Chapter 137: Great Vacuum Sphere
After Ryusuke and Tokiwa arrived at the Sea Defense Fortress, the commander, Karuo, received the personal letter from the Daimyō. But instead of immediately dispatching troops, he interrogated Tokiwa. Karuo's appointment as commander was due not only to his distinguished family background and immense strength, but more importantly, his habitually cautious approach. He performed a full-body examination of Tokiwa, but found no trace of any control seal. Given Ryusuke's assertive words and recognizing the gravity of the situation, he left half of his forces to guard the fortress and personally led one hundred and fifty Sand ninja to support the Daimyō.
The fortress was less than a thousand miles from the capital, and with the speed of the Sea Defense Ninja Army, it would only take them half a day to arrive. However, despite his urgency, the ever-cautious Karuo had no intention of leading a small elite force for a rapid reinforcement. Instead, he led his large force, advancing cautiously but quickly. He sent out a large number of summoned hawks for reconnaissance, but they were easily defeated by Sasuke, who was riding Shirotaka.
The Uchiha throwing technique was truly formidable. Since mastering it, and with the coordination of his two shadow clones, each kunai thrown became a vast, impenetrable net, effectively annihilating the Sand Ninja's summoned hawks. Crucially, this technique consumed only a few kunai and stamina, which, with the recovery from his Taotie technique, he could maintain for days.
Without aerial reconnaissance, Karuo became even more cautious. He had learned from Ebizō's mistakes: the Konoha Hundred may be modest in strength, but their leader, the White-Blooded Demon, was a master of traps and ambushes.
"Halt," he commanded as they reached a canyon. "Sunabatake, check for any ambushes from the Konoha Hundred."
The ravine stretched for miles, barely wide enough for a carriage, and with steep slopes on both sides, it was a perfect ambush location. After a thorough investigation, however, no traps were found.
"It seems the Konoha Hundred have not yet captured the Daimyō's mansion," Karuo concluded. "Hurry up!"
He led his army into the ravine. It was indeed clear, and they passed through without incident. However, just as they exited, they were ambushed by the Konoha Hundred.
Oh no! It's an ambush! Karuo instantly realized his mistake. They were trapped at the narrow valley entrance, with no room to maneuver. Retreating into the canyon would be suicide.
"White-Blooded Demon, aren't you a little too confident?" he said, his voice calm. Instead of panicking, he immediately formed a defensive formation, intending to face them head-on. His intelligence has been his undoing, Karuo thought. In a direct confrontation, my one hundred and fifty elites will slaughter his hundred cannon fodder remnants.
Just then, Sasuke rode Shirotaka into the sky and released a sealing scroll over the Sand army. A cloud of white smoke erupted, and a large number of poison gas bombs rained down.
Oh no! These are the poison gas bombs made by our village! Karuo's face changed drastically. He knew their power all too well. They were a special creation of Elder Chiyo. He quickly mobilized a large amount of chakra, creating a huge wall of sand to prevent the bombs from reaching his position.
"Huh? He can still use ninjutsu?" Sasuke's gaze froze in confusion. Karuo was surprisingly immune to the infrasonic shockwaves from his clones; his jutsu was only slightly affected. He realized that Karuo's body was covered in a fine layer of wind sand, which provided a natural defensive barrier.
Although there were some setbacks, Sasuke also had a Plan B.
"Rasengan!"
The two shadow clones next to him leaped directly from Shirotaka, condensed a Rasengan, and smashed it into the sand barrier. His chakra had finally reached 0.5 cards, and his clones were now strong enough to use the technique. At the same time, the real Sasuke quickly formed hand seals.
"Wind Style: Great Vacuum Sphere!"
He took a deep breath and released several waves of wind-style light, bombarding the hollow sand barrier.
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