Chapter 97: Repelling the First Wave of Attack
Unfortunately, as he shouted, he looked into Mieko's eyes. Mieko didn't miss the chance and cast a genjutsu on him.
Hodaka engaged the blind chunin. The chunin was already blind, and his right leg was severely cut.
But even in this state, he still used every weapon he had, attacking Hodaka fiercely. Such a counterattack showcased his experience and desperation.
However, Hodaka remained calm and maintained his fighting stance. He said, "You are already within my range."
Then he launched his attack, performing Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms.
All of Hodaka's strikes hit their targets, and the final blow struck his opponent's chest, stopping his heart. The chunin fell to the ground, dead.
Unlike Mieko and Hodaka, Kaito first attacked the weakest enemies.
He first used Body Flicker to appear behind two blind genin, killing both of them with a single sword stroke. Then he quickly flickered to the remaining two genin one by one, eliminating them as well.
These four couldn't even block a single strike from Kaito. Only one of the four raised a kunai to block Kaito's sword, but his kunai was cut in half, just like his body.
Among the two shinobi on top of the ruins, one was a chunin and the other was a genin.
They were still afraid of the sword slash that destroyed the forest and also feared the rockslide. So when they saw the three children use Body Flicker, they didn't react immediately.
When they realized what was happening, the chunin wanted to go help his comrades. But before he could take a few steps, Kaito killed two people. This made him stop in his tracks.
In the next few seconds, he watched Kaito kill two more people and then look directly at him.
He quickly retreated, thinking, "What a bunch of monsters! Are they really children? Is Konoha sending ANBU in disguise?"
He looked down at the wreckage and screamed internally, "Where are the rest? Get out quickly!"
The genin also retreated alongside him.
Kaito stopped after killing his opponents. About half a minute later, Hodaka also killed his opponent. Soon after, Mieko's opponent stabbed himself in the throat under genjutsu.
Kaito immediately used Body Flicker to reach Mieko after she finished off her opponent and said, "Let's begin."
She nodded and formed several hand seals.
They simultaneously cast Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet and Wind Release: Wind Dragon Technique.
Kaito and Mieko could both sense the shinobi's chakra emerging from the ruins. A fifty-meter-long giant dragon appeared, mostly composed of superheated wind, with four claws and many teeth made of fire.
Seeing the giant dragon form, the two chunin on top of the ruins sped up and ran toward the direction of the third wave.
The giant dragon moved quickly and arrived above the ruins. Then it plunged toward the spot where six shinobi were climbing up. They were about to move the last piece of wood blocking their way when the giant dragon swooped down on them.
Fortunately, there was a novice sensory-type shinobi among them, and he shouted, "Cast defensive Water Release above us! Quickly!"
Fortunately, there was a chunin in this group whose natural affinity was Water Release. He quickly formed hand seals and performed Water Release: Water Formation Wall.
A water barrier appeared above him. Its surface curved like a dome, it was over ten centimeters thick, and it grew thicker as he infused more chakra into it.
When the giant dragon was ten meters above the group, it opened its gaping maw and fired a Wind Blast sphere composed of extremely hot air.
The Wind Blast sphere hit the barrier and exploded. The water barrier protected the group from the blast, but it was also dispersed as a result.
The next second, the giant dragon crashed into them, exploding in flames that quickly spread with the help of the wind.
The shinobi saw the giant dragon coming toward them and tried to scatter. Unfortunately, the ruins around them blocked their escape routes.
They all took direct hits. The surrounding fallen trees also caught fire. The fire began spreading rapidly. With no escape routes available, they jumped into the hole created by the giant dragon's impact.
Seeing this, Kaito sighed inwardly, even though the attack had successfully hit its target.
"It's a pity the Wind Dragon doesn't have the intelligence of a Wind Clone. If it did, this technique would become incredibly powerful."
All six shinobi successfully jumped out of the ruins and escaped the immediate flames.
The chunin with Water Release affinity formed hand seals, created a water barrier around himself, and then brought it down to extinguish the fire on his body. Then he began spraying water at the other five, starting with the sensory-type shinobi.
He successfully extinguished the flames on them. He and the sensory-type shinobi both had first-degree burns. Two of them had second-degree burns. The last two were unconscious and in critical condition. They needed immediate medical treatment.
Just then, the remaining two shinobi who were buried under the ruins finally escaped.
All the shinobi from the second wave finally regrouped.
Meanwhile, the third wave of bandits arrived at the edge of the forest, at the ruins.
Seeing this, Kaito, Hodaka, and Mieko did not advance but waited in position.
Renjiro had by this time cleared the hillside and slowed the rockslide with a mud flow, allowing the rocks to settle slowly to the ground.
He used Body Flicker to appear at the back of his squad, while his Shadow Clone watched over the merchants.
The ruins blocked the bandits' advance. They could no longer move forward easily. However, the shinobi had a bad feeling about the situation.
Kairan Tomio led the shinobi to the top of the ruins, where he regrouped with the remaining survivors.
He saw the scene before him and exclaimed in shock, "Only eight of the hundred attackers are left? Half of them are already injured. It hasn't even been a few minutes since the first wave attacked!"
Then his gaze drifted to the hill on the other side of the clearing.
"Even the fifty people who attacked from the hill are gone! Where did that useless Tamae Norio go? And why does it look like there was a landslide there?"
He quickly questioned an uninjured chunin.
"What happened here? Speak quickly! Also, where are Tamae Norio and the others?"
As he asked, his full attention was on Senju Renjiro.
Due to the small numbers remaining, he had no confidence in fighting him. The other nine shinobi accompanying him were also on high alert.
The chunin—the same one who had retreated earlier—was startled by Kairan Tomio but quickly began explaining to him.
On Team Renjiro's side, as the shinobi of the third wave began regrouping with the survivors of the second wave, Kaito said, "The shinobi of the third wave should be very confused right now. We can take this opportunity to attack quickly. Does sensei have any suggestions?"
He thought, "If it's just defense, the best way is to completely burn down this forest. The fire can act as a barrier. Then Renjiro-sensei can hunt them down."
"But if we want to completely eliminate them, then the fire will become an obstacle for us, and it will take more effort to finish them all."
Renjiro nodded and said, "My Shadow Clone will take care of the merchants, so let's just attack head-on. I'll deal with that jonin directly and take him out. You three hold back the rest. I'll create another Shadow Clone to watch over you."
Saying that, Renjiro formed the hand seals for Shadow Clone Technique again, creating another Shadow Clone, and said, "Let's go."
The five of them used Body Flicker Technique together and departed toward the enemy.
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