As people in higher positions, Kaguya Ren and Ryō had seen all kinds of strange things.
They both knew that in war, anything could happen.
But they also knew this shinobi was an experienced veteran.
They even believed that when he scouted this place, he absolutely would not have ignored such a huge crack.
The problem was—
Who could prove he hadn't been lazy?
Who could prove he had completed the scouting mission properly?
More importantly—
For such a huge mistake, someone had to take responsibility.
If he didn't take it, were Ryō and Kaguya Ren supposed to?
Kaguya Ren ordered irritably,
"Drag him away first. Punish him later."
"The priority right now is blocking this crack. Does anyone know Earth Release?"
The Kirigakure shinobi looked at one another.
It wasn't that no one knew it at all.
But for such a large crack, one had to be extremely proficient in Earth Release to block it under the impact of a flood.
Building a dam normally and blocking a breach during a flood were completely different matters.
The difficulty wasn't on the same level at all.
In the end, Ryō of the Yuki clan sighed.
"We can only try using Ice Release."
"Freezing it shut isn't very suitable, and it won't last long. But we don't need to hold it for too long."
He summoned the three highest-level squads of the Yuki clan.
Including Ryō himself, there were exactly ten powerful Ice Release bloodline shinobi.
They entered the pit directly and stood on both sides of the crack, then formed hand seals at the same time.
Ice Release: Ice Pillar.
This was the simplest Ice Release ninjutsu.
Precisely because it was simple, it was extremely fast to use.
Borrowing the abundant water here, they created a large number of ice pillars several seconds later—each ten meters long and roughly one meter thick.
The pillars fell messily across the crack.
Their strength was problematic.
Under the impact of the water, ice pillars occasionally broke into several sections and fell into the crack along with the current.
But the ten Ice Release shinobi created them even faster.
The accumulation of ice pillars rapidly increased, soon covering the crack with several layers.
The speed of the water instantly slowed.
Seeing that the timing had arrived, Ryō shouted,
"Now! Freeze it!"
"Yes!"
The Yuki clan shinobi immediately changed techniques and used Ice Release: Freeze.
Each of them puffed out their cheeks and blew icy cold air toward the ice pillars.
Using the ice pillars as a frame and the endlessly flowing floodwater as material, a crystal-clear iceberg soon appeared before everyone.
The iceberg was roughly cone-shaped.
Its base exceeded one hundred fifty meters in diameter, firmly blocking the huge crack.
The surging floodwater stopped pouring downward.
The roaring water sound immediately lessened by more than half, even giving people the illusion that the place had become especially quiet.
Kaguya Ren clapped and laughed.
"That blocked it. Ice Release really is impressive."
Ryō shook his head.
"Not enough. This can only support a few hours. And once the water level rises, the ice may float up."
After saying that, he began forming seals.
His hand-seal speed was extremely fast. His slender, pale fingers blurred into afterimages.
Even with such speed, the preparation still continued for quite a while before the technique was completed.
Finally, Ryō cried out,
"Ice Release: Ryō's Freeze!"
As enormous chakra gathered, it formed a pure white beam that shone straight onto the iceberg.
In truth, this was not a beam of light.
It was a jet of absolute cold.
It froze all moisture in the air into ice dust, and as that ice dust spread, it reflected the sunlight and created a false Tyndall effect, making people mistake it for light.
As this special Ice Release struck the iceberg, its shape did not change at all.
But its color shifted from white to cyan, then rapidly deepened from cyan—
Until finally, it nearly became indigo.
In fact, the iceberg's shape had changed.
But the change occurred at its base.
Dozens of ice spikes continuously drilled into the rock below, serving to reinforce it.
Touching the surface of the indigo ice, one could barely feel coldness.
But in reality, the temperature was so low that even Ryō did not know how to describe it.
This ice was extremely restrained.
Its heat absorption speed had been reduced to the limit, creating the sensation that it was not cold to touch.
With ice of this quality, the iceberg could exist for nearly a year.
Even if Konoha shinobi gathered people to attack it, they would not be able to destroy it within a day or two.
The ninjutsu progressed smoothly.
It was about to be completed.
A smile couldn't help appearing on Ryō's face.
Like winter jasmine suddenly blooming in the freezing cold—
Beautiful.
And freezing.
Kaguya Ren couldn't help shivering. The flesh on his cheeks twitched twice, and he quickly took several deep breaths, clearing the inappropriate thoughts from his mind.
Too dangerous.
Almost bent.
But Ryō's smile lasted only a few seconds before his expression changed drastically.
He felt it.
One ice spike had drilled through the rock.
Through.
That absolutely should not have happened.
And after drilling through, the ice lost its restraint and rapidly spread outward.
The feedback from the spreading ice made Ryō realize that under his feet was not solid rock—
But only a thin layer of stone slab.
Could this be natural?
With that doubt, Ryō simply controlled the ice to spread outward. Gradually, he felt out the rough shape and finally realized—
The space beneath his feet was a cylindrical hollow.
What supported the pit and the iceberg was a stone slab held up by several stone pillars spaced at perfectly equal intervals.
Without question—
This was artificial.
A trap.
Ryō shouted a warning,
"Retreat! Retreat immediately! This is a trap!"
