"Oh? You can withstand one of my blows? You do have some skill."
Meikyō chuckled softly.
Elite Jonin- level ninjas can usually hold their own against Kage Level ninjas for a few moves. If they can make a breakthrough in a certain area, such as mastering Ninjutsu like the Flying Thunder God Technique, they have basically stepped into the threshold of Kage Level.
Meikyō's current strength, Fudō the Mangekyo, is enough to fight against a Kage Level expert like Chiyo, whom he is countered by, and can also deal with relatively weak Kage Level opponents like Rasa Karura. The fact that this Suna Jonin in front of him can last a few moves against him is actually not bad among Jonin.
"This swordsmanship is not much weaker than that of the Konoha White Fang back in the day!"
The Suna's Upper Shinobi glanced at Meikyō with Jonin fear, then quickly Hand Seals.
"Wind Style: Sandstorm!"
A Tornado Hurricane carrying yellowish-brown dust formed, seemingly about to engulf and tear everything around it apart.
"Wind Style? I've been learning Wind Style recently, so I have to thank you for letting me learn another Suna Wind Release Ninjutsu."
Meikyō chuckled, and his hands perfectly replicated the entire Hand Seals process of the Suna Jonin, and he also opened his mouth and spat out a Tornado Hurricane.
"However, I have some other thoughts about your Ninjutsu."
Meikyō's hand Hand Seals had not yet stopped.
Shen—You—Xu—Wei
Fire Style: Flame Whirlwind!
A Tatsumaki appeared, merging with the whirlwind of the Meikyō, amplifying its power, and directly engulfed the sand whirlwind of the Suna Jonin.
"Not good!"
The Suna Jonin decisively chose to retreat.
He has already stalled for time and completed his task; now, the most important thing is to save his own life.
However, Meikyō will not give him that chance.
"Sun Breathing, Fifth Form: Fire Wheel!"
A fiery arc-shaped slash instantly severed the head of the Suna Jonin.
With the ability to Mirror Body Flicker Technique switch positions, Meikyō can completely dominate the local battlefield.
While the Mirror Body Flicker Technique is less strategically significant than the Flying Thunder God Technique, its effectiveness in localized battles is comparable. Like Minato Namikaze, aside from Jonin -level experts who can withstand a few blows and buy some time, it results in a one-hit kill for everyone else.
"Uchiha Meikyō!"
Chiyo's roar came from not far from the battlefield.
She had just entered the battlefield when she witnessed Meikyō personally slaying this excellent Suna Jonin.
"Oh? You brought helpers along?"
Meikyō swung his sword, spilling blood from its blade, and used his Sharingan at the three or four figures following Chiyo.
These people all possess considerable Chakra reserves, and they appear to be elite Suna Jonin, perhaps even stronger than the previous Suna Jonin. They could potentially hold their own against me for a few rounds. If I were to involve them in my duel with Chiyo and use them to restrain me, it could cause some trouble.
Fortunately, the number of skilled fighters on Konoha's side is no less than that of Suna.
"Meikyō, leave these people to us! You focus on dealing with Chiyo!"
Inuzuka Gaku and Hizashi Hyuga stood on either side of Meikyō.
Their strength is enough to place them at the forefront of the battle.
"Good."
Meikyō responded to Inuzuka Gaku and Hizashi Hyuga, then raised her sword and charged at Chiyo.
"This kid's strength seems to have increased slightly since before!"
After only a few dozen rounds of fighting, Chiyo's heart was once again shrouded in gloom.
Only then did she realize that the kid in front of her seemed to be under fifteen years old, which was the period when a ninja's strength was improving the fastest.
"If he has such strength at less than fifteen years old, his strength will probably be even more terrifying in a few years!"
The battle between Meikyō and Chiyo gradually intensified.
Because the aftershocks of the battle between the two powerful individuals were too great, the surrounding area had been cleared to avoid any accidents. Even Inuzuka Gaku and Hizashi Hyuga had ended up fighting in another area.
Both sides are confident in their own top-tier combat power and do not want the other side to interfere in the match between Meikyō and Chiyo.
