Those seemingly unremarkable deep red pills, once swallowed, did not bring gentle nourishment, but rather the most savage and direct ignition of life!
Shira felt every cell in her body screaming, boiling, and frantically dividing and recombining!
The excruciating pain and the overwhelming power surged like a tide, almost tearing his body apart, yet they were forcibly restrained and guided by a gentler, more ancient will, transforming into a surging, almost rampaging force!
"Aaaaaah--!!!"
An uncontrollable roar erupted from the depths of his throat, no longer a painful howl, but a powerful roar!
Visible pale red blood energy rose from Shira's body, a sign of excessive stimulation of life force. This energy mixed with the scorching white vapor unique to the Seven Heavens Breathing Method, forming a chaotic wave of energy that made one's heart palpitate.
His bloodshot eyes were fixed Jonin the leader of the Iwagakure, his gaze devoid of any hesitation, weariness, or pain, filled only with the purest, most rage-filled killing intent to tear apart everything in his path!
"Playing tricks! Let's all attack and kill him!"
Although the leader of the Iwagakure Jonin was alarmed by the strange surge in Shira's aura, he still gave orders sternly, relying on the superior numbers of his side.
His four elite soldiers immediately pounced on him, unleashing Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and ninja tools to seal off all of Shira's escape routes.
However, at this moment, under the violent catalysis of the vortex's specially made Military Rations Pill, Shira's perception, speed, strength, and reaction were elevated to a completely new level that even he himself found unfamiliar!
He didn't even need to consciously adjust his breathing to "activate" the state of the Seven Heavens Breathing Method's Second Activation state; it arrived as naturally as breathing, and was far more surging, more intense, and more out of control than ever before!
"Die!"
Facing the first punch, encased in hard rock, Shira neither dodged nor evaded. Her left-hand longsword transformed into a blurry afterimage, striking first despite being behind!
It's no longer about precise pressure points or skillful slashing, but the simplest and most brutal straight thrust! What's concentrated on the sword isn't just the power of Second Activation, but also the almost tangible penetrating will bestowed by that violent life energy!
"Puff!"
The Rock Fist clashed with the tip of the sword, but the result was not a metallic clang.
The longsword pierced the frozen earth like a red-hot iron rod, effortlessly penetrating the rock armor and piercing through the palm of the Special Jōnin. With its momentum still intact, the tip of the sword emerged from behind his shoulder blade!
The piercing scream abruptly stopped, for Shira's right foot had stomped like a battle axe into the chest of another Chunin who was slashing at Chunin from the side. The cracking sound of bones breaking was clearly audible, and the man was sent flying backward without uttering a sound, crashing into a section of rocks.
The third Iwa ninja's Earth Spear had just pierced the ground when Shira's figure vanished like a ghost, leaving only a deep footprint and a ring of spreading dust in its wake.
The next instant, he appeared behind the Iwa ninja, his left hand forming a knife-like shape as he fiercely stabbed a pressure point on the ninja's spine. It wasn't a pressure point strike to subdue the enemy, but rather he used his fingers as a sword, forcefully injecting a violent force and a wisp of condensed energy!
The ninja's body stiffened, then collapsed like a snake whose bones had been removed, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Just as the fourth Iwa ninja released his Explosive Tag Kunai, Shira raised her left hand, and three Shuriken, arranged in a triangular formation, struck the tail of the flying Explosive Tag Kunai with pinpoint accuracy, instead of heading straight for the enemy!
The impact force and angle of the Shuriken were so precise that they caused the Kunai to change direction mid-air and shoot back at an even faster speed!
"What?!" The Rock Ninja was terrified and fled in panic.
"Boom!" The Explosive Tag exploded beside him. Although it didn't hit him directly, it still left him covered in dust and seriously injured, causing him to collapse to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, of the four elite Iwa ninja, one was dead and three were seriously injured! The entire audience was horrified!
"Monster! What the hell is this monster?!" The surrounding Iwa ninja retreated in fear.
The leader of the Iwagakure Jonin both shocked and furious, his face turning ashen. "Don't be afraid! He used a forbidden drug; he won't last long! Form a battle formation and blast him to pieces with Ninjutsu!"
"It won't last much longer?"
Shira grinned maliciously, her voice hoarse and distorted from the surge of power, "Before that, I can crush you all!"
Instead of passively engaging the enemy, Shira actively charged towards the area with the highest concentration of Iwa ninja!
The target was none other than the Jonin leader!
"Stop him!" The Jonin leader retreated hastily, his hands rapidly Hand Seals.
