Seeing the many Sand Hidden ninjas surrounding them, Shiraishi and the other two, though their inner emotions briefly surged, quickly suppressed these fluctuations.
Since the die was cast, panicking here would only make their situation more perilous.
"Ayane, how many people are there?"
Shiraishi turned his head and asked.
"Including the inactive Sand ninjas, there are a total of one hundred and seventy-six people. Currently, one hundred and three Sand ninjas are attacking us."
The scope of this Sand Hidden base wasn't very large, and they were already deep within enemy territory. Ayane could use her Byakugan to see the number and positions of the enemies clearly.
"One hundred and three people, which means each of us has to deal with thirty-four enemies on average. This is truly a huge challenge."
Moreover, to trigger the riot earlier, Ruri had already consumed most of her chakra, and probably only had half left now.
Against ordinary enemies, Ruri with half her chakra would be enough, but facing so many Sand ninjas, many of whom were Jonin, it seemed like an impossible and terrible situation to win.
"In the upcoming battle, conserve chakra as much as possible and fight using natural energy."
Shiraishi glanced at Ruri and told her.
Ruri nodded; she was thinking the same thing.
Compared to the inexhaustible natural energy, chakra should indeed be conserved in such a dire situation and used at critical moments.
"Let's change our strategy now. Ayane, you're responsible for finding a way out with your Byakugan. Ruri and I will handle the fighting. We'll find the weakest point and break through."
Before, because they needed to cause a disturbance, Ruri's Fire Style jutsu was the main focus, and they had to protect Ruri to prevent her from being distracted during the operation.
But now, to find a way to survive, they could only rely on Ayane's Byakugan, while he and Ruri were responsible for protecting her actions.
"I'll do my best."
Ayane's expression was grim.
Among the Sand ninjas here, there were many sensory-type ninjas, which posed a huge challenge for the Byakugan's all-encompassing exploration ability.
"We'll talk about the mission later. The important thing now is to escape from here. If there are no problems, move out!"
Not only were Ruri and Ayane angry about the intelligence error, but Shiraishi was also in a terrible mood.
However, precisely at such a time, they couldn't let anger burn away their rationality. At this moment, they had to think rationally and find a way to escape.
Regardless of whether the village intended to use their team as bait from the start, or if there were problems with those Root Anbu ninjas who might have dug such a trap for them to fall into.
Or perhaps Konoha received incorrect intelligence from the beginning, and this was one of the Sand Hidden's schemes.
Only by getting out alive could they get answers and investigate the full story.
"Follow me!"
Ayane didn't waste words. With their lives at stake, they had to do their best to find a way out.
Shiraishi and Ruri also followed.
At the same time, both of them abandoned the manipulation of chakra within their bodies, instead thoroughly calming down and beginning to absorb the surrounding natural energy.
Due to different locations, the amount of natural energy could vary, which would affect the speed of natural energy extraction.
However, this was the forest region of the Land of Rivers, and the natural energy floating in the trees and air was abundant. In just a few seconds, Shiraishi and Ruri's bodies were filled with natural energy.
As soon as the natural energy entered their bodies, Shiraishi and Ruri felt their bodies become incredibly light. Now, even smashing the ground with a single punch wouldn't be a problem.
But now was not the time to be happy about their increased strength. After all, they were facing hundreds of elite Sand ninjas, including several troublesome Jonin. Once they were entangled, it would be difficult to break out.
At this moment, they should be grateful that their team had the Byakugan, which allowed them to be alerted to the abnormality of this fake supply point in advance. Otherwise, if they only discovered it was a fake supply point at the very end, they would only be waiting for death.
Before the Sand Hidden ninjas formed a tight encirclement, Ayane had already found the weakest breakthrough point, where only twenty-nine Sand ninjas were positioned.
Compared to other directions, the number of Sand ninjas surrounding them here was the smallest.
Clang! Clang!
Shiraishi picked up his kunai and deflected the shuriken flying from the front.
Then he quickly engaged two Sand ninjas.
In the dark, lightless forest, only figures were seen darting rapidly, and intense sparks erupted from the clash of kunai.
The two Sand ninjas discovered that Shiraishi's strength was very powerful. In just an instant of engagement, they couldn't help but let out a muffled groan of pain, their arms feeling incredibly sore, and they almost couldn't hold their kunai steady.
Then, by the time they adjusted their stances to look for Shiraishi again, Ruri, who was covering the rear, had also caught up. She casually used her kunai to slash across the necks of the two Sand ninjas, eliminating them.
Because of their speed, and because none of the three were particularly keen on prolonged fights, they would deal with fiercely resisting enemies if they could, but if they encountered overly troublesome foes, they would focus on repelling them.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
A violent gale attacked from behind. Mixed within the surging wind were a large number of kunai and shuriken.
Due to the influence of the gale, the flight speed and penetration power of these kunai and shuriken were greatly enhanced.
