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"Buzz!" A swirling sphere of wind chakra, a Rasengan, shot forth from Yuta's hand.
"Ah! Lightning Release: Pseudo Darkness!" A blinding flash of lightning erupted from the Cloud Ninja leader, tearing through the air to meet the incoming Rasengan head-on.
"Puff!" The raw power of the wind chakra proved superior. The lightning dissipated upon impact, and the Rasengan continued its relentless trajectory towards the Cloud Ninja leader.
"Swish!" Another Cloud Ninja seized the opportunity to lunge at Yuta with his kunai.
"Don't get in the way!" Yuta swiftly drew the short knife at his waist, parrying the Cloud Ninja's attack. In the same fluid motion, he unleashed a powerful kick.
"Bang!" The force of the blow slammed directly into the Cloud Ninja's torso.
"Crack!" A gaping hole erupted in the Cloud Ninja's chest, the sound of splintering ribs echoing in the air.
Sent flying over ten meters, the Cloud Ninja landed with a sickening thud, his head lolling at an unnatural angle, life extinguished.
"Boom!" The Cloud Ninja leader finally managed to deflect the Rasengan, staggering back. He turned to find all his comrades lying dead, leaving him the sole survivor.
His earlier contempt for Yuta vanished, replaced by a grim seriousness. He stared intently at Yuta, no longer daring to attack rashly.
His strategy was clear: hold Yuta here. If the remaining Cloud Ninja could overwhelm their Konoha counterparts, a coordinated assault, even against Yuta's formidable strength, could eventually wear him down.
Yuta, observing the Cloud Ninja leader's defensive stance, readily discerned his intentions. But time was a luxury Yuta couldn't afford. The Cloud Ninja sought attrition; Yuta sought swift resolution.
Silently, Yuta channeled the nascent Electromagnetic Release he had recently awakened. To conserve chakra, he refrained from using offensive electromagnetic ninjutsu, instead manipulating the surrounding electromagnetic field, drawing its power into his own body.
The Cloud Ninja leader suddenly noticed a significant increase in his chakra consumption, coupled with a drastically reduced rate of chakra regeneration. A prickling unease began to creep into his mind.
Yuta raised his right hand, his fingers pointed directly at the Cloud Ninja leader.
"Thunder Release! Chidori Sharp Spear!"
"What?!" Before the Cloud Ninja leader could react, a long, piercing lance of pure lightning materialized in front of him, tearing through his Lightning Armor as if it were mere fabric.
"Zizizi!" The Cloud Ninja leader stared down at the lightning that had pierced his heart, tiny sparks still crackling around the entry wound. He looked up blankly at Yuta's impassive face.
"So fast…"
"Plop!" The Cloud Ninja leader's large frame crashed to the ground, a gaping, charred hole marking his chest.
Yuta briefly surveyed the fallen Cloud Ninja, confirming their deaths before turning and striding towards the sounds of the main engagement.
Konoha's forces were still locked in a fierce stalemate with the remaining Cloud Ninja. The clanging of kunai and ninja swords filled the air, punctuated by occasional cries of pain. Numerous ninja corpses littered the ground.
Contrary to popular imagination, ninja battles weren't always a spectacle of flying ninjutsu.
Such displays were often reserved for high-level Jonin clashes. Especially on large battlefields, even Jonin hesitated to waste chakra indiscriminately.
Physical prowess often dictated the flow of combat, with chakra-intensive techniques deployed only by those seeking to decisively end the fight.
Determined to minimize further Konoha casualties, Yuta bellowed,
"Retreat!" The Konoha ninja, already familiar with Yuta's voice, reacted instantly. They pressed a quick offensive, forcing their Cloud Ninja opponents to momentarily give ground, and then swiftly disengaged, retreating as ordered.
The Cloud Ninja were momentarily stunned by the sudden shout and fell victim to the Konoha ninja's coordinated counterattack.
Seeing their opponents withdrawing, and coupled with the commanding shout, the Cloud Ninja realized something was amiss. But it was too late.
"Earth Release: Landslide!" Yuta slammed his fist into the ground. The earth beneath their feet instantly liquefied into sand, which then surged upwards, transforming into a colossal wave rushing towards the bewildered Cloud Ninja.
