From Defense to Offense

The commotion on Taiichi's side naturally attracted the attention of many ninjas, especially when the Ice Release appeared. All the Mist Village who saw it were unsettled, staring at Taiichi as if they had seen a ghost.

In particular, Mizunuki Asuka was so shocked that he almost forgot that there was Fugaku Uchiha opposite him. In his moment of distraction, Fugaku directly stabbed his left hand.

Even so, it couldn't hide the doubt in his heart. Could this Taichi Matsushita be the orphan of Yuki and wandered away? Otherwise, how could he know Ice Release, and its power seemed to be stronger than his own?

But all of this came to an abrupt end after Taiichi killed Hozuki Hoshizuki. The reason was simple: he was frightened. The two, who could have fought to a standstill, were defeated in an instant.

Now that Taiichi has made his move, who will be next? Him, or Kaguya Kuma?

Mizunuki Asuka forced Fugaku Uchiha back with a single Ice Crystal Senbon Needles, and immediately took out a retreat Signal Flare from her bosom and fired it into the sky.

The pale light could not be obscured even by the torrential rain; all the Mist Ninjas on the battlefield saw this signal to retreat.

Immediately, all the capable Mist Ninja forced their opponents back, then turned and quickly retreated.

Those who were slightly inferior were even more willing to risk being Teuchi in order to escape the battlefield.

Those who were completely suppressed and unable to leave were now surrounded by even more Konoha Ninja, leaving them with no choice but to die.

Mizunuki Asuka, who gave the order, left the battlefield without looking back the moment the Signal Flare was fired.

This was a real hardship for Kaguya Kuma. He had been dominating Hyuga Hiashi, and the battle was progressing incredibly smoothly; he was on the verge of defeating his opponent.

Hyuga's Gentle Fist was completely unable to break through Kaguya's bones; at least, Gentle Fist at Hiashi's level was no match for Kaguya Kuma's bones.

But then, Taichi Matsushita killed Hozuki Hoshizuki, and Mizunuki Asuka sounded the retreat signal, which really caught Kaguya Kuma off guard.

He wanted to retreat, even though he was passionate about fighting, he knew how to assess the situation. However, Hyuga Hiashi was like a leech, sticking to him tightly and making it impossible for him to escape.

In that short delay, Taichi Matsushita and Fugaku Uchiha had already surrounded them.

"Konoha's rats, if you can't beat one, you gang up on them with three people?" Kaguya Kuma, holding Bone Blade, watched the three people surrounding her make their last struggle.

The two clan leaders, concerned about their reputation, did not want to argue with a dying man, but this was something they were Taiichi familiar with; when it came to arguing with people, they had never been afraid.

"Duel is a one-on-one duel, war is only about winning or losing. Is Kaguya Clan Leader a sore loser?"

Without pausing, he slashed with his Short Sword in his right hand and unleashed his Chakra Enhanced Strength in his left, delivering a powerful punch to Kaguya Kuma's chest.

It's already a case of two fists being no match for four hands, but now it's not just a matter of four hands, it's six hands! How can Kaguya Kuma possibly defend against every attack?

Taiichi's punch landed squarely on the chest, and the cracking sound of bones breaking was clearly audible even in the midst of the noisy battlefield.

Kaguya Kuma coughed up a mouthful of blood, his momentum noticeably diminished. Looking at the three who attacked again, his eyes flashed with a fierce light, and a sinister smile appeared on his face. "If you want me dead, then all of you come down and die with me!"

Kaguya Kuma's Chakra surged violently, and numerous bones emerged from her body, resembling a hedgehog constantly extending its Bone Spikes.

This scene was all too familiar to Fugaku Uchiha. He immediately shouted a warning, "Retreat! He's going to take us all down with him! This attack has a wide area of effect!"

By this time, a number of Konoha Ninja had gathered around. Hearing his warning, they immediately realized something was wrong when they saw the scene unfolding before them.

But retreating was too late at this point. Those bone Bone Spike seemed to have taken a powerful tonic, growing rapidly under the relentless Chakra supply from Kaguya Kuma in the middle.

Just as the Bone Spike was about to pierce the crowd, Taiichi slammed his palm into the ground. The Yin Seal on his forehead had been released, and a large amount of Chakra surged into the ground through his palm.

Water Style · Water Formation Wall.

A circular water wall with a radius of 10 meters, centered on Kaguya Kuma, suddenly rotated and rose higher.

Ice Release: Ice Crystal Earth.

The rising water wall freezes rapidly into ice from bottom to top.

As the first Bone Spike pierced the ice wall, the ear-piercing sound of the Bone Spike scraping against the ice reached everyone's ears.

As the Water Formation Wall continued to gush out, the ice layer continued to thicken.

Bone Spike broke, and the ice walls shattered.