However, these minor tricks were easily deflected by Ruri, whose taijutsu was enhanced by natural energy, as she knocked down the flying kunai and shuriken.
Boom! Boom!
However, some kunai had explosive tags attached to them. The shockwave generated by the explosion immediately sent Ruri's small body flying, and she barely managed to stand on a tree branch, her face slightly pale.
"Don't let them escape!"
"Kill these Leaf ninjas!"
Figures darted all around, and shouts of killing intent surrounded them from all directions.
Among these Sand ninjas were skilled sensory-type ninjas. No matter which direction Shiraishi and his team tried to break through, Sand ninjas would relentlessly pursue them.
Moreover, the number of Sand ninjas was increasing, and the elite Sand ninjas blocking the front were fearless, desperately delaying Shiraishi and the others' escape time to allow reinforcements to arrive.
"Don't get bogged down in battle!"
Seeing the displeased expression on Ruri's face, Shiraishi knew what she wanted to do. In this unprecedentedly frustrating battle, she must have accumulated terrifying anger in her heart, wanting to fight these Sand ninjas head-on.
But now was not the time to act impulsively.
Even with natural energy, they were not invincible.
Being surrounded by a large number of Sand ninjas would only lead to death.
"I know. Don't talk to me in that commanding tone."
Ruri snorted. The explosive tag that had detonated near her had caused a tightness in her chest and ignited the boiling fighting spirit within her.
"..."
I don't want to be like this either. Shiraishi sighed.
These Sand ninjas were chasing and biting like rabid dogs. It wasn't an important supply point, so why were they fighting so desperately?
Just then, the ground suddenly began to tremble.
Shiraishi, Ayane, and Ruri all felt a chilling sensation and almost lost their balance, nearly falling to the ground.
The pursuing Sand ninjas were much the same; they also hadn't anticipated the sudden earthquake and were all unsteady on their feet.
"Wait, that is—"
"Damn it, has that monster lost control?"
These Sand ninjas seemed to know something, their voices filled with fear and bewilderment.
It was a fear stemming from something specific.
Rumble!
The deep tremor continued to shake the earth.
No one fully understood what was happening.
"What's going on?"
Shiraishi felt that this unusually violent tremor was not a power that humans could unleash.
Then, accompanied by the monster's roars, an extremely terrifying and chilling chakra permeated the air at some point, making one's scalp tingle, as if a large stone was pressing on their heart, making it difficult to breathe.
Shiraishi was also shocked by this powerful and sinister chakra. From the distance, it should have been very far, but this chakra from an unknown source was able to penetrate the atmospheric barrier and reach here.
Even so, this powerful chakra had already surpassed the realm of what normal people could comprehend.
The earth continued to shake, and terrifying cracks began to appear on the ground.
The trees in the forest began to sway, and a violent hurricane raged from afar. Even if they wanted to escape at such a time, they simply couldn't get away.
Shiraishi had no choice but to grab the nearby tree bark, using chakra to cling to it and maintain his balance.
Ruri and Ayane also grabbed large objects near them to balance their bodies.
Not only Shiraishi and the others, but even the pursuing Sand ninjas' faces were covered in cold sweat, intimidated by this powerful chakra.
Just when everyone finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief as the tremor subsided, a gigantic, mountain-like black shadow rose from the distant forest, appearing before everyone's eyes like an insurmountable peak.
Accompanying the appearance of this colossal monster, the screams of many people could also be heard.
The storm raged even more fiercely, and the air was filled with a heavy chakra. This chakra felt different from ordinary chakra, filled with coldness and danger.
"S-Shukaku has come out!!!!!"
"Has that monster completely lost control?"
"Damn it, didn't they say it was foolproof?"
"Did the Leaf ninjas do something? Damn them!"
Although Shiraishi didn't know what Shukaku was, he heard the terrified screams of the Sand ninjas and considered this a clear case of false accusation.
They had only set a fire tonight and done nothing else. How could they have released such an unknown monster?
Speaking of which, the origin of this mountain-like monster was very suspicious in itself.
For the first time, Shiraishi's concept of the ninja profession became somewhat blurred.
In his opinion, Ruri's Fire Style ninjutsu was already considered a rare high-level technique, and the fire waves it created could ignite an entire forest.
However, compared to this unknown giant monster, it probably only needed to shift its body slightly to cause destruction far greater than Ruri's Fire Style jutsu.
"Hahahaha, I'm finally out again!"
The monster roared with laughter, appearing both joyful and excited to destroy everything.
Its colossal body, standing in the forest like a towering fortress, visually conveyed that it was a monster incomparable to humans.
It exuded an aura of violent destruction. With a gentle sweep of its sandy-yellow tail, a section of the forest was obliterated. The storm uprooted trees, and the earth let out a trembling wail. Among them, more than a dozen Sand ninjas were also swept away, their terrifying screams making people feel afraid.
The entire scene was silent.