Rock Ninja Forces Plagued by Problems

"How could this be?!"

Jiraiya's expression darkened as he watched the scene unfold.

The Sand Village front, led by him and Tsunade, had held a troop advantage. Relying on Tsunade's medical support and sustained surprise raids, they had wiped out nearly half of the Sand Ninja forces in a short time.

As long as today's raid succeeded, they would perfectly achieve the results demanded by the Third Hokage and move on to reinforce the other fronts.

The Sand Ninja had been steadily retreating. More than three thousand ninja had been killed or injured one after another, and not only had their morale sunk, but under his assault, they had even adopted a long-term defensive posture.

Meanwhile, the ten thousand Konoha ninja under their command were exhausted, but their fighting spirit remained high. They regarded the Sand Ninja as nothing!

Even the genin who normally only chased cats and found dogs had become exceptionally fierce after Tsunade's powerful healing and countless battles, daring to trade their lives for injuries!

The high-burst nature of ninja meant that large-scale group battles rarely broke out between them.

Small-unit probing, raids, assassinations, and the like were the norm for ninja battles.

That was why Konoha had achieved such brilliant results with Tsunade's recovery support. But now...

Jiraiya's mood instantly plummeted as he looked at the thousands of ninja before him, all in peak condition.

Whether it was the Rock Ninja skilled in large-scale combined Earth Release techniques or the Cloud Ninja renowned throughout the shinobi world for taijutsu, they were all exceptionally adept at chaotic battles between ninja forces.

The methods they had used against the Sand Ninja would not work on them!

Their combat strategy now had to focus partly on defense: suppress every counterattack, then retreat quickly!

And since the enemy dared to erect a barrier to trap them, they clearly had confidence in their plan!

Jiraiya's eyes flickered uncertainly as he consulted Tsunade and the others outside the barrier through Katsuyu on his shoulder.

No matter what tricks they had, they only needed to break the barrier.

"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

Jiraiya formed hand seals, puffed out his cheeks, and worked with the toad beneath his feet to spew forth a sea of flames at the eager Rock Ninja forces.

"Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Wall!" *n

One Rock Ninja after another rapidly formed hand seals, raising vast earthen walls that successfully blocked Jiraiya's attack.

At the same time, the Konoha ninja quickly gathered around Jiraiya, attempting to widen the distance between themselves and the allied ninja forces.

"Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Dumpling!"

A Rock Ninja directly "dug" a massive hemispherical boulder over ten meters across from the ground and hurled it at Jiraiya!

"Quick! Get out of the way!"

Jiraiya's pupils contracted. He immediately Body Flickered away, and the Konoha ninja's attempt to gather around him was thrown into disarray.

"Attack!"

A Rock Ninja commander raised his arm and shouted, and several thousand ninja surged forward in a mighty charge.

At that moment, the more than six thousand exhausted Konoha ninja had to face more than three thousand weakened Sand Ninja, plus over four thousand fully equipped, peak-condition Rock Ninja and Cloud Ninja head-on!

The situation was extremely grim!

On the battlefields of genin and chunin, the amount of equipment one possessed often determined victory or defeat. Not to mention that more than half of the enemy were fully equipped and in perfect condition!

Jiraiya frowned at the sight. He needed to find them powerful support!

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Jiraiya summoned another toad. A purple-red horned toad immediately appeared beneath him, holding a shield in one hand and a thorned spear in the other!

"Ken, focus on defense. I'm counting on you!"

Jiraiya spoke in a deep voice. Gamaken was the most suitable choice for the current situation, capable of both offense and defense!

"Got it!"

Gamaken, still only a little over twenty meters tall, answered and charged into the battlefield in a defensive stance.

Jiraiya let out a quiet breath at the sight. Gamaken was the most reliable, and he was perfect for a genin and chunin battlefield.

However...

"Ah! My hand!"

A Rock Ninja had just taken out an explosive tag and injected chakra into it to detonate it when the tag betrayed him—it exploded in his hand!

Just like that... it exploded!

Fortunately, it was a defective explosive tag among defective explosive tags. Its power was minimal, and it only barely injured his hand. Others were not so lucky!

"Boom!"

Another explosive tag detonated. The instant it left a Rock Ninja's hand, that tag—which was just as powerful as an ordinary explosive tag—exploded.

The unfortunate Rock Ninja's skin turned the color of a Cloud Ninja's, and he fell stiffly onto the battlefield.

It was not just them. Dozens of accidents erupted across the battlefield in rapid succession, leaving the high-ranking commanders on every side dumbfounded.

"The explosive tags have been switched! Use kunai and senbon! Switch to close combat!"

A Rock Ninja commander urgently called for a halt. The battle had not even properly begun, yet the casualties caused by their own side already exceeded those inflicted by the enemy!

Explosive tags contained sealed D-rank Fire Release techniques. They possessed considerable killing power and were one of the most commonly used tools among ninja.

The malfunctioning explosive tags varied in power, but together they had caused nearly a hundred casualties.

The key was that Konoha had not even injured a single one of them yet!

"Did you obtain our plan in advance, one of the Three Ninja, Jiraiya?"

Chiyo's face darkened as she looked at Jiraiya warily. If he could obtain even such secret intelligence, could there be a problem among the village's higher-ups?

Then what had all their sacrifices been for?

Were they merely tools for Konoha ninja to amuse themselves with?

"Why did my kunai break?"

A Rock Ninja jonin immediately withdrew from the battle with a Body Flicker the moment the accident occurred. He stared in utter shock at the kunai in his hand, which had snapped into two pieces.

The enemy was using kunai too!

There was no reason their kunai should be this much better!

"Kunai! There's something wrong with our kunai!"

"I snapped my senbon!"

"Why did my shuriken crack?!"

"The ninja blades issued from above broke too!"

"..."

As close combat began, cries of alarm and curses from the Rock Ninja rose one after another.

Most of those present were genin. The successive failures of their ninja tools not only crushed their morale, but also caused repeated mistakes in battle and heavy casualties.

"What the hell are the people above doing?!"

"Don't they know we're fighting Konoha?!"

A Rock Ninja roared, his face flushed red. How were they supposed to fight like this?!

What he could not stand most was the pitying looks the Sand Ninja beside them were giving them!

As if they were saying, 'Come on, guys, how are you poorer than us Sand Village ninja? We live in the desert!'

'If you don't have good weapons, don't come join the war! Are you here to die?'

'You came to help us with your lives. Thanks so much!'

Chiyo's grim expression eased slightly as she looked at the chaotic battlefield before her. Their village was not capable of making such a blunder!

The problem was already obvious. Those corrupt higher-ups of Stone Village were profiteering from the war!

For a time, everyone on the battlefield feared for themselves. All the ninja kept their distance from the Rock Ninja, afraid they would be dragged down by some unknown hazard on the Rock Ninja the next second.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya grinned so hard his mouth nearly twisted crooked.

Just what was this? Weren't they practically delivering themselves on a platter?

Thanks to those Rock Ninja brothers for the big gift package of war merits!