Konoha's Counterattack

That Sand Ninja was still posturing on the spot when the Chidori in Chen's hand suddenly changed, transforming into the shape of a javelin. Before the Sand Ninja could react, it pierced straight through his chest!

"Wh...what? H-how could you...!" The Sand Ninja pierced by the Chidori Sharp Spear stared at the wound on his chest, speaking in disbelief.

"Tch! Keep posing!"

"Ding! Host killed 1 Special Jonin. Points rewarded: 3000. Total points: 13343." After killing a Special Jonin, the system chimed with a notification.

"You bastard... die!" The Sand Ninja who had been forming hand seals saw his comrade killed by Chen again. He finished his seals and roared as he unleashed his jutsu at Chen.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

The Sand Ninja fired dozens of spinning wind blades at Chen. In an instant, they struck Chen, blasting him far away. His body was shredded and bloody from the wind blades!

"Did I get him? There's no way he survived taking the full force of Vacuum Wave." The Sand Ninja, panting heavily after using a large-scale jutsu, muttered to himself as he stared at Chen's motionless body on the ground.

"That was quite dangerous indeed!"

That voice suddenly came from beside the Sand Ninja's ear. The next moment, something seemed to pierce through the back of his skull, and his consciousness began to fade. "Didn't I already hit him? How could..." In his final moment, he glanced back at the Chen lying on the ground, struck down by his jutsu.

"Boom!" The Chen on the ground suddenly turned into a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the fallen Chen had become a log.

"So that's how it was! He used the Substitution Technique..." After saying these words, the Sand Ninja breathed his last. From the confusion in his eyes, he must have been wondering when Chen had used the Substitution Technique.

"Ding! Host killed 1 Special Jonin. Points rewarded: 3000. Total points: 16343." As the Sand Ninja died, the system notified Chen.

"Good thing these opponents were only Special Jonin level. If they were real Jonin, it wouldn't have been this easy." Chen had been keeping an eye on the Sand Ninja who had ambushed him with the jutsu. He had seen the Sand Ninja forming hand seals and was already on guard. Way back when Chen used Chidori Sharp Spear to kill the Sand Ninja holding the kunai, he had already used the Substitution Technique. Sure enough, just as Chen finished the substitution, the Sand Ninja's jutsu struck. But Chen had already escaped its range. The Sand Ninja thought he had killed Chen and let his guard down. Taking advantage of that moment of carelessness, Chen appeared behind him, used Finger Gun, and pierced through the Sand Ninja's head. Though it seemed like a long time had passed, from the Sand Ninja launching his jutsu to Chen circling around and killing him, only a few seconds had actually gone by.

Up on the high ground, Guy was already stunned by Chen. "Kakashi, the Chidori can do that?"

"Yeah. He mastered the Chidori, created a jutsu that uses it all over his body for both offense and defense, and can even make it thrust like a javelin for long-range attacks. This kid's talent is the best I've seen among people his age!" Kakashi thought to himself as he watched Chen below.

"Kakashi, look..." Guy suddenly called out to Kakashi, pointing toward the sky. Above Konoha, an eagle was soaring through the air.

"That's the signal. It's finally started. Let's go." Kakashi glanced down at Chen once more, then leaped away first. Guy followed closely behind.

Elsewhere, the battle between the Third Hokage and Orochimaru was nearing its end. The Third Hokage had locked onto Orochimaru's shoulders, keeping him immobilized, though the Kusanagi Sword had pierced through his chest. Behind the Third Hokage, a massive phantom figure appeared—the Shinigami, visible only when the Reaper Death Seal was performed. At that moment, one of the Shinigami's arms had passed through the Third Hokage's body and was reaching for Orochimaru in front of him, trying to drag out his soul.

"My hands are still pinned. I can't perform any jutsu!" Orochimaru thought bitterly, then sneered at the Third Hokage before him. "Are you going to let go now?"

The Third Hokage gritted his teeth, persisting, and spoke with effort. "Your ambition to destroy Konoha ends here."

Orochimaru stared at the Third Hokage, his hoarse voice cutting through. "My ambition won't be stopped. You'll die here soon. In your waning years, do you still think you can save Konoha as the Third Hokage? Do you even understand the situation? My subordinates and the Sand Ninja have already attacked the village. The ninja of Konoha, the women, the children—they'll all be slaughtered. The Konoha Crush Plan is a success! Hahahaha!!"

