Chapter 127: Sand Village Intrusion
While the battle raged at full intensity, violent chakra fluctuations suddenly erupted from the distant forest outside the village. The sound of explosions carried across the battlefield.
Yasushi turned his head toward the disturbance—exactly where Hiruko and the others had been stationed.
However, he felt no concern. With Hiruko present, Karin and her mother's safety would not be compromised.
After a single glance, Yasushi returned to his rampage.
More Kusagakure shinobi emerged one after another from the village ranks, wielding either unique bloodline limits or specialized secret techniques.
Though none possessed particularly strong killing power, they were still significantly stronger than ordinary shinobi.
But Kusagakure was ultimately just a small shinobi village. Even deploying their carefully hidden bloodline limit users, they were completely inadequate.
Before Susanoo, all bloodline limits and secret techniques were nothing but flashy moves. If they couldn't break through the defense, they were useless attacks.
Yasushi swung his staff, crushing the final bloodline limit user into meat paste. He surveyed his surroundings and laughed uproariously.
"Haha... So this is the last of Kusagakure's hidden strength!"
"Is this all your methods amount to?"
"Perfect! Once I eliminate you lot, Kusagakure can be declared extinct today!"
Murasaki gasped heavily, wiping blood from his mouth. Regret filled his heart.
Perhaps he should have been more forceful, compelling the Grass Flower Faction to compromise and opening the Box of Ultimate Bliss earlier. Then maybe they wouldn't face this dire situation.
He instinctively surveyed his surroundings, only to discover most nearby allies belonged to the Grass Flower Faction. Meanwhile, the Grass Fruit Faction fought on the opposite side of the village against the three Uchiha Impure World bodies.
Unlike this side's complete disadvantage, they had firmly restrained the three Uchiha Impure World bodies. If not for Yasushi occasionally launching thunder dragons in their direction, they would have already sealed them away.
Yet despite holding the upper hand, they sent no reinforcements to this side.
Murasaki's heart turned cold.
These bastards want me to die here!
After discovering this shocking truth, Murasaki completely lost his will to fight.
He began considering whether to simply surrender. If he offered to join the Akatsuki organization now, would Uchiha Yasushi spare him?
While he hesitated, Yasushi's brow suddenly furrowed. He turned his head toward the village outskirts.
"You're asking for death!"
Yasushi erupted in fury. He manipulated Susanoo to turn and stride rapidly toward the village exterior, hurling his staff like a javelin from a great distance.
The staff tore through the air, whistling across a vast expanse before crashing heavily into the earth and exploding.
BOOM!
The moment the energy staff shattered, a massive crater appeared in the ground.
Tremendous shockwaves spread outward from the crater's center, sending both Haku—carrying Karin on his back as he ran desperately—and the pursuing forces flying through the air.
However, under Yasushi's deliberate control, sand, stones, and wooden debris all exploded toward the staff's impact point. Karin and Haku's side received minimal collateral damage.
Haku somersaulted mid-air and landed smoothly, stumbling a few steps. When he raised his head, he saw an enormous blood-red Susanoo appear before him, extending its giant palm.
Haku quickly stepped forward, standing with Karin on Susanoo's palm.
Yasushi gently closed his hand, protecting them both. With a swift motion, he brought them to his side, sheltering them within Susanoo.
Only then did he look toward the pursuers. With a single glance, he recognized where these enemies originated.
During the staff's explosive impact and subsequent collateral damage, these enemies had all hidden behind puppets, avoiding injury entirely.
But those rows of puppets—their characteristics were far too obvious.
"Why would Sand shinobi appear here and start hunting Haku and Karin? Where's Hiruko, who was supposed to be on guard?"
This strange thought flashed through Yasushi's mind.
"That bastard Hiruko! What the hell is he doing?!" Yasushi roared furiously.
Haku caught his breath slightly before hastily explaining:
"My lord, there were simply too many enemies—over a hundred! Their leader is an old man."
"They appeared suddenly and launched an attack on us."
"I could only break through with Karin because Lord Hiruko helped cover our retreat. But Lord Hiruko was trapped by the enemy."
Karin worried deeply about her trapped mother, but being sensible, she didn't cry out for rescue. She merely bit her lip tightly, remaining silent while looking at Yasushi with pleading eyes.
"Over a hundred? So these people came specifically for us?" Yasushi's brow arched. Murderous intent surged within him.
He waved his hand, hurling his newly condensed staff toward Kusagakure village while shouting loudly:
"Hiruko's side encountered enemies! Stop wasting time—get out here and assemble now!"
Amid the sudden explosion, the three Yashiro leveraged their Impure World bodies' immortality to quickly break through the Kusagakure encirclement and sprint toward the village exterior.
The Kusagakure shinobi gave chase for several steps but gradually slowed, finally gathering around Murasaki to observe the situation.
Murasaki first glared coldly at the Grass Fruit Faction members, then ordered sharply:
"While the battle has temporarily ceased, immediately dispatch people to evacuate all village civilians. Send them to Emergency Shelter Number Three. They are not to return without my order."
"Is that really necessary?" Everyone exclaimed in shock. "That shelter was prepared for full-scale war. Once activated, the daily resource consumption will be astronomical!"
"Could it be... those Sand shinobi outside came for us?"
"But aren't they fighting that Uchiha?"
"They probably aren't enemies, right?"
The group chattered noisily, making Murasaki even more irritated. He immediately barked:
"What time do you think this is? Do you really think this is the moment to worry about such things?"
"Do you want to place Kusagakure's fate entirely on the foundation of enemy mercy?"
"Even if Sand Village and Uchiha Yasushi are enemies, when they fight, do you think they'll care about the lives of our Grass Country civilians?"
"They're waging war on our territory. Do we dare speak up and ask them to change battle locations?"
"Or perhaps you want to join forces with Sand Village to kill that Uchiha Yasushi?"
"Aren't you afraid Sand Village will use you as cannon fodder? If they order you to charge forward, would you dare refuse?"
"Furthermore, the current situation remains unclear. What if it's just a misunderstanding and Sand Village withdraws shortly?"
"While we still have time, hurry and evacuate civilians from the village. Otherwise, if fighting breaks out, we won't have time for this!"
His rebuke immediately silenced the Kusagakure crowd.
Just looking at Uchiha Yasushi—still showing no signs of exhaustion—they felt completely powerless. They felt their years as shinobi had been wasted. Compared to him, they were no different from common fodder.
Sighing, they obediently began civilian evacuation, traveling light as they fled toward the depths of the rear mountains.
Meanwhile, Yasushi's side began charging at full stride toward the Sand shinobi group.
The leading Sand captain had no intention of engaging Yasushi directly. Seeing him charge over, he immediately signaled his nearby comrades with hand gestures.
"Target spotted. Withdraw immediately. Lead him into the encirclement."
The group instantly scattered in different directions.
Seeing them flee, Yasushi ignored them, leading his group straight toward Hiruko's last known position.
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