From beginning to end, the "Shimizu" who was half-kneeling on the ground, seemingly exhausted of chakra, was only a clone.
Right after using "Dual Lightning Blade Slash" to defeat two Sand ninja, Shimizu immediately cast the "Clone Technique" to conceal his real body.
Then he activated "Samehada," and in just two seconds, chakra surged through his entire body once more.
While the Hidden Sand ninja focused their attention on "him," the real Shimizu, hidden in the shadows, was already waiting for the right moment to launch his "Lightning Burst Shuriken."
He was simply waiting for the instant the Sand ninja concentrated on attacking...
Everything happened far too quickly. Just as the Hidden Sand ninja believed they were about to begin their counterattack to extinguish the flames of Konoha...
They were once again baptized in blood and fire!
Two violent explosions utterly shattered their counter-offensive. In the ensuing chaos, eight flying needles hissed through the air.
Shimizu felt deeply grateful to the master craftsman in the Land of Artisans for such a genius design.
He had only briefly described the effects of his ninjutsu in a letter, yet that master had fully unleashed his imagination and created a mechanism like the "Four-Needle Shot."
Now, his Lightning Release chakra kunai had the advantage of causing a massive explosion within a considerable range. Although the shuriken's explosion was relatively smaller, each one could fire four flying needles for a secondary strike, and the needles had an effective attack range of over 30 meters.
If he could skillfully use this technique and properly control the directions of the four needles, it might produce extraordinary results.
This time, due to the close proximity, nearly all eight needles found their marks.
Though a tiny flying needle wouldn't cause instant death unless it struck a vital point, it greatly reduced the enemy's combat effectiveness.
"Stop the rescue! Kill them first!" Shimizu shouted.
With four consecutive explosions, eight hidden-weapon-like needles, and four Lightning Blade Slashes, the Sand ninja were completely overwhelmed.
In just about ten seconds, fewer than ten of the Hidden Sand ninja were still standing.
If they didn't press the advantage now, then when?
Bunshi reacted quickly, immediately realizing that Shimizu's earlier talk of "Save them" had actually been meant for the Sand ninja to hear, to lure them into focusing their firepower on disrupting Konoha's rescue plan.
He just hadn't expected that he himself would be fooled as well...
"Kill them all!" Bunshi commanded.
The remaining Konoha ninja present reacted just as swiftly, immediately charging toward the surviving Sand ninja...
…
...
......
"The captain's speed is really incredible! It hasn't been long, and I can't even see him anymore," Rakusui, the leader of Team 6, remarked with a sigh.
After receiving the new orders, the remaining five members immediately rushed toward the area where the signal flare had been fired.
But Shimizu's speed was truly beyond compare.
"Mercury, where is the Captain now?"
"Five hundred meters straight ahead. The distance is still increasing…"
The moment Shimizu set off, Mercury activated her Byakugan. She really wanted to see just how fast he could move.
"At this speed… he'll likely arrive at the destination at least one minute ahead of us," Mercury judged.
"There were rumors in the Fifth Division before that 'Shunshin no Shimizu' could rival the 'Yellow Flash.' I always thought they were exaggerating..."
"Shunshin no Shimizu?" Mercury asked in confusion.
"You didn't know? The name's been circulating for a while now."
"…I only recently joined the ANBU."
"I see."
After barely more than ten seconds of silence, Mercury suddenly said again, "Captain Kūryū is almost at the battlefield."
"That speed... seriously..." Rakusui roughly calculated their own progress before continuing, "We'll need at least another minute…"
"Boom! Boom!"
Two violent explosions erupted from the battlefield 1.5 kilometers away.
"I'm not sure what Captain Kūryū threw to cause that explosion… but he's charging straight into the Sand's position now."
At that distance, it was almost at the limit of Mercury's vision, so she couldn't see very clearly.
"...He's a beast," Rakusui muttered. He knew that if he had rushed into the Hidden Sand's formation like that, he would probably have been torn to pieces instantly.
In the next moment, two dazzling blue flashes lit up their field of vision, especially striking in the pitch-black night.
What was that?
In the blink of an eye, two more blue flashes streaked past.
"Lightning Release ninjutsu. Two dead, two injured…" Mercury explained, her throat feeling slightly hoarse.
Every member of Team 6 was utterly shocked. In less than two seconds, their captain had crushed a four-man squad?!
And Mercury, who had kept her Byakugan active the entire time, was even more incredulous—because she hadn't seen Shimizu form a single hand seal!
The four Lightning Release techniques Shimizu used were seal-less techniques!
Just like the Rasengan of the "Yellow Flash"…
Moreover, the four enemies hadn't been standing in the same spot. The positions where the blue flashes appeared were at least 30 meters apart between the first and second instances.
A "Body Flicker Technique" almost comparable to space–time ninjutsu…
"Think the fight will be over by the time we get there?" Rakusui joked.
About ten seconds later, two more explosions rang out.
"Boom! Boom!"
Because they were closer now, the deafening blasts felt even more destructive.
Could it be that the Sand ninja were really all wiped out?
"Most likely. A fully staffed division… now only nine Hidden Sand ninja remain."
A sense of absurdity rose in everyone's hearts.
Silence fell over the group.
Finally, after more than two minutes of sprinting at full speed, they were about to reach their destination. The distant battlefield was already faintly coming into view.
"Mercury? What are you doing?" At that moment, the leader of Team 6 noticed that Mercury had slowed down.
"There's no need. Save your Chakra. The battle is over," Mercury replied, deactivating her Byakugan.
"…"
When the five of them arrived at the devastated battlefield, they saw two squads of Konoha ninja rescuing more than a dozen people trapped in flowing sand.
Elsewhere, several others were cleaning up the battlefield, while another squad of Konoha ninja stood guard.
It seemed Konoha's losses were not severe.
"Captain Kūryū, the strength you just displayed was truly astonishing. If not for you, our entire unit might have fallen here," Bunshi, the Captain of the 9th Division, said in admiration.
He then added with relief, "But we were indeed fortunate. In the end, the Hidden Sand's psychological defenses collapsed, which also reduced our casualties to some extent."
When the Konoha ninja launched their final bloody assault against the Hidden Sand, the high morale of Konoha stood in stark contrast to the faltering spirits of the Sand.
The Hidden Sand had truly been stunned—and terrified—by the slaughter.
In just a few dozen seconds, Shimizu's four explosions and four Lightning Blade Slashes had destroyed more than half their forces.
The survivors didn't even know how their comrades had died…
Anyone would feel fear under those circumstances.
"We just took advantage of the element of surprise. They weren't prepared."
Shimizu believed that the success of his sudden strike was indeed largely due to his weapons. If properly used, his newly acquired chakra weapons were extremely powerful.
But the enemy's lack of preparation was also a major factor. The Hidden Sand ninja simply didn't understand Shimizu's ninjutsu, nor did they know—or dare to believe—that someone would charge straight into the very center of the battlefield like that…
Otherwise, Shimizu wouldn't have been able to eliminate so many Hidden Sand ninja in such a short time and ultimately join forces with the Ninth Division to annihilate this Sand unit.
...
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