Battle Situation

Looking at the severed head staring intently at him from the ground, a feeling of utter disbelief lingered in Nawaki's heart. Tens of thousands of creatures, none of whom Nawaki recognized, with necks like camels and bodies like goats, were stampeding through his mind!

"Zhou Duan!"

After just experiencing the terrifying killing intent of a Jonin, he was now subjected to "Stargazing." The shock gave way to anger, and Nawaki could no longer hold back. He couldn't afford to offend a Jonin, but he could try to deal with Zhou Duan. With that thought, Nawaki couldn't help but roar at Zhou Duan:

"Are you deliberately messing with me?!"

"Hey, don't get so worked up..."

Zhou Duan did have the intention of pranking Nawaki, but seeing Nawaki's strong reaction, he did feel a little bad. Thinking this, Zhou Duan quickly fumbled in his arms and pulled out a few bottles of purple potions, saying to Nawaki comfortingly:

"That's right, I was messing with you!"

"Hmph!"

Nawaki snorted disdainfully and turned away:

"Since you admit you deliberately tricked me, I won't argue with you!"

"Stop the nonsense and get behind me!"

"Hmph, of course, no problem!"

As soon as Nawaki finished speaking, he strode to Zhou Duan's back with imposing momentum. His determined face and embarrassing behavior made everyone in the room twitch their lips uncontrollably!

"Alright!"

After enjoying the farce, the ninja at the registration desk hadn't forgotten his duties. He picked up the severed heads from the ground and took out several stacks of documents to compare them carefully. After a while, he finally spoke with a hoarse voice:

"We've confirmed two of the Chunin, they are the Sand Ninja's Sickle Hand Akiama Shinnosuke and Swift Blade Akita Mitsunaka. The remaining six ninjas should be Genin. We don't have detailed records, but there's nothing we can do about it. Unless they're special, we don't record the data of Sand Ninja Genin, as there's no point in recording them. Oh, right..."

The recording ninja looked up at Zhou Duan:

"You said you took down three Chunin? Where's the last one?"

"The last one died rather miserably..."

Before Zhou Duan could speak, Nawaki quickly interjected:

"Our captain wrapped him in Explosive Tags and stabbed Senbon into him from his backside, blowing him to smithereens! This is Konoha's secret Taijutsu Secret Art - Senbon Kill! Lord Orochimaru saw it too. That ninja died gloriously. Ah, not good..."

Nawaki realized his slip-up belatedly and glanced warily at the recording ninja:

"I let slip a secret Konoha Taijutsu Art. You won't leak it, will you?"

"I have no interest in this so-called Konoha Taijutsu Secret Art. I even want to delete it from my mind entirely!"

The recording ninja grinned and gritted his teeth, changing the subject:

"Alright, your squad's information and battle results have been recorded. Although your strength is great, I will still confirm with Lord Orochimaru when I see him. You've been assigned to the Fifth Combat Brigade, your captain is a Jonin from the Inuzuka Clan, Inuzuka Jin. Here, this is the real-time battlefield information!"

The registering ninja's expression turned serious, and he pulled a scroll from a drawer:

"Although it's only brief information, you can only read it in this room. Remember, even this simple information is not to be revealed to the enemy!"

"Understood!"

Zhou Duan took the scroll and spread it out on the table. Minato, Hundred Palms, and Nawaki, who had come to join the fun, also gathered around. Although the information on the scroll was brief, it gave Zhou Duan a general understanding:

"Including Steel Rock Valley, where Zhou Duan is currently located, Konoha's advancing forces consist of three main units. The other two units are stationed at Constant Green Oasis and Quicksand Bone Land. Constant Green Oasis is an oasis that has existed in the desert for hundreds of years without disappearing. Most of it consists of a type of tree called Tough Bone, which is exceptionally sturdy and can withstand most A-rank ninjutsu of any element and the full-power attacks of regular Jonin's ninja tools!

However, strangely, once these trees are cut down, the severed parts become incredibly fragile and useless. This prevents the trees from being completely felled. After all, being able to defend against A-rank ninjutsu, it's also a top-tier material if one expends some effort to cut it down!

Quicksand Bone Land, on the other hand, is an area with a large concentration of quicksand pits. Small and large quicksand pits are scattered across dozens of miles. It is also a burial ground for Ninja Beasts. Whenever a Ninja Beast's lifespan is nearing its end, they come here to die. Various sturdy Ninja Beast skeletons are spread throughout the area. This means that if someone figures out the detailed route and creates a map, it would definitely be a secure fortress. Fortunately, Konoha managed to steal the map painstakingly created by the Sand Ninja and modified Quicksand Bone Land. Although the modifications were simple due to time constraints, the original Sand Ninja route map is effectively obsolete!

Both of these places are very peculiar yet easy to defend and difficult to attack. If Konoha hadn't forcefully captured these two strategic strongholds from the beginning, the subsequent battles would have been extremely difficult!

The three locations each have over ten thousand people, totaling more than forty thousand ninjas attacking in a semi-circle. Although the battle with the Sand Ninja is fierce, they are steadily advancing. Additionally, over two thousand ninjas have penetrated further into the Land of Wind, either infiltrating and sabotaging Konoha's affiliated small ninja villages or constantly ambushing Sand Ninja supply convoys, continuously harassing the Sand Ninja!

Furthermore, Steel Rock Valley is the most crucial battlefield. Not only does it have the largest number of troops, but in addition to Konoha's Sannin - Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade - one of the top combat powers, Kakashi Sakumo, is also stationed here!

It's clear that Konoha has gone all out this time, leaving less than half of their ninjas to guard the village and sending the rest to the battlefield!"

"We've deployed quite a few ninjas!"

Hundred Palms exclaimed:

"I only felt like a lot of people were missing in the village. I didn't expect we'd used almost all our reserves!"

"The number of ninjas deployed is secondary..."

Zhou Duan looked at the ninja in front of him:

"What I want to know is, what are our current casualty numbers?"

"Sigh..."

The recording ninja's expression turned somewhat grim as he replied:

"Four thousand!"

"That's a very high casualty rate!"

Upon hearing this number, even the cheerful Minato's face fell.

"And this is just the initial combat. After the war ends, this number will at least double. A 1:5 casualty ratio is very high!"

"Yes, it's a very high casualty rate. But in such a war-torn world, combat is unavoidable. Only by becoming stronger ourselves will we have the capital to change this world. This is the only thing we can do right now!"

Zhou Duan patted Minato's shoulder comfortingly and handed the scroll back to the reviewing ninja:

"Let's not dwell on heavy topics. Next, let's talk about something else. Where is the supply exchange point? We still have some damaged and unusable ninja tools that need to be replaced!"

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.