"That's too exaggerated!"
"Yes! Captain Yuta is truly reliable! Fortunately, the clan leader assigned us to Captain Yuta's command; otherwise, our losses this time would have been devastating."
The Uchiha ninja were awestruck by the sheer scale of the jutsu, and the civilian ninja were even more dumbfounded.
"You have to be kidding me! This is the power humans can wield? How mighty must the legendary First Hokage have been to pacify the warring states?"
"Long live Lord Yuta!" Those with less refined vocabulary could only resort to such exclamations to express their astonishment.
"Quick! Block it!" The Cloud Ninja, momentarily forgetting their engagement with the Konoha forces, faced the towering wave of sand.
They swiftly formed a coordinated formation, unleashing a barrage of combined ninjutsu to resist the overwhelming force. No one dared to be distracted; witnessing the caster, they knew their mission had failed.
Their leader and the other two commanders were no match for Yuta. How could they hope to destroy Konoha's reinforcements?
Survival was now their only priority. If escape proved impossible, surrender was their next option. Surely, Konoha wouldn't risk international condemnation by massacring prisoners.
Moreover, the Third Hokage, renowned for preferring peace in the ninja world, was known for his benevolence and righteousness.
"Thunder Release! Double Flow Critical Strike!"
"Thunder Release! Ground Walk!"
"Thunder Release!…"
For a brief moment, the air crackled with the combined might of the Cloud Ninja's desperate resistance.
"Boom!" The sand wave, easily exceeding ten meters in height, collided with the concentrated ninjutsu of hundreds of Cloud Ninja. Though their techniques were potent, against the sheer mass and kinetic energy of the sand tsunami, most of the Cloud Ninja were overwhelmed and buried beneath the shifting sands.
"Boom!" The sand wave dissipated a short distance from the retreating Konoha troops, slowly settling.
"Earth Release, Mountain Earth Technique!" Before the surviving Cloud Ninja could even draw a breath of relief, Yuta's chilling voice echoed once more.
On either side of the receding sand, the ground rapidly swelled, forming two flat-topped mountains that swiftly began to converge in the middle.
"Damn it! Stop! We surrender!"
Seeing Yuta's relentless assault, the intent to leave no survivors chillingly clear, one of the remaining Cloud Ninja cried out in desperate surrender.
"It's too late to surrender now!" Yuta ignored the plea. His own forces were already outnumbered; he couldn't spare personnel to guard prisoners.
Furthermore, the fact that the Cloud Ninja had deployed such a large ambush force deep within the Land of Fire indicated a dire situation on the front lines for Konoha. Taking prisoners would impede their advance, and they had no time to waste.
"Blame it on this damn war!" Yuta unleashed his ninjutsu without mercy.
"Boom!" The two earthen mountains slammed together with tremendous force. The few Cloud Ninja who had managed to escape the initial sand wave stared with lifeless eyes at the blood seeping from the cracks in the newly formed earth.
They couldn't comprehend that their comrades, with whom they had been joking moments ago, were now all dead.
"You will go to hell!" One of the last surviving ninja gritted his teeth, glaring at Yuta with furious hatred.
"Yamanaka, go search his memory. We need intelligence from the front lines."
"Ah! Yes! Lord Yuta!" The Yamanaka clan ninja, startled by Yuta's sudden command, quickly composed himself and responded.
"You demon! You will go to hell!"
Seeing the captured Cloud Ninja still shouting defiance, Yuta turned to the Yamanaka ninja, who was preparing to delve into the prisoner's mind.
"The memories of the dead should also be searchable, correct?"
"Yes! As long as the head isn't damaged, it's possible."
"Is that so!" Yuta murmured, and then his figure blurred, leaving a trail of silver light in its wake. When he reappeared, the remaining few Cloud Ninja stared at him blankly before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
"Leave it to you. Search their memories as quickly as possible. The rest of you, clean up the battlefield. Give every Cloud Ninja you find a finishing blow. Be careful they don't feign death and counter-attack."
"Yes! Lord Yuta." At that moment, the eyes of the Konoha ninja as they looked at Yuta were filled with profound respect.