umino Sasuke's lips curled into a self-mocking smile. His fingertips unconsciously rubbed the Soldier Pills in his ninja tool pouch. What Konoha Jonin? He was merely a high-grade Konoha cannon fodder.

If not for setting up an ambush beforehand, receiving assistance from Tejudo's Money Release Secret Technique, and using the Sonic Radar Technique, which was similar to the Byakugan, to control the field, he would have run long ago. How could he dare stay here and continue courting death?

Fortunately, he only needed to stall a little longer. Support from Konoha's Mobile Patrol Unit should arrive soon.

"Charge!"

"No matter what, we must retrieve the intelligence!"

The Sand ninjas' fighting will was exceptionally tenacious. Maintaining their tactical formation, they guarded against sneak attacks from Tool Manipulation while rapidly and frantically shifting toward the monkey-faced Konoha Chunin.

"Even at this point, they're still thinking about the mission intelligence. They really are tenacious."

Umino Sasuke shook his head, though an icy glint shone in his eyes. Since they still refused to retreat, he would add a little more fuel to the fire.

Umino Sasuke tore the largest Sealing Scroll from Tejudo's waist. With a teasing, goading tone in his voice, he loudly reminded him, "Tejudo, it's time for your revenge!"

Tejudo looked at the scattered fragments of Big Wife and Little Wife, the bladed tools, and received an immense shock on the spot. His eyes turned bloodshot and veins bulged across his forehead. "Ah! My Fuma Big Wife, my paper-waifu Little Wife, my..."

With every word Tejudo spat out, the anger within him surged to another level, while chakra continuously roiled through his body.

Clearly, Tejudo had pinned every bit of blame on these Sand ninjas, completely forgetting that he himself was the greatest culprit.

"Damn Sand ninjas, all of you can go die!"

With an angry roar, Tejudo immediately grabbed the other end of the Sealing Scroll and yanked it open, releasing the seal.

"Tool Manipulation: Heavenly Blade Chaos!"

With a thunderous bang.

At once.

Tens of thousands of ninja tools erupted from the Sealing Scroll, gathering in midair into a metal tide that blotted out the sky.

Poisoned Senbon buzzed like a swarm of locusts, tearing through the air.

Masses of six-pointed shuriken, iron caltrops, Kunai, chain sickles, spiked maces, and other bladed tools fell like meteors, blanketing the entire battlefield.

There were even numerous heavy weapons such as iron balls and steel hammers, smashing directly toward the Sand ninja formation.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

The bald Chunin was finally prepared this time. Constantly guarding against ambushes, he promptly cast a B-rank defensive ninjutsu: Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall.

The bald Chunin had seized the timing perfectly, protecting both Puppet Master colleagues at once.

Meanwhile, the Sand Hidden Jonin leading the charge moved amid countless blades as though performing an extreme dance upon steel edges, evading one sharp weapon after another.

Clang! Clang! Clang...

The longsword in his hand moved with uncanny precision, effortlessly deflecting each Poisoned Senbon.

As expected of a Sand Hidden Jonin, his strength was truly formidable. Faced with such a sky-covering barrage of bladed tools, he still handled it with ease.

Clearly, besides his formidable strength, this Sand Hidden Jonin possessed exceptionally rich tactical experience. The fact that he had not immediately taken shelter behind the Earth Flow Wall proved as much.

Staying outside alone was not only a sign of absolute confidence in his own strength, but also a measure to prevent them from all being caught in one sweep.

At the same time, he could remain outside the battle, control the rhythm of the battlefield, and help his teammates discern battlefield intelligence.