met free Chapter 289 The Situation Changes, From Defense to Offense
Chapter 289 The Situation Changes, From Defense to Offense
Chapter 289 The Situation Changes, From Defense to Offense
The commotion on Taiichi's side naturally attracted the attention of a large number of ninjas. In particular, when the Ice Release appeared, all the Kirigakure ninjas who saw it were unsettled, staring at Taiichi as if they had seen a ghost.
Minazuki Asuka was so shocked that he almost forgot that there was Uchiha Fugaku on the other side. In his moment of distraction, Fugaku stabbed his left hand.
Even so, it couldn't hide the question in his heart: Could this Matsushita Taichi be the orphan of Minazuki who was left behind? Otherwise, how could he know Ice Release, and its power seemed to be stronger than his own?
But all of this came to an abrupt end after Taiichi killed Hozuki Seigetsu. The reason was simple: he was frightened. The two, who could have fought to a standstill, were defeated in an instant.
Now that Taiichi has freed up his hands, who will be next? Him, or Kaguya-kuma?
Asuka Minazuki forced Fugaku Uchiha back with a single Ice Crystal Thousand Needles, and immediately took out a retreat signal flare from her bosom and fired it into the sky.
The pale light could not be obscured even by the torrential rain, and all the Hidden Mist ninjas on the battlefield saw this signal to retreat at that moment.
Immediately, all the capable Mist Ninja forced their opponents back and then quickly retreated.
Those who were slightly inferior were even more willing to risk being injured by their opponents in order to escape the battlefield.
Those who were completely suppressed and unable to leave were the ones who suffered the most. Now, surrounded by even more Konoha ninja, they were doomed to die.
As for Minazuki Asuka, who gave the order, left the battlefield without looking back the moment the signal flare was fired.
This was a real hardship for Kaguya Kuma. He had been dominating Hiashi Hyuga, and the battle was progressing incredibly smoothly. It seemed like he was about to defeat his opponent.
Hyuga's Gentle Fist is completely unable to break through Kaguya's bones; at least, Gentle Fist at Hiashi's level is no match for Kaguya Kuma's bones.
But then, Matsushita Taichi killed Hozuki Seigetsu, and Minazuki Asuka sounded the retreat signal, which really caught Kaguya Kuma off guard.
He wanted to retreat, even though he was passionate about fighting, he knew how to assess the situation. However, Hiashi Hyuga was like a leech, sticking to him tightly and making it impossible for him to escape.
In that short delay, Matsushita Taichi and Uchiha Fugaku had already surrounded them.
"Konoha's rats, if you can't beat one, you gang up on them with three people?" Kaguya Kuma, holding a bone blade, watched the three people surrounding her make their last struggle.
The two clan leaders, concerned about their reputation, did not want to argue with a dying man, but this was a familiar matter for them; when it came to arguing with people, they had never been afraid.
"Duel is a one-on-one contest, war is only about winning or losing. Is Chief Kaguya a sore loser?"
Without pausing, he slashed with his short sword in his right hand and unleashed his superhuman strength in his left, delivering a powerful punch to Kaguya Kuma's chest.
It's already a case of two fists being no match for four hands, but now it's not just a matter of four hands, it's six hands. How can Kaguya Kuma possibly defend against every attack?
Taiyi's punch landed squarely on the chest, and the cracking sound of bones breaking was clearly audible even in the midst of the noisy battlefield.
Kaguya Kuma coughed up a mouthful of blood, his momentum noticeably diminished. Looking at the three who attacked again, his eyes flashed with a fierce light, and a sinister smile appeared on his face. "If you want me dead, then all of you come down and die with me!"
Kaguya Bear's chakra surged violently, and numerous bones emerged from his body, resembling a hedgehog constantly extending its bony spikes.
This scene was all too familiar to Fugaku Uchiha. He immediately shouted a warning: "Retreat! He's going to take us all down with him! This attack has a wide area of effect!"
By this time, a number of Konoha ninjas had gathered around. Hearing his warning, they immediately realized something was wrong when they saw the scene unfolding before them.
But it was too late to retreat now. Those bone spurs seemed to have taken a powerful tonic, growing rapidly under the relentless chakra supply from Kaguya Kuma in the middle.
Just as the bone spur was about to pierce the crowd, Taiyi slapped the ground with his palm. The Yin Seal on his forehead had been released, and a large amount of chakra surged from his palm to the ground.
Water Escape·Water Formation Wall.
A circular water wall with a radius of 10 meters, centered on Kaguya Bear, suddenly rotated and rose higher.
Ice Release: Ice Crystal Earth.
The rising water wall freezes rapidly into ice from bottom to top.
When the first bone spike pierced the ice wall, the ear-piercing sound of the bone spike rubbing against the ice wall reached everyone's ears.
