After two dull thuds of bodies hitting the ground, the only sound left inside the tent was blood spraying.
Just as Akashō turned to leave the tent and go slaughter those cannon-fodder ninja, amid that spraying noise he suddenly heard something strange, like something burning.
Before he could turn around to check, a scorching heat surged from his back. A violent explosion erupted, dazzling flames instantly swallowing both him and the tent.
"Boom—"
"Over here!!"
The massive blast immediately drew other Hidden Stone Village ninja from within the village. They gathered around the roaring flames, one hand clenched into a fist, the other gripping their weapons, eyes locked tightly on the fire.
"Damn it, it's Explosive Tags."
A dark figure suddenly emerged from the flames. Akashō casually waved away the fire in front of him and stepped out of the aftermath of the explosion. His body was mangled from the close-range blast—flesh torn apart, his back blown open to the point his still-beating heart was visible. Sparks of fire clung to his clothes, hair, and even his skin.
"Annoying pests."
The power of his Demon Body kicked in. Mortal wounds like these healed completely in less than a breath. He then looked at the group of Hidden Stone Village ninja ahead.
"Come. Let me give you a proper welcome."
"H-he's out!"
The Hidden Stone Village ninja all showed nervous expressions upon seeing Akashō.
"H-he looks a bit different from the legendary Kokushibo…"
"Are you stupid? Is that what matters right now? What matters is that he took Explosive Tags at that range and recovered this fast. That so-called immortal body… it might actually be real."
"Enough talk. Stick to the plan—go!!"
"Charge!!!"
Watching them regain their fighting spirit after a brief hesitation and rush at him, Akashō snorted coldly. He gripped his longsword, pink-white light and crescent-shaped yellow blades gathering along it. In an instant, he slashed out several blade winds, cutting down a few fodder, then kicked off the ground and plunged straight into the crowd.
But just as he had beheaded two people, amid the deafening battle cries he faintly heard that familiar sound again.
Startled, Akashō lowered his head. The two he had just killed were clutching several burning Explosive Tags tightly in their hands.
Explosive Tags again.
"What the hell???"
"Boom!!!"
A series of explosions erupted, instantly engulfing Akashō along with several nearby Hidden Stone Village ninja. Within the blasts, his body was once again blown to pieces.
Just as his Demon Body began regenerating, more explosions rang out from the positions of those ninja wrapped in Explosive Tags, further shredding his already heavily damaged body.
On the outer edges, even more Hidden Stone Village ninja gripped Explosive Tags. After a brief hesitation, they charged straight into the explosions with resolute expressions, feeding fuel into this grand inferno.
Within the explosions, Akashō's face filled with shock. Damn it, what kind of tactic is this? He knew about human wave tactics—but a human bomb wave tactic? Isn't that going too far?
...
On a cliffside, Rōshi stood with over a hundred true Hidden Stone Village ninja, coldly observing the continuous explosions in the village several hundred meters away.
"If the Tsuchikage's deduction is correct, then today the legendary Moon Sword Demon Kokushibo will probably die a miserable death at the hands of this pile of fodder."
Rōshi glanced at the man beside him and sneered.
"He's really willing to pay the price for revenge. Two thousand ninja lives—sure, they're just weak rogue ninja and missing-nin, but that's still a hefty cost. Not to mention nearly ten thousand Explosive Tags."
"Hahaha, Kitsuchi was killed. How could he not be furious?"
The man laughed loudly.
"Otherwise he wouldn't ignore the other members of the Dark Council and focus solely on Kokushibo, even spending such a huge price to create this Kokushibo Hunting Plan. But don't relax too much—if these Explosive Tags aren't enough, my demolition unit alone won't cut it."
"Hmph, I don't need you to remind me."
Rōshi clearly didn't care much for the man's opinion. The leader of the Hidden Stone Village's demolition unit, the Explosion Release user Gari—his strength was decent, but far from top-tier. Not worth taking seriously.