Night Raid (Part 2)

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

Suddenly, a series of sounds split the air.

Dozens, even hundreds, of Kunai shot out from the Dense Forest ahead, packed together like raindrops, so dense no one dared look straight at them.

"Careful!"

Nakajima Hiroshi shouted, his hands flashing through seals at high speed. After drawing in a deep breath, he suddenly spat it out.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough—

The simple Rank C Ninjutsu, when he unleashed it, was no weaker than some higher-level offensive ninjutsu.

A whirlwind blasted from his mouth, like a force-twelve gale sweeping through, toppling a huge stretch of forest ahead.

As for the Kunai?

They had long since been blown flying back.

Qian estimated that his mastery of this technique was no lower than lv3, and the Chakra consumed in a single use definitely exceeded five hundred points.

Otherwise, it could not have produced such an effect.

Logically speaking, if it was only to stop those Kunai from getting close, Nakajima Hiroshi had no need to consume so much Chakra.

Did he have so much Chakra he had nowhere to use it?

The answer was clearly no.

The reason Nakajima Hiroshi did this was, on one hand, indeed to stop those Kunai from approaching, but more importantly, it was to seize the initiative and strike at the enemy's momentum.

At the same time, he could also destroy any traps the enemy might have secretly laid and force them to show themselves.

Facts proved that his approach was very effective.

Before the dust and smoke had even settled, more than ten Rock Ninja rushed out from within.

Although they did their best to put on an unhurried, composed appearance, the broken branches and fallen leaves clinging to them still made them look rather disheveled.

However, Qian and the others could not laugh.

For no other reason than that after these people appeared, nearly ten more Rock Ninja also walked out on both sides of them.

Qian's gaze swept over these people, and he muttered inwardly, This is trouble.

At this moment, the Rock Ninja in the field were roughly divided into six squads, and the captain of each squad wore Iwagakure's Jonin uniform.

Although it was unknown how many among them were true Jonin, at worst, there were six Special Jonin. That already surpassed them.

Aside from the first squad left behind to guard the Temporary Garrison, they had only thirteen people on their side: two Jonin, two Special Jonin, six Chunin, and three Genin.

And the other side?

Excluding the six wearing Jonin uniforms, among the remaining eighteen, half were Chunin and half were Genin. Whether in numbers or quality, they were superior to them.

And that was without counting the Rock Ninja currently locked in battle with the Second Division.

Since the other side dared to pull so many people over here to block them, that meant they were confident enough to deal with the Second Division.

Either those people were powerful, or they were numerous. No matter which it was, it was not good news for them.

Because it meant that once the battle over there ended, they would have even more enemies.

Fortunately...

Qian secretly glanced at the night sky.

Presumably, Okura Seiya had already seen the situation here. As long as they held on for a while, support from the Main Camp should arrive very soon.

When that time came, every difficulty would be easily resolved. If they moved quickly, they might even be able to encircle these Rock Ninja in turn.

However, if he could think of that, there was no way Iwagakure could not.

They had taken such a huge risk to come here, just to kill a few dozen small fry like them?

That was obviously impossible!

A faintly ominous premonition rose in Qian's heart.

But now, the arrow was already on the string and had to be loosed. Even if they wanted to stall for time, the enemy would not let them drag things out.

Sure enough, as soon as the Rock Ninja on both sides drew close and the encirclement initially formed, the Rock Ninja launched their attack.

There was no idle talk on the battlefield. The moment they clashed, it was a fight to the death.

However, the huge gap in numbers put Konoha's side at an absolute disadvantage.

The only thing worth being grateful for was that both sides had Jonin present, so there was no scene of Jonin bullying the weak and slaughtering Genin.

This was also an Unspoken Rule of the battlefield—unless one side held an absolute advantage, Jonin would not easily attack Genin.

The gap in strength between the two was too great. Once Jonin attacked Genin without restraint, the deaths caused would be terrifying beyond measure.

And in retaliation, Jonin from other nations would also target their own Genin. The result of hurting each other like this would be that after a single battle, barely any Genin would remain on either side.

If a village's reserve forces all died out, what the hell would they still be fighting for?

Even so, the pressure on Qian and the others was extremely great.

Because once the Jonin on both sides were removed from the equation, they would still have to face enemies twice their number.

Looking at his teammates struggling to hold on, Qian knew he could not keep coasting anymore. He had to reduce the enemy's numbers as quickly as possible and ease the pressure on his teammates.

Otherwise, once his teammates started suffering casualties, the pressure on him would rise sharply.

With that thought, Qian opened his Status Panel and swept a glance over his Chakra—2,100 points. Then he murmured, "That's enough."

Hearing his murmur, the young Rock Ninja fighting him paused slightly and blurted out, "What's enough?"

At that, Qian was also taken aback. He had not expected the boy in front of him to be so mentally active that he still paid attention to what his enemy was saying in the middle of a fight.

Maybe the pressure isn't that high for him.

Thinking this, Qian seized the instant when the other party's movements stalled and erupted with full force, closing in on him at extreme speed.

Then his wrist turned, and the Kunai shifted from a forward grip to a reverse grip, slashing straight toward the boy's throat.

Seeing the incoming Kunai and sensing the sharp aura coming off it, the boy's mind went blank. He simply obeyed his instincts and flashed backward.

Whoosh~

The Kunai cut through the air, leaving behind a white trace, but it failed to hit the boy.

The boy touched his own neck. After confirming he was still alive, the joy of surviving a disaster flashed through his eyes.

But at that moment, a voice came from the side.

"Watch out!"

Watch out for what?

The boy was puzzled. He turned his head to look and saw that the companion who had helped him attack Qian just now was staring at him with a face full of anxiety.

No, to be more precise, he was staring at his chest.

The boy lowered his head and saw an Exploding Tag giving off a faint glow of fire.

In an instant, the boy's face turned deathly pale. The joy in his pupils vanished, leaving only deep despair behind.

"No—"

A roar mixed with fear and despair burst from the boy's mouth.

The next moment, a deafening explosion rang out.

Crimson flames appeared, swallowing the young man's entire body in the blink of an eye.

By now, Qian had already used the Body Flicker Technique to get away from the boy.

The firelight shone across his face, but it did not make his expression change in the slightest.

On the battlefield, it was always kill or be killed. Since the two sides stood on different sides, Qian naturally would not pity the enemy.

In fact, after killing the other party, he hardly paused at all. He immediately shifted his attention to the Rock Hidden Genin who had shouted the warning just now.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

Three Shuriken shot out.

That Rock Ninja dodged left and right, but in the end, one Shuriken still grazed his arm.

One had to know that Qian's Ninja Tool Throwing was lv3 (210/1000). The ninja tools he threw posed a certain threat even to Chunin, let alone a Genin whose mind was shaken!

Thus, the other party was struck on the spot.

It was only because Qian had no suitable poison; otherwise, the other party could already be waiting to die.

However, it was not a big problem. He only needed to follow up with one more strike.

With that thought, Qian once again used the Body Flicker Technique and arrived before that Rock Hidden Genin at a speed difficult for the naked eye to distinguish.