The Cunning Shinku Yuhi

The chill in his purple eyes deepened. He raised a hand in signal and said softly:

"Attack!"

"Roar!"

"Yah-hey!"

"Bazahei!"

"Charge!"

Rasa's order to attack was like a spark thrown into a vat of oil.

The nine hundred Hidden Sand ninja, who had long been unable to hold themselves back, erupted into frenzied battle cries and rushed along the passage carved out by Gold Dust Burial, charging fiercely toward Konoha's crumbling Earth Release defensive line!

Some even let out inhuman cries.

"Wind Release squad, target the cracks in the earthen wall ahead! Tear it open!"

A Hidden Sand Jonin shouted sharply. Several elite Wind Release ninja instantly completed their hand seals, gathering chakra in their throats.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Wind Release: Sickle Weasel Technique!"

Several violent currents of air twisted together as though wrung by an invisible hand, forming a terrifying, rapidly spinning wind drill several meters wide!

It struck the chain of cracked earthen walls with pinpoint accuracy!

Boom—crackcrackcrack!

The thick earthen walls, already under enormous pressure, could no longer hold beneath such concentrated Wind Release attacks.

Like glass struck by a massive hammer, they let out a series of teeth-grating cracks before instantly collapsing into a huge breach!

Rubble and dirt blasted backward like cannonballs, smashing several unprepared Konoha ninja behind them and breaking their bones.

"The breach is open! Get in there!"

A bloodthirsty gleam flashed in the Hidden Sand Jonin's eyes. Taking the lead, he turned into an afterimage and charged through the opening torn open by Wind Release!

"Kill those Konoha bastards!"

"For the Northern God... for Hidden Sand's glory!"

Like sharks scenting blood, the Hidden Sand ninja surged through the breach in a frenzy.

As the carefully arranged third line of defense completely fell apart.

The brutal close-quarters slaughter instantly erupted within the cramped defensive position!

"Engage them! Seal the breach!"

The scarred Jonin's eyes were bloodshot as he drew a kunai and roared, charging toward the Hidden Sand Jonin who had broken through.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The clash of metal rang out, sparks flying everywhere.

But Hidden Sand's offensive came like an endless tide.

More deadly still, strange figures quietly appeared behind the charging Hidden Sand ninja—Hidden Sand's puppets!

Dozens of grotesque puppets, their joints glinting with cold metallic light, leaped into battle as if alive.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss—!"

Dense poison needles, gleaming with a dark blue sheen, poured down like a storm upon the Konoha ninja who had only just formed a defensive line!

"Ah! My eyes!"

"Watch out for the poison needles!"

Screams rose one after another.

The poison needles covered a vast area and had tremendous piercing power. Even when many Konoha ninja swung their kunai to block them.

They still could not avoid being struck in the arms or legs. Their wounds instantly blackened as agonizing pain and numbness swept through their bodies, making their movements slow and stiff.

Another ten nearly identical puppets opened their beak-like mouths and suddenly spewed out thick purple poison smoke with a pungent, sickly-sweet stench!

The poison smoke rapidly spread, blanketing an area and enveloping the Konoha ninja attempting to seal the breach.

"Cough, cough... poison smoke! Hold your breath!"

"Damn it... my head's spinning..."

The ninja who inhaled the poison smoke immediately found it hard to breathe. Their vision blurred as intense dizziness and nausea hit them, causing their combat ability to plummet.

The poison smoke did not merely wound them—it more seriously obstructed their vision and coordinated defense.

"Now! Finish them!"

The Hidden Sand puppet masters coldly controlled their puppets as more puppets joined the battlefield.

Some extended spinning blades from their arms and rushed into the crowd, hacking wildly;

Others fired barbed chains from their mechanisms, binding Konoha ninja and restricting their movements before nearby Hidden Sand ninja followed up with fatal blows.

Konoha's defending ninja had been forced into an absolute disadvantage.

"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spear!"

A Konoha Chunin tried to counterattack, but just as he formed half his hand seals, a poison needle precisely pierced his wrist. The searing pain caused his chakra to falter.

Immediately afterward, a Hidden Sand ninja blade flashed past with a cold gleam, spraying blood.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

Some ninja also used Fire Release against the puppets spewing poison smoke. Though the flames temporarily dispersed a small patch of smoke and scorched the puppets' shells.

With a twitch of their fingers, the puppet masters had the puppets nimbly retreat, avoiding the heart of the flames, while poison needles from another puppet shot toward the caster.

A horrific slaughter played out across every inch of Mount Kikyo.

Relying on the Will of Fire preached by the Third Hokage and the remaining traps in the favorable terrain, the Konoha ninja barely held on, but their casualties mounted at an astonishing rate.

At the breach, the Hidden Sand ninja had already gained a foothold and continued expanding their advantage.

The formation of several hundred Konoha defenders was continuously compressed and divided, and defeat was already showing.

Several new wounds had appeared on the scarred Jonin's body, blood staining his green flak jacket red.

He desperately knocked aside his opponent's kunai, his anxious gaze sweeping the chaotic battlefield as he searched for Shinku Yuhi's squad.

Atop a sand dune, Rasa stood with his hands behind his back, his purple eyes coldly watching the battlefield below, which resembled a meat grinder.

Yet inwardly, he was grinning so hard that his mouth nearly reached his ears.

Because the scales of victory were rapidly tipping toward Hidden Sand.

Atop the sand dune, the smug curve of Rasa's lips had not yet fully formed.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—!"

Piercing whistles suddenly came from the flank!

More than a dozen figures in green Jonin flak jackets burst from the earth, easily taking out the ten Hidden Sand ninja guarding the perimeter before charging straight toward Rasa's central position!

"Protect Lord Kazekage!"

Rasa's guards reacted swiftly, but the attackers were faster!

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Shuriken as dense as rain, razor-sharp wind bullets, and roaring fire dragons instantly intertwined into a lethal web of firepower, completely engulfing Rasa!

They were clearly Konoha's elite Jonin force—the last elite troops among Mount Kikyo's defenders.

"Hmph. Trifling tricks."

Rasa did not even raise an eyelid as he clasped his small hands together.

With only the slightest movement of his thoughts, the golden dust beneath his feet surged upward as if alive, forming a thick, flowing golden hand!

It shielded Rasa and his guards completely.

Clang clang clang! Thud thud thud!

The shuriken were easily deflected or swallowed, the wind bullets left only shallow dents in the gold dust wall before dispersing, and the blazing fire dragon exploded into sparks when it struck the gold dust, unable to shake it in the slightest.

"Now!"

Almost at the exact moment the attack was blocked, the sand beneath Rasa's feet silently softened and collapsed!

A pair of hands covered in dirt and glowing chakra, like demonic claws reaching out from hell, burst from the ground and clamped tightly around Rasa's ankles!

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

It was Shinku Yuhi!

Somehow, he had used Earth Release to sneak directly beneath Rasa! His timing was impeccable!

A tremendous pulling force struck, and Rasa's body was instantly dragged into the sand, leaving only his head and neck exposed, as though he had been planted in the ground.