A month and a half.
In just a month and a half, the territory of the Land of Grass had been dyed orange, and the flag of Rifle and Hammer flew above its land.
The capital of the Land of Grass, a fortress that had stood for a century, was now shrouded in suffocating smoke and gunfire.
The sky was gray, and drizzling rain fell steadily onto the shell-pocked plain.
"Boom—!"
With a deafening blast, the capital's proud Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Wall, located on its outskirts, shattered like a biscuit under a simultaneous barrage of three 155-millimeter high-explosive shells. Shrapnel flew everywhere. At this distance, any Genin struck by one would end up with broken bones and torn muscles.
In the trench, Liao spat out saliva mixed with mud and worked the bolt of the Defender-II rifle in his hands.
"Don't just stand there! Reload! Keep up the suppressive fire!"
His voice was rough and hoarse. The submissive slave he had once been had died in the gladiatorial arena. The man standing here now was a commander with ten thousand troops under his command.
Ahead of the trenches, countless Iwagakure shinobi were using the ruins and broken walls as cover to return fire. Earth Release techniques were indeed tough, but in the face of an unending storm of metal, even chakra would eventually run dry.
"Earth Release: Rock-Iron Cannon Technique!"
Hundreds of stone shells screamed through the air toward the Resistance Army's position.
"Wind Release: Verdant Mountain Wind!"
A blue-green figure appeared at the front line. Asuma Sarutobi held half a cigarette between his teeth, its end drenched by the rain. His chakra blades were wrapped in dense Wind Release chakra, extending into razor-sharp blades of light several meters long.
He simply swung his blades in a sweeping arc.