Boom!
Amid the constant explosions, both Konoha and the Rock Ninja fought desperately on the battlefield, creating fresh mangled limbs and striving to kill more enemies...
Explosive Tags, jokingly called Fire Style you could carry around, were among the weapons ninjas from every nation liked to use most on the battlefield. Even a Genin who knew no nature transformation at all could inflict considerable damage if he used one properly.
Even though they were only being used one at a time by individual ninjas, the number of lives they claimed far surpassed that of all kinds of nature transformations and secret techniques. They were, without question, the deadliest weapons on the battlefield.
On the battlefield, the ninjas on both sides had divided themselves into separate combat zones and were locked in constant fighting. Even in wartime, ninjas didn't truly fight like an army. They still fought in groups, with each squad battling within a designated area.
Because of this, the two sides had only a thousand or so ninjas between them, yet they occupied the same space that tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers would need for battle. It was also the best illustration of the strengths and weaknesses of the ninja profession.
Powerful ninjas possessed the greatest individual fighting ability and stood at the pinnacle of all professions. But the variety of their techniques also left them lacking the ability to fight large-scale battles as a unified force. In terms of both numbers and tactics, squad-based combat was the only way ninjas could fight as a group.
The area where Qi was fighting was just one part of the battlefield. As for his seemingly impressive entrance, it was nothing remarkable here. There were countless Genin in the Shinobi World who came from clans and possessed secret techniques. No one found that particularly strange. Only the frogs in wells who never ventured outside thought they were special.
But his entrance had still made a difference. His arrival had greatly boosted the morale of this Konoha squad, while the ice spikes he sent flying had thrown the Rock Ninja formation into disarray. You couldn't just ignore those things—they could kill you...
But once the balance between two evenly matched sides was broken, the losing side could be slaughtered. The Rock Ninja squad had no choice but to prove this point.
Thud!
The sound of sharp weapons piercing flesh rang out one after another. In the blink of an eye, the remaining Rock Ninja were in trouble. Three or four of them were killed by Konoha ninjas before they even had the chance to fight back...
"We did it!"
Qi had just landed. He clenched his fist, unable to hide his excitement.
Now they could face the second wave of Rock Ninja with superior numbers!
"Yah!"
Suddenly, a furious roar came from behind him. Qi turned around and saw a Rock Ninja charging at him from who knew where, Kunai in hand. The man was covered in wounds, but still came rushing at him...
Without hesitation, Qi activated Ice Release. A sizable chunk of ice quickly formed above his head, then slammed down hard in front of the Rock Ninja. Dust kicked up as the ice struck, and the already battered man was knocked off his feet and sent tumbling to the ground.
"There's another one alive!"
"Kill him!"
"Get him!"
Before the Rock Ninja could get back up, several Konoha ninjas were already surrounding him. They rained down all sorts of weapons, long and short, and hacked him to pieces...
In the chaos, one Konoha ninja's blade sent the Rock Ninja's head flying. It traced a graceful arc through the air before landing precisely at Qi's feet. It rolled a few times, the face caked in dirt, its eyes wide open as if still expressing the man's resentment at dying.
Qi felt awkward... He'd only just begun forming the Hand Seals for the Ice Release technique he'd planned to use in retaliation...
War between ninjas and combat between ninjas really were two different things...
Looking at the scene of carnage before him, Qi couldn't help thinking that.
He'd fought plenty of battles. At his current level, he could even be called battle-hardened. But combat and war were ultimately different.
In a fight, he usually only had to face people at his own level: Genin. At most, they could reach the level of Special Chunin; they couldn't even compare to a real Chunin. And besides, he'd always fought one-on-one...
On the battlefield, though, there were no ranks, only opposing sides. Whoever you ran into was who you fought, and it all came down to luck. Naturally, no one was going to fight you fairly. That Rock Ninja was a perfect example...
"Hey, newbie over there! What are you doing? Hurry up and rest while you can. The Rock Ninja are about to come!"
One of the surviving Konoha ninjas spotted Qi standing dazed and shouted at him. He'd seen plenty of newcomers die on the battlefield, not because they lacked strength, but because they couldn't handle the pressure.
"This isn't a place where you can afford to stand around!"
The shout snapped Qi out of it. He almost wanted to slap himself...
What the hell is wrong with me? I'm standing around dazed on a battlefield...
"But is it okay to rest right here? They can attack us from a distance, can't they?"
Since his teammates hadn't caught up yet, Qi temporarily gathered with the surviving Konoha ninjas. Ninjas who got separated on the battlefield usually died horribly. Jonin were an exception, but Qi was still a long way from reaching that level. He wasn't capable of wandering around alone.