Earth Release: Rock Collapse!
Earth Release: Earth Splitting Palm!
Several powerful Earth Release Ninjutsu were launched at Shira from different directions, attempting to trap and kill him.
But Shira was too fast! At the peak of his Second Activation state and with the berserk boost from the Military Rations Pill, his figure weaved through the gaps between the rocks and Ninjutsu like a ghost. Those Ninjutsu that required brief Hand Seals were unable to lock onto his true form!
Occasionally, when unavoidable rocks would fall or spikes would suddenly appear, he would smash them with a single punch or clash them head-on with his longsword, displaying unparalleled ruthlessness!
He was no longer confined to the sword. His left hand wielded a sword with the light of a dragon, while his right hand (his injured right arm had temporarily regained some function under the onslaught of violent life force) used fists, palms, or fingers, combining his ruthless understanding of acupoints to specifically target joints, vital points, and areas where Chakra flowed.
Kunai from the waist is sure to be cunning and difficult to defend against, interfering with the enemy's Hand Seals or rescue efforts.
He even grabbed a stone hammer left behind by an Iwa ninja who was lying on the ground, and swung it like a meteor hammer, smashing an Iwa ninja who couldn't dodge in time into a bloody pulp along with his shield!
The fighting style is ferocious and chaotic, yet so efficient and deadly that it is chilling. Under the pressure of life and death and the power of violence, the knowledge, training and understanding gained over many days are forcibly integrated into a killing art that belongs only to this moment and is full of destructive aesthetics!
"Cover Shira! Clear a path for him!"
Baki's stern shout startled the stunned Sunagakure ninja. They saw Shira rampaging through the enemy ranks like a humanoid beast. Although fierce, she was also surrounded and had ventured deep into enemy territory alone.
" Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!" Baki made the first move, and the highly compressed air bullet accurately targeted several Iwa ninjas who were trying to sneak up on Shira from the side, sending them flying.
" Puppet Technique - Needle Eight Waves!" Sasori controlled the last remaining defensive puppet, standing to the side of Shira, and fired a dense barrage of poisonous needles, forcing back a group of enemies.
" Bird Shuriken!" Asuka threw out all the remaining Shuriken to suppress the enemy in an area.
The surviving Sand Ninja were greatly encouraged. Despite being wounded, they unleashed their last bit of courage and strength, striving to reach out to Shira and shield him from the pressure from both sides and behind.
They realized that Shira's sudden outburst was the only, and last, chance in this desperate situation! They had to create space for him to unleash his terrifying power to its fullest potential!
Shira sensed the support of his companions, and the raging anger in his chest seemed to be infused with a different kind of intense heat. He roared to the sky, and the power and killing intent surging within him reached their peak at this moment!
Ahead, the leader of the Iwagakure Jonin had been forced to the edge of a relatively open stone platform, surrounded by the last seven or eight loyal elite Iwagakure ninja, who were forming complex hand seals in a mixture of shock and anger, seemingly about to unleash some powerful combined Ninjutsu.
"No time... Let's leave it here!"
Shira abruptly stopped her charge, her feet stomping deep into the ground, sending pebbles flying.
He gripped the sword with both hands, the tips pointing diagonally at the ground. The pale red aura and scorching white steam around him surged and swirled wildly, forming a small eye of the storm several meters in diameter around him!
The sand, gravel, and even small fragments of weapons on the ground were all swept up by this violent aura and swirled upwards!
He stared Jonin at the Hand Seals Iwagakure in front of him, his eyes flashing with bloodlust.
"Sandstorm, continuous attack--!!!"
It was no longer a growl, but a roar announcing the arrival of death!
"Boom--!!!"
He moved! No, it was his fists that moved! No, it was countless fists!
What left an afterimage on everyone's retinas was Shira's instantly blurred figure, and the hundreds and thousands of scorching fist shadows that tore through the air as they blasted out in front of him!
Those weren't individual fists, but rather a destructive, high-speed storm of fists! Each punch condensed the full power of the Second Activation, each punch carried the violent life energy spurted by the Military Rations Pill, and each punch, due to its extreme speed and power, created dazzling sparks from friction with the air, which then ignited, transforming into short-lived yet incredibly scorching trails of flame!
Fist shadows! Flames! Storm!
The three elements intertwined, transforming into a raging, crimson Dotō that spread, covered, and crushed forward in a fan-shaped area!
It truly resembles the most violent sandstorm in the desert, but it contains the purest and most intense physical impact and frictional heat!
"No--!!!"
