Terror of Scorch Release! Living People Instantly Vaporized!

Panicked cries rose one after another.

The wounded soldiers who had been lying on their beds groaning all struggled to their feet.

Qian Ye's eyes snapped open, and all traces of drowsiness vanished instantly.

He braced himself against a wooden post and quickly checked his Ninja Tool Pouch.

He still had three Kunai and five Shuriken.

The large-caliber revolver lay quietly at the bottom of the pouch.

It was his greatest trump card now.

Deafening explosions rang out from outside the tent.

Flames shot into the sky, dyeing the pitch-black night red.

The ground shook violently.

Qian Ye lifted the tent flap and looked outside.

The sight before him made him suck in a sharp breath.

The defensive fortifications around No. 3 Outpost had already been completely swallowed by flames.

Countless earth-yellow figures surged toward the outpost walls like a tidal wave.

Blown by the raging wind, the yellow sand blanketed the stars and moon.

In midair, a dark-red figure standing on a Gold Dust Disc was exceptionally conspicuous.

Rasa!

The Sunagakure army had not waited until dawn.

They had launched an all-out assault right now!

Orochimaru appeared amid the flames atop No. 3 Outpost's command tower.

His golden vertical pupils were fixed tightly on Rasa in the air.

His hoarse voice, amplified through chakra, spread across the entire battlefield.

"All Hidden Leaf ninja, hold the line!"

"Kikyo Pass must not fall!"

"Any who retreat will be executed without mercy!"

Listening to Orochimaru's murderous command, Qian Ye cursed inwardly.

This damn well gave them no chance to catch their breath.

He had only just started seeing some results from his training, and his stamina was completely drained.

Yet now he had to immediately throw himself into a battlefield like a meat grinder.

This was hell difficulty.

Several Hidden Leaf Chunin charged into the wounded soldiers' tent.

They held weapons in their hands, their eyes bloodshot.

"Everyone who can still move, get up on the walls!"

"Sunagakure's puppet forces have already breached the first line of defense!"

"If you don't want to die, go fight for your lives!"

Qian Ye had no room to choose.

He reached into his Ninja Tool Pouch, dug out his last Military Ration Pill, and shoved it into his mouth, chewing and swallowing it.

A bitter medicinal taste burst across his mouth.

As the medicine took effect, a trace of chakra was squeezed back out from his dried-up chakra pathways.

The soreness in his muscles was forcibly suppressed.

"Hurry it up! What are you dawdling for?"

The Hidden Leaf Chunin leading them waved a bloodstained Kunai and roared at the people in the wounded soldiers' tent.

Qian Ye rushed out of the tent with the crowd.

The air outside was scorching hot, thick with the pungent stench of burning.

The Kikyo Pass defense line had completely turned into a massive meat grinder.

The night sky was dyed red by the flashes of Explosive Tags.

Sunagakure had truly gone mad this time.

Qian Ye climbed the towering wall, and the sight before him made his scalp tingle.

Everywhere he looked was filled with earth-yellow figures.

Sunagakure ninja trampled over their comrades' corpses as they charged upward, completely heedless of casualties.

In midair, Rasa stood atop his Gold Dust Disc, madly unleashing wide-area Magnet Release.

Massive Gold Dust spears rained down upon Hidden Leaf's defensive positions.

Every strike took more than a dozen lives.

Orochimaru stood atop the command tower, his face dark to the extreme.

"Sunagakure has emptied its entire treasury."

Orochimaru looked toward the darkness in the distance, deep wariness flashing through his eyes.

Intelligence indicated that Chiyo, one of Sunagakure's elders, was personally overseeing the rear.

Even Fū, the terrifying One-Tail jinchuriki, had been brought to the edge of the battlefield.

He was ready at any moment to unleash a Tailed Beast Ball and destroy Hidden Leaf's core positions.

To cover up the disgrace of the Third Kazekage's disappearance, Sunagakure's leadership had completely gone all out.

