Seeing Mei Terumi's hand signal, Ao pulled out a whistle and blew it without hesitation.
A piercing whistle instantly rang out across the battlefield.
The Kirigakure ninjas had already been watching this side. At the signal to retreat, they reacted immediately.
Seeing the enemy withdraw so quickly, Uchiha Wildfire and Zaotai Puyi came over to Yechen and asked,
"Captain, should we pursue them?"
They could tell Yechen had held back, so they had come over to tentatively ask.
Yechen shot them a glare, then looked in the direction the enemy had fled. It was the same direction the Kirigakure warships were heading. Clearly, they were not retreating outright, but planning to regroup with their main force.
That made sense. With the vast sea all around them, they had nowhere else to go. Only by rejoining their main force and boarding the warships could they return safely.
Yechen had held back during this battle. He also knew recruiting her would not be easy, but talent like hers was worth trying to win over.
"Wildfire, clear the battlefield and take the wounded back for treatment."
"What about you, Captain?" Uchiha Wildfire asked.
"I'm going to provide support, of course. Everyone else will stay here."
"Understood, Captain."
Elsewhere.
At the Forward Base.
The Konoha ninjas and Kirigakure ninjas were locked in a desperate fight to the death. The battlefield was utter chaos. Between the two sides, there were nearly five hundred ninjas, and the destruction they could wreak was easy to imagine.
Not just the Forward Base, but the sea within a five-kilometer radius had become a battlefield. The sounds of fighting and screams echoed everywhere.
At first, Konoha had held the upper hand thanks to the terrain and the defenses they had prepared in advance.
As time passed, the situation gradually shifted