In the underground command post, Hizashi Hyuga's Byakugan saw every move the Sunagakure ninja made with perfect clarity.
"The enemy has entered the trap zone! All of them!"
He turned and spoke to Xuandou beside him.
Without hesitation, Xuandou immediately gave the order:
"Send the signal!"
The next second, Shisui vanished from cover.
When he reappeared, he was crouching on the branch of a large tree on the perimeter.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
A searing dragon of fire shot skyward from his mouth and suddenly burst open in the night sky, its dazzling light illuminating the entire forest.
The instant they saw the signal, all the Konoha ninja responsible for detonating the Explosive Tags formed hand seals at once and barked:
"Detonate!"
Among the distant Sunagakure troops, some were still dreaming of plundering wealth after invading the Land of Fire and returning home laden with spoils.
The sudden ascent of Shisui's fire dragon stunned quite a few Sunagakure ninja for a moment.
Before they could react, the hundred thousand Explosive Tags planted in advance detonated one after another.
Boom! Boom! BOOM-!!
Explosion after explosion instantly engulfed the entire trap zone.
On the ground, on tree trunks, in the grass... the Explosive Tags planted everywhere exploded together, shaking the earth with deafening roars.
The ground split, trees collapsed, and Sunagakure ninja screamed as the blasts hurled them away.
Severed limbs flew in every direction.
Those too close to the Explosive Tags were blown to pieces on the spot.
Even those a little farther away were knocked violently to the ground by the shock waves.
Before the survivors could count themselves lucky, raging flames spread with the explosions.
Explosive flames swept through the forest, engulfing the wounded ninja as shrill wails rose one after another.
"Ah! It hurts! It hurts so much!"
"Help..."
"Those Konoha bastards... when did they set these traps?"
Amid the screams, some uninjured Sunagakure ninja hurriedly formed hand seals, trying to escape the sea of flames with ninjutsu.
Some used Earth Release to burrow underground, while others barely managed to clear a path with Water Release.
But most Sunagakure ninja specialized in Wind Release and were almost helpless against the blaze, able only to watch as the flames swallowed their comrades.
The commander, Iron Sand Wolf, scrambled out of the flames, his face covered in soot.
Watching his subordinates struggle and scream in the sea of fire, his face turned ashen, and he ground his teeth.
"It must be those damned Konoha ninja! How could they be so cunning!"
"Neither the reconnaissance unit nor the advance unit triggered them. That means these traps were meant specifically for our main force!"
Beside him, a Jōnin who had escaped stared at the sea of flames, his voice trembling.
"It's over... the main force is finished..."
"How did Konoha know our route? And when did they set up this ambush?"
Iron Sand was equally full of questions.
But now was not the time to dwell on them.
What mattered most right now was retreating alive!
With Konoha having arranged something on this scale, there was no way they had no follow-up.
The enemy ninja would surely arrive soon!
He immediately ordered the ninja gathering around him:
"Everyone, retreat! Konoha has an ambush waiting! Get out before they surround us!"
With that, he turned to break out of the forest.
But just as he leaped up, a cold shout came from ahead.
"Rotation!"
Iron Sand reacted swiftly, spinning to meet him with a kick.
"Sand Village Style Taijutsu: Instant Kick!"
Fist met foot, and both men retreated several steps.
Iron Sand looked up, his pupils contracting.
"Byakugan? So it really is Konoha!"
"You despicable Konoha ninja! Setting such vicious traps!"
Hizashi Hyuga's expression was stern, but inwardly, he was somewhat surprised.
The moment the Explosive Tags detonated, Xuandou had ordered an attack along the entire line to wipe out the survivors in the trap.
With his Byakugan's perception, he had already dispatched several wounded Sunagakure ninja.
Then he noticed several people gathering here and rushed over.
He had not expected his opponent to be so capable. The man was at least a Jōnin; it seemed he had stumbled upon a "big fish."
Hizashi did not answer and immediately attacked with Gentle Fist.
Seeing this, the other two Sunagakure ninja nearby immediately closed in as well.
