Adding Oil

A giant Toad descended from the sky, its exaggerated size and weight instantly crushing the ground, throwing the surrounding Ninja into disarray.

"Am I late? Seems like I'm just in time," the white-haired man standing on the Toad's head shouted loudly, but no one paid him any mind at the moment.

Such a massive Summoning Beast, with such a distinctive appearance, made it obvious who it belonged to... Konoha's Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, the legendary trio, had finally arrived on the battlefield.

For ordinary Ninja, a Summoning Beast of this size was no different from a Tailed Beast in terms of destructive power. Either way, their attacks always caused collateral damage, and a careless brush could lead to death... Of course, while Summoning Beasts were said to be "one with their summoner" and "fight in coordination," in reality, once they sustained a certain amount of damage, they would automatically dismiss themselves.

A large Summoning Beast was adept at fighting and even better at running away.

The giant Toad summoned once again gripped its "short sword," then drew and swung it, instantly carving a deep gully into the ground and burying many Iwagakure Ninja caught in its path... This wasn't a strike from a sharp weapon; it was clearly blunt force trauma.

At this moment, Yuzuru finally struggled to his feet. He supported his side with one hand, kneeling on the ground with some difficulty, trying to get a better look at the battlefield situation.

For the newly arrived reinforcements, there was an advantage to Konoha having fewer numbers: they could quickly assess the condition of each Konoha Ninja. Thus, with Yuzuru in such a state, a Slug quickly climbed up his ankle and onto his back.

Then, life-giving Chakra emanated from the Slug. As this Chakra seeped into Yuzuru's body, the sharp pain in his side rapidly subsided, and his internal and external injuries began to heal quickly.

With the help of a top-tier medical ninja, Yuzuru's condition stabilized instantly.

The arrival of Jiraiya's trio eased Yuzuru's mind; at least he didn't have to worry too much about his safety anymore... Well, he was perhaps a little too happy, a little too soon.

The trio's fighting style was simple and brutal, focused on eliminating the enemy without deliberately protecting friendly forces. In other words, as long as all enemies were dealt with quickly, their teammates would be safe.

But regardless, the saying "the capable should bear more burdens" applied, and the task of eliminating the enemy now fell entirely on the trio... Yuzuru couldn't quite keep up with the pace for the moment, as getting too close would easily draw him into the attacks of the giant Summoning Beast.

Mount Myōboku's Toad was a friendly unit, but Yuzuru wondered if its eyesight was an issue.

If the battle continued at its current pace, this skirmish seemed destined for an overwhelming victory for Konoha's Ninja.

However, war was ultimately a dynamic process, and the conclusions drawn by those involved were often isolated and one-sided... To put it simply, how could the Iwagakure, who had maintained a high-pressure, aggressive stance, be willing to accept defeat?

Iwagakure's reinforcements also arrived. More Iwagakure reinforcement Ninja appeared on the battlefield, and they began using combined Earth Style Ninjutsu to restrict and attack the giant Summoning Beast on the battlefield.

Konoha's Ninja were once again surrounded, unable to retreat calmly... Individuals like Torifu Akimichi and the Third Hokage's personal disciples could not be considered "sunk costs." Thus, out of necessity, Konoha had to send in more troops.

What began as a skirmish involving twenty to thirty people quickly escalated into a large-to-medium scale battle involving thousands. Soon, Konoha and Iwagakure had each deployed approximately five hundred Ninja on the Land of Grass battlefield... At this stage of the war, a battle of this scale was already quite astonishing.

The organization of the entire battle, whether by Konoha or Iwagakure, was a mess. The battle lines were intertwined, and the combat was almost unbearable to watch... After twenty years of peace, it was safe to say that if the great Ninja villages of the Shinobi World hadn't lost their ability to organize large-scale battles, they at least needed a period of relearning and recovery.

The Great Ninja Wars were brutal, but it wasn't the absolute worst yet. This current chaotic battle could be considered a costly lesson.

As the number of participating Ninja increased, Yuzuru and others like him became increasingly insignificant.

"Earth Style: Moving Earth Core!"

"Earth Style: Mudslide!"

Iwagakure Ninja used combined Earth Style Ninjutsu, turning the battlefield terrain into a complete mess. After altering the slope of the terrain, they used an Earth Style technique similar to a mudslide to scour the battlefield.

Yuzuru dodged the attack by a hair's breadth with consecutive flashes, but at this point, all he wanted to ask was one question: Where are my teammates?

Not only could he not find his teammates, but the Slug on him had also been dismissed long ago.

There were still some Konoha Ninja around Yuzuru, but they belonged to different combat squads and had basically lost their original formations, barely managing to fight independently... The bad news was that Konoha's situation was dire, but the good news was that Iwagakure was in the same boat, no better off than Konoha.

Yuzuru panted heavily, feeling like he was reaching his limit. A single Ninja was too insignificant on the battlefield; he couldn't change anything with his current strength... Didn't he try his hardest with every breath? He was literally fighting to stay alive.

At this moment, another Iwagakure Ninja charged towards Yuzuru.

"Endless!"

Yuzuru turned and fled, fighting as he retreated.

It was truly something that the Ninja War could employ a "reinforcement" tactic, like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather... This battle had started at noon, and now dusk was approaching, the sky completely dark.

Yuzuru couldn't squeeze any more Chakra out of himself. He fought and retreated, occasionally having to block incoming thrown Ninja Tools... So, overall, he felt a bit lost, and before he knew it, the surrounding forest had gone from sparse to dense, eventually becoming a canopy of giant trees that blocked out the sky.

The sound of rain once again filled Yuzuru's ears.

He seemed to have distanced himself from the battlefield, with only one persistent enemy left beside him.

"Damn it, you have nowhere to run!"

"Stop struggling, how much Chakra do you have left?"

Huh? The Iwagakure Ninja behind him was a bit noisy and seemed agitated. He didn't look like an experienced Ninja.

Yuzuru was indeed running low on Chakra and couldn't keep this up.

With a thought, he dodged into the shadow of a thick tree trunk ahead. Just as the Iwagakure enemy briefly lost sight of him and rushed past, Yuzuru suddenly attacked!

He precisely stepped on the enemy's foot with his left foot, grabbed the opponent's collar with his right hand, and then condensed the last bit of Chakra he could muster onto his arm, pulling the enemy's head down and smashing it down like a firecracker, while simultaneously bringing his right knee up!

Bang!

The enemy's forehead slammed into Yuzuru's knee, the sudden impact and shock momentarily jolting the opponent's consciousness away.

This wasn't over. Yuzuru lightly tapped the enemy in front of him with his left hand, then twisted his wrist, pushing the opponent's body to rotate halfway around, so the Ninja was now facing away from him.

Yuzuru didn't do anything else. He quickly hid himself on the other side of the large tree... because he had just attached his last remaining Exploding Tag to the enemy.

Boom!

A fireworks display of blood and flesh erupted in the forest, and the enemy was silenced.

Soon, the forest in the rainy night returned to its original "tranquility," with chaotic yet somehow patterned environmental noise swallowing all other anomalies.

Darkness had completely fallen.