It was deep night, the raid came suddenly, and in the first half of the explosions most Iwa-nin were blown to death.
Those in the middle and later waves were jolted awake by the blasts and each used jutsu to respond, so casualties dropped a fair amount.
Even so, Iwagakure's loss of elite shinobi exceeded Kumogakure's!
Iwagakure is a village known for massed troops—famous across the shinobi world for human-wave tactics and unity.
Iwa jōnin are generally of lower caliber than the other Four Great Villages; the Battle of Kannabi Bridge already showed how "watered down" Iwa's jōnin are.
Kitsuchi and the Iwa high command at the front stepped out from their barriers and, seeing smoke and dust billowing, fire spreading, and the camp in ruins, were about to lose their minds!
But fury was useless; with no outlet for it, they had to swallow it and clean up the mess!
They toiled until past eight in the morning; the surviving Iwa leaders at the front hastily filled their stomachs, then sat down together in a rage to convene.
At the meeting, every shinobi clamored to kill Kokugetsu and Konoha, insisting this debt of blood be repaid!
Kitsuchi had no other thought either; even he couldn't keep calm. He honored the collective will and reported to the village.
Ōnoki, in a good mood, had just reached his office when the bad news arrived; he slammed his desk on the spot, and his good mood for the day vanished.
Ōnoki approved the front's report and immediately set about transferring the elite of Iwa's Demolitions Unit, preparing a tit-for-tat retaliatory raid.
Iwa's Demolitions Unit is akin to other villages' ANBU; the shinobi there are Iwa's elite, not only strong in combat but experts at Earth Release infiltration.
Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu can only burrow in the upper layer of the ground; members of Iwa's Demolitions Unit can generally tunnel in the deeper strata.
Of course, "deeper" is relative; even a jōnin can't burrow hundreds of meters underground.
Two squads of elite Demolitions Unit members, led by Bakuton Kari, set out in secret…
They skirted the Land of Grass, tunneled under the Land of Fire, then burrowed to the rear of Konoha's camp; taking such a roundabout route kept them off Konoha's intelligence network.
Only Orochimaru and Kokugetsu weren't pushovers; naturally they guarded against an Iwa sneak attack.
So the Demolitions Unit found no front-line hospitals or logistics behind the camp.
Those departments had been moved to the camp center.
Though they'd anticipated it, seeing the worst come true still made Bakuton Kari and the others look grim.
In other great villages, sensor-nin are priceless treasures; only in Konoha do they not hold such lofty status.
Konoha has the most sensor-nin in the shinobi world, and of every variety.
Beyond sensor-nin, Konoha also has the most and the strongest sealing and barrier specialists in the world.
To slip into Konoha's camp and cause trouble without a sound is extremely difficult, yet they had to grit their teeth and take the huge risk…
To go back empty-handed, unable to give an account, would end badly!
Whatever the result, they needed at least some gains to return with.
Bakuton Kari and the others circled Konoha's camp, searching for the thinnest spot in its defenses…
But the defense system Orochimaru and company had carefully laid out had no "thinnest" spot—only relatively thinner ones.
Unable to find a minimal-risk position, Bakuton Kari and his men had to steel themselves and pick a relatively thinner location to slip in…
Everyone pushed to their deepest safe depth, not daring to be careless.
This method of infiltration is indeed hard for ordinary sensor-nin to catch—but it can't fool the Byakugan.
In every war, the Hyūga branch family are summoned; it's only a question of numbers.
Moments after the Demolitions Unit tunneled into Konoha's camp, Hyūga patrol shinobi atop the camp spotted them and sounded the alarm.
Deep behind enemy lines, the Demolitions Unit also had sensor-nin; sensing Konoha shinobi converging on their position, they reported up at once.
Bakuton Kari had no choice but to order a retreat.
With surprise lost, pressing an attack inside Konoha's camp was suicide.
Going back empty-handed would be punished, but that beat getting killed.
Because the Demolitions Unit had tunneled deep and withdrew decisively, the Konoha shinobi rushing over truly couldn't stop them.
Ten minutes later, after opening distance from Konoha's camp, Bakuton Kari and his men were about to suffocate and began to surface.
Though they sensed no pursuers, they followed protocol—surfacing in batches, well spaced apart.
That at least avoided instant annihilation.
