Yechen glanced at the corpses on the ground without a word, flicked the blood off his blade, and nodded to the stunned Konoha Chunin. Then he vanished from the spot and raced toward his next target.
"Captain Yechen..."
The Konoha ninja's eyes brimmed with gratitude.
Just like that, Yechen's Shadow Clones rushed from one clash to another. In just a few minutes, they killed more than twenty formidable Iwagakure Chunin, greatly reducing his own force's potential casualties.
His actions won the goodwill of many Konoha ninjas, and his reputation quietly rose to new heights.
Some Iwagakure Jonin considered stepping in to stop him, but the moment they remembered the Flame Demon's terrifying combat strength, they hesitated.
By now, Iwagakure knew this could not continue and decisively ordered a retreat.
But the Konoha ninjas were hardly going to let them leave so easily.
They had finally managed to lure the enemy out with a ruse. This would not be over until they made them pay a price.
Besides, the combat group's mission was to draw enemy fire so the other teams could carry out their attack plans.
So Nara Yijiu issued new orders: do everything possible to hold the enemy here. Ideally, they would stop every last one from escaping. Failing that, they had to inflict heavy casualties.
The fighting continued. The Iwagakure forces fought as they retreated, with some Jonin volunteering to cover their withdrawal.
Yechen paid no attention to that and continued targeting the stronger Iwagakure Chunin. Anyone who showed their face was fair game, and he would not let them slip away.
For a time, the battle became entirely one-sided, turning into a running pursuit.
Another few minutes passed, and fewer than a hundred Rock Ninjas remained alive.
Just as Yechen was about to switch his targets to