Countless tag rounds poured from the Explosive Cannons in a relentless barrage, bursting into brilliant sparks against the fortifications built by the Iwagakure ninja. It was no beautiful spectacle, but a scene of gruesome, terrifying death. Amid the roar of explosions, the foremost fortification buckled under the blasts, half of it collapsing almost immediately. The screams of the Iwagakure ninja sheltering behind it vanished beneath the thunder.
The Iwagakure ninja farther back had been waiting for the Konoha ninja to attack. Instead, a string of deafening explosions greeted them. They looked up in astonishment. From their positions in the rear, they had not yet seen what those at the front had witnessed, but as the fortifications collapsed, they too saw the exploding flames rushing toward them.
"Wh-what is that?"
"Explosive Tags? But how can there be so many? How can they throw them so fast?"
"They're coming! They're coming this way!"
Amid the Iwagakure ninja's cries of astonishment, confusion, and fear, the tag rounds demolished all the forward fortifications and began raining farther into their defenses. Just as before, however sturdy the rock walls were, they could not withstand such a dense Fire Release bombardment. Soon, they too began to totter.
When they saw the formation adopted by the Konoha ninja force, the Iwagakure ninja had hastily brought in a contingent of samurai. They had intended to charge once the enemy's offensive slowed and their chakra reserves were depleted, cutting down large numbers of Konoha ninja in one stroke. Instead, before they could carry out their plan, their own side began suffering losses.
Compared with the more dispersed Iwagakure ninja, the samurai army was tightly concentrated. That was the very foundation of their ability to fight ninja; without sufficient numbers and well-coordinated formations, they could not hope to compete. Yet