Violence

The more outstanding a person is, the grander the stage they need to fully showcase their excellence.

Hatake Sakumo was merely a Konoha ninja of minor renown.

In Yuzuru's understanding, Hatake Sakumo was the "Konoha White Fang," but in reality, the man had not yet earned such a terrifying title.

At least, the moniker wasn't widely recognized.

However, it was conceivable that after the current battle concluded, Hatake Sakumo would no longer be able to remain a low-key Jonin, even if he wanted to.

Of course, expecting him to single-handedly wipe out Sunagakure's attacking force would be too unrealistic. With Hatake Sakumo's skill, he could fight one against ten, or at most, one against a hundred, but one against a thousand would be an exaggeration.

Although Hatake Sakumo was powerful and his offense was fierce, he was a swordsman. Fundamentally, no matter how strong he was, he had to kill enemies one by one.

Hatake Sakumo's "area-of-effect damage" wasn't true area-of-effect damage; it was an accumulation of individual "point damage."

This was because his point damage efficiency was too high.

Even though Hatake Sakumo was a ninja with very obvious strengths and weaknesses, he was still playing a huge role at this moment.

Sunagakure's attacking force intended to launch a surprise attack. With Hatake Sakumo on the flank, how could they possibly achieve a "surprise"?

Hatake Sakumo wielded his chakra blade, engaging in hit-and-run tactics on the flank of Sunagakure's attacking force. If they ignored him, the losses caused by his killing efficiency would be unbearable for Sunagakure.

If they stopped their advance to surround and kill him, not only would that play into Konoha's hands, but Hatake Sakumo was as agile as a monkey. He would evade their sharp edge when necessary, and then periodically turn back to kill a few people...

His presence was too significant.

The commander, Chiyo, had an unusually grim expression, her face even more overcast than the weather in the Land of Rain. She hadn't expected such a crucial operation to be obstructed by a single enemy.

Although the surprise attack force was still moving towards the Konoha camp, their speed had drastically decreased... Hatake Sakumo was trying to draw aggro, and while he couldn't hold them off alone, his harassment was at least effective.

"Sister, look behind you..."

Seeing Chiyo staring intently at the Konoha ninja, Ebizo couldn't help but approach her and tap her shoulder.

Chiyo turned her head in the direction Ebizo was pointing, and then she saw a sparse trail of corpses left behind by the main force.

Compared to the entire Sunagakure force, the number of dead wasn't that large. However, it was like a sack of grain with a small tear, constantly leaking. Who could stand that?

"Come with me, we must deal with him!"

Chiyo called out to her brother, and then the two of them, one after the other, broke away from the main force and charged towards Hatake Sakumo.

"Stop right there!"

The shouts from behind naturally couldn't make Hatake Sakumo halt. He glanced back at the two of them, leaving them with only an indifferent gaze.

Fight these two? Hatake Sakumo understood his predicament. If he were to be tied down by them, he would immediately be surrounded... His objective was to "slice the sausage" from the periphery, not to be "dumpling-wrapped" by Sunagakure ninja.

In fact, Hatake Sakumo had already succeeded at this point. He had bought time for his teammates to escape, which in turn bought time for the Konoha camp to react.

His continued fighting now was solely to add the word "sufficient" before the phrase "reaction time."

Therefore, the one-man blocking battle continued.

Time rewound slightly. Before Sunagakure's surprise attack force began their operation, the battle in the Land of Rivers had entered its final stages.

More accurately, it should be called a "reverse conclusion." The Konoha ninja were struggling to withstand the offensive pressure from the Second Kazekage.

Just a few minutes after the battle began, only a handful of Konoha ninja were still able to move... The enemy's strength was too high; they were on a completely different level from the Konoha ninja.

The sand manipulators were proving too difficult to handle. If this Kazekage hadn't intended to lure them in, the Konoha ninja would have died even faster.

More importantly, these were just the sand manipulators. Sunagakure also had iron sand users... Originally, the "strongest Kazekage" could have made Sunagakure dominant for a generation. After all, during that era, apart from Iwagakure's Dust Release, there was no stable method to surpass the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release.

It could only be said that all the ninja villages should be grateful to Sunagakure's traitors. The thought process of an "artist" was beyond ordinary people.

As one of the few Konoha ninja still capable of fighting, Kiba Inuzuka and his ninja dog Kurotsume were breathing heavily. The ninja dog was well-protected, merely panting with its tongue out from exhaustion, but Kiba Inuzuka's head was already bleeding.

What he hadn't expected was that his squad was still intact after fighting this long, with no losses... Logically, a close-combat squad like theirs should have been the first to suffer.

However, the situation was the opposite. In fact, only he, the captain, was injured.

It turned out that the ninja in this squad were all hiding their true abilities.

The captain observed Shinnosuke Kohinata, and indeed, he didn't find any signs of him awakening or using the Byakugan. However, apart from not using the Hyuga clan's signature pressure point strikes and the Gentle Fist's Sixty-Four Palms, he suspected that the man could use other Hyuga clan techniques.

Shinnosuke Kohinata's chakra level and taijutsu proficiency were both at the Jonin level.

Then, the captain's gaze shifted to Yuzuru. Yuzuru, who claimed to be best at taijutsu, had been acting as a "Wind Release turret," repeatedly repelling the enemy's sandstorm attacks.

His teammates' performance far exceeded expectations, yet the squad still had no possibility of defeating the enemy. Kiba Inuzuka felt they wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

"There are four people in the squad, and three of them are stronger than me. Yet I, the captain, am the weakest... Are you really from civilian ninja backgrounds?"

At the last moment, he decided to satisfy his curiosity.

"Captain, precisely because we are not from ninja clans, we have to put in more effort and sweat," Yuzuru said.

Yes, his strength was all gained through effort and sweat. What else could he rely on?

Might Duy could prove everything, and Yuzuru was clearly the same type of person as Might Duy.

"Effort and sweat, huh..."

Is this enough to break through my limits? Kiba Inuzuka found it hard to believe. Although the Inuzuka Clan wasn't a large ninja clan and their strength wasn't particularly dominant, Kiba could still feel the gulf between clan ninja and ordinary ninja.

Fine, Yuzuru's effort and sweat might have been fake, but Might Duy's effort and sweat were real. The latter still hadn't given up hope of defeating his opponent.

"The Sixth Gate, the Gate of View, open!"

Might Duy activated his strongest form yet. His skin turned crimson, and a green light began to emanate from his body.

The Second Kazekage stared intently at the green figure, clearly sensing a hint of threat from him.

A sandstorm swept towards Might Duy, but he continued to charge forward recklessly.

Just as his figure was about to be engulfed, Might Duy suddenly lowered his head. Immediately after, a massive wind blade, arriving just in time, sliced the sandstorm in two.

Might Duy's figure burst through the gap, reaching the enemy's front for the first time.

But just then, the Second Kazekage clenched his fist. Right beneath Might Duy's figure, a giant sand palm shot out and grasped him firmly.

"Your speed is good, but I'm already used to it."

However, as the Second Kazekage's confident tone faded, the sound of air being torn apart from his side made him instinctively turn his head. At that moment, he caught a glimpse of a sweeping leg whip.

Boom!

The immense force sent his aged figure flying.

Only then did the Kazekage seem to hear another voice in his ear.

"Then what about my speed? Are you used to that too?"

This question...

It was asked with utmost sincerity.