The Aburame clan responded in unison, each of them covered in countless Kikai Bugs. The entire forest was instantly engulfed by the swarm, causing Ren, who was standing nearby, to quickly retreat over ten meters. His target was the main force behind them; if they wanted to be the vanguard, he would let them.
"Engage!"
At Shibi Aburame's command, the dense swarm of Kikai Bugs, controlled by the Aburame clan, surged towards the approaching Kamizuru Clan! Soon, a disturbance arose in the forest as well, with visible swarms of bees fluttering their cicada-like wings, aggressively charging towards the Kikai Bug swarm.
The two swarms of insects, accompanied by a loud buzzing sound, rapidly closed the distance between them and then collided with a crash!
"Good heavens, is this what a battle between insect users looks like? I'm learning something new..."
Ren stood on the treetop, overlooking the battle between the insect users, while waiting for the Iwagakure main force to arrive.
"Aburame clan, today we will show you that our Kamizuru Clan is the strongest insect-controlling clan in the Ninja World!"
Behind the bee swarm, a group of ninjas wearing Iwagakure headbands and black robes appeared. The middle-aged man leading them shouted across the insect swarm towards Shibi Aburame.
"Then let's try it."
Shibi Aburame said no more. After uttering those five words, he and the Aburame clan members behind him began to fully control their Kikai Bugs to attack. The opposing Kamizuru Clan was not to be outdone, with countless bees emerging from their black robes. The insect swarms, having just engaged in a skirmish, began to converge again, and under the control of both sides, they once more became entangled.
From Ren's perspective, the insect swarm began to disperse, and then each Aburame clan member controlled his Kikai Bugs to confront a member of the Kamizuru Clan. Bees and Kikai Bugs tore at each other, and every moment, large numbers of bees and Kikai Bugs fell from the sky, twitching on the ground before losing their life.
"Oh? They're finally here."
Ren's eyes lit up. Within his sensory range, the Iwagakure main force finally appeared. Coincidentally, Konoha's reinforcement troops also arrived in the forest behind Ren.
"Then I'll go take a look first, hehehe."
A mischievous smile appeared on Ren's face. With a few flashes, he disappeared from the battlefield and stealthily moved towards the Iwagakure main force.
"Captain, the sensory Ninja reports that the Kamizuru Clan has already engaged Konoha's Aburame clan not far ahead of us. What are our next steps?"
"They've engaged..."
The leading Iwa Ninja Captain pondered for a moment, then decisively gave the order.
"Bypass them. Our goal is to cause a disturbance in Konoha. Prepare for battle; Konoha's interception force should be arriving soon."
"Yes!"
The Iwagakure troops, having received the order, bypassed the engaged parties and advanced towards the Konoha reinforcement troops. At their current speed, it wouldn't be long before the two sides encountered each other.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A fierce shout came from the forest, and a water dragon surged forth, attacking the Iwagakure troops!
"Defend and counterattack!"
As the Captain roared, the ten Ninja at the very front simultaneously formed hand signs, and then five of them slammed their hands onto the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
Several Earth Walls rose from the ground, blocking the Iwagakure troops' path, while the other five Iwa Ninja shouted in unison.
"Earth Release: Rock Bullet Technique!"
Dozens of rocks spewed from their mouths, rapidly growing in size in the air, and then slammed towards the direction from which the water dragon had flown.
With several roars, seven or eight large trees in front were knocked down, their falling trunks kicking up a cloud of dust on the ground, but the attacker was nowhere to be seen.
"Report, Captain, the attacker's Chakra signature has disappeared. He should be dead."
Listening to his subordinate sensory Ninja's report, the Captain frowned, seemingly still a bit uneasy, but delaying the next action for one person was clearly not worth it, so he could only order the troops to continue advancing.
What he didn't notice was that among the thousand Iwa Ninja he had brought, it seemed a few extra people had appeared...
"Water Release: Water Trumpet! X3"
The Iwagakure troops suddenly encountered an anomaly; three water spouts shot into the sky, instantly bringing the advancing Iwagakure troops to a halt again.
The massive water spouts rotated in the sky for a moment before violently dispersing, crashing down onto the dense Iwa Ninja below!
"Quick, get out of the way!"
Many Iwa Ninja quickly fled towards the periphery at their comrades' warning, avoiding being caught in the blast, because in the centre of the crowd, they couldn't use Ninjutsu to resist without risking friendly fire.
However, some were slow to react and could only wail as they were submerged by the water. The immense force of the water falling from the sky was no joke; once the water dispersed, most of the Iwa Ninja lying in the water had basically lost their combat capability, groaning on the ground.
"Over there!"
With a cry of alarm, people successively discovered three figures standing in the middle of the water, dressed in Iwa Ninja attire. Although they wore Iwagakure clothes and Iwagakure headbands, everyone present clearly knew that the attack had been launched by these two, as their hands, still forming hand signs, had not yet been lowered and were still rapidly forming more signs.
"Damn it! Everyone attack!"
The Iwa Ninja Captain looked at the three figures in the field, enraged, while his hands also rapidly formed hand signs. The surrounding Iwa Ninja also reacted, forming hand signs and launching a barrage of Ninjutsu towards the three in the centre.
"Water Release: Raging Waves!"
Ren released his Ninjutsu before them, and a large amount of water spread across the ground, evenly covering nearly half of the battlefield.
"You want to kill me? Go ahead and try."
Ren raised an eyebrow and quickly began to glide across the water's surface, while the two figures behind him successively exploded into white smoke and dispersed. They were Ren's two Shadow Clones!
Ren, on the water's surface, easily dodged all attacks with his extremely fast speed. The evaded attacks collided in the air and fell to the ground, but not a single attack could hit him.
After a few breaths, Ren seized their Ninjutsu opening and charged into the Iwa Ninja crowd, pulling out the Thunder God Sword. Chakra surged into it, and the blade appeared, covered in powerful lightning and dazzling light.
Ren twirled the sword, then pointed its tip at the Iwa Ninja, and immediately charged forward.
"Earth Release..."
An Iwa Ninja had just finished forming hand signs, preparing to release Ninjutsu, but was unexpectedly cut across the throat by the swiftly flashing Ren. He could only stare with unwilling, wide eyes, clutching his profusely bleeding neck, and fell to the ground, silent.
"Damn it!"
The Iwa Ninja Captain gritted his teeth, watching Ren, who moved like a ghost, flashing through the crowd and harvesting lives.
The Iwa Ninja's main combat advantage lay in group battles and close-quarters combat. However, Ren wasn't confronting them head-on; he was simply relying on the fact that no one could catch him, doing as he pleased within the crowd. Even if they wanted to use large-scale Ninjutsu, they would inevitably injure their comrades.
Therefore, at this point, the Iwa Ninja Captain no longer held much hope for completing the mission.