Chapter 55: Slaughter
Time passed, and just a few hours before dawn, a violent noise suddenly came from the direction of Baosha Town.
It sounded like a thunderous downpour, but the Land of Wind rarely experienced rain more than a few times a year, so the commotion could only have been caused by Exploding Tags.
"How many Exploding Tags did Lord Orochimaru use? Did he use all the Exploding Tags he brought when we set out for this surprise attack?"
Hyuga Mirai wiped away non-existent cold sweat and said, their ambush location was more than ten kilometers away from Baosha Town, but they could still hear such a loud commotion, and vaguely see the firelight reflecting in the sky there.
"Who knows, but the Sand Ninja are definitely going to be unlucky, and I don't know how many people will flee in our direction."
Hyuga Kiyomi clenched her fists and said with interest; she hoped to encounter some powerful Sand Ninja, otherwise, she had been fighting small fry for the past two days, leaving her Gentle Fist with no chance to be fully utilized.
"There shouldn't be too many; the Sand Ninja might suffer a great loss, but they definitely won't collapse and flee."
Hyuga Mirai explained, while keeping his Byakugan activated, observing the movements eight kilometers away.
The Sand Ninja still had over a thousand Ninja in Baosha Town; even if they suffered a major, unexpected loss, they wouldn't completely collapse.
And Orochimaru's strategy was to make the Sand Ninja suffer a bitter consequence before the war even began; in simple terms, Konoha was using the bad reputation of initiating the war to exchange for Sand Ninja casualties.
"If any Sand Ninja come this way, they are most likely Jonin returning to Sand Ninja Village to deliver a message. Kiyomi, although you have the strength of a Chunin, there is still some gap between you and a Jonin. You wouldn't think you can fight Captain Kaminari Kaede now, would you?"
Hyuga Kiyomi was naturally no match for Kaminari Kaede. She could defeat Chunin using Gentle Fist and speed because Chunin didn't know many Ninjutsu. Even if she encountered a Ninjutsu-type Chunin, Hyuga Kiyomi could still dodge and defend using her speed and Rotation.
However, facing a Jonin was different. Hyuga Kiyomi might be able to contend with a Jonin for a while with the finesse of Gentle Fist, but she could never defeat a Jonin, and her Chakra reserves were not even as large as a Jonin's.
Hyuga Mirai, seeing Hyuga Kiyomi's battle-eager expression, immediately warned her, lest Hyuga Kiyomi misjudge her strength and go looking for trouble with a Sand Ninja Jonin. If any accident occurred, the Main Family would come to find him.
"Hmph, I know."
Hyuga Kiyomi didn't want to admit defeat, but glancing at Hyuga Mirai's serious face, she still responded.
After the war and slaughter began in the distance, they also became vigilant. If they were careless and allowed Sand Ninja to pass through their ambush area, they would be marked with a failed mission.
The reason for White Fang's suicide was a failed mission, and Hyuga Mirai certainly didn't want to end up in the same predicament as White Fang.
......
Baosha Town, originally a stopping point in the Land of Wind near the Land of Rivers, where many merchants and travelers passed through. Later, the Third Kazekage gradually turned it into a place for stockpiling military supplies.
The Third Kazekage had been unwilling to accept defeat after losing to Konoha in the Second Shinobi World War. If military supplies were stored in the Sand Ninja Village, transportation would be another expense in the environment of the Land of Wind. Therefore, the Third Kazekage designated Baosha Town as the Sand Ninja's frontline stronghold.
The Third Raikage had also heard that the Sand Ninja Village had stockpiled a lot of supplies here, which was why he brought the Six Paths Ninja Tools and a small squad of elites to try his luck.
However, the Third Raikage did not expect the Fourth Kazekage to be so decisive. If the Third Raikage hadn't seen the situation was wrong and quickly retreated, none of the elites he brought would have escaped.
And this time, Orochimaru led a large force to raid Baosha Town, having made many preparations.
Elite squads cleared out the Sand Ninja's external patrol units and reconnaissance Ninja, then quickly marched to the outskirts of Baosha Town; when the Konoha Ninja were less than one kilometer from Baosha Town, most of the Sand Ninja were still asleep.
"Summoning Technique!"
Several Konoha Ninja teams, using Orochimaru's blood, collectively performed the Summoning Technique. Depending on the amount of Chakra output, each team summoned one or two Ryuchi Cave snakes.
"Enemies! They are Konoha Ninja!!!"
After the Ryuchi Cave snakes appeared, even a blind Sand Ninja would have noticed enemies appearing outside Baosha Town.
Bang!
A flare instantly exploded in the sky, waking up most of the resting Sand Ninja. However, by this time, several Ryuchi Cave snakes outside Baosha Town had already charged over.
These giant Summoning Beast snakes, each with bodies two to three meters, or even three to four meters thick, could collapse a house with a single flick of their tails.
The walls and buildings outside Baosha Town could not stop these massive Summoning Beasts at all.
Moreover, they had thick skin and flesh; at least Jonin-level strength was required to effectively curb the attacks of the Summoning snakes.
"Damn it, Wind Release Ninja, look at where I'm attacking, try to kill this python in one round…"
The Sand Ninja hadn't even finished shouting when he found his body suddenly unable to move.
"Sorry, Lord Orochimaru's Summoning Beasts cannot be killed by you. Shadow Imitation Technique, success!"
A pineapple-headed figure stepped out from beside the python. His shadow, under the control of Ninjutsu, connected to the shadows of seven Sand Ninja in front.
"Haru, quickly!"
"Okay, watch me!"
Akimichi Haru shouted loudly, then made hand seals and said, "Ninja Art, Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
A five-meter-tall giant appeared beside these Sand Ninja. Upon seeing this Konoha giant, the controlled seven Sand Ninja's faces involuntarily showed fear, and then they were instantly swept into meat paste by a giant iron rod.
In other parts of Baosha Town, similar events and results occurred. The coordinated combat of Konoha Ninja, second only to large-scale assembled Ninja, in this environment, with the Summoning snakes leading the way, the Konoha Ninja squads could be considered a slaughter against the Sand Ninja.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Ah!!!"
The combination of Fire Release Ninjutsu and Wind Release Ninjutsu formed a vast storm of fire, instantly engulfing the lives of two Sand Ninja.
"Damn Konoha Ninja!!"
A Sand Ninja roared, eyes wide with fury, and immediately pulled out a puppet, preparing to avenge his friend, but in the next second, he was killed by a Lightning Release Ninjutsu attacking from another direction.
In the center of Baosha Town, Orochimaru, Nara Shikaku, and the strongest group of Ninja were currently engaged in a fierce battle with the Sand Ninja.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
After Orochimaru killed a Sand Ninja puppeteer, he used Body Flicker Technique to appear beside Nara Shikaku and said to him,
"Shikaku, I will create a commotion here. You lead three Ninja teams to search for the Sand Ninja's military supplies. Whether you find them or not, use the Exploding Tag signal as the cue."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."
Nara Shikaku quickly agreed, then made two hand gestures, signaling to several other Jonin squads to leave the area.
After Nara Shikaku left, Orochimaru scanned the surrounding slaughter, a cold smile flashing across his face.
"Summoning Technique!"
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