As three Iwa-nin surfaced, three scarlet pillars of flame dropped from the sky and enveloped them precisely.
"Ahhh—!"
The three screamed miserably and were quickly charred to cinders in the raging flames, then to ash!
"Bad news—enemy pursuit!" the Demolitions Unit's sensor-nin underground said in terror.
"What? How did you not sense it?" Bakuton Kari roared.
"Only one," the sensor-nin answered weakly.
"Only one, and you didn't detect him—don't tell me…"
Bakuton Kari's face grew grave; then he said in a low voice, "Get a message to them—scatter as far as possible."
"Understood."
High above, Kokugetsu took in the enemy's movements at a glance, smiled coolly, and spun down from midair, chopping a heel into the ground.
Boom!
The earth shuddered violently; fissures split the ground; soil billowed like waves; brutal shockwaves cascaded layer by layer through the dirt.
Boom, boom, boom…
With a few more stomps, the nearby earth was ravaged beyond recognition; the rolling impacts were unbearable for Bakuton Kari and the others, and they had no choice but to burst to the surface.
Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!
Kokugetsu flashed through hand seals, drew a deep breath, and spun once in place—a 360-degree ring of transparent wind blades blasted outward…
"Ahhh—!"
Three Iwa-nin who failed to evade were cut in half; blood poured like a waterfall as they thrashed on the torn-up ground.
Dying on the spot was better; those bisected below the chest were miserable beyond words, their shrieks unbearable to hear.
Fwish, fwish, fwish…
The Iwa-nin who'd dodged threw kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags, covering a wide area; except for the sky, there was nowhere to hide.
Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!
Kokugetsu didn't leap skyward but formed seals and cast—an annular earthen wall rose from the ground to shield him.
Bakuton Kari burst out with full speed, aiming to reach the wall and use Landmine Fist, pelting Kokugetsu with a storm of stones to sieve him…
A cold smile curled Kokugetsu's lips; he turned and punched.
Boom!
One section of wall exploded outright; the packed stones, under tremendous force, shot out like bullets.
"Not good!"
Bakuton Kari's face changed; he pulled his fists in to guard his chest, hunched over to reduce target area.
After the barrage, Bakuton Kari's arms were riddled with holes and bruises, and his body bore several punctures and welts as well.
Slash!
Kokugetsu leapt high to avoid a forest of earthen lances thrusting up, landed, and charged Bakuton Kari.
Bakuton Kari grimaced through the pain and retreated quickly; three Iwa-nin with kunai sprang from behind to support him.
Kokugetsu's speed spiked; a Z-shaped flash of blade light flickered—three Iwa-nin froze, clutched their throats, and fell.
From two squads—nine men—only three remained.
"The two of us will hold him—Kubo, run!" Bakuton Kari, resolved to die, said grimly.
Kubo was the sensor-nin's name.
The other Iwa-nin said nothing, but his actions spoke—he spat a stone bullet at Kokugetsu; it left his mouth the size of a jujube pit and swelled to the size of a basin in the wind.
"None of you are getting away…"
Kokugetsu smiled darkly, slipped past the attack, then formed a one-handed seal; his figure turned quickly transparent and vanished.
Bakuton Kari felt a stab of dread, spun, and sprinted at full speed, the other Iwa-nin doing the same.
But even in a headlong rush they were a step too slow; flailing a kunai without form can't guard your life—Kokugetsu slid in from the flank and drove a blade through his throat.
"Damn it!" the two snarled in unison, faces twisted with fury.
Smack!
Kokugetsu yanked the blade free and kicked back, both dodging the blood spatter and booting the corpse away.
Afraid Kokugetsu might use the body for a trick, the two didn't reach to catch it.
"Your turn."
Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!
A high-pressure orb of wind burst from Kokugetsu's mouth and rapidly expanded…
His casting speed was so fast they had no time to muster a defensive jutsu; with nowhere to dodge, they could only meet it in despair.
The result of taking it head-on was being pulped by the high-pressure wind ball; though the deaths were gruesome, the attack so overflowed its force that they didn't suffer.
Moments later, reinforcements arrived; seeing the scene, all were shocked.
"Lord Kokugetsu." Two Konoha squads dropped to one knee with deep respect.
"Mm. Clean the field," Kokugetsu said mildly with a slight nod.
"Yes!"
They rose and set to work with brisk efficiency.
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