"Sizzle—"
The sound of a sharp blade slicing through cloth rang out.
"Trouble."
Meikyō frowned as she looked at the piece of her clothes that had been cut off by the Dual-Blade Puppet.
Compared to the last time, Chiyo has now modified her arms, allowing her to use techniques such as Assault Blade and Mechanism Seal to protect herself when enemies get close.
Chiyo, who is still at the tail end of her prime, is indeed very strong.
"Magnet Release · Gold Dust Placer Cube!"
A Taishō era descended from the sky with the force of Mount Tai pressing down, crushing towards the Meikyō.
At the same time, Chiyo quickly manipulated the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets to entangle each of Meikyō's clones, restricting Meikyō's Mirror Body Flicker Technique as much as possible.
After several encounters, Chiyo had become quite familiar with Meikyō's abilities.
"Tsk, Rasa, are you healed yet? Why are you so forgetful?"
A blue shockwave, almost solidified, surged toward the Gold Dust, shattering it into countless fine, scattered Gold Dust.
Dan Katō, his body shimmering with blue light, floated and drifted to Meikyō's side.
"Hmph, Dan Katō..."
Looking at Dan Katō's handsome face with a faint mocking smile, Rasa's eyes were filled with apprehension.
His strength is indeed significantly inferior to that of Dan Katō, who possesses powerful telekinesis.
"Hey, Chiyo lady Chiyo, and you little girl over there who likes to play in the sand, how come you ran away so fast last time? I didn't get to play with you enough!"
Tsunade strode over with an imposing air, her fists clenched and making a cracking sound.
Not far away, Karura, standing on a platform made of sand, flew swiftly towards them and stood beside Rasa.
Another great battle broke out between the six.
Rasa was still very confident that his side would win this battle.
Last time, Karura and Chiyo fought against Tsunade and the Meikyō the Body Flicker, while he had to fight against Dan Katō alone. He was suppressed and suffered a serious injury. Moreover, the poison he relied on was countered by Tsunade in advance. All these reasons combined led to his great defeat.
This time, however, the situation is completely different. When Rasa Karura use their Magnet Release: Gold Dust and Sand Secret Technique together, their synergy is extremely high, and their understanding of each other is also very strong, which can achieve a result greater than the sum of its parts.
With Chiyo's strength added to the mix, Rasa believed that even if they were at a slight disadvantage in the high-end competition this time, the situation would definitely be much better than last time.
Moreover, the poison prepared by Sunagakure this time is even more potent than the last one, and its effects are faster.
It's impossible that, given Chiyo's meticulous planning, the information would still be leaked, allowing Konoha to infiltrate the drug production base, only to be foiled by Tsunade in the end, right?
Half an hour later.
"Ninja Technique·Kongsand Barrier!"
"Magnet Release · Gold Dust Barrier!"
The yellowish-brown sand mixed with golden Gold Dust condensed in mid-air to form a huge protective shield, protecting Rasa and the others.
A dull rumbling sound continued to ring out, and every now and then grains of sand and Gold Dust would fall from the top.
That was the effect of Dan Katō's psychic attack, Tsunade's Super Strength Iron Fist, and Meikyō's Fire Style hitting it.
"Elder Chiyo, didn't you say that the poison you prepared this time was absolutely foolproof?"
Rasa, his face extremely grim, spoke to Chiyo beside him.
"This... something's not right..."
For Chiyo, I have been unable to understand this.
"I did attack Uchiha Meikyō with a weapon coated with poison, causing him injury. If it were him, with Tsunade by his side, he could have quickly used Medical Ninjutsu to extract the poison during the battle. But how could it be that many other Konoha Ninja should have been poisoned by now?"
Karura sighed softly.
"But Elder Chiyo, the ones who are currently being suppressed are the ninjas from our village."
Chiyo paused involuntarily, a bitter look appearing on her face.
"So, the only possibility is that there is a spy within our ranks who leaked information or samples of the poison to Konoha, and then Tsunade deciphered it. No wonder they launched an attack at this time; it turns out that we have lost our advantage in using poison."
