"Alright!"
Hatake Sakumo nodded and said, "Kurenai, Shizune, you two stay here."
"Asuma, I'll need you for support next!"
Hatake Sakumo said sternly, "The Sand Ninja will definitely choose directions other than mine to break through, rapidly push through our defenses, defeat us, and prevent us from becoming a major problem for them."
"Therefore, whichever direction the Sand Ninja's main assault targets, Asuma, you will go to that direction to provide aid."
The squad leaders gathered around were all surprised. Even though Sarutobi Asuma had already displayed astonishing strength earlier.
But for one person to do all that...
Sarutobi Asuma readily agreed, "No problem!"
With that, four Shadow Clones appeared beside him.
"As long as my Shadow Clones are at the Sand Ninja's main assault direction, I can reach there instantly!"
Sarutobi Asuma was incredibly confident, "Moreover, I'm confident I can block the Sand Ninja's attack!"
"Asuma, you..."
A Sarutobi Clan Jonin hesitated.
He knew Sarutobi Asuma was a genius and very strong, but to say he could block the main Sand Ninja assault seemed too arrogant.
If he failed to block them, it wouldn't just be death by enemy hands; it would also implicate the Sarutobi Clan and the current Third Hokage.
"Amayo, don't worry. I believe in Asuma. His current strength is not much inferior to mine."
Hatake Sakumo's support for Sarutobi Asuma was unwavering.
But this statement shocked everyone else.
Strength not inferior to Hatake Sakumo? How was that possible?
Sarutobi Asuma wasn't even 11 years old yet, right?
"Teacher Sakumo is too generous. I still have a long way to go."
"However, the jutsu I've mastered is precisely suited for dealing with enemies in large numbers!"
Sarutobi Asuma said with a smile.
The crowd didn't know whether this was humility or overconfidence.
However, while they didn't quite believe Sarutobi Asuma, they trusted Hatake Sakumo. No one questioned him further. After agreeing on the signal transmission, they all used the Body Flicker Technique and departed.
Sarutobi Asuma and the other two remained in place, waiting silently.
Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
Before long, rumbling sounds could be vaguely heard through the dense forest.
The Sand Ninja were attacking!
And they were attacking from multiple directions simultaneously.
From the sounds, Sarutobi Asuma could tell that the most intense fighting was in the front, the side Hatake Sakumo was defending, and that was where the Sand Ninja were coming from.
Including Sarutobi Asuma and his group, Konoha had a total of thirty squads.
The circular defensive formation was arranged in three echelons, forming triple defense lines, with each defense line consisting of 10 squads.
The distance between each echelon wasn't far, only about a hundred meters.
Time slowly ticked by.
Kurenai and Shizune couldn't help but feel anxious.
Sarutobi Asuma didn't try to comfort them. After consuming a Ration Pill, he kept his gaze lowered, resting.
Chirp chirp!
Suddenly, bird calls came from the left.
Sarutobi Asuma's eyes snapped open, "Kurenai, Shizune, I'm going!"
Before his voice even finished, he had already swapped positions with a Shadow Clone.
The front line.
At the second defense line, after swapping positions with the Shadow Clone, Sarutobi Asuma immediately entered Scorch Release Chakra Mode, a blue-white flame Chakra Cloak covering his entire body.
"This is..."
Sarutobi Amayo and other Konoha ninja stared at Sarutobi Asuma with wide eyes.
They could clearly feel the powerful chakra Sarutobi Asuma possessed and its unique nature.
Sarutobi Asuma flashed a bright smile, "This is a Kekkei Genkai called Scorch Release that I developed myself, and based on it, I developed this chakra mode."
"Scorch Release Chakra Mode, so that's what it is!"
Sarutobi Amayo, the Jonin from the Sarutobi family, was shocked and excited.
At this moment, the Konoha ninja on the first defense line had already retreated.
Large numbers of Sand Ninja were also weaving through the forest.
"Everyone, I'll need you to cover my jutsu from here on out."
