Shikamaru led the Sound Ninja slaying force to meet up with Hongshi and the others at the Valley of the End. Kosuke and Hanabi Hyuga were assigned to the support team where Gyokucha was, while Naruto and the others joined two assault teams, Gekko Hayate joined the main force.
As for Hongshi... he was abandoned by the main group because he was too slow.
The Lord God: "Excellent!"
Kakashi and Guy received a notification from the Konoha Ninja Hawk and returned to Konoha ahead of time.
Shikamaru's troops gradually approached the Land of Rice Fields, where the terrain became much flatter.
After crossing the border of the Land of Fire, the reconnaissance team encountered an ambush by the Otogakure. However, Shikamaru had anticipated this and positioned Tenten's assault team not far behind the reconnaissance team. The Chakra Sniper Rifle Kamui on the plains, eliminating the Sound Ninja Village ambushers without losing a single member.
The initial spurt of blood caused the stomachs of the Genin, who had never experienced war, to churn, and it took them a long time to recover.
As the troops advanced deeper into the enemy territory, they encountered more and more ambushes, but none of them were aimed at the main force; they seemed to be merely gathering intelligence.
Sound Ninja Extermination Force - Support Team
With the addition of the elderly, children, and disabled, the support team led by Gyokucha has grown to twelve people. They are positioned at the very back of the main force, which is also the safest position.
The timid Hanabi, upon seeing her fellow tribespeople and Gyokucha, who was also a woman, relaxed and chatted happily with Gyokucha along the way.
Kosuke, walking at the back, said, "Haha, this is how a little girl should be!"
However, at that moment, the Hyuga Clan in the group discovered that a group of forty people was rapidly approaching from behind.
"Captain Gyokucha! Lady Hanabi! There are Sound Ninja behind us! They're moving very fast! It must be their raiding force!"
"You want to deal with the medical-nin who are providing support first? The Sound Ninja's intelligence gathering is quite good." Gyokucha remained calm. " Ashinara Hyuga, you're the fastest, head to the main force immediately and request reinforcements. The rest of you, maintain formation and rejoin the main force. I'll cover the rear."
This team consists entirely of medical-nin and lacks strong combat capabilities. Therefore, they must relocate immediately upon encountering an enemy attack, and due to their slow speed, they must also leave someone behind to cover their retreat.
Ashinara Hyuga looked at Gyokucha: "Captain Gyokucha! Lady Hanabi can't stay and fight!"
Hanabi Hyuga's status within the Hyuga Clan is second only to the clan head.
Gyokucha glared at Ashinara Hyuga: "Bringing Hanabi along will only slow you down, and I need her Byakugan to assess the enemy situation."
"But Hanabi- sama..."
Hanabi Hyuga, enraged, shouted, "Shut up! Do you want the entire support team to be surrounded?! Get out of here now! Kosuke is very strong!"
Looking at Hanabi Hyuga, who seemed to have grown a lot, Kosuke nodded slightly and pointed to the Blue Bird Type One on his chest at the resisting crowd. "Don't worry, Hanabi- Hanabi and I have something that will allow us to leave safely."
Unable to resolve the dispute further, the support team members had no choice but to leave in anger.
Hanabi Hyuga activated her Byakugan, taking in everything within a kilometer radius. " Gyokucha- neechan, 500 meters to go."
Gyokucha took out a jade flute from her sleeve. "Sister Hanabi, you stay where you are and monitor the number and location of the enemy. Grandpa Kosuke and I will stall for time."
Kosuke, driven by a burning passion to protect the Konoha seedlings of Konoha, seemed to rekindle his old fervor, a cold glint in his eyes. "Oh, these old bones of mine haven't been used in a long time."
Gyokucha pointed to the jade flute in her hand. "I can cast Genjutsu through the sound of the flute, but it takes time."
Kosuke chuckled, "Don't underestimate the Konoha Genin."
The Land of Land of Rice Fields has a flat terrain and fewer trees than the Land of Fire, but the place where Kosuke and the others were still in was a dense forest, making it an excellent location for an ambush.
Gyokucha touched Hanabi Hyuga, who was still trembling slightly. " Hanabi, don't be afraid. If you want to become stronger, you have to take this step."
"Hmm! They're here! Twenty people to the west, three hundred meters away; fifteen people to the east, four hundred meters away! And five more disappeared two hundred meters to the south! I can't see them!"