As the water continued to gush out, the ice layer continued to thicken.
Bone spurs broke, and ice walls shattered.
The two ninjutsu techniques clashed continuously, fueled by the supply of chakra.
However, thanks to Taiichi's delay, the Konoha ninjas had time to retreat to a more distant location.
Seeing this, Taiyi stopped insisting and flashed away, flying away from the spot.
Without the supply of Taiyi's chakra, the ice wall immediately showed signs of weakness and was eventually shattered by the ever-growing bone spikes amidst a series of violent cracking sounds.
However, at this point, the bone spur lost its initial momentum and stopped extending outwards for another seven or eight meters.
The entire scene resembled a 20-meter-long pale sea urchin, having broken free from the icy constraints, but its life had come to an end, and the sight conveyed a sense of desolation.
Many Konoha ninja couldn't help but take a few steps forward, wanting to get a clearer view.
"Don't come any closer, he's not dead yet!"
From the crowd, Taiyi stepped out from the side, his eyes still glowing with a ghostly blue flame. In his vision, at the center of the bone spike, the ball of soul light, though weak, had not yet been extinguished.
At this moment, Fugaku and Hiashi also came over. Seeing the flames in Tai's eyes, although they didn't understand, they knew it must be a secret technique. They quickly joined forces to repel the ninjas who came forward.
Perhaps having heard Taiichi's words, Kaguya Kuma's last attempt to outwit the Konoha ninja failed, and his final obsession dissipated. His soul light trembled for a moment before vanishing completely.
Seeing this, the flame in Tai's eyes also dissipated. He looked at Fugaku and Hiashi, "Alright, he's completely dead."
Hearing Taiichi's words, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. It had been incredibly dangerous just now. Having experienced it once before, Fugaku Uchiha knew the power of that move very well.
If it had been allowed to erupt without any cover, their casualties would have been considerable, and what was supposed to be a great victory might have turned into a Pyrrhic one.
Words of gratitude rang out from all around, belonging to the ninjas who had been too close to evacuate in time. Taiichi's act of stepping forward had saved their lives.
The powerful water-based techniques and the ice-based techniques that could freeze everything showed them just the tip of the iceberg of Taiyi's strength. Their admiration turned into eager eyes as they silently gazed at Taiyi.
Fugaku, Taichi, and Hiashi approached the giant spiky ball together. Looking at the pale bone spikes that gleamed with a metallic glint, they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts. It was actually made of human bones.
It's just unknown what the current state of Kaguya Kuma's corpse is, and whether it can still be recovered. Such a corpse of a kekkei jonin is of great research value.
Looking at the entire battlefield again, the battles in all three battlefields had basically ended. Because it was night and raining heavily, only squads equipped with Hyuga ninjas were allowed to pursue the fleeing Kirigakure ninjas.
Even so, their pursuit was restricted—they were not allowed to chase them onto the open sea.
"What should we do next? Should we continue attacking Kirigakure's camp?" Fugaku Uchiha asked Hiashi and Taichi for their opinions.
"I don't think it's necessary. The Mist Ninja who escaped back will definitely report our actions. A vigilant Mist Ninja is not someone that we can easily defeat with just a few people."
Hiashi Hyuga analyzed the situation calmly, but the twitching corners of his mouth from time to time indicated that he was still seriously injured.
The Hyuga clan faces a significant disadvantage when dealing with either Hozuki or Kaguya: one is essentially immune to physical attacks, and the other is so tough that it cannot be attacked at all.
Taiichi nodded in agreement with Riji's view. Despite their great victory this time, they had an intelligence advantage and a successful surprise attack.
The leader of the Hidden Mist was restrained and even quickly killed by the three of them. In a normal confrontation, even if they could win, the price they would pay would be very high.
"Alright, let's clean up the battlefield and head back to camp." Seeing that Hiashi and Taichi had the same opinion, Fugaku stopped talking and the three of them quickly organized the ninjas to clean up the battlefield.
Konoha Camp, Central Command Tent.
"In this battle, we killed a total of 231 people from Kirigakure, including Hozuki Seigetsu, the head of the Hozuki clan, and Kaguya Kuma, the head of the Kaguya clan. Our side suffered 73 deaths and 164 injuries."
Fugaku Uchiha gave a summary report, his tone revealing deep joy.
The post-battle tally showed that their ambush, which was a stroke of luck, was undoubtedly a great victory. Not only did they kill a large number of enemies, but they also killed the heads of the two major clans of Kirigakure, which would undoubtedly cause a huge shock within Kirigakure.
This would be absolutely great news for Konoha. Ideally, Kirigakure would be thrown into internal strife and forced to retreat, thus reducing Konoha's troubles. Of course, this was just wishful thinking.
Tsunade was quite bewildered by the report, but luckily Taichi had found the Hidden Mist Village's camp today, so she decided to take advantage of the situation and steal from them.
The strategy is to attack the Hidden Mist Village; otherwise, if they are ambushed by the Hidden Mist Village, the losses will be considerable no matter what.
It was as if even the heavens were on their side; Tsunade had thought this more than once.
"You did the right thing. Now is not the time to directly attack Kirigakure, but we can't let Kirigakure have it easy either. Tomorrow, move the camp forward and set up camp one kilometer from the coastline to prepare for a full-scale attack on Kirigakure."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
Everyone stood up in unison, and this battle marked the beginning of Konoha's counterattack against Kirigakure.
Konoha had always been on the defensive, and even its camps were located far from the coast.
Now, everything is about to change. From now on, Konoha will only launch continuous attacks on Kirigakure until they drive Kirigakure back to their stronghold.
Around the same time, the escaped Kirigakure ninja, led by Mizuki Asuka, returned to their camp on the island.
When everyone saw this team, which was missing more than half of its members and looked extremely disheveled, the entire Mist Shadow Camp erupted in chaos, with discussions everywhere.
"What's going on? Weren't they supposed to be launching a sneak attack?"
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"Have you seen my clan leader, Kaguya?"
"It seems my clan leader, Hozuki, isn't in the party either?"
"Did the sneak attack succeed? Why do they look so dejected?"
Everyone knew that this team had gone to raid the Konoha camp, and now that they had returned in this state, everyone was filled with doubts, and a sense of anxiety spread throughout the camp.
Such commotion naturally attracted the attention of Yagura, who was left behind at the camp. He immediately stepped out of his tent and his expression changed drastically when he saw the crowd approaching from afar.
The fact that they were significantly fewer than half their original number, and that each of them looked like a defeated dog, all told Shicang that they had suffered a major defeat.
When Minazuki Asuka returned, he also saw Shikura in the distance. He took two quick steps and was about to speak when Shikura interrupted him.
"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go back to the camp and discuss this further."
Mizuki Asuka was taken aback, but after a moment's thought, she understood Shi Cang's intention. Looking back at the ninjas who had gathered around her, she saw that they were all filled with worry and realized that her previous swaggering return to camp had been ill-considered.
He nodded, gave a brief instruction to the ninja beside him, and entrusted the more than one hundred defeated soldiers to his care. He then returned to the central army camp with Gojibana Shikura.
There was no one else in the tent. As soon as the two sat down, Yagura Karatachi couldn't wait to ask, "What happened? Where are Kaguya Kuma and Hozuki Seigetsu? Why did you come back with the team all by yourself?"
Minazuki Asuka sighed heavily, his handsome face now showing a hint of dejection. "We encountered an ambush by Konoha halfway there, and our team was cut into three pieces. Hozuki Seigetsu was killed by Matsushita Taichi. I don't know about Kaguya Kuma, but since he hasn't returned by now, he's probably in grave danger."
Of course, Minazuki Asuka wouldn't say that he abandoned Kaguya Kuma and ran away, which meant that Kaguya Kuma would inevitably be surrounded and attacked by at least two strong ninjas from Konoha, and under such circumstances, he would almost certainly die.
"You were ambushed? That shouldn't be the case!" Yagura Karatachi frowned, his face full of confusion. "The ambush was decided on the spot. How could Konoha have known in advance to set up an ambush?"
"I also find it strange, but should we move our camp now? I'm worried that Konoha will track us down to this camp."
Asuka Minazuki's words were like a lightning bolt illuminating Shi Cang's mind. He immediately had a clue: "They didn't specifically ambush you. They also came to raid our camp, but they discovered you on the way and changed their plan to ambush you instead."
After Yagura's reminder, Minazuki Asuka realized she had brought it along, "Another byakugan, how annoying."
Clearly, only the White Eye's super long-range vision could detect them in advance and set up an ambush before they even realized it.
"What about the camp? Now that they've discovered it, we need to move it." Minazuki Asuka was worried. He was really frightened by Matsushita Taichi. Hozuki Seigetsu was such a powerful person, yet he was taken down in just a few moves. How many moves would it take to deal with him?
"No need. Since they were able to find us once, there's no point in moving us again. Now we just need to strengthen our vigilance and prevent them from launching a sneak attack."
What I'm worried about now is Hozuki and Kaguya's clansmen. You need to quickly arrange for someone to keep an eye on them. After learning of their clan leader's death, you absolutely mustn't let them do anything rash.
Just as Yagura finished speaking, a commotion arose outside, and the sounds seemed to be those of Hozuki and Kaguya's ninjas.
Shikura and Asuka both wore solemn expressions; what they feared most had come to pass!