"It's fine at this distance! The Rock Ninja prefer close combat, and they have to conserve their Explosive Tags!"
The Konoha ninja who'd just shouted a warning answered casually, then took a Military Ration Pill from his pouch and swallowed it.
Qi knew about those things. They could replenish chakra and stamina, but they seemed to have side effects too...
"Those things... aren't they bad for you if you eat too many?"
Qi couldn't help asking. Deep down, he still couldn't shake some of his beliefs from his previous life.
"This is the first time I've met a newbie like you. You're obviously strong, too..."
The ninja had probably never been asked that before. He gave Qi a rueful smile.
"If you die on the battlefield, you won't have the energy to think about the future, will you? People in our line of work don't live long to begin with. Worrying about what happens later is a luxury we can't afford. You'd better get used to it, or you'll die."
It wasn't pleasant to hear, but it was true. As far as Qi knew, hardly any ninjas in this world worried about what their bodies might be like in the future when they got into a fight.
And the most extreme of all was his current teacher, Orochimaru. Eventually, he'd simply start treating bodies like spare parts and replace them whenever he wanted...
"I understand. Thanks..."
Qi knew he'd asked a foolish question, and honestly admitted his mistake...
"Don't mention it. All the newcomers are like that—one more clueless than the next. You're not bad, though. A little weird."
"..."
Qi realized he hated being called a "newbie" more than anything...
Like everyone else, he began resting where he was to recover his stamina. This kind of fighting, which would never happen on a regular battlefield, was common on a ninja battlefield. Ninjas weren't regular soldiers, after all, so they didn't fight like regular soldiers either.
During this time, Uchiha Xiu and the others finally arrived, making the squad even stronger.
Resting really just meant replenishing their stamina with Military Ration Pills and tending to their wounds. Once everything was taken care of, the new squad began advancing toward the Rock Ninja.
Hyuga Tong was especially important now. His Byakugan was far more useful for support on the battlefield than the Sharingan...
Soon, they entered an area full of rubble. When the Rock Ninja army's earthen walls had collapsed earlier, large amounts of dirt and rock had been blasted everywhere, leaving plenty of loose stones scattered across the battlefield.
"Rock Ninja spotted! They're lying in wait among the rocks ahead on the right!"
Tong suddenly called out in a low voice.
"There are eight of them!"
The Byakugan's reconnaissance ability was incredible. Those eight Rock Ninja Genin probably hadn't expected the Konoha side to have already figured out exactly where they were hiding.
If there'd been a Chunin among them, it might have been different. They could have used special methods to evade Hyuga Tong's detection. But since they were all on the same level, they had no chance. The Byakugan had no other trick—it simply excelled at seeing through opponents of a higher rank. Anything at the same level was easy for it to spot. Even the genjutsu of an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan could be broken once the Byakugan reached a certain level.
"They probably know they're outnumbered, so they're trying to use this method to take us out," said a Genin who'd been appointed acting squad leader with a nod.
Being the squad leader wasn't just a matter of being strong. You needed the ability to coordinate, and organizing a squad was different from fighting one-on-one. Qi and the others might have the strength of Special Chunin, but they weren't very good at organizing people. So naturally, leadership went to someone with experience.
Besides, this Genin had already been a squad leader in the first group.
"Let's play along. We'll approach them just like this and catch them off guard. When fighting the Rock Ninja, pay special attention to the ground. And the enemy Genin include plenty of clan members, too. Quite a few of them have strange abilities."
He was really saying this for Uchiha Xiu and the others, who'd only just arrived. He didn't want anyone on his side to get themselves killed because of some misplaced sense of superiority.
"Understood."
After seeing what a real ninja war was like, Uchiha Xiu had already abandoned his pointless vanity. He wasn't stupid; he'd remember every bit of information he could get.
"We'll be careful."
"If you could use your nature transformation to disrupt the enemy when the time comes, that would be a big help. How long does it take you to activate your technique?"
As everyone pretended not to notice and approached the Rock Ninja squad, the squad leader turned to Qi and asked.
"There are eight of them, and they're spread out over quite a wide area. Can you take them all out at once? If not, use whatever range you're most confident with, and leave the rest to us."
"No problem..."
Based on the positions Tong had just pointed out, Qi roughly estimated how far apart the Rock Ninja were, then nodded.
"At that distance, no problem at all! Even if they're hiding underground with Earth Release, I can force them out!"
Having a powerful kekkei genkai sure was convenient. Against opponents at the same level, it gave you such a huge advantage... No wonder so many people wanted to collect them...
