On the southern border of the Land of Fire, the former territory of the Land of Rivers, once a buffer zone, had become a hellish meat grinder.
Sunagakure's advance had not slowed in the slightest because of the farce of "One Village, Three Shadows" or the rumors of the First Hokage's "reanimation."
Under Toyotomi Yinglang's will and Sasori's efficient execution, one thousand soldiers of Sunagakure's "new army," enhanced with Gene Serum, equipped with "Basic Type-I" battle armor, and trained in new squad tactics, tore through several hastily constructed defensive lines of Danzo's Southern Army in three assault spearheads, like a silent torrent of steel.
Sunagakure's "tin cans" engaged in neither complex ninjutsu exchanges nor unpredictable genjutsu contests. In small assault units of five to ten, covered by a few ordinary Sand ninja skilled in Wind Release and Earth Release, they charged straight ahead! Their speed rivaled the Body Flicker Technique, and their strength could smash through an Earth Flow Wall.
The kunai and shuriken of the Konoha ninja struck their dark gray armor, mostly raising nothing more than trails of sparks before bouncing off. Standard C-rank and B-rank ninjutsu-fireballs, wind blades, water dragon projectiles-bombarded the armor's surface, but aside from leaving a few scorch marks or briefly slowing an assault unit, they inflicted no meaningful damage.
Only concentrated bombardments of A-rank ninjutsu or desperate combined attacks by several Special Jōnin could barely damage the armor's joints or injure the soldiers inside through the impact.
But those opportunities vanished in an instant. Sunagakure's assault units worked seamlessly together: when one soldier was injured, companions immediately filled the gap, provided cover, and withdrew, while the wounded often returned to battle quickly thanks to their armor's built-in slow-release medication and their own formidable recovery.
What chilled the Konoha ninja even more was their