"Commander, we'll help you!"
For a time, the battle became three against one.
But Hizashi's skills were solid. His Eight Trigrams Palm left no openings, and with his Byakugan's all-around vision, the three could not break through his defenses for the moment.
Seeing Hizashi hold his own against all three of them, Iron Sand grew anxious.
The longer this dragged on, the slimmer their chances of escape became.
One of the Sunagakure ninja fighting Hizashi shouted urgently:
"Iron Sand-sama, go on ahead! We'll hold him off!"
Iron Sand hesitated no longer. He turned and raced toward the edge of the forest.
Having heard Iron Sand addressed as "Commander," Hizashi was unwilling to let him leave, but the other two kept him firmly occupied, leaving him only able to watch his opponent escape.
After several more exchanges, one Sunagakure ninja suddenly felt a chill at his neck and crumpled to the ground.
Xuandou had arrived and delivered a fatal strike from behind with his Chakra Scalpel.
Hizashi felt relieved, and working with Xuandou, he quickly dispatched the remaining enemy as well.
"A leader got away?"
Hizashi nodded.
"His name is Iron Sand. He's the commander of this operation."
Xuandou felt some regret, but he also knew that Explosive Tags alone could hardly kill an opponent at the Jōnin level.
Achieving results like these was already quite good.
He gestured to Hizashi.
"Keep clearing the battlefield."
With that, his figure flickered away, heading for the next clash.
From time to time, the sounds of Konoha ninja unleashing ninjutsu came from the distance.
"Multi-Size Technique!"
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
"Shadow Imitation Technique!"
The three Ino-Shika-Cho clans worked seamlessly together, swiftly cutting down the surviving Sunagakure ninja.
The ninja of the Hyūga and Inuzuka clans relied on their outstanding reconnaissance and tracking abilities to pinpoint and eliminate the enemy.
As for those Sunagakure ninja fortunate enough to escape the Explosive Tags, they were pursued by the Uchiha Clan.
Without leadership and thrown into disarray, the Sunagakure troops were almost completely suppressed by Konoha.
The dying screams of Sunagakure ninja rang out constantly through the forest.
About an hour later, the battle cries gradually subsided.
The great blaze sparked by the Explosive Tags also gradually died out.
Only charred ruins and enemy ninja corpses strewn across the ground remained on the battlefield.
Uchiha Inabi approached Xuandou with a smile to report.
"The preliminary count is complete. We lost eight men, with forty-seven wounded."
"Approximately seven hundred and thirty-one enemy soldiers were killed."
Just as he finished speaking, a system notification sounded in Xuandou's mind.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission! Reward: lottery draws ×1]
Xuandou did not draw immediately. Instead, he ordered:
"Everyone, return to the Land of Fire immediately and eliminate the Sunagakure advance unit that slipped inside!"
The Konoha ninja moved swiftly, pursuing the small Sunagakure advance unit they had deliberately allowed across the border earlier.
The vanguard of around a hundred men was currently looting its second town.
With an overwhelming advantage in numbers and tactics, they soon wiped out this small unit to the last man as well.
Even as they died, those men could not understand why the troops arriving behind them were enemies rather than allies.
Afterward, Xuandou ordered everyone to rest where they were and treat the wounded, then distributed the Uchiha's specially made Soldier Pills to everyone, two per person.
After two consecutive battles, the ninja had long since depleted their chakra and exhausted their stamina.
Upon receiving the Soldier Pills, most swallowed them without a second thought.
Immediately, quite a few looked surprised.
The Soldier Pills distributed by the Uchiha not only tasted better, but also helped restore chakra!
At that, the ninja from the other clans erupted into an uproar.
The Uchiha actually had something this good?
Yet no matter how they probed, every Uchiha kept their mouth shut, refusing to divulge a thing.
Helpless, everyone could only carefully put away their remaining pill to use at a critical moment.
While the main force rested, Xuandou walked off to one side alone and calmed his mind to perform the draw.
He sank his consciousness into his mind.
"Draw!"