As the Red Light Green Light game continued and the Kumo shinobi began to understand the basic rules of standing still during the red periods, Shunsui decided it was time to push the advantage even further.
He used the Yamanaka mind network to speak directly to every Yamanaka and every Kurama clan member who was linked into the system and was present near them.
He carefully explained how they could play around the rules without breaking them themselves.
He made sure to tell them to only use jutsus that did not require hand signs or to form any necessary hand signs during the five second green light period when movement was allowed.
The Yamanaka techniques often needed seals, so those members prepared the seals while the light was green and then froze in place with their hands already shaped when the red light returned.
More of the Kumo shinobi fell to this cheating as the sudden headaches and confusion caused them to flinch or raise their hands during the red light.
The scarecrow's straw bindings shot out at once and locked those who reacted. The trapped Cloud fighters could only stand helpless while the Konoha shinobi used the following green light periods to move among them and end their lives.
Shunsui's own swords were covered with blood and so were his clothes as he moved from one immobilized target to the next.
He slaughtered another of the Kumo shinobi who had dared to break the rules by trying to form a jutsu at the wrong moment. The glowing blades cut through armour and flesh without resistance because the victims could not raise a defence or even turn their bodies away.
It did not matter who the enemy was. A fresh genin or an experienced jonin received the same treatment.
If anyone broke the rules of the game they were immobilized, and no amount of personal strength or chakra could free them until the scarecrow itself decided the punishment time was over. The bindings only released when the cycle allowed it and not a second sooner.
Some of the Konoha shinobi also moved by accident from time to time because it was the first occasion most of them had ever played such a game under real combat pressure.
A sudden explosion nearby or the sight of a falling comrade caused more than one Leaf fighter to take an involuntary step during a red light.
When that happened Shunsui immediately used the Yamanaka mind network to order nearby teammates to protect the immobilized Konoha shinobi. Leaf fighters formed temporary shields around their frozen comrades and kept Cloud attackers away until the bindings released and the affected shinobi could move again.
The system was not perfect, yet it kept Konoha losses far lower than they would have been in a normal exchange.
After many cycles of red and green light, it seemed that the Kumo forces in this section of the battlefield had finally reached their breaking point.
Clear sounds of retreat began to rise from the Cloud side of the lines. Officers shouted orders to pull back and the remaining mobile fighters started to turn away from the fight.
This section of the Kumo army chose to leave the field rather than continue losing men to an ability they could not properly counter.
Shunsui watched the retreat begin and decided he was not going to let them leave that easily with their backs exposed. He cancelled the Red Light Green Light game with a single thought.
The giant four headed scarecrow sank back into the ground and disappeared as if it had never existed. In the same breath he activated another of his games. Diabolo took its place.
The blood that still coated one of his swords burned away in a flash of heat as the blade began to spin on the end of a thin chakra string.
The sword turned into a blazing fire yo-yo that whirled faster and faster beside him. With each rotation it released sharp crescents of flame that shot outward toward the retreating Cloud forces.
Countless fire slashes flew across the open ground. Some struck the earth and exploded into wide bursts of flame that forced groups of runners to scatter.
Some slammed into defensive walls of earth or water and still managed to punch holes through the weaker barriers.
Others found their targets directly and split Kumo shinobi in half or wrapped their bodies in fire that refused to go out quickly. The spinning yo-yo never slowed. Shunsui guided it with small movements of his wrist and kept the rain of fire following the largest clusters of fleeing enemies.
The other Konoha shinobi did not stay idle. They saw the open backs of the retreating army and launched their own jutsus without hesitation.
Waves of wind, stone spikes, and lightning bolts joined the flames and further thinned the numbers of the Cloud force. The combined assault turned the organised withdrawal into a disorganised flight.
Men stumbled and fell under the continuous attacks while their comrades were forced to leave them behind in order to save themselves.
As the last visible Kumo shinobi finally disappeared beyond the far ridges, loud cheers rose across the Konoha side of the battlefield. The sound started in the eastern sector and spread outward as word of the sudden victory travelled from unit to unit.
Tired Leaf fighters raised their weapons and voices in celebration of a success that had seemed impossible only a short time earlier.
The three platoons that had been close to collapse now stood on ground they had regained and more.
Every head in the nearby units turned toward Shunsui. For many of the shinobi present it was the first time they had witnessed his abilities with their own eyes.
A large number of them had been fighting on distant parts of the front while he participated in the Chunin Exams, and even those who had watched the exams from the stands had not fully understood what his abikities truly meant in a real war.
Now that they had seen the scarecrow freeze dozens of enemies and the fire yo-yo cut through a retreating army, no doubts remained about why the higher ups had named a boy so young as one of the War Powers of Konoha.
It was also the first time that a wide group of people truly began to understand how his ability worked. The knowledge was not limited to Konoha's own shinobi.
The Kumo fighters who had survived the retreat carried the same realisation with them. They now knew there was much more to the boy's kekkei genkai than the few games that had been reported after the exams.
The information would travel back to Cloud command and from there to other villages, yet for the moment it only added to the shock of the defeat they had just suffered.
News of the battle and also of Shunsui's decision to ignore the original orders soon reached the high command of the Konoha forces.
The reports described both the success and the fact that the young War Power had activated techniques he had been told to keep hidden.
The higher ups found themselves in an awkward position. They were helpless to punish him in any meaningful way because any punishment delivered after he had saved large numbers of Konoha shinobi and forced a section of the Kumo army to retreat would look like open ingratitude.
Such an action would almost certainly lead to anger and possible revolt among the very forces that were still needed to continue the war. In the middle of an active conflict the leadership could not afford that kind of internal division.
A certain war hawk within the council was beyond furious when the details reached him. He saw the independent action as a dangerous challenge to authority and wanted immediate consequences.
Yet he himself was fully engaged in directing battles against the Iwa forces on another front and could not leave his post to deal with the matter in person.
-------Author Notes--------
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