"You probably don't know this, Orochimaru! Don't underestimate the ninja of this village!" Though the Third Hokage was already weak, he persisted and retorted. "The ninja of Konoha will fight with their lives on the line to protect the village. True power in this world isn't about mastering every jutsu. I taught you this before—when you're protecting someone important, a ninja's true power emerges."

Orochimaru glared fiercely at the Third Hokage.

On another front, the Sand and Sound Ninja had pushed deep into Konoha's heartland. They were searching house by house.

"No one inside."

"Nothing here either!"

"Not a single person here either!"

After searching, the Sand Ninja gathered together.

"What's going on? We've already broken into the heart of Konoha, so why haven't we seen a single woman or child? What's happening?" One Sand Ninja stared at the empty houses, utterly confused.

"Hmph! They must have hidden in the shelters. Find them. Let's move!" With that, the Sand Ninja began running deeper into the village.

Suddenly, several sharp sounds cut through the air! A few Sand Ninja couldn't dodge in time and were hit by shuriken. The remaining ninja from both villages looked up toward a high point ahead. A group of Konoha ninja in Anbu outfits stood on the high ground, looking down at them.

"From this moment on, you will not advance another step." A female ninja with purple hair conveyed Konoha's will to the Sand Ninja below.

Konoha's counterattack had begun.

Konoha's ninja mobilized en masse. Elite members from various secret technique clans also deployed, clashing with the Sand and Sound Ninja in every corner of the village.

"I... my body won't move!" A Sand Ninja caught by the Nara clan's shadow technique panicked as he realized he couldn't move.

"First time seeing the Nara clan's secret Shadow Binding Technique? Then let me show you the Nara clan's secret Shadow Strangulation Technique too." Shikaku Nara, Shikamaru Nara's father, leaned against a wall, speaking casually to the Sand Ninja he had pinned with his shadow. Then he activated the strangulation technique, snapping the necks of several Sand Ninja.

Inoichi Yamanaka also used the Yamanaka clan's secret technique, Mind Disturbance Technique, making the Sand Ninja turn on each other. The Akimichi clan's Expansion Jutsu crushed the Sand Ninja. The three of them gathered together.

"This moment reminds me of the old days!" Inoichi said with a light laugh.

"The Ino-Shika-Cho trio is reunited!"

"Yeah!" The three roared together!

After Chen dealt with those Sand Ninja, he heard sounds of fighting and the cries of ninja coming from all over Konoha. "Looks like Konoha has started its counterattack. Things are getting lively now! But I need to kill a few more quickly. If the Sand and Sound Ninja get wiped out by Konoha, how am I going to complete my mission?" With that, he dashed toward the direction with the most commotion.

Chen arrived at a high point and looked down. Below, a group of ninja were locked in fierce combat. Shuriken flew in all directions. Clusters of black shadows flashed rapidly. Whenever two shadows collided, the sound of metal clashing rang out, sparks flew, and occasionally a scream accompanied it!

"They're really going at it. It's getting me fired up too!" Chen said, a hint of excitement in his voice as he watched the battle below.

The ninja below were moving at high speed. From a distance, all he could see were clusters of black shadows flashing. But after Chen activated his Sharingan, he could track their movements.

"I've already used the Chidori three times in a row. My chakra is almost depleted. I need to find a way to increase my chakra reserves. System, can I recover chakra?"

"Recovering chakra requires points. Do you wish to exchange?"

"Exchange?"

"Ding! Points deducted. Remaining points: 15343."

Another wave of warmth flowed through him, and Chen's depleted chakra was fully restored.

At this moment, for some unknown reason, the battle below had ceased entirely, and the combatants had split into two groups. On one side were the uniformly dressed Konoha shinobi; on the other, an alliance of Sound Ninja and Sand Ninja from two separate villages. Both sides were panting heavily, glaring at each other in a tense standoff.

Watching the gathered Sand and Sound Ninja below, Chen came up with an idea.

"Give me another Flying Thunder God Kunai."

"Ding! Technique Kunai, item type: tool, item rank: C-rank, exchange cost: 500 Points. Exchange?"

"Exchange."

"Exchange successful. Points deducted: 500. Remaining Points: 14,843."

As soon as the system prompt ended, a technique kunai materialized out of thin air in Chen's hand.

Gripping the kunai tightly, Chen looked down at the crowd of Sand and Sound Ninja below, a cruel smile spreading across his face.

"Heh heh... The hunt begins."