They had to use a resounding victory to stabilize the army's morale.

Hidden Leaf had become their only stepping stone.

"The right flank is about to collapse! Requesting reinforcements!"

A blood-covered messenger rushed up the command tower and dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Sunagakure's Scorch Release user Pakura has broken through the third line of defense!"

Orochimaru snorted coldly and casually pointed out several reserve squads.

"Send everyone in the wounded soldiers' camp who can still move to fill the gap! Even if they die, they must seal that breach!"

Qian Ye's luck was terrible.

He had just happened to be assigned to a temporary squad reinforcing the right flank.

The man leading them was a one-eyed Special Jonin with an unbelievably foul temper.

"Everyone, follow me! Anyone who retreats will be executed on the spot!"

The one-eyed Jonin took the lead, charging toward the right flank with this group of battered remnants.

Qian Ye was mixed into the middle of the group, his legs moving mechanically.

Garp's training plan really was effective.

His muscles were still protesting, but that tearing sensation on the verge of collapse had disappeared.

Chakra flowed slowly through his body, continuously repairing his damaged cells.

The devastation at the right flank far exceeded Qian Ye's imagination.

The ground here had been baked into a glassy surface by the intense heat.

The air warped and twisted, and even breathing felt like it scorched his lungs.

A tall woman stood in the center of the battlefield.

She wore Sunagakure's backless combat uniform, her long green hair dancing in the heatwaves.

Pakura!

Sunagakure's hero and the possessor of the Scorch Release bloodline limit.

She intended to carve out a path to survival for Sunagakure with the lives of countless Hidden Leaf ninja, while also securing greater political capital for herself.

Four orange-red fireballs floated around her, radiating an incomparably terrifying heat.

"Scorch Release: Steam Kill!"

Pakura coldly uttered a few words and casually flicked her fingers.

The four fireballs instantly turned into streaks of light, piercing through the bodies of several Hidden Leaf ninja ahead of her.

There was no explosion, no blood.

Those Hidden Leaf ninja did not even have time to scream.

The water in their bodies was completely vaporized in an instant.

Their full muscles rapidly shriveled, and their skin clung tightly to their bones.

Several thuds rang out.

Several dried mummies crashed to the ground and shattered into desiccated chunks.

Qian Ye's stomach churned violently at the sight.

That kind of death was too horrific, a hundred times more agonizing than being blown apart by an Explosive Tag.

This was Pakura's strength.

On the battlefield, she was a merciless harvester.

"Don't be afraid! Her chakra is limited! Wear her down with long-range ninjutsu!"

The one-eyed Jonin roared, rapidly forming hand seals before spitting out a massive Water Dragon Bullet.

The water dragon roared as it charged at Pakura.

Pakura did not even spare it a glance. A fireball beside her collided head-on with the water dragon.

With a sharp hiss.

The massive water dragon was instantly vaporized into a sky full of white mist by the intense heat.

Before the mist could disperse, two fireballs had already pierced through it, shooting straight for the one-eyed Jonin's face.

The one-eyed Jonin turned pale with fright and desperately twisted his body, trying to dodge.

But he was still a beat too slow.

The fireballs brushed past the left side of his body.

The one-eyed Jonin's left arm and left chest instantly shriveled.

He let out an agonized scream and collapsed to the ground, rolling around in pain.

Their commanding officer had been crippled in a single exchange.

The already low morale of the temporary squad instantly collapsed.

Several Genin dropped their weapons in terror and turned to run.

"Trash."

Pakura coldly watched the fleeing Hidden Leaf ninja and flicked her fingers again.

The fireballs traced strange arcs through the air, precisely catching up to the deserters.

Several more dried corpses fell to the ground.

Qian Ye hid behind a massive boulder, gasping for breath.

Was this really a place for cannon fodder?

He could barely handle even a Sunagakure Chunin right now.

And they had thrown him into the slaughter ground of a Kage-level powerhouse.