Having participated in many battles, Kosuke immediately recognized the situation. " Ninjutsu for concealing one's figure? This is troublesome! Captain Gyokucha, you can begin."
Gyokucha placed the jade flute to her lips and slowly began to play. It was just a jumble of music, with no melody whatsoever, but with the enhancement of Chakra, the flute's sound traveled far.
"Sa sa sa"
At this moment, a gentle breeze began to blow where Kosuke and his companions were, and the falling leaves made the forest seem even more eerily silent.
Kosuke simply closed his eyes and used his ears to search for the Sound Ninja.
"Smack!"
Suddenly, Kosuke heard the sound of a dry branch snapping behind him, "It's behind us!"
The hunched figure didn't rush to attack, but stood firmly in place. The world around him seemed to darken, with only the cold glint of the kitchen knife as it was drawn from its sheath.
"Clap clap."
Two more sounds.
"Found you!" Kosuke moved, his eyes still closed, but his expression was no longer kind; instead, it was that of a seasoned veteran, his entire body radiating killing intent. " Konoha-Style: Mitsuba Fusatsu!"
The kitchen knife in Kosuke's hand seemed to split into three, slashing in three different directions in the air.
"Laugh!"
With a flash of light, blood gushed out of thin air. What appeared to be an ordinary kitchen knife, in Kosuke's hands, actually cleaved the three men in two.
Hanabi Hyuga uttered, " Kosuke! There are two more!"
"I know," Kosuke, his eyes still closed, a smirk playing on his lips. "Hmph! Young assassins must conceal their breathing!"
"Bite!"
Kosuke held the cleaver to his chest, and then a spark appeared out of thin air on the blade. " Konoha-Style: Bullet!"
Seemingly using the force of the back of the blade to confirm the direction, the blade turned, spun once, and a head flew up—it was Sound Ninja.
Hanabi Hyuga: " Kosuke! One hundred meters to the west, one hundred and fifty meters to the east!"
Kosuke held the sword in reverse, his expression slightly serious, because the remaining Sound Ninja was probably the strongest of the five. There was no sound around, but he was not impatient.
Five seconds
Ten seconds
"Fifty meters to the west, seventy meters to the east!"
Gyokucha's flute playing grew increasingly clear, but it was unclear when she would be able to successfully perform it.
The air seemed to thicken.
Kosuke remained Immobility with his eyes closed.
"Ten meters to the west, thirty meters to the east! Kosuke! They're almost there!"
"Hiss."
At that moment, the ground behind Gyokucha moved slightly, and Kosuke suddenly opened his eyes and disappeared from the spot.
"Laugh!"
A blood-stained blade tip appeared behind Gyokucha, and a middle-aged Sound Ninja figure materialized. He held Kunai in his hand, aiming at the back of Gyokucha's neck, just a hair's breadth away.
"You should be more patient, young man."
Lord God: "???"
Hanabi Hyuga: "Here I am!"
Fifteen Sound Ninja leaped out of the dense forest to the east, wielding Kunai, and charged toward the three.
Kosuke plunged the kitchen knife into the ground and formed hand Hand Seals: "This is the Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, taught by the Second!"
From Kosuke's feet, a vast expanse of darkness, like silk, rapidly spread out, enveloping the surrounding space. All the Sound Ninja could see was darkness, and for a moment they were at a loss as to how to attack.
During the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, only Kosuke and his two companions had normal vision.
Kosuke locked onto the positions of the fifteen Sound Ninja, a cold glint in his eyes. " Shadow Clone Technique, Konoha-Style: Twelve Leaf Slash!"
Kosuke created three Shadow Clone and simultaneously unleashed the Three-Leaf Slash, twelve blades of light flashing past swiftly.
"Ah! Ah!"
In the darkness, Kosuke's body didn't resemble that of an old man at all, but rather that of a swift and deadly assassin. Each swing of his sword claimed the life of a Sound Ninja, while the Sound Ninja fought back desperately, leaving him wounded.
In just a few breaths, the kitchen knife in Kosuke's hand was stained red with blood, some of it his own, some of it from the Sound Ninja, dripping continuously. Only three Sound Ninja remained, their eyes filled with shock.
"What's wrong with you, old man? Aren't you Genin?!"
Kosuke, after all, old, and his Chakra was not what it used to be. He was also injured, and his breathing was somewhat rapid. The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique had also been dispelled. "Is this all the Chakra I can maintain?"
The Sound Ninja chuckled, "Old man, you're already poisoned. The more you fight, the faster you'll die."
He drew a circle with the cleaver in front of him, flicking the blood off the blade. "Hmm, I am a Konoha Ninja, how could I stop fighting because of mere poison? Prepare to die, Sound Ninja Demon!"
As he finished speaking, the kitchen knife in Kosuke's hand suddenly moved, swaying like a willow leaf in the wind. The remaining two Sound Ninja, who had intended to use Ninjutsu, were met with a vision of kitchen knives forming willow leaves, and their bodies were rendered immobile. "What?! Another Genjutsu?!"
" Konoha-Style: Willow!"
When the three Sound Ninja finally came to their senses, they felt as if the world had turned upside down, and all they could see was Kosuke's back and his headless body.
"Cough cough cough." The toxins in Kosuke's body flared up, turning his shoulder wound purple. He coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, his breathing became more rapid, and he broke out in a cold sweat. "Am I really getting old?"
" Kosuke, you're here!"
"Whoosh!"
Before Kosuke could even breathe a sigh of relief, a large number of Shuriken flew towards the three of them, and the Shuriken were glowing with a purple light, clearly indicating that they contained a deadly poison.
"Not good!"
Kosuke tried to step forward, but the poison spread too quickly, and when he exerted force, he felt his legs go numb and he half-knelt on the ground.
Hanabi Hyuga then moved, Chakra surging from her body. " Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Rotation Palm!"
"Bite.."
Under Hongshi's guidance, Hanabi can now use the Rotation technique to deflect all incoming Shuriken.
Kosuke mustered all his strength, stood up, and slowly walked to Hanabi Hyuga's side. " Hanabi -sama, you're amazing!"
" Kosuke, are you alright?"
"How can mere poison stop me! Cough cough."
Twenty Sound Ninja surrounded the three of them.
"That old guy's done for, let's go!"
"Yes!"
The Sound Ninja, Kunai, charged towards the three, about to strike them. At that moment, Gyokucha slowly lowered her jade flute and softly chanted, " Genjutsu: Great Sound Lock of Illusion."
All the Sound Ninja felt a wave of dizziness, and suddenly found themselves in a scorching desert, surrounded by stark white bones. They were bound by chains, their arms outstretched, kneeling on the ground, their bodies gradually melting to reveal their bones, as if they were one of the skeletons on the ground.
"This! Isn't this Tayuya- sama's technique?! How could you know it?!"
The strongest Sound Ninja captain realized he was under Genjutsu, but was unable to break free.
" Tayuya? That name sounds familiar." Gyokucha smiled slightly and bowed gently to the crowd. "The song has ended. Please offer a toast of 'Bone's Cheer' as a token of my gratitude."
"Click click click!"
Twenty Sound Ninja simultaneously twisted their necks backward, making a cracking sound as their bones broke. Their heads were mysteriously snapped off by an unknown force, and they collapsed to the ground, dead on the spot.
"Ah!" Hanabi Hyuga couldn't bear the shock and cried out in terror, "How scary!"
Gyokucha gently pulled her into her arms. "It's alright."
Kosuke looked at Gyokucha, "You're quite impressive, little girl."
"Ouch. Ouch..."
"Clap clap clap."
Hongshi's enormous body swooped down from the sky, but due to the dense forest, there was no ideal place to land. It crashed into a large number of trees before finally coming to a stop.
Kosuke: "Ah, Hongshi-kun, you've finally arrived."
Hongshi, hands on his hips, laughed heartily, "Hahaha, Konoha's Black Wolf Fang has arrived! Where are the enemies!"
Gyokucha shook her head. "You should heal Kosuke and Sister Hanabi's injuries first. They've both been poisoned."
Hanabi Hyuga then realized that when she used the Rotation, she hadn't completely defended against the Shuriken; her right palm was cut, and there was purple venom in the wound.
Hongshi: "What! I, who stole Li Lai Lai's Sound Ninja, actually dared to hurt my Hanabi- chan! I'm going to blow him up!"
Despite saying that, she still walked over to Kosuke and Hanabi and used healing Ninjutsu.
"Boom boom..."
An explosion was heard in the distance, followed by a red firework that rose into the sky and burst open, signaling the start of a major battle.
Gyokucha: "Boss, it looks like a fight has broken out over there."
Hongshi chuckled, "Then let's go stir things up!"