Taking advantage of the Jonin being immobilized by Red Ink, I hurled three kunai with Explosive Tags attached at him, then raised two fingers and detonated them.
"Boom—"
The explosion rang out. The three Explosive Tags detonated together; even a Jonin would lose the ability to fight if he couldn't evade them.
"Hey! You're not dead, are you?"
That was certainly a unique way of showing concern. But before worrying about others, he should have kept his attention on the enemy.
My blade flashed past, and blood sprayed from the distracted Chunin's throat, splattering across my face as he died on the spot.
"Bastard!"
Losing one's cool in battle was a major taboo, my Chunin friend. He had actually abandoned the ninjutsu he had nearly finished preparing and charged at me with a kunai.
A cold flash flickered. The kunai snapped, and his throat was cut open, crimson blood splashing across the ground and blending into the rainwater.
The rainwater pooling on the ground was growing deeper, making the Sword God Style difficult to use. The purpose of the ambush had already been achieved. Now, I only needed to use the North God Style and Water God Style to hold them back.
Sakumo shouldn't lose over there. Chiyo was nowhere in sight, so she probably wasn't here. A half-crippled Rasa and a few Jonin definitely couldn't stop him.
Just as I was thinking, another Chunin who had been watching from the sidelines made his move.
After rapidly forming hand seals, he slammed both palms against the ground. Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears activated, and after the ground trembled, sharp stone spikes surged toward me.
When it came to Earth Release, a move like this was indispensable. Its wide-area lethality made it suitable for controlling the field and dealing with groups.
With the ground currently covered in rainwater, this technique's speed disadvantage had also been offset. However...
"Bang—"
More than ten sharp stone spikes struck my body, but against the defense of Dragon Saint Battle Aura, enhanced by an eruption of chakra...
An attack of this level was nothing worth mentioning.
The sharp rocks, capable of piercing through a human body, only dealt some impact damage to me. Instead, the tips of the Earth Flow Spears shattered, and the Jonin who saw this revealed a panicked expression.
"Monster..."
Monster... That really was an apt description. In the high-attack, low-defense world of Naruto, physical strength like this could indeed be called monstrous.
After all, even Sasuke Uchiha, protected by the Eternal Mangekyo during the Fourth Shinobi World War, could be killed by Madara with the Kusanagi Sword.
After swinging my ninja blade and using Battle Aura to shatter all the sharp rocks, I grabbed two of the pointed fragments and threw them out at top speed.
Though he easily dodged them, he exposed a huge opening while evading. Seizing that chance, I charged straight ahead with my blade in one hand.
"There's a limit to looking down on people!"
He seemed to think that my reckless, unguarded charge was a foolish choice. He immediately formed hand seals with both hands, preparing to attack me with ninjutsu.
That was the essence of the North God Style: seemingly full of openings, yet filled with underhanded tricks.
Still hiding my hand movements beneath my cloak, I secretly fired a short blade straight at his heart. Unfortunately, he reacted in time and leapt high into the air, so the blade only stabbed into his thigh.
At the same time, he completed his hand seals. Countless tiny stone bullets shot out, each one as powerful as a bullet.
After halting my charge, I switched to gripping my sword with both hands and used the Water God Style. My ninja blade moved like flowing water, deflecting every stone bullet.
Several of those stone bullets ricocheted back into the Jonin, easily piercing through his left arm.
Against ninjutsu specialists like this, each of the three sword styles had its own advantages. They could instantly close the distance, deflect ninjutsu, and launch unexpected attacks.
For native shinobi, such specialized swordsmanship was simply a crushing advantage from an entirely different level.
"It was time to support Sakumo. Sorry, friend, but please rest here forever."
After closing the distance in an instant with two rushing steps, I pulled out a short blade from between my thighs and first stabbed it into the wrist of the hand he was using to draw a kunai, restraining him. Then, with my right hand, I swung my ninja blade and precisely cut his throat.
One strike killed him.
Suddenly, Observation Haki warned me. The Jonin I had injured with Explosive Tags still had the ability to move and had launched a ninjutsu attack.
Wind Release: Blade of Wind came flying at me, compressed air accelerated into a razor-sharp blade at incredible speed.
Though this move couldn't harm me with Dragon Saint Battle Aura protecting me, I still chose to duck low and slide beneath it to end things quickly.
After approaching the Jonin, I swung my ninja blade upward from below and precisely slit his throat, killing him.
The rest were nothing but a rabble. With a few swift movements, I dealt with them all, and the corpses lying in the puddles continuously leaked bright red blood.
This was the first time I had killed so many enemies. The nausea I had felt earlier had already vanished without a trace.
Though, deep down, I still felt somewhat uncomfortable, that emotion quickly passed in a flash.
"I needed to support Sakumo."
After confirming that everyone on the ground was dead, I immediately headed over to Sakumo.
Before me lay Hidden Sand shinobi who could no longer rise, along with Sakumo, whose left arm and right leg had been pierced by golden sand spears, and Rasa, whose chest had been pierced by a white chakra short blade.
"As expected of Sakumo, bro. That's the Fourth Kazekage!"
Not only that, there were also two or three Elite Jonin from Hidden Sand on the ground. Since I had seen intelligence reports at Orochimaru's place, I recognized them at a glance.
"Thanks to your strange ninjutsu, Rasa had basically lost his mobility."
The mission had been completed beyond expectations. Not a single person in the Hidden Sand camp, including Rasa, had survived, so naturally their supplies were as good as meaningless.
Even after taking a hit from Lightning first, Rasa had still managed to injure Sakumo. Without Hill's help, we probably could only have fled in defeat.
This Violent Thunderstorm truly turned the tide. If there were spells or something similar available for exchange in the shop later, I definitely needed to consider them.
Since even sensory-type shinobi couldn't detect it, the Otsutsuki clan and Rinnegan users surely wouldn't be able to absorb it either.
I had gained unexpectedly useful intelligence. I really had to thank these Hidden Sand shinobi for that.
They were all excellent shinobi. I currently had no personal grudge against them, but unfortunately, this was war.
I wasn't strong enough to end a war with just a few words, so I could only protect my companions from the same village.
Sorry, everyone from Hidden Sand. I felt remorse for killing you, but I would not stop my steps or the ninja blade in my hand.
I checked Rasa's corpse. There was no issue. His heart and lungs had been pierced through; there was no possibility of recovery.
That meant Gaara wouldn't be born, right? If Minato survived the Third Shinobi World War, Hidden Sand might even become a vassal of Konoha.
Given Konoha's tendency to play the good guy, after forming an alliance, they would probably do their best to help them if they had the capacity.
If such an opportunity arose, I would volunteer. It would count as satisfying myself.
"Since everything is over, let's head back. But before that... Qingyue, shouldn't you explain something to me?"
I still hadn't escaped it. I had thought Sakumo would forget about it after fighting Rasa, but apparently it wasn't that simple.
I needed to think carefully about how to muddle through this.
"Sakumo, bro, have you ever heard of magic?"
Before you continue