The combined Ninjutsu of the Iwagakure Jonin leader was only halfway complete when his despairing pupils were completely filled with the destructive crimson storm.
The Iwa ninja beside him tried to defend with Earth Release, but the hastily erected stone walls and rock armor were like Dotō in a storm before this raging storm of fist flames. They were instantly torn apart, shattered, ignited, and then swallowed up, crushed, and burned along with the human bodies behind them!
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM--!!!"
A series of muffled, thunderous roars exploded on the stone platform! Wherever the storm of fists and flames passed, rocks crumbled, human bodies shattered, and the stench of burnt flesh and blood was instantly vaporized by the intense heat into a horrifying acrid smell!
The screams were drowned out by the roar, with only a few brief, sporadic cries that abruptly ceased.
This terrifying attack lasted for about three seconds. After three seconds, the fist shadow dissipated, and the flames died down.
Shira remained in the stance after throwing a punch, slightly panting. The faint red blood aura and white mist surrounding her had thinned considerably, but her fierce aura was still chilling.
In front of him, the open stone platform, along with the rock walls around its edges, revealed a huge, irregular, fan-shaped, scorched depression.
Within the area, not a single intact body could be found, only broken, charred bones, molten metal, and smoldering rock remains.
The leader of the Iwagakure Jonin and his loyal followers, along with the land they inhabited, seemed to have been licked and completely wiped out by an invisible, fiery behemoth.
Dead silence.
Not only the surviving Iwa ninja, but even their Sunagakure comrades were stunned into silence by this terrifying attack that far exceeded their comprehension, forgetting to breathe.
The power of a single punch is astounding?! Is this some kind of Genin?!
No, this is simply... a human-shaped natural disaster!
"Huff... huff..."
Shira slowly straightened up, her sword resting on the ground. The violent power within her body began to recede like a tide, and the effects of the Military Rations Pill seemed to be rapidly fading, replaced by an even more ferocious, more draining sense of weakness and the prelude to a painful backlash.
A tearing pain shot through his right arm again, and the old wound in his chest reopened, staining his clothes with blood.
But he remained standing, his spine straight, his bloodshot eyes coldly sweeping over the surviving but utterly demoralized Iwa ninja who were looking at him as if he were a demon.
"Who... is... anyone else?"
The hoarse voice, though not loud, was like the whisper of death, striking the hearts of every Iwa ninja.
"Run... run!!"
Someone let out a scream of despair, and the remaining Iwa ninja, regardless of their injuries, were all terrified, abandoning their armor and weapons, and scrambling back the way they came, heading north, fleeing for their lives!
What mission, what order—all vanish before absolute power and the terror of death!
The Sunagakure actually managed to crush the Iwagakure's elite forces, which outnumbered them several times over, with a single counter-charge!
Baki was the first to react. Suppressing his shock, he shouted sharply, " Ryoma! Yan! Retreat signal! Everyone, take the wounded and evacuate immediately! Quickly!"
A sharp whistle rang out across the battlefield. On the west and east sides, Ryoma and Iwa's squads, equally battered but having completed their mission, began to retreat while providing cover for each other.
Supported by the Asuka and the Sasori, Shira staggered and turned around. With each step, she felt as if her body was about to fall apart, and her vision blurred.
The effects of the Military Rations Pill completely wore off, and the consequences of overexertion, like countless hungry insects, began to gnaw at his bone marrow and nerves. But he gritted his teeth and stubbornly held on.
"Go..." he squeezed out the word through gritted teeth.
The remaining soldiers of Sunagakure, carrying even more severely wounded men and the bodies of their comrades, supported each other and retreated as quickly as possible towards the canyon camp they had come from, heading south.
Behind them lay the stone platform, now a scorched wasteland, the dust and smoke of the routed soldiers of Iwagakure, and the sun, which had finally risen above the horizon in the desolate border sky, yet seemed to be stained with blood.
The flames of counterattack were lit in the most tragic and shocking way, and then temporarily ended with the wounded retreat of the remaining Sunagakure soldiers.
Before losing consciousness completely, the last thing Shira saw was Jonin Baki turning around and looking at the scorched battlefield, his eyes filled with unfathomable solemnity and a rare, deep fear of the unknown power.
Sandstorm Barrage? It turns out that in truly desperate situations and under the influence of external forces, they can be this terrifying.
But what will be the price?
Darkness, carrying with it a tidal wave of weakness and excruciating pain, engulfed Shira completely.
After much thought, today is such a joyous day, how can I keep the readers in suspense? I'll just release this chapter now. (●◡●)