Of course, the strongest were definitely the Three Great Dojutsu. They covered every aspect of combat, from one-on-one battles to group fights. The Cloud Ninja had always coveted the Byakugan. Since anyone in the Hyuga Clan could awaken it, no other ability could match its contribution to the fighting strength of an entire group.
The Konoha Ninja Army wouldn't have been nearly so powerful without the Hyuga Clan's contributions.
"Thump... Thump..."
As they drew closer to the Rock Ninja's position, Qi felt his heartbeat speeding up. Whether from excitement or nerves, this was the first time he'd attacked so many enemies at once.
Most importantly, he had to time his technique perfectly. If he acted too early, the Rock Ninja would react at once and change their tactics. If he acted too late, their plan to turn the tables would become a real trap...
Three seconds... Two seconds... One second...
"Now!"
Just as their side stepped into the Rock Ninja's ambush, Qi shouted. He brought his palms together with a sharp clap and poured out all his chakra!
"Six-Directional Seal!"
"Rumble..."
With a deafening roar, countless razor-sharp, frigid ice spikes burst up from the ground, piercing through obstacles in their way or hurling them into the air.
That wasn't all. Countless ice crystals of different shapes appeared in the air all around them, then slammed down toward the Rock Ninja's position!
"Ah!"
"What is that!?"
"Captain! Help me!"
Screams and curses rang out almost simultaneously. The Rock Ninja, who'd been preparing to attack, were struck by disaster.
The Konoha ninjas had put on quite an act. The Rock Ninja had been sure their opponents had fallen into the trap and were about to launch their attack. Who could have imagined that the hunters would suddenly become the prey!?
The two Rock Ninja who'd used Earth Release to hide underground had no chance at all. Ice spikes pierced them through, and then the ice crystals expanding around them tore their bodies to pieces. The moment they burst out of the ground, they were already nothing but chunks of bloody flesh, raining down from above.
A sudden attack was often the most effective. Caught off guard, the Rock Ninja lost half their numbers in one exchange. The two underground were killed outright, and the ones above ground fared no better. One was impaled by an ice spike that appeared under his feet; another failed to dodge the ice crystals and was battered to death...
If those four Rock Ninja had surrounded Qi in a head-on fight, he might have been the one to die. But in this situation, they were the ones who paid the price...
And it wasn't just blood and flesh raining down from above. Black, chakra-filled mud came with it, the remains of a large number of Earth Clones. Clearly, the Rock Ninja had prepared thoroughly for their ambush and were just waiting to strike like lightning. Without Qi's Ice Release, the Konoha side might have won, but they would have lost several people in the process.
"Attack!"
The Genin squad leader was overjoyed at the sight. Qi's technique was far more powerful than he'd expected. It looked like their side might get through this without losing a single person.
The four Rock Ninja who'd been forced into the air by Qi's Ice Release became easy targets. Without even using Explosive Tags, the Konoha ninjas attacked them with nothing but ordinary ninja tools. Each one had at least a dozen holes in him, and all four were dead before they hit the ground.
Being caught in midair was a fatal mistake, especially since the Rock Ninja's clones had all been destroyed by the Ice Release. They were all in their real bodies now! A group of Genin exposed in their real bodies, suspended helplessly in the air—what else could they do but die?
And the Konoha ninjas were so worried that they might not be dead yet that as soon as their bodies hit the ground, they rushed in to stab them again and dismember them. They didn't even give them a chance to play dead...
Even Qi had grown accustomed to this way of killing. When ninjas died in battle, they rarely left behind an intact corpse. If the enemy didn't dismember you, your own side would make sure the enemy couldn't take your body away. And if they couldn't take it away, they'd usually dispose of it even more ruthlessly than the enemy would.
"Everyone, hurry and retrieve your ninja tools. We don't need to advance any farther for now. We're already near the limit of our main force's support range, so let's wait for the other squads to catch up!"
The captain, his face covered in blood, beamed.
"That was a satisfying fight today, but don't let your guard down. Anything can happen on a battlefield! From now on, our mission is to defend!"
After he finished speaking, he patted Qi on the shoulder.
"Well done. Counting the support you gave us earlier, this is your second contribution. We'll put you in for a commendation when we get back!"
"This time... give Tong the credit. If he hadn't found out where the enemy was, I couldn't have done it..."
Qi was a little out of breath. That last technique had taken quite a bit out of him. He wasn't completely out of chakra, but he still needed to recover as quickly as possible. This was a battlefield, after all. If he ran low on chakra, he'd die fast.
"You all contributed. And you don't need to be modest. We can only use that strategy once. The Rock Ninja in the rear will have a clear view of what happened here. Next time, it'll be a straight-up fight."
The captain nodded approvingly.
"Recover as quickly as you can. I can't promise that everyone will survive the next battle."