Now, less than a minute after the battle began, with Cloud ninja casualties only around fifty, Li Anshi's thrown daggers had already been tracked by them. If they persisted a little longer, they could kill Li Anshi.
However, the scene that unfolded next let the Cloud ninjas know that they were still far from killing Li Anshi!
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang...
Visibly, the eight flying daggers thrown by Li Anshi collided with the fastest kunai. After the collision, both the eight kunai and Li Anshi's eight flying daggers changed direction, colliding with more kunai behind them. In less than two seconds, all the kunai thrown by the ninjas in this Lightning Release ninja formation were knocked away by the kunai whose flight paths had changed. Not a single kunai could reach Li Anshi.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM
The explosive tags on the back of these kunai suddenly exploded violently, directly separating Li Anshi from the Lightning Release ninja formation. The explosion of hundreds of explosive tags made this spot the focus of the entire battlefield. Whether they could see Li Anshi, sense Li Anshi, or hadn't even seen Li Anshi since the battle began, all Cloud ninjas turned their gazes towards the rising cloud of fire and smoke.
Hundreds of explosive tags detonating in a small area created a considerable shockwave. The kunai tied with the explosive tags, propelled by the force of the explosions, rapidly spread outwards.
"Ah..."
"Ahhh..."
Many Cloud ninjas couldn't dodge in time and were hit by the kunai sent flying by the explosions, falling to the ground and howling in pain.
At the same time, they became the first group of ninjas to scream in pain during the battle with Li Anshi.
The Cloud ninjas previously hit by Li Anshi's flying daggers had died in a short time, having no time to scream. But now, hit by these kunai sent flying by explosive tags, most Cloud ninjas could instinctively dodge fatal blows.
For those who hadn't lost their combat ability, Li Anshi subsequently finished them off with another flying dagger. As for those who had lost their combat ability, Li Anshi wouldn't waste his flying daggers on them.
"Everyone, follow me!"
Seeing Li Anshi approach, the leading Jonin shouted, throwing kunai at Li Anshi while his hands moved like phantoms, rapidly forming seals. Although he knew that under Li Anshi's flying daggers, he had almost no time to release ninjutsu. But what if? With just two more seconds, he could complete the seals for this ninjutsu.
From the previous kunai rain attack, it was clear that thrown ninja tools posed no threat to Li Anshi. In fact, that wave of kunai rain attacks hadn't even made Li Anshi waste any extra chakra to use defensive ninjutsu.
"Pfft—"
A chill in his throat, this Cloud Jonin fell backward, his eyes losing their luster. Until his death, this Cloud ninja's hands remained in the posture of forming hand seals...
...
"Dodai, have you figured anything out?"
At the highest point of the hill, the Third Raikage clenched his fists, asking the Cloud ninja beside him in a deep voice. Although he had been prepared for heavy losses when he decided to fight Li Anshi. But when these ninjas who followed him were easily reaped by Li Anshi's flying daggers, the Third Raikage still felt a pang of heartache. These ninjas were the pillars of the Cloud Village!
Ever since the death of the First Hokage, their Cloud ninjas had constantly clashed with Konoha. But the losses in these past few years combined seemed less than what he had invested in this single battle.
It couldn't be helped; the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju's, strength, though far inferior to the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju's, his creation of the space-time ninjutsu "Flying Thunder God Technique" earned him the title of "Fastest in the Ninja World."
In the face of space-time ninjutsu, the Cloud Village simply couldn't launch a large-scale advance on Konoha. Otherwise, if the battle lines were stretched, Tobirama Senju would find a weakness and inflict massive casualties on the Cloud ninjas.
It was only after finding the weakness of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, that the Cloud ninjas launched an assassination attempt, forcing Tobirama Senju to fight them instead of escaping with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The Gold and Silver Brothers possessed the bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths. After being swallowed by the Nine-Tails, they not only didn't die but survived by consuming the Nine-Tails' flesh and blood in its stomach.
After being spat out by the Nine-Tails, they themselves possessed Nine-Tails chakra, making them two small-scale Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Furthermore, they possessed ninja tools left by the Sage of Six Paths.
It was with the help of these Sage tools that they successfully perished together with the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. The Sage tools preserved in the Cloud Village were also lost due to the deaths of the Gold and Silver Brothers. Otherwise, if even one of the Kōkinjō, Shichiseiken, Benihisago, or Kohaku no Jōhei remained, the Cloud Village's losses in besieging Li Anshi would have been much smaller.
"Lord Raikage, the number of Little Li Flying Dagger's daggers is not right."
Facing the Third Raikage's question, Dodai said in a deep voice, "Under normal circumstances, a ninja's thrown weapons are kept in a ninja tool pouch."
"Even if Little Li Flying Dagger's daggers are smaller than kunai, being able to fit fifty in one ninja tool pouch would be considered a lot."
"But..."
Speaking to this point, Dodai hesitated for a moment.
"So far, our Cloud ninjas' losses have already exceeded one hundred. But we still haven't figured out how many flying daggers Li Anshi still has on him."
"Lord Raikage, should we continue to send people to deplete his flying daggers?"
The ninjas fighting Li Anshi might not have felt it, but Dodai, who was observing the battle with the Third Raikage on the hill, had mixed feelings. Li Anshi was like a gust of wind; wherever he passed, Cloud ninjas fell like scattered leaves, row after row.
With a hundred-meter attack range, those lucky enough could release one or two offensive ninjutsu before dying. Another portion were killed after throwing kunai. Many more didn't even have time to release ninjutsu, or even throw kunai, before a flying dagger appeared in their necks.
This situation made it seem that no matter how many more ninjas were invested, it would be like a drop in the bucket, completely useless.
"Send them! Not only continue to send them, but also increase the number of people sent into the battle!"
The Third Raikage clenched his fists tightly. These ninjas advancing wave after wave were all his beloved subordinates! He would feel heartache for a long time for each one who died. But in just over a minute, more than a hundred Cloud ninjas had died under Li Anshi's flying daggers.