He was dead. Their own commander had been killed by a single slash just like that. Everyone stared blankly, foolishly watching the scene unfold.
Kusuo watched as the opponent's head was so easily lopped off by him. Under his calm gaze, he felt a slight sense of emotion in his heart. To be able to become the commander of the Hidden Stone Village's forces in the Land of Demons, Onoki Shio's strength and talent were definitely not weak. He could be said to be a standout. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been entrusted with such a heavy responsibility by the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, to command the army.
In fact, Kusuo had indeed sensed from his breathing and aura that this ninja's strength was not weak. He was even stronger than his cousin, Kakashi. An outstanding ninja who had almost stepped into the concept of Kage-level. Normally, for a ninja of this level, it was very rare for a one-sided situation to occur. All sorts of substitution jutsu, life-saving skills, and physical fitness had reached a state of perfection. Even if they were no match, they could always hold on for a while or escape.
But that person... had been killed with a slit throat without any room to resist. So easily that even Kusuo himself felt surprised.
The will to die. Fear. These two things were the biggest taboos on a life-or-death battlefield.
Once upon a time, Kusuo himself was just an unknown genin. Even Danzo had spied on him from the shadows. Now, in just a few short years, he had grown to the point where his reputation alone could make a peak jonin lose his fighting spirit.
His gaze casually swept over the Iwa ninja in front of him, and he slowly raised the sword in his hand.
SIZZLE!
The blade was wreathed in golden lightning, striking the negative oxygen ions in the air and producing a blue electric arc.
Perhaps thinking that they had no way to live, no way to retreat, or perhaps stimulated by the death of the commander of the Iwa army, the dozen or so jonin-level captains' eyes were filled with desperation and determination. They gritted their teeth and began to form hand seals.
"Earth Style! Earth Flow River!"
One of them spat out a pool of sticky mud, which rapidly expanded after hitting the ground. In the blink of an eye, it had turned the entire ground into a mud swamp. The stickiness and corrosiveness of the swamp bubbled, forcing back Kusuo's sword, which was preparing to advance.
They had pinpointed Kusuo's only weakness. He couldn't fly. No matter how sharp Kusuo's sword was, as long as it couldn't chop down on their heads, it was no threat at all.
At the same time, another jonin also stood out. He was the most special ninja in this group, possessing a fusion ninjutsu of fire and earth attributes: Lava Style. As a standout in the Hidden Stone's special assassination unit, he had roamed the battlefield relying on his Lava Style Kekkei Genkai, being invincible in small-scale battles. Originally, he had thought this battle could be won without bloodshed. Who knew that such a strong opponent would appear halfway through?
"All of you, move aside!" he strode forward, shouting at his comrades. Then, he clapped his hands together with a PAK.
"Lava Style! Great Molten Fist Technique!"
BOOM!
A mouthful of scorching hot and thick lava spewed from his mouth, turning into a giant lava wrist in mid-air, a full three or four adult sizes. With one grip, it could crush a person in its palm and melt them into charcoal.
The other dozen or so jonin also attacked at the same time. Various Earth Style ninjutsu, mixed with other elemental ninjutsu, all swept towards Kusuo in a jumble.
Kusuo held his sword, which was wrapped in golden lightning.
Jonin... as expected, they cannot be underestimated.
Although he possessed the strength to kill them with a casual strike, needing only a single slash, they could see that his Thunder Breathing sword technique required solid ground to exert its force, and then targetedly cast a terrain-changing ninjutsu like Earth Flow River. Add to that the Lava Style ninja. He was very young, and the power of his Kekkei Genkai greatly enhanced his strength. Kusuo's golden lightning sword could only slash quickly and couldn't destroy the enemy on a large scale. This giant molten fist... in a sense, it completely countered his Thunder Breathing sword technique.
"What do we do? Should we go up and help?"
"Lord Kusuo is already deeply surrounded. If we keep watching, it might be too late!"
The mood on the Konoha side rose and fell with Kusuo's situation. From one slash against Onoki Shio to now being severely restricted by the terrain, they became anxious, all wanting to rush up and help.
"Wait!"
Here, besides Guy, there was another jonin. He shouted in a deep voice to stop them, his expression serious as he stared at the situation over there. "Our strength is too low. We can't even handle the Earth Flow River over there. What are you going to go up with? Are you rushing up to die?"
His almost reprimanding roar made all the chunin and genin on the Konoha side lower their heads. Among them, Neji, Tenten, and Lee, who had already been promoted to chunin, watched anxiously from both sides. On one side was Guy-sensei, who was tied up with the four elite jonin after opening the seventh gate. On the other side was Kusuo, who seemed to have been surrounded by large-scale ninjutsu and Kekkei Genkai, in a precarious situation.
"Neji, what do we do?" Tenten was still used to asking Neji when their teacher was not around, this former genius.
Neji, with his Byakugan active, didn't need to look back and forth. With his near-360-degree vision, he could take in both battlefields at once. The respective combat power comparisons and possibilities were rapidly calculated in his mind.
After a few breaths, Neji gritted his teeth and, pointing in Guy's direction, said, "We'll go help Guy-sensei. The jonin captain was right just now. We can't even break through the opponent's ninjutsu. How can we help? And... have you forgotten how strong he is?"
At these words, Tenten and Lee had a sudden realization. Their most direct understanding of Kusuo's strength was from a few years ago, when he had publicly executed Danzo in the Konoha square. That aura... made one feel fear, and not want to be his enemy.
"I hope he can be safe," they thought.
Since the decision had been made, Tenten's team immediately rushed to Guy's side. With a flick of a scroll, a large number of chakra weapons and ninja tools appeared out of thin air, shooting out.
"A nice team effort."
Kusuo was already watching the giant lava fist about to descend upon him, his movements not flustered at all. With a turn of his blade, it turned a tranquil blue. It was as if the surrounding air had become much more humid, even moisturizing the ground that had been dried by the high temperature of the Lava Style.
The earth had turned into a swamp, lava, and wet soil. A mere pre-battle exchange had already changed the terrain to this extent. It was terrifying.
Kusuo moved. His wrist flicked, and the azure blade rippled with circles of water.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form! Constant Flux!"
Kusuo's body rotated at high speed on the ground and gradually flew into the mid-air. This fierce whirlwind kicked up waves, which hit the land, splashing crystal clear water droplets. Petal-shaped water blades bloomed from his body and became continuously sharper with the rotation of his body. The speed became faster and faster. The humming of the water blades grew more and more intense.
SIZZLE! SIZZLE! SIZZLE!
The blue blade collided with the giant lava fist. One clash. Just one clash and it was crushed. The scorching, flowing lava, upon touching the cold and sharp water spray, cooled rapidly and turned into rock, falling to the ground.
"Th-this is impossible!" The Hidden Stone ANBU's Kekkei Genkai ninja was dumbfounded, his face filled with disbelief. He absolutely couldn't believe that a mere sword blade could crush his signature technique. That casualness in the light and understated motion... it was as if it were just an ant encountered in the path of the blade. Casually crushed and passed by.
-------
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