A beautiful face with Glasses and a gentle smile flashed through Chiyo's mind.
She is now fairly certain who the spy on her side is.
"It seems that Elder Chiyo has already figured out who the person who betrayed the village is."
Rasa's face was full of gloom.
"Ah, she was a female junior whom I had high hopes for. Her Medical Ninjutsu was far superior to that of the others in the village. I had high hopes for her and even considered training her to be my successor in Medical Ninjutsu, so that she could become part of your future team, Fourth Hokage. I just didn't expect that Konoha would be so generous as to use Medical Ninja of this caliber as a spy."
Chiyo also let out a long sigh, then forced herself to focus her attention back on the battle in front of her.
"Uchiha Style: Sun Breathing: Sun Halo Dragon Dance!"
"Heavenly Foot Kick!"
Meikyō and Tsunade, one in front and one behind, struck with all their might against the defense erected by Rasa Karura, shattering it.
Dan Katō's almost solidified blue psychic shockwave followed closely behind, crashing down on the enemy like a vast ocean.
"Puppet Technique: Machine Light Shield Seal!"
Chiyo hastily used the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets to surround herself and Rasa Karura, releasing a blue Chakra shield to block Dan Katō's attack.
Then, the combined Ninjutsu of Meikyō and Tsunade followed.
They knew very well that as long as they maintained this momentum, even if they didn't achieve many substantial results, they could still steadily suppress the enemy. In addition, the Konoha Ninja had already gained the upper hand in the battlefield below. If they continued, they would ultimately be the victors.
The battle continued until nightfall.
Suna managed to cover the retreat of most of its main force at a considerable cost.
After a brief pursuit, the Konoha forces also decided to call a retreat.
After fighting for so long, many ninjas had run out of Chakra to continue fighting.
Even Meikyō has been able to maintain her full strength in the fight only thanks to Tsunade's assistance in replenishing her strength using Katsuyu.
Although the quantity and quality of Meikyō's Chakra made a significant leap after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, he was still less than fifteen years old, and his Chakra reserves were still somewhat inferior to those of Kage -Kage Level masters who were in their prime.
Chiyo, Rasa, Karura once again led thousands of Sand Ninja in a chaotic escape.
To be honest, the fact that they managed to preserve most of their main force during the escape is quite impressive.
But this cannot conceal the fact that they were the defeated.
Moreover, this was their second major defeat.
This time, they have lost their main camp in the Land of Rivers, and it will be difficult to take it back. They can only retreat to the border of the River Country, while consolidating their forces to prepare for defense and waiting for reinforcements drawn from the village to arrive.
Where is Saki?
After Chiyo helped Rasa gather the defeated soldiers and settle them back on the border of the River Country, the first thing she did was to find Yakushi Nonō.
Saki is the alias of Yakushi Nonō in Sunagakure.
"Is Elder Chiyo looking for Saki- neechan? I remember that when we were escaping, Saki- neechan was an excellent Medical Ninja who was arranged by the Jonin to be among the first to evacuate. Has she not returned yet?"
A young female ninja who was bandaging the wounds of an injured person answered Chiyo.
"So they fled to the Land of Rivers after realizing they'd been exposed...?"
Chiyo's face was terribly gloomy, which frightened the young Medical Ninja.
"Chiyo, Elder Chiyo... Saki, she..."
"She's a spy sent by Konoha. The reason our poison failed this time is probably because of her."
Chiyo knew that since "Saki" had already escaped from the Land of Rivers, she had probably already returned to Konoha's camp.
It will be very difficult to catch her again.
Chiyo can do now is to inform her younger brother Ebizo to pay more attention to information about Saki when he is in charge of the intelligence department, and also to work with Rasa to purge those who may be spies or agents from other forces within Suna.
However, this matter needs to be done as discreetly as possible.
After two consecutive major defeats, although Chiyo took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility in the previous one, it was still inevitable that the position of Rasa, the newly appointed Fourth Kazekage, would begin to be shaken. Now, the village of Suna could not withstand any major turmoil.
There are already a lot of complaints coming out inside the Suna camp, some about Rasa and some about Chiyo.