"A perfect opportunity!" Baki's eyes lit up, and he gave a sharp order, "All Wind Release ninjas, target the area Iwa has cleared and the exposed ambush points, fire volley! Cover Iwa's retreat!"
" Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
" Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
Several powerful Ninjutsu gusts roared out, stirring up a cloud of dust that obscured visibility, while countless sharp wind blades shot towards the area, launching an indiscriminate, all-encompassing attack.
Under the cover of Wind Release, Iwa nimbly rolled several times and retreated to a safe area. Although his fighting style was wild, his advances and retreats were well-planned.
This counterattack seemed to have been effective; the stone projectile attack from that direction noticeably weakened for a moment, and a few short, painful screams could be faintly heard.
However, the resilience of the Iwagakure was equally formidable. Just a few minutes later, the stone projectile attacks came again from other directions, with a more intense rhythm, and began to be interspersed with a small number of Kunai with Explosive Tag attached, greatly increasing the threat.
The quicksand continued to spread in other directions. The battle turned into a brutal war of attrition and a test of wills.
Sunagakure stubbornly held on, relying on Baki's precise command, Reppu's steady defense, Iwa's valiant breakthroughs, Ryoma's flanking maneuvers, and young ninjas like Shira who constantly adapted and sought opportunities in actual combat.
Shira's forehead was damp with sweat, and her breathing was slightly rapid.
The continuous high-intensity perception, movement, and the exquisite yet mentally taxing "leg wind deflection" just now were also a considerable burden for him.
But he still braced himself, keeping a close eye on the trajectory of the incoming stones, his mind racing with calculations. He no longer tried to deflect every potentially threatening stone; that was impossible.
He began to selectively fire only at the stones with the most treacherous trajectories, posing the greatest threat, and being the most difficult for his companions to dodge.
Sometimes it's kicking away pebbles to disrupt them, sometimes it's using the scabbard to precisely strike and change their angle, and more often it's giving a warning sound in advance to alert their companions to take cover.
His fighting style is quietly shifting from a simple "attacker" to a more comprehensive "battlefield support and crisis manager".
The composure, observation skills, and quick wit honed under pressure are perhaps more valuable than the direct increase in his strength.
The battle raged from the dead of night until the darkest hour before dawn. The Sunagakure camp suffered extensive damage, everyone was wounded, and their Chakra and stamina were greatly depleted, but the defensive line never collapsed.
The Iwagakure's long-range harassment tactics are showing signs of fatigue, and the frequency of stone projectiles is beginning to decrease.
Just when everyone thought the long night was about to end, another unexpected event occurred!
In the area directly north of the camp, which had been heavily targeted by quicksand and stone projectiles, the ground suddenly bulged violently, as if some enormous creature was about to burst forth from the earth!
Immediately afterwards, three figures, taller and more imposing than any of the previous Iwa ninjas, clad in heavy armor and wielding giant rock hammers or stone clubs, crashed into the ground with overwhelming force. Forming a triangular formation, they launched a direct, unpretentious charge towards key locations in the camp, towards the area where Baki and the wounded were gathered, using sheer brute force to crush everything in their path!
The real killer move is only being revealed now!
All the previous harassment, traps, and attrition were for this moment of thunderous strike!
These three heavily armored Iwa ninjas each emitted Chakra fluctuations comparable to those of Special Jōnin, and were clearly skilled in both defense and strength, specifically designed to break through enemy lines!
"Protect the command post! Hold them off!"
Reppu eyes blazing with fury, Lie Feng was the first to swing his sword and meet the heavily armored Iwa ninja at the front.
However, when his blade struck the opponent's thick rock armor, it only sent up a trail of sparks and left a white mark. The opponent merely swayed slightly before the massive rock hammer, accompanied by a fierce wind, crashed down!
"Clang!"
Reppu was forced back several steps by the force of the impact, his hand split open and bleeding profusely. The difference in strength was too great!
The other two heavily armored rock ninjas, one charged towards Baki who was Hand Seals seals to try and intercept him, and the other grinned maliciously, swinging his stone club towards the cave where the wounded man was!
The camp is in imminent danger!
Shira's pupils contracted sharply, and the rhythm of the Seven Heavens Breathing Method within her body almost broke through its limits on its own.
He looked at the Taiseki club that seemed capable of crushing mountains and splitting peaks as it crashed into the cave of the wounded, then at Captain Reppu, who was struggling to hold on in the distance, and at Jonin Baki, who was facing the attack of another heavily armored rock ninja.
There's no way to retreat! There's nowhere to retreat to!
He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his gaze fixed on the heavily armored rock ninja charging toward the wounded. The ground beneath his feet sank slightly as he suddenly gathered his strength.
At this critical moment, a cold and murderous voice, like a wind from the deepest hell, swept across the entire battlefield in an instant:
Lightning Release: Lightning Sheath!
" Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
"Combined Ninja Art: Thunderstorm Kill!"
It's Ryoma! He finally broke free from the flank and bravely returned to provide support!
He appeared like a ghost beside the heavily armored rock ninja, wielding two Ninja Blade. One sword was crackling with blinding lightning and hissed, while the other was enveloped in a chilling vacuum wind blade, moving silently.
Two swords, each imbued with Chakra of entirely different yet equally deadly attributes, slashed out at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye!
The power of lightning and wind did not cancel each other out; instead, at the moment of contact, they created a terrifying superposition and qualitative change, forming a blue-white interwoven area of lightning and wind blades filled with a destructive aura, which swallowed up the heavily armored rock ninja along with the rocky ground around him!
"BOOM--!!!"
A blinding flash of lightning and a violent wind blade exploded, and the heavily armored rock ninja let out a shrill scream. The thick rock armor shattered like paper in the face of the combined ninjutsu, and he was blasted away, charred black, his fate unknown.
At the same time, the heavily armored Iwa ninja in front of Baki was also forced to retreat repeatedly by Baki's highly concentrated wind-attribute " Wind Release: Shuriken," putting him in grave danger.
The one who rushed towards the wounded was stunned by Ryoma's terrifying attack, and his movements faltered.
Hey! The big one's here!
A sharp glint flashed in Shira's eyes, and her suppressed breathing suddenly changed!
He no longer needs to activate his full potential; he only needs to concentrate all his senses, all his power, and all his determination into this next sword strike!
He moved.
Without an astonishing burst of speed, he possessed a strange, fluid quality, as if he were one with the surrounding turbulent airflow. His figure moved like the wind, directly piercing the heavily armored Iwa ninja who was distracted by the injury to his comrade!
The tip of the sword was not aimed at the heavy armor, but at the gaps in the armor, the joints, and what he "saw" through his perception of the airflow: a tiny gap in the flow of Chakra revealed beneath the armor as the opponent swung the staff.
This sword strike represents the pinnacle of Taijutsu, the application of perception, the extension of the acupoint striking concept, and, more importantly, the resolute act of protecting one's comrades in a desperate situation!
"Laugh--!"
The sword light, like a ray of dawn breaking through the darkness, pierced the battlefield where thunder and sand had not yet cleared.