The screams of the Sand Ninjas were unending. Pakura took a quick look around and realized that although the battle had only just begun, the Sand Ninjas on the battlefield were already on the verge of collapse.
There was no helping it. Counting Pakura herself, the Sand Ninja side barely had ten Jonin. This was only because the war situation had been unfavorable lately and the conflict was showing signs of expanding, leading the Hidden Sand Village to send quite a few reinforcements.
In a normal period a few months ago, the total number of Jonin from both Kirigakure and the Sand Ninjas on the entire battlefield likely wouldn't have even reached double digits. Furthermore, the Jonin from both sides usually stayed in their main camps, rarely engaging in true life-and-death struggles.
However, as Kirigakure—or rather, the current Sea Ninja Village—continuously increased the stakes, the Hidden Sand Village had no choice but to brace themselves and meet the challenge.
While the Sea Ninja Village claimed to be raising the stakes, they were actually just using this place as a testing ground. The Sand Ninjas, however, had reached their wit's end. The Third Ninja World War had been sparked by the disappearance of the Third Kazekage, and the Sand Ninjas had suffered the heaviest losses. By the end of the war, the number of their Jonin had dwindled to only thirty or forty.
Coupled with the recent friction with Kirigakure and the reduction in funding allocated to the Sand Ninja Village by the Land of Wind's Daimyo following their defeat in the war, the Sand Ninjas had been unable to properly recover and rebuild.
After Kirigakure became the Sea Ninja Village and the intensity of combat increased, the Sand Ninjas sacrificed several more Jonin. It could be said that their current level of reinforcement was already at its limit.
Post-war, the Sand Ninja economy was on the brink of collapse. The Fourth Kazekage had to send some Jonin on missions to recoup funds. Now, even within the Sand Ninja Village itself, there were likely only a dozen or so Jonin remaining.
For a Great Ninja Village, this was a very dangerous sign. Since Ninjas possess mobility far beyond ordinary people, a portion of Jonin must remain in the Sand Ninja Village to prevent their home base from being caught off guard.
"All Sand Ninjas, retreat immediately!"
Pakura grit her teeth and finally had to order a retreat. Although this meant another large settlement in the Land of Wind would be plundered by the Ninjas of the Land of Sea, she could not, under any circumstances, allow these Sand Ninjas to be buried on this battlefield.
If they lost this group of Ninjas as well, the Sand might truly fall out of the ranks of the Five Great Ninja Villages! What Great Ninja Village would have fewer than 30 Jonin!?
After giving the order, Pakura did not flee. Instead, her offensive became even more fierce. Alone, she held back over a dozen Shikotsumyaku Ninjas from the opposing side. Orange-red fireballs flew across the sky, forcing the main force of the Sea Ninja Village to retreat repeatedly.
"Lady Pakura, please retreat quickly as well!" Several of Pakura's subordinates urged her while organizing the withdrawal.
Pakura shook her head and spoke firmly:
"No. If no one stays behind to cover the retreat and those Sea Ninja Village fellows chase us down, I'm afraid few will make it out alive! Go, quickly! Pass on my orders: organize everyone to retreat into the desert!"
The deserts of the Land of Wind had always been dangerous. Even Sand Ninjas, if scattered and undersupplied, could die in the desert. However, compared to the threat of being hunted by enemy Ninjas, crossing the desert was the best option.
Half an hour later, all the Ninjas had finished retreating, and even Pakura found an opportunity to break away from the battlefield. The Sea Ninja Village seemed to have no interest in pursuing them, heading instead to occupy the coastal oasis cities.
"Lord Vegapunk, why won't you let me go after that woman who was throwing fireballs! That brat killed quite a few of our people!"
The patriarch of the Kaguya Clan walked into the central tent of the camp, waving his arms and shouting loudly. Inside the tent, the Blond Youth was examining a Ninja's body. Hearing this, he merely gave the man a look of disdain.
However, a tall and stunningly beautiful woman beside the Blond Youth threw a punch without hesitation. With a loud boom, she sent the tall, burly Kaguya patriarch flying. The sound of cracking and snapping bones was incessant; there was no telling how many he had broken.
The guards outside the tent felt a gust of wind pass by, then saw the Kaguya patriarch leave a long furrow in the ground before collapsing.
The two guards and the Ninjas around the camp, including many from the Kaguya Clan, merely gave the patriarch a silent glance before returning to their respective tasks.
"Ouch, that's got some kick! Hancock's punches are as powerful as ever!"
The sound of clicking and cracking continued as the Kaguya Clan Patriarch reset the bones in his body. A moment later, he stood up again; his regenerative ability was quite astonishing.
Of course, bones healed the fastest, while muscles were much slower. Blood was still seeping from several places on his body, but he looked completely unconcerned.
After Vegapunk researched a method to activate Bloodline Limits, the entire Sea Ninja Village was in an uproar. Although activating a Bloodline Limit required many merits, these Bloodline Limit clans were powerful; by pooling their resources, they could still help many of their members awaken their Bloodline Limits.
Then, after receiving the news, the Kaguya Clan—perhaps suffering from some mental deficiency—did not choose to return to the Sea Ninja Village. Instead, they prepared to kidnap Vegapunk directly!
Naturally, before they could even get close to the Sea Ninja Village, they were detected by Vegapunk's Biological Magnetic Field Detection Radar. A bored Vegapunk, accompanied by Boa Hancock, intercepted them. The two of them took down the entire Kaguya Clan with just their fists, after which the Kaguya Clan followed them with unwavering loyalty.
Honestly, perhaps due to the Shikotsumyaku bloodline, the brains of these Kaguya Clan members had also undergone some calcification! In Vegapunk's view, these manic fellows were indeed like a troop of monkeys; as long as you could beat them with pure physical force, you could become the monkey king.
After taking the punch, the Kaguya Clan Patriarch entered obediently. He watched as Vegapunk used some strange instruments to extract something from the Ninja and then place it into a test tube.
"What are you doing!?" the Kaguya patriarch asked, scratching his head in confusion.
"I am extracting the essence of Chakra," Vegapunk replied casually. "Chakra is formed by the fusion of Spiritual Energy and Physical Energy. However, in reality, a certain Medium is required for the two to interact during fusion. Although this Medium seems insignificant, it is actually an important element that affects the amount of Chakra."
"In the case of your Kaguya Clan, this Medium within your bodies far exceeds that of ordinary people, which is one reason why your Chakra is many times greater than that of normal individuals."
"Theoretically, the amount of Chakra should be the result of fusing Spiritual Energy and Physical Energy. But in reality, there are many children in this world who, from the moment they are born, already have Chakra levels exceeding those of average Ninjas or even Jonin! You can't possibly say that the spiritual and Physical Energy of these children exceeds the level of a Jonin!"
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