Just then, a vast shadow fell from overhead.
With the howling wind came a hurricane-force gust.
Both sides fighting on the ground stopped what they were doing and looked up.
An enormous bird, purple and red all over, hovered above them.
With its wings spread, it really did seem to blot out the sky.
Even more wondrous were the faint arcs of electricity flickering between its wings.
This was not the first time either side had seen this extraordinary spirit bird.
Ever since the fighting began, the spirit bird had been swooping up and down around the battlefield, repeatedly attacking the Grass Ninja members on the ground with lightning techniques.
If not for this spirit bird's "harassment," the Hidden Jun Village players' formation would long since have been scattered and wiped out by the far more numerous Grass Ninja members.
Thus, every shriek from the spirit bird had a different effect on the members of the two sides.
It was not as though Bibiye had never ordered the Grass Ninja members to find opportunities to attack the spirit bird overhead.
However, the spirit bird was exceptionally agile. Ordinary Ninjutsu could not trouble him at all.
Using somewhat stronger Ninjutsu to attack this spirit bird alone was rather wasteful.
Of course, even somewhat stronger Ninjutsu still could not hurt the spirit bird.
Sending flying summons high into the sky to disrupt the spirit bird's flight path proved equally ineffective.
The spirit bird flew so fast and so high that ordinary flying summons could do nothing to him.
Thus, when they heard the shriek overhead again, the Grass Ninja members all felt a massive headache coming on.
The Hidden Jun Village players, on the other hand, felt their morale rise another notch.
"Screee!"
Amid that familiar shriek, the spirit bird overhead beat