The Anbu from the three Villages naturally recognized the Third Hokage, and seeing him let Sasori of the Red Sand go, they knew there would be no peace.
From each of the three teams, a Jonin stepped forward; it seemed they were the Jonin from the three Great Villages leading these Anbu.
The one from the Hidden Sand Village was a Puppet Master whom Ling didn't recognize, and who likely hadn't appeared in the original work; he had five puppets wrapped in bandages on his back.
Ling knew that this cunning Sunagakure Jonin actually sent his puppets out while he himself was disguised as a puppet, hidden inside one of them.
The Anbu Squad Leader from the Hidden Cloud Village was a muscular, dark-skinned man, wielding a Ninjato. His swordsmanship style was likely similar to Ling's, a fast, heavy strike, but his was Lightning Release.
Ling still didn't recognize the Anbu Squad Leader from Iwagakure. Seeing his bare arm and empty hands, he was likely a Jonin skilled in Earth Release Ninjutsu.
"Respected Hokage-sama of Konoha Village, we are here by order of our Village's Kage to apprehend the rogue Ninja Sasori. Due to the urgency of the situation, the official letter signed by our Village's Kage has not yet reached Konoha. Please facilitate this; we will not cause any destruction in the Land of Fire."
That Puppet Master actually knew to play it safe first, using that presumably unsigned official letter to ask the Third Hokage for convenience.
The Jonin from Iwagakure didn't speak. Before coming, the Third Tsuchikage had already instructed him that if they were expelled, they should leave, and if they encountered an extermination, they should flee for their lives.
As it seemed now, unless the Third Hokage let them go, they likely couldn't escape. With more Konoha Ninja than their total number, plus the Third Hokage, how could they possibly fight?
The Jonin from Kumogakure wasn't foolish either; he was ready for battle at any moment. The Third Raikage had also given him some instructions, finally telling him that if he died, the Hidden Cloud Village would avenge him.
"I haven't received any official letters from that young man Rasa or that shorty Ōnoki, nor from the Hidden Cloud Village. This old man will give you two choices."
"One, surrender and let your Village's Kage ransom you back; two, this old man will personally send you on your way!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was incredibly resolute. The demeanor of a Ninja Hero made his not-so-tall body feel exceptionally oppressive. When the Village's strategy required him to be resolute, he was a Ninja Hero!
The three Jonin gritted their teeth at this moment, their faces grim. They knew that their actions could trigger a Great Shinobi War, and the Third Hokage's current actions seemed to indicate he wasn't afraid of a Great Shinobi War at all.
"Our mission must be completed, and we cannot surrender."
Although the Puppet Master Jonin from Sunagakure knew death was imminent, he remained incredibly resolute. A Ninja is such a twisted profession; for a mission, they can sacrifice everything, including their own lives.
"Since that's the case! Then come on! This old man hasn't made a move in a long time! The Ninja World has already forgotten this old man's title as a Ninja Hero. Today, let your blood reforge it!"
The Third Hokage started with a Shuriken, then quickly formed hand signs to use the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Ling found this Jutsu rather useless. The Jonin from Iwagakure easily blocked it with an Earth Flow Rampart, and even helped his teammates from the other two Villages block it as well.
After the 'greeting gift' was sent, the battle horn was finally blown. Initially, it was a clash of Ninjutsu, but unfortunately, facing the various Ninjutsu from over three hundred Ninja, Iwagakure's combined Earth Flow Rampart could only barely hold them back.
On one side, there were layers upon layers of earth walls for defense, while most of Konoha's Ninja used Water Release: Great Waterfall Jutsu, repeatedly striking the Earth Flow Rampart.
It was quite a spectacular scene, like dozens of meters high waves of Water Release encountering tall earth walls rising from the ground. This kind of power to change the land was actually used by Ninja for war.
No wonder Ninja's thousand-year history hasn't seen much progress; they are still monkeys trapped on a planet.
It must be said that in terms of Earth Release defensive Ninjutsu, Iwagakure was indeed exceptional. The Great Waterfall Jutsu from over a hundred Konoha Ninja only managed to wash away two-thirds of the earth wall.
The waves surged over the Earth Flow Rampart, also disrupting the Earth Release maintained by many Iwagakure Ninja. Coupled with the Lightning Release infused into the Water Release, these individuals were quickly knocked out.
Many Anbu were directly hit by Ninjutsu of other attributes. Except for those who reacted quickly and evaded with the Substitution Jutsu, others either died instantly or were severely wounded.
Ling naturally used Lightning Release, which was most effective against Earth Release. A B-rank Lightning Snake pierced through six or seven layers of the Earth Flow Rampart, giving his other teammates the opportunity for their Ninjutsu to completely break through the Earth Flow Rampart and open a breach.
This was how Ninja armies fought: starting with large-scale combined Ninjutsu, it was a test of who could outlast whom. Clearly, Konoha had the advantage here.
Apart from a few offensive Ninjutsu, most of their opponents used defensive Ninjutsu. Earth Release had a large range and strong defense, and it consumed little Chakra by borrowing earth from nature.
Iwagakure likely intended to continuously use the Earth Flow Rampart for defense, primarily aiming to deplete Konoha Ninja's Chakra.
Aside from Lightning Release, their Earth Release wasn't very afraid of attacks from other Ninjutsu. The number of Jonin in Konoha Village who could use Lightning Release wasn't large.
However, Ninja who used Water Release made up the majority, and although they didn't have an environmental advantage, they repeatedly washed away the enemy Village's combined Earth Release defense.
Iwagakure couldn't keep taking damage for the Anbu of the other Villages, so after enduring several more impacts, they began preparing to flee.
As for why they didn't flee earlier, they wanted to, but they couldn't outrun them. They could only try to deplete the enemy's Chakra to see if there was a chance.
Otherwise, a routed army facing the enemy's combined Ninjutsu would definitely not be able to escape. Sunagakure and Kumogakure also didn't take advantage of the Iwagakure Anbu holding them off to escape, or else they would become the targets.
They only planned to escape during the lull when Konoha's first wave of attacks ended and they needed to gather Chakra for another attack. Otherwise, there would be no chance to escape at all.
It was also Ling's first time witnessing the combat style of a Ninja army. This kind of combined Ninjutsu, except for beings of Madara's level, even a Village Kage wouldn't dare to face it head-on.
In this clash of Ninjutsu, about twenty Anbu from various Villages died. These were the unlucky ones, also the weakest or injured individuals.
However, by repeatedly using combined Ninjutsu and then retreating, they managed to cover several hundred meters, enough to buy some time to escape.
After that came close-quarters combat, which was the combat method with the highest death toll. Because the previous Ninjutsu clash had already depleted most of the Chakra refined earlier, at this point, they needed to fight in close quarters while looking for opportunities to recover Chakra.
A Jonin's Chakra sounds like a lot, but after using a few A-rank or B-rank Ninjutsu, it would likely be nearly depleted.
At the Jonin level, Chakra refinement was already instinctive, like breathing, though normally it operated at the lowest efficiency.
It merely maintained a similar rate between Chakra dissipation and extraction. Although Chakra couldn't be stored, dissipation took a certain amount of time.
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