On the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.
The Sand Ninja's rear base camp.
Inside the tent, the atmosphere was heavy.
Looking at the intelligence brought back from the front lines, a Sand Ninja Jonin found it hard to believe. "What kind of joke is this?"
"A 11-year-old kid killed nearly a hundred of our elites and routed an entire brigade?"
"Even S-Rank Ninjutsu, with a bounty of 30 million, wouldn't be this terrifying!"
Chiyo's eyelids lifted. "Suna-kyū, don't underestimate the kids of today."
"Especially someone who developed the Scorch Release Bloodline Limit on their own!"
Another Sand Ninja Jonin, Ryōgen, nodded. "That's right, Sasori isn't much older than him either!"
They had now basically confirmed that the Third Kazekage was assassinated by Sasori.
If the Stone Ninja hadn't suddenly attacked the Land of Wind, they would probably still be hunting Sasori all over the world.
Chiyo frowned, took a deep breath, and said, "We absolutely cannot let such a genius continue to grow, nor can we allow him to have a huge impact on the war situation. We must find a way to concentrate our elites and eliminate him!"
The Sand Ninja Jonin Ryōgen's eyes flashed. "It's best if we can capture him alive. If that's not possible, we must at least bring his corpse back to the village for research. Perhaps we can create another Scorching Style ninja!"
The Jonin Suna-kyū immediately stood up. "Leave this matter to me!"
Chiyo and the others had no objections.
...
In the forest, Hatake Sakumo gathered the captains of the various squads together again.
"The main Sand Ninja force should arrive before dawn. We can't wait for reinforcements from the village to save us. We must break the encirclement first, then continuously harass and attack the Sand Ninja until reinforcements arrive and stabilize the defense line," Hatake Sakumo said.
The way ninjas fought was different from armies.
If they gathered in large numbers and charged, it would often be the time for a decisive battle.
Under normal circumstances, it was small-scale skirmishes.
This was because the number of ninjas was small to begin with, and the front line was so long that they couldn't all be gathered together.
But now they were already surrounded and trapped in a relatively small area.
Once they were dealt with, the Sand Ninja could launch a large-scale assault.
Especially the Sand Ninja, who were adept at clearing the area with Wind Style, could push through even in dense forests.
Even with Sarutobi Asuma, a powerful ninja skilled in Wind Style and Fire Style, present, he would absolutely not be able to withstand the Sand Ninja's human wave tactics.
They had already repelled the Sand Ninja twice and inflicted heavy losses on them.
The time dragged on until now, which was enough.
Next, they had to break out of this encirclement, then scatter into individual squads, lengthen the front line, expand the battlefield, and minimize the Sand Ninja's numerical advantage as much as possible.
At the same time, they could also tie down more Sand Ninja forces.
Of course, doing so was also extremely dangerous.
The number of Sand Ninja was still there, and as time went on, they would surely be hunted down one by one.
But Hatake Sakumo believed in the village.
Reinforcements would arrive soon.
At that time, these scattered squads would become a source of great annoyance to the Sand Ninja and could cooperate with the reinforcements.
The captains all nodded, having no objections to Hatake Sakumo's arrangements.
Hatake Sakumo then ordered, "Asuma, you and I will be the spearhead for the breakthrough!"
"After the breakthrough, you and I will form a temporary squad to cover the rear and resist the large-scale pursuing Sand Ninja forces!"
Sarutobi Asuma nodded. "Understood!"
As for Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune, they were temporarily assigned to a team with two other members of Hatake Sakumo's squad.
Those two were also Jonin, so Sarutobi Asuma was very reassured.
Conversely, staying with him would be more dangerous.
He didn't need to think to know that the Sand Ninja must hate him intensely right now.
The arrangements were quickly communicated.
Before dawn.
Numerous Konoha ninjas, using clones or shadow clones to replace their main bodies, quickly gathered and then moved towards Konoha to break out.
Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Sakumo were the spearheads of the breakthrough.
One used large-scale Ninjutsu to carpet bomb, while the other used precise and efficient killing to eliminate the remaining enemies.
It only took three minutes to break through the encirclement.
"Asuma, be careful!"
Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune reluctantly departed.
Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Sakumo remained in place, watching as the other teams seemed to melt into the darkness and disappear.
"Asuma, what do you think we should do next?"
Hatake Sakumo asked, retracting his gaze.
Sensing the Sand Ninja approaching, a smile spread across Sarutobi Asuma's lips, "Teacher Sakumo, you know me. I like to take the initiative!"
Hatake Sakumo also smiled. "Then you take the lead, and I'll assist you!"
"Teacher Sakumo, I won't hold back then!"
Sarutobi Asuma chuckled.
The pursuing Sand Ninja had arrived. From a distance, Wind Style ninjutsu swept over, and wind blades sliced through one towering tree after another.
Without performing any hand seals, two Shadow Clones appeared to his left and right. One used Fire Style, the other Wind Style. Their combined ninjutsu erupted, forcefully suppressing the large-scale Wind Style unleashed by several Sand Ninja working together.
Immediately after, Sarutobi Asuma's main body activated Lightning Style Chakra Mode, and he and Hatake Sakumo vanished from their positions simultaneously.
Before the shockwaves from the ninjutsu collision had fully dissipated, accompanied by flashes of blue and white lightning, Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Sakumo had already stormed into the midst of the Sand Ninja.
"Ah!"
"Careful, it's Konoha's White Fang!"
"Use puppets to seal their movement space!"
"Spread out, use Wind Style, large-scale Wind Style!"
Screams, roars, and the sonic booms generated by lightning clashing with air mixed together.
The chaos was extremely advantageous for Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Sakumo.
Especially when there were many enemies.
Speed was absolute dominance!
Often, before the Sand Ninja could react, their heads were already being severed by Sarutobi Asuma.
And the Sand Ninja who attempted to envelop Sarutobi Asuma with large-scale Wind Style ninjutsu were dealt with by Hatake Sakumo.
Sarutobi Asuma went on a killing spree, with Hatake Sakumo providing cover.
This group of Sand Ninja lasted less than three minutes before their morale collapsed, and they began to scatter. Distress signals rose into the sky and exploded.
Sand Ninja from all around began to converge.
Furthermore, a Sand Jonin named Shada, specifically targeting Sarutobi Asuma, arrived with a force of forty elite ninja.
"It's Konoha's White Fang, and that brat Asuma!"
"Don't get close to them, use puppets to seal their movement routes and cover them with large-scale ninjutsu!"
The Sand Jonin Shada commanded calmly.
Puppets attacked one after another, using densely packed projectiles, combined with projectiles and explosive tags invested by others, to block Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Sakumo's movement space.
Following that, the Jonin joined forces, unleashing large-scale Wind Style to cover the area. It didn't matter if they accidentally killed the puppets; it was better than losing ninja.
This strategy was indeed effective.
After all, even though Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Sakumo were incredibly fast, they still had a trajectory of movement. It wasn't like the Flying Thunder God Technique or Sarutobi Asuma's Substitution Technique, which allowed for direct replacements between two points in different spatial locations.
However.
Sarutobi Asuma was not a ninja like Hatake Sakumo, who specialized in Sword Technique.
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