The two Ninjutsu clashed continuously, fueled by the supply of Chakra.

However, thanks to Taiichi's delay, the Konoha ninjas had time to retreat to a more distant location.

Seeing this, Taiichi stopped insisting and, with a flash, Flying Thunder God away from the spot.

Without the supply of Taiichi's Chakra, the ice wall immediately showed signs of weakness and was eventually shattered by the ever-growing Bone Spikes amidst a series of violent cracking sounds.

However, at this point, the Bone Spike lost its initial momentum and stopped extending outwards for another seven or eight meters.

The entire scene resembled a 20-meter-long, pale sea urchin, having broken free from the icy grip, but its life had come to an end, conveying a sense of desolation.

Many Konoha Ninja couldn't help but take a few steps forward, wanting to get a clearer view.

"Don't come any closer, he's not dead yet!"

From the crowd, Taiichi stepped out from the side, his eyes still glowing with a ghostly blue flame. In his vision, at the center of the Bone Spike, the ball of soul light, though weak, had not yet been extinguished.

At this moment, Fugaku and Hiashi also came over. Seeing the flames in Taiichi, although they didn't understand, they knew it must be some kind of secret technique. They quickly joined forces to repel the ninjas who came forward.

Perhaps having heard Taiichi's words, and realizing that his plan to sabotage the Konoha Ninja one last time had failed, Kaguya Kuma's last remaining obsession dissipated. His soul's light trembled for a moment before vanishing completely.

Seeing this, the flame in Taiichi also dissipated. He looked at Fugaku and Hiashi, "Alright, he's completely dead."

Hearing Taiichi's words, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. It had been incredibly dangerous. Having experienced it once before Fugaku Uchiha knew the power of that move all too well.

If it had been allowed to erupt without any cover, their casualties would have been considerable, and what was supposed to be a great victory might have turned into a Pyrrhic one.

Words of gratitude rang out from all around, belonging to the ninjas who had been too close to evacuate in time. Taiichi's act of stepping forward had saved their lives.

The powerful Water Style and the Ice Release that could freeze everything showed them just the tip of the iceberg of Taiichi's strength. Their admiration turned into eager eyes as they silently gazed at Taiichi.

Fugaku, Taiichi, Hiashi approached the giant spiky ball together. Looking at the pale Bone Spikes that gleamed with a metallic glint, they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts. It really was made of human bones.

It's just unknown what the current state of Kaguya Kuma's corpse is, or whether it can still be recovered. The corpse of a Jonin with a bloodline limit is of great research value.

Looking at the entire battlefield again, the fighting in all three battlefields had basically ended. Because it was night and raining heavily, only squads equipped with Hyuga ninjas were allowed to pursue the fleeing Mist Ninjas.

Even so, their pursuit was limited to a certain area – they were not allowed to chase them onto the open sea.

"What do we do next? Should we continue attacking the Mist Village's Camp?" Fugaku Uchiha asked Hiashi and Taiichi for their opinions.

"I don't think it's necessary. The Mist Ninja who escaped back will definitely report our actions. A vigilant Mist Ninja is not someone we can easily defeat with just a few people."

Hyuga Hiashi calmly analyzed the situation, but the twitching corner of his mouth from time to time indicated that he was still seriously injured.

The Hyuga Clan faces a significant disadvantage when dealing with either Hozuki or Kaguya: one is essentially immune to physical attacks, and the other is so physically immobile that she cannot be attacked at all.

Taiichi nodded in agreement with Hiashi's assessment. Despite their resounding victory, they had gained an intelligence advantage and successfully launched a surprise attack.

The leader of the Mist Village was restrained and even quickly killed by the three of them. In a normal confrontation, even if they could win, the price they would pay would be very high.

"Alright, let's clean up the battlefield and head back to Camp." Seeing that Hiashi and Taiichi shared the same opinion, Fugaku said nothing more, and the three of them quickly organized the ninjas to clean up the battlefield.

Konoha Camp, Central Command Tent.

"In this battle, we killed a total of 231 people from Mist Village, including Hozuki Hoshizuki, the head of the Hozuki Clan, and Kaguya Kuma, the head of the Kaguya Clan. Our side suffered 73 deaths and 164 injuries."

Fugaku Uchiha gave a concluding report, his tone revealing deep joy.

The post-battle tally showed that their ambush, which was a stroke of luck, was undoubtedly a great victory. Not only did they kill a large number of enemies, but they also killed the heads of the two major clans of Mist Village, which would undoubtedly cause a huge shock within Mist Village.

This would be absolutely great news for Konoha. Ideally, Mist Village would be thrown into internal strife and forced to retreat, thus reducing Konoha's troubles. Of course, this was just wishful thinking.

Tsunade was quite bewildered by the report, but luckily Taiichi had found Mist Village's Camp today, so she decided to take advantage of the situation and steal from them.

The strategy is to attack the Mist Village; otherwise, if they are ambushed by the Mist Village, the losses will be considerable regardless of the circumstances.

It's as if even the heavens are on their side; Tsunade had this thought more than once.

"You did the right thing. Now is not the time to directly attack Mist Village, but we can't let Mist Village either. Tomorrow, move the Camp forward and set up camp one kilometer from the Coastline to prepare for a full-scale attack on Mist Village."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade."

Everyone stood up in unison, and this First Shinobi World War marked the beginning of Konoha's counterattack against Mist Village.

Konoha had always been on the defensive, and even its Camps were located far from the coast.

Now, everything is about to change. From now on, Konoha will only launch continuous attacks on Mist Village until they are Mist Village back to their stronghold.

Around the same time, the escaped Mist Ninja, led by Mizunuki Asuka, returned to their Camp on the island.

When everyone saw this group, which was missing more than half of its members and looked extremely disheveled, the entire Mist Village Camp erupted in chaos, with discussions everywhere.

"What's going on? Weren't they supposed to be launching a sneak attack?"

--

Have you seen my Kaguya Clan Leader?

"It seems like the leader of my Hozuki clan isn't in the party either?"

"Did the sneak attack succeed? Why are they so dejected?"

Everyone knew that this team had gone to raid the Konoha Camp, and now that they had returned in this state, everyone was filled with doubts, and a sense of anxiety spread throughout the Camp.

Such commotion naturally attracted the attention of Karatachi Yagura Camp. He immediately stepped out of his tent and his expression changed drastically when he saw the crowd approaching from afar.

The fact that they were significantly fewer than half their original number, and that each of them looked like a defeated dog, all told Yagura that they had suffered a crushing defeat.

When Mizunuki Asuka returned, he also saw Yagura in the distance. He took two quick steps and was about to speak when Yagura interrupted him.

"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go back to the tent and discuss this."

Mizunuki Asuka was taken aback, but after a moment's thought, she understood Yagura's intention. Looking back at the ninjas who had gathered around her, she saw that they were all filled with worry, and she realized that her previous swaggering return to camp had been ill-considered.

He nodded, gave a brief instruction to the ninja beside him, and entrusted the more than one hundred defeated soldiers to his care. He then returned to the Central Army Tent with Gojibana Yagura.

There was no one else in the tent. As soon as the two sat down, Karatachi Yagura couldn't wait to ask, "What exactly happened? Where are Kaguya Kuma and Hozuki Hoshizuki? Why did you bring the team back alone?"

Mizunuki Asuka sighed heavily, her handsome face now showing a hint of dejection. "We encountered an ambush by Konoha halfway there, and our group was cut into three pieces. Hozuki Hoshizuki was killed by Taichi Matsushita. I don't know about Kaguya Kuma, but since he hasn't returned by now, he's probably in grave danger."

Of course, Mizunuki Asuka wouldn't say that he abandoned Kaguya Kuma and ran away, which meant that Kaguya Kuma would inevitably be surrounded and attacked by at least two strong ninjas from Konoha, and under such circumstances, he would almost certainly die.

"You were ambushed? That shouldn't be the case!" Karatachi Yagura frowned, his face full of confusion. "The ambush was a last-minute decision; how could Konoha have known in advance to set up an ambush?"

"I also find it strange, but shouldn't we move our Camp now? I'm worried that Konoha will track us down to this Camp."

Mizunuki Asuka's words were like a lightning bolt illuminating Yagura's mind, and he immediately understood. "They didn't specifically ambush you; they also came to raid our Camp, but they discovered you ahead of time, so they changed their plan to ambush you instead."

After Karatachi Yagura's reminder, Mizunuki Asuka understood why she had brought it along, exclaiming, "Another Byakugan! How annoying!"

Clearly, only the Byakugan's super long-range vision could detect them in advance and set up an ambush before they even realized it.

"What about the Camp? Now that they've discovered it, we need to move it." Mizunuki Asuka was worried. He was truly frightened by Taichi Matsushita. Hozuki Hoshizuki was such a powerful person, yet he was taken down in just a few moves. How many moves would it take to deal with him?

"No need. Since they were able to find us once, there's no point in moving us again. Now we just need to strengthen our vigilance to prevent them from launching a sneak attack."

What I'm worried about now is Hozuki and Kaguya's clansmen. You need to quickly arrange for people to keep an eye on them. After learning that their clan leader has been killed, you absolutely mustn't let them do anything rash."

Just as Karatachi Yagura finished speaking, a commotion arose outside, and the sounds seemed to be those of Hozuki and Kaguya's ninjas.

Yagura and Asuka both wore solemn expressions; what they feared most had come to pass!