Chapter 12: Continuous Sneak Attacks
On the other side, a giant Fūma shuriken screamed through the air and descended on the other Sand Village squad captain. This one was a genuine jōnin, and his strength was extraordinary.
CLANG!
As expected of a Sand jōnin, his reaction was swift. He managed to block the massive blade with his own sword. However, he had still underestimated its power. The terrifying force of the impact sent spiderweb cracks through his standard-issue ninja blade. At the last moment, he deflected the shuriken, barely avoiding the fate of being cut in half along with his weapon.
The jōnin was lucky to avoid the critical blow, but the chūnin directly behind him was not.
Schlick!
The chūnin was sliced in half, his organs spilling from his abdominal cavity in a bloody, cruel display.
But it wasn't over. As the two giant shuriken were about to tear through the rest of the Sand ninja formation, Sasuke pulled back. Suddenly, two silver lights streaked across the battlefield. Two steel wires, attached to the returning shuriken, became taut, transforming into two silver blades, like a pair of imitation Water Cutting Waves.
The attack was too sudden, too fast. The wires slid through the dusty battlefield, slicing through the hot air. They were almost silent. The Sand jōnin didn't have time to react; the five fingers of his left hand were severed at the root, blood gushing from the stumps. The wires continued their sweep, slicing off the legs of an unsuspecting puppeteer chūnin. He collapsed in a pool of blood, his torso lying on the ground, wailing.
So this is the classic fighting method of the second pillar, Sasuke thought, observing the carnage with a sense of awe. It really is powerful.
The crisis was now largely resolved. The Suna jōnin was their greatest threat, and now that he had lost the fingers on his left hand, he could no longer form hand seals. His strength was drastically reduced. After all, very few ninja could perform single-handed seals.
While the jōnin was crippled, it had to be said that the puppet masters were uniquely suited to defending against wire attacks. They had not only defended themselves but had even managed to protect their comrades.
Just as the Sand ninja were still reeling from the shock, Sasuke initiated the next phase of his plan.
"Tekudō! Now!"
The two of them formed a Tiger seal in unison, detonating the hidden exploding tags. A muffled sound came from within the hollow Fūma shuriken. They had been packed not only with exploding tags but with thousands of poisoned senbon.
BOOM!
Thousands of poisoned needles exploded outwards from the shuriken, blanketing the entire Sand ninja formation in a fan-shaped storm.
"Dammit!"
"Watch out, there are still traps in the shuriken!"
The Sand ninja, lurching from one life-or-death crisis to the next, went pale. With such terrifying trap tactics, the Konoha ninja supporting them had to be a trap specialist jōnin. Now that they were all injured, it would be difficult to even survive, let alone retrieve the intelligence.
The Sand ninja whose leg had been severed was instantly turned into a porcupine and sent to the Pure Land to see the Sage of Six Paths. One of the chūnin puppeteers was too close to the blast. Though his puppet blocked most of the senbon, the exploding tag's critical hit shattered it to pieces, and he too was gravely wounded.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A bald-headed chūnin managed to throw up a defensive wall at the last moment, but he could only protect himself. The captain jōnin, whose fingers had been cut off, now had three poisoned senbon lodged in his right shoulder, the wound gleaming with an indigo poison.
All of the survivors had been hit. Fortunately, their battlefield experience had allowed them to protect their vitals.
"It's poison!"
The jōnin saw the blackened cut on his finger, immediately tore off his forehead protector to use as a tourniquet, and quickly took an antidote pill. But it was no use. He and the others suddenly realized that the tissue around their wounds had lost all activity and sensation. They had been hit by a powerful paralytic toxin.
"Elder Chiyo's antidote pills are ineffective."
The survivors' expressions changed. These were special antidote pills, developed by the great Elder Chiyo herself, capable of suppressing even the venom of Hanzō's salamander. Now, they had no effect. Fortunately, they could suppress the toxin with their own chakra. Otherwise, they would have to commit suicide to prevent the leakage of information. But using chakra to suppress poison wasn't a long-term solution. Once their chakra was exhausted, it would be the end.
They were in a dilemma.
"Everyone," the Sand jōnin captain roared, his voice filled with the resolve to die, "even if there is no chance, we must retrieve that intelligence!"
Sasuke was stunned. Even in this situation, these Sand ninja hadn't given up. A cornered beast will still fight. This was now the most dangerous moment. The intelligence they were trying to retrieve must be extraordinary.