Gekkō Sō led his battalion away to support the Yamashiro-dera battalion on the other side.
"Water Release: Snake Mouth!"
Seeing this, the Kiri-nin Battalion Commander quickly used Water Release to block them.
If the Konoha ninja here were allowed to escape, the other Kiri-nin Battalion Commanders would file serious complaints against him later.
A Water Release giant snake several meters thick charged towards Gekkō Sō.
Gekkō Sō knew the Water Release: Snake Mouth technique. This technique enhanced the Water snake's bite force; once bitten, even the spine could be shattered.
"Water Release: Water Cutting Wave!"
Gekkō Sō, who had just raised his hand, lowered it. Copper Fox had made his move.
The high-speed water beam swept across, severing the head of the Kiri-nin Jōnin's Water Release Snake Mouth. The entire Water Release could not maintain its form and instantly crumbled.
Yōkō blocked the path of the Kiri-nin Jōnin: "Your opponent is me."
The Kiri-nin Jōnin's face turned ugly. Konoha Anbu Copper Fox, a ninja who could earn a title, was stronger than him.
"Water Release: Snake Mouth!"
Another Water Release giant snake surged forth.
Black Gorilla and three other Anbu members rushed out, using the improved version of the Earth-Style Wall.
Three Earth-Style Walls rose, all were the improved version with a wider base, narrower top, and several pilasters set behind the wall.
The three Earth-Style Walls blocked the Kiri-nin Jōnin's Water Release.
The Kiri-nin Jōnin was stunned; his Water Release was actually blocked by three Earth-Style Walls.
Were these ordinary Anbu ninja's Earth Release ninjutsu this powerful? Stronger than estimated.
Losing sight of Copper Fox, the Kiri-nin Jōnin quickly waved his hand, ordering his Kiri-nin subordinates to charge forward, entangle the Konoha Anbu, and buy him time to find Copper Fox.
A few seconds later, the sound of breaking earth suddenly came from behind the Kiri-nin Jōnin.
Copper Fox emerged from behind him!
The Kiri-nin Jōnin swiftly swung his arm, holding a kunai reverse-grip, and stabbed backwards fiercely.
However, his kunai stopped just a few centimetres from Copper Fox's throat.
He hadn't even forced out Copper Fox's legendary absolute defense secret technique.
All his joints were locked by sealing curse patterns; he couldn't move at all.
Yōkō raised his hand, snatched the Kiri-nin Jōnin's kunai, and stabbed it into the Kiri-nin Jōnin's throat.
"Your Water Release is good. Pity you don't have Earth attribute chakra, you couldn't even detect my stealth approach."
Five-element ninja are strong precisely because they have fewer weaknesses.
In ninja confrontations, offensive capability is one aspect, but having fewer weaknesses is more important.
Most ninjas are glass cannons; if you get close, they die.
With the Kiri-nin Battalion Commander dead, the remaining Kiri-nin quickly lost organisational capacity.
Yōkō moved among the Kiri-nin, using powerful taijutsu to tank the Kiri-nin's kunai or ninja swords, then counterattacking to kill them.
The last three Kiri-nin stood back-to-back, trembling.
They held Explosive Tags, looking as if they wanted to take the Konoha Anbu down with them.
A Water Cutting Wave rushed over, bisecting all three.
Six sections of corpses flew out. The shinobi world war has always been this cruel.
Corpses of Kiri-nin were everywhere. Yōkō glanced around; among them were also a few bodies of his subordinates.
Even for the advantaged side, some Kiri-nin, with their hidden trump cards revealed just before death, would still take their Anbu members with them.
With the battle here concluded, Yōkō led his squad to the next battlefield.
About a hundred meters away, the Yamashiro-dera battalion was fiercely fighting another Kiri-nin battalion.
They were enveloped in mist; only the sounds of clashing metal and various explosions could be heard.
Yōkō said: "All Wind Release users, step forward! Use Wind Release: Great Breakthrough together!"
Announcing the arrival of reinforcements with a combined Wind Release ninjutsu was much more useful than rushing in hastily.
Including Yōkō, seven Anbu members stepped forward and used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough together.
A strong wind howled, pushing the mist away rapidly, revealing the ninja inside.
The Kiri-nin on the outermost edge suddenly found the mist gone, feeling as exposed as if naked.
Many of the Kiri-nin's silent assassination techniques relied on the mist to obscure vision.
With the mist blown away, Yamashiro-dera saw the Anbu squad on the flank and breathed a sigh of relief.
At the beginning, his single battalion had encountered two Kiri-nin battalions, instantly suffering many casualties.
Later, the Gekkō Sō battalion arrived and held off one Kiri-nin battalion.
His own battalion was struggling to cope.
Now the Anbu squad was here. Copper Fox was an Anbu Jōnin, stronger than an ordinary Konoha Jōnin.
After the Fox Squad entered the fray, the battle quickly reversed.
The Fox Squad formed a wedge formation. Yōkō was at the front, using Water Cutting Wave to clear large groups of enemies and Earth-Style Wall to block the Kiri-nin's combined Water Releases.
Since improving the Earth-Style Wall with civil engineering knowledge, Yōkō found it much more useful than the Water Formation Wall.
The Earth-Style Wall wouldn't disappear like the Water Formation Wall, could block the enemy's line of sight, and allowed many tactics to be arranged around it.
While busy, Yōkō suddenly spotted a petite figure on the battlefield.
Wasn't that Zhenli?
The kunoichi who had once raided Shapo Port with Yōkō on the Land of Rivers battlefield.
Zhenli was struggling against a Kiri-nin.
The ground was muddy from Water Release techniques. This Kiri-nin mastered the skill of sliding quickly through mud, while the mud slowed Zhenli's movements.
Just as Zhenli was at her wits' end, a water line suddenly cut across her field of vision.
That troublesome Kiri-nin no longer had any room to dodge and manoeuvre; he was bisected by the water line.
Zhenli had seen this technique before!
At Shapo Port, Fujita, no, it was Anbu Fox, later heard to be called Anbu Copper Fox, who had used this technique.
Zhenli turned her head and indeed saw an Anbu member wearing a fox mask.
After nodding to Zhenli, Yōkō hurried off to other fights.
The Fox Squad quickly divided the battlefield.
After Yamashiro-dera killed the Kiri-nin Battalion Commander, the Kiri-nin quickly collapsed.
Yōkō said to Yamashiro-dera: "Jōnin Yamashiro-dera, finish the fight here and go help Battalion Commander Yellow Dog and Uchiha Tōka and the others as soon as possible!"
Yamashiro-dera nodded; that was the main battlefield over there.
Over ten minutes later, Yōkō and Yamashiro-dera together helped Gekkō Sō defeat the Kiri-nin battalion. The three units then headed towards the mountainous area south of the hillside.
The area south of the hillside was also shrouded in mist.
Gathering all Wind Release users, they used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough on the combat area.
A gale comparable to a typhoon blew away the mist, revealing the battlefield.
Uchiha Tōka, Uchiha Michi, and eight Special Jōnin were fighting Hōzuki Muragetsu.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog was locked in combat with Hoshigaki Kisame.
Yamashiro-dera said, "Shall we help Battalion Commander Yellow Dog?"
The Uchiha clan controlled the Konoha Military Police Force, like a small kingdom.
If not for the Land of Whirlpools war, most Konoha ninja were unwilling to deal with the Uchiha clan's law enforcers.
But Yōkō said: "No! We go after Hōzuki Muragetsu! Hōzuki Muragetsu is the overall commander of the sword retrieval team; his value is higher."
Yamashiro-dera and Gekkō Sō exchanged glances, both feeling they had been influenced by preconceptions, not considering helping the Uchiha clan first.
Copper Fox's judgment was more correct.
Yōkō said: "Have all squads find their own targets, preferably annihilating all three Kiri-nin battalions. The three of us will deal with Hōzuki Muragetsu!"
Yamashiro-dera, Gekkō Sō, and Yōkō left the group and body-flickered one after another, landing around Hōzuki Muragetsu.
Seeing the three strong reinforcements, Uchiha Tōka felt excited.
Hōzuki Muragetsu's abilities severely countered the Uchiha clan; the Uchiha ninja were struggling too hard.
Yōkō glanced at Hoshigaki Kisame. The great sword Samehada would later belong to Hoshigaki Kisame, even being called the first owner of the great sword Samehada by Kirigakure.
Kirigakure was unwilling to admit that the great sword Samehada had once belonged to the Hōzuki clan.
Yōkō thought to himself, Hōzuki Muragetsu has the Hydrification Technique and the Hydrification Healing Technique; he's very hard to kill.
If they injure Hōzuki Muragetsu, Hoshigaki Kisame might just help Konoha eliminate Hōzuki Muragetsu, this powerful enemy, himself.
Seeing three additional Konoha Jōnin suddenly nearby, Hōzuki Muragetsu quickly shouted: "Retreat! Withdraw!"
Yōkō blocked Hōzuki Muragetsu's escape route: "You're not going anywhere. Today, you must leave here horizontally!"
***
Dive deeper into the story with 50+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!
(Chapter End)