Night Raid

When the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers learned that Konoha's ninja forces intended to pass through his country, he nearly fainted from fright.

Konoha's advance force, a total of three thousand ninja, passed through the Land of Rivers and set up camp at its border, only a few kilometers from the Land of Wind.

Under Tobirama Senju's arrangements, Torifu Akimichi, the commander of the vanguard, ordered the three thousand Konoha ninja to rest easy, aside from the small number left behind to keep watch.

Konoha's camp was eerily quiet, with only the crackling of a few bonfires to be heard.

Under such circumstances,

Several hundred figures silently crept toward Konoha's camp.

The Sand ninja traveled light, each with several kunai bearing Explosive Tags tied around their waists. Their night raid did not seek to inflict major losses on Konoha, only to harass its ninja. They merely needed to throw all the kunai in their hands; if they could blow up a few Konoha ninja, that would be even better.

"Strange. Why can't we even see a few Konoha ninja standing watch? The camp is pitch-black; we can't see anything. Could this be a trap?"

A Sand ninja with his head tightly wrapped in bandages spoke in confusion, his exposed eyes filled with puzzlement.

"What are you afraid of? We won't be going deep into enemy territory. Our mission is only to harass them. We just need to throw a few Explosive Tags. Even if it's a trap, Konoha won't be able to keep us here."

The commander of Sunagakure's night raid said.

Hearing that, everyone nodded. After exchanging several hand signals, the scattered squads behind them followed.

After one strike, they would immediately retreat, giving Konoha no chance to react!

"Attack together!" The leading Sand ninja charged first.

The Sand ninja following behind him approached Konoha's camp from the surrounding woods.

However, just as they were about to reach a suitable throwing position, the lead Sand ninja's expression froze.

His entire body trembled, as if he were about to cry. Turning around, he shouted in terror:

"Stop! There are Explosive Tags in the ground!"

"Hiss!" "Hiss!" "Hiss!"

As he shouted, countless burning sounds reached the Sand ninja's ears.

The Sand ninja's faces filled with terror as they looked down in horror. Even the trees beside them were covered in Explosive Tags.

There were too many!

The sound of sparks igniting came from everywhere.

When the flames illuminated their surroundings, they saw densely packed Explosive Tags. There were over a hundred thousand visible to the naked eye alone!

As those Explosive Tags ignited simultaneously, the light they released illuminated Konoha's entire camp.

The next instant,

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Countless explosions resounded through the night.

The firelight from the explosions shot into the sky, visible even to Tobirama Senju tens of thousands of meters away.

"Heh, they fell for it?" Tobirama Senju took a sip of tea from his cup and smiled faintly.

The energy fluctuations released by the explosions tore apart everything.

As for Konoha, the instant the first flicker of fire appeared, defensive ninjutsu cast by the Earth Release unit had completely sealed off the camp from the blast zone.

The explosions continued for more than ten seconds before gradually subsiding, leaving the air thick with the pungent smell of sulfur.

When the dust finally settled,

Of the three hundred Sunagakure elite who had come for the night raid, only a dozen or so still had the ability to fight.

Countless severed limbs hung from the trees, while half-blasted corpses littered the ground. Since the Sand ninja who had come for the raid also carried Explosive Tags to varying degrees, the explosions triggered a chain reaction, leaving not a single intact corpse behind.

Even the dozen or so survivors were injured to varying degrees. They were the captains of their respective squads, each possessing Jonin-level strength, which was why they had managed to survive the explosions.

"Retreat, retreat now!"

"We have to report this to the elders!"

"There's a spy in the village! Konoha knows our strategy!"

The surviving Sand ninja went mad, their bodies trembling. Why did Konoha know their tactics?

If they did not send this information back to the village, Sunagakure would definitely suffer massive losses!

Once they understood the gravity of the situation, all the Sand ninja quickly turned around and fled at full speed, using every ounce of their strength. They had to report the information leak to the village!

After running several hundred meters, the fastest Sand ninja stopped.

He saw that

Every tree in the forest ahead was filled with Konoha ninja. They stretched as far as the eye could see, and he could even make out their cold, indifferent gazes.

The Sand ninja behind him crashed into him. Just as he was about to question him, he followed his gaze forward. His legs gave out, and he could not stop himself from dropping to his knees.

The dozen or so Sand ninja wore expressions of despair, but they still wanted to make one final desperate attempt. They only needed one person to escape!

The next second,

Fire Release: Flame Bullet!

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Konoha's combined Wind and Fire Release ninjutsu surged toward them like an overwhelming tide!

Blazing flames flared up in the darkness.

The forest, which had only just fallen quiet, erupted once more.

Lush trees were reduced to ash by the flames, setting the entire forest ablaze.

Very soon,

The violent commotion subsided, but the flames continued to rise fiercely.

When the billowing dust dispersed, the place where the Sand ninja had stood had been burned into a clearing several hundred meters wide.

Not a single Sand ninja remained alive in the clearing.

Once they confirmed there were no survivors, a rough voice came from the darkness:

"Leave some people behind to clean up the battlefield. The rest of you, go back and get some proper rest. Be ready to fight again at any time!"