Driven into a Corner

Earth Style: Earth Wall.

Several Earth Walls rose again, this time even closer to Yueguang Han. The Sand Shinobi had already closed the hundred-meter gap to fifty meters. Once they pulled within ten meters of Yueguang Han, the advantage of Firearms would be suppressed, their speed advantage would grow even greater, they would become safer, and they could even launch a sudden assault in an instant.

Yueguang Han knew just as well what would happen if the Sand Shinobi closed the distance. After smashing the Earth Bullets and Earth Dragon Bullets, he canceled the Barrett template and switched both hands to the M249 LMG template.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat...!"

The roar of the light machine gun replaced the thunder of the Barrett. The crimson stream of bullets was like sparks flying from steel being cut, sweeping densely toward the constantly moving Sand Shinobi fifty meters away. There was no need to aim accurately; he only needed to rake it across their bodies.

Earth Style: Earth Wall.

The Sand Shinobi, who had been watching Yueguang Han's hands at every moment, noticed the change in them immediately. Their guard had already been raised to the highest degree, and the instant the crimson bullets began pouring from the muzzle, they used ninjutsu at once.

"Ah...!"

A scream rang out. Although the Sand Shinobi had been extremely careful and had been prepared at all times, one Sand Shinobi was still struck by two bullets before the Earth Wall appeared. Screaming, he fell onto the rocky riverbank.

Although the light machine gun's conventional 7.62mm rounds did not have the terrifying killing power of Barrett rounds, they still easily opened a cherry-sized hole each in the Sand Shinobi's chest and stomach. And this Sand Shinobi was one of those responsible for sensing.

As for the other Sand Shinobi Sensory Shinobi, he had already closed his eyes forever back in the forest earlier.

When Yueguang Han tried to follow up with more shots, the slightly delayed Earth Wall finally rose, blocking the bullets that came after. All of this happened in a flash.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft...!" The bullets struck the Earth Wall, making dull pfft sounds and sending chips of stone flying.

"Hirota!" The two shinobi beside him immediately came behind the Earth Wall and helped press down on the wounded shinobi's injuries.

"It hurts so much! I've been shot through," Hirota said with difficulty, struggling to turn over, but he did not have enough strength. Although only two small holes had been punched through him, under the Cavitation Effect, the inside of his body had already suffered tremendous damage.

(The Cavitation Effect came in two types, near and far, with different principles and different results. The Tumbling Effect referred to a bullet tumbling after hitting the human body because its direction changed.)

Hearing this, the two Sand Shinobi hurriedly split the work: one pressed down on the wounds on Hirota's chest and abdomen, while the other gently turned Hirota over. On Hirota's back were also two thumb-thick holes, blood constantly spilling from them.

"Hirota, you'll be fine! They're just two through-and-through wounds," one Sand Shinobi said, taking out medicinal herbs and starting to help stop Hirota's bleeding.

The gunfire continued. With Hirota as an example, under the dense hail of bullets, for more than ten seconds, the Sand Shinobi only dared to hide behind the Earth Walls and no longer dared to expose themselves lightly. However, they would not just sit there and wait for death.

Earth Style: Earth Wall.

Every few seconds, an Earth Wall rose from the riverbank, one after another, each one closer to Yueguang Han than the last. The Sand Shinobi moved behind the newly risen Earth Walls, never showing themselves, constantly pressing closer to Yueguang Han.

Wind Style: Hurricane. But merely bringing the Earth Walls closer was not enough. One hurricane after another, along with Kunai tied with Explosive Tags, kept falling toward Yueguang Han. Explosions enveloped him, while the hurricanes restrained his movements. Faced with the light machine gun, the Sand Shinobi had already come up with a new and safer countermeasure.

As the Sand Shinobi continued closing in, Yueguang Han also began to grow somewhat anxious. In this situation, close combat was already unavoidable. The hard gap in strength between himself and elite shinobi, his greatest weakness... his mobility, would all be laid bare before the enemy.

Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed Yueguang Han's feet and pulled him down underground. As it turned out, the Sand Shinobi had planned more than one way to deal with Yueguang Han.

Seeing their comrade's sneak attack succeed, the other Sand Shinobi instantly looked overjoyed. Two Jonin immediately used the Body Flicker Technique and rushed out from behind an Earth Wall that was already only ten to twenty meters away from Yueguang Han, charging at him at top speed. A distance of ten to twenty meters did not even require half a second for them.

The other Sand Shinobi were also rapidly forming hand seals. If the two Jonin failed, they would immediately follow up, determined to seize this chance to finish Yueguang Han. Even Yakura was preparing a powerful Wind Style in her hand (Scorch Release was a combination of wind- and fire-nature Chakra). The enemy before them was simply too dangerous; the slightest negligence could very likely be fatal.

"Bang, bang..."

Two gunshots rang out. Yueguang Han's feet instantly turned into Barretts and opened fire. The hands that had pulled half of Yueguang Han's body into the earth also powerlessly let go of Yueguang Han's feet, which had turned into Barretts. However, that was already enough.

"Die." Half a second passed in the blink of an eye. The Sand Shinobi Jonin who reached Yueguang Han first drove the Kunai in his hand viciously toward Yueguang Han's forehead, while half his body was trapped in the earth.

Beast Wave Palm! The other Sand Shinobi Jonin condensed a sharp wind blade in his hand and slashed toward Yueguang Han's shoulders, intending to cut off Yueguang Han's arms. Those hands were the greatest threat to them. Even a one-in-a-hundred chance of a dying counterattack could very likely be fatal to them, and absolutely could not be ignored.

Ten minutes earlier, in the direction from which Yakura and the other Sand Shinobi had come, in a forest roughly five li away.

"Lord Minato, there's a battle up ahead. There are eight people in total. Should we go over?" a Yamanaka Clan shinobi with a single ponytail said to the handsome young shinobi with golden hair in front of him.

The golden-haired shinobi was Konoha's Genius Shinobi, disciple of Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin: Minato Namikaze.

"It may be shinobi from our Konoha fighting Sand Shinobi," Minato Namikaze said immediately after thinking for a moment. He was the first to accelerate toward the direction the Yamanaka Clan shinobi had mentioned. Seeing this, the other Konoha Shinobi hurriedly followed Minato Namikaze. Including Minato Namikaze, there were ten people in total, all elite shinobi.

The reason they were here was that a spy Konoha had planted among the Sand Shinobi had learned the location of an important Sand Hidden supply point. Lord Orochimaru, the main commander of the Sand Shinobi front, had made a prompt decision and sent ten elite shinobi, including Minato Namikaze, to destroy it. Now they had already completed the mission and were on their way back.