Not a single shinobi reacted in time.
So Ryō personally demonstrated for everyone.
He stepped across the rushing floodwater and ran to the top of the pit at the fastest speed.
Seeing Ryō, who always cared about his bearing, run in such a disheveled way, the Kirigakure shinobi immediately believed he wasn't joking.
All of them moved.
Of course, the sound of cracking rock beneath their feet was far more persuasive.
No one dared remain at the bottom of this circular pit.
According to Yoru's design, at least several meters of water needed to accumulate before the first collapse would be triggered.
Then more water had to gather to cause the final collapse.
But Kirigakure's shinobi had created a small iceberg with Ice Release, adding several times the extra weight.
More importantly, Ryō had manipulated the iceberg to grow downward spikes, piercing the rock layer.
The expansion of the ice further forced the rock to crack.
As a result—
The first collapse became the largest collapse.
The stone slab disguised as the bottom of the circular pit fell downward as one whole piece, revealing a sinkhole three hundred meters in diameter.
Several unlucky Kirigakure shinobi fell with it.
Those close to the edge were fine. They quickly used the sinkhole walls to stabilize themselves and walked back up step by step.
But those too far from the edge were finished.
They screamed as they fell downward.
Their screams lasted for an extremely long time.
Only after a long while were they covered by the roar of heavy objects striking the ground.
Then they vanished completely.
Everyone understood.
This sinkhole was terrifyingly deep.
And so much water had poured into it, yet there had been no sound of water below.
That proved there was no accumulated water down there at all.
Ryō's lips trembled.
"We can't take Kubota Village."
Kaguya Ren reacted a little more slowly, but after that reminder, he understood too.
The sinkhole was too large.
It couldn't be blocked.
And it was far too deep.
There was no hope of filling it.
If the water couldn't accumulate, the ground couldn't be completely submerged.
If the ground couldn't be submerged, the Konoha shinobi couldn't be eliminated.
And if the Konoha shinobi couldn't be eliminated—
Kubota Village could not be occupied.
Every one of Kirigakure's plans had failed.
Kaguya Ren sighed.
"We can only retreat. I don't know whether we'll even make it back to the fleet."
Ryō shook his head.
"We shouldn't indulge in fantasies."
"Our disastrous defeat can't be hidden. Kumogakure will definitely attack."
"I only hope our shinobi left behind are alert enough to avoid Kumogakure's ambush."
Kaguya Ren frowned.
"Then what do we do?"
Ryō looked east and said calmly,
"Simple."
"Call Commander Hōzuki Sakuzuki back."
"Then we abandon all unnecessary supplies and go completely light."
"After that, we head east and go directly out to sea."
Kaguya Ren froze for several seconds before understanding what those words meant.
He asked for confirmation,
"Swim… swim back?"
"Mm."
Ryō remained calm, as if discussing what they would eat next.
"That is the worst-case scenario."
"If we're lucky, we'll meet the retreating fleet and return to the Land of Water by ship."
"Of course, after such a huge defeat, none of the three of us will have good days once we return."
Thinking of the bleak days ahead, Kaguya Ren was also filled with dejection.
He sighed.
"Yeah… no good days left."
In his gloom, he suddenly thought of the Konoha shinobi unit that had brought them to this point.
The anger in his heart, already reduced to dead ash, reignited.
Kaguya Ren asked viciously,
"Now you don't need me to open a path for everyone anymore, right?"
"You want to… kill those Konoha shinobi there?"
"Of course! Can I?"
"Fine. I'll organize the retreat. You go kill them all."
…
Hōzuki Sakuzuki, who was currently confronting Orochimaru, felt uncomfortable all over.
He had come to keep watch on Orochimaru and prevent him from interfering with the battlefield.
But this man wasn't anxious at all.
He leisurely watched the battlefield change.
Logically speaking, achieving his goal without needing to fight should have made Hōzuki Sakuzuki happy.
But for some reason—
His heart grew colder and colder.
It felt as though a venomous snake was staring at him.
He glanced at Orochimaru and realized his feeling was correct.
The man before him was the greatest venomous snake in the shinobi world.
Yet he was so silent.
Was he planning some conspiracy?
Orochimaru was in an excellent mood.
Uchiha Yoru had led the Tiger Unit across the battlefield, fully displaying the advantages of a new type of shinobi unit.
Orochimaru had already begun to understand part of it.
The Tiger Unit's eighty-four shinobi were indeed more elite than Kirigakure shinobi.
But they were not powerful enough to surpass two hundred Kirigakure shinobi outright.
Yet the Tiger Unit could indeed quickly crush several hundred Kirigakure shinobi.
The secret lay in excellent tactics and killing speed.
Their formation and thoroughly practiced tactics ensured that a four-man squad could concentrate its strength, focusing all four attacks onto a single enemy shinobi.
Originally, Orochimaru had disliked the Tiger Unit's four-man squads.
With one extra person, they seemed cumbersome.
Their movements were mechanical and rigid, lacking the beauty of spirituality.
But now he understood.
The number of people and that mechanical quality were the essence of the tactic.
Only four people working together could guarantee suppression over chunin.
Only mechanical movement could ensure absolute synchronization when attacking enemies.
When every attack from the Tiger Unit could guarantee a one-hit