As he spoke, Sarutobi Asuma formed hand seals.
"Yin Seal, release!"
Vast amounts of chakra surged out. Four chakra arms rapidly extended from his armpits, and then, in each hand, a small Scorch Release Rasenshuriken quickly formed.
However, they were only small-scale scorching shuriken.
Even so, the immense chakra made Sarutobi Amayo and the others tremble with awe.
"Understood, Asuma, don't worry!"
Sarutobi Amayo shouted.
The others nodded in agreement.
At this moment, the Sand Ninja's Wind Style jutsu arrived.
It wasn't an offensive Wind Style, but rather was used to create a vacuum and clear out traps.
Despite the short notice, Konoha had still managed to set up some simple traps.
The Wind Style jutsu first cleared the traps, followed by a large number of Sand Ninja charging in.
A simple scan was enough to determine there were at least forty to fifty of them.
When they were about thirty meters away, Sarutobi Asuma immediately shouted, "Attack!"
The Konoha ninja hiding behind the trees immediately launched their attacks.
Whether it was ninjutsu or shuriken, kunai with explosive tags attached, they flew out in a dense barrage.
Immediately after, Sarutobi Asuma's figure vanished from his original spot and reappeared on a tree branch ten meters ahead. The Scorch Release Rasenshurikens in his four chakra hands were thrown.
"Careful!"
"Damn it!"
"Intercept them!"
The Sand Ninja shouted repeatedly, but when the Scorch Release Rasenshurikens were intercepted by Sand Ninja ninjutsu or kunai and shuriken, they had already passed the first wave of Sand Ninja, having been thrown over fifteen meters.
Accompanied by high-intensity, piercing friction sounds, the four Scorch Release Rasenshurikens rapidly expanded, forming four small, blue-on-the-outside, white-on-the-inside spheres of light.
Each one covered an area of about twenty meters in radius.
"Amazing!"
"What incredible ninjutsu!"
"Such high temperatures!"
...
The Konoha ninja exclaimed in succession, their eyes wide. Even they felt the terrifyingly high temperatures, and sweat began to bead on their brows.
They all knew Sarutobi Asuma had created an S-Rank Wind Style ninjutsu, but none of those present had ever witnessed it firsthand.
"Everyone, the heatwave is coming!"
Sarutobi Asuma landed in front of everyone and pressed his palms against the ground.
"Earth Style: Multiple Earth Flow Wall!"
RUMBLE!
Layer upon layer of earth walls carved with dragon heads erupted from the ground, arranged in a staggered pattern.
Immediately after, the high-temperature gale swept in.
"If one were at the core eruption zone of this jutsu, the temperature could probably kill a person instantly!"
"Scorch Release, formed by the fusion of Wind Style and Fire Style, is truly astonishing!"
"It is indeed. The Sand Ninja also have a Scorch Release user, I've seen it, but the jutsu's power isn't as strong as Asuma's!"
...
One by one, the Konoha ninja marveled, looking at the not-so-tall figure in front of them with completely different eyes.
"The storm has passed!"
Sarutobi Amayo, who was behind Sarutobi Asuma, shouted the reminder.
The Konoha ninja, who had been hiding behind the earth walls or tree trunks, revealed themselves one after another.
However, the once dense forest had become sparse.
Due to the high-temperature airflow, the leaves of the grass and trees had withered and fallen.
The moonlight shone down from above, and the light area suddenly brightened.
However.
When Sarutobi Amayo and the other Konoha ninja looked ahead, they couldn't help but secretly swallow.
Where the ninjutsu had erupted, the forest was gone, leaving only four connected craters.
The craters didn't look deep, but they contained over twenty desiccated corpses in gruesome states of death.
In addition to the Sand Ninja who had died inside the pits, a dozen more injured Sand Ninja lay at the edges, emitting piercing cries.
They all bore injuries, more or less, from the high-temperature gas.
Some had an entire arm withered away.
Others had large areas of their bodies suffering from severe burns.
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Machine Translation by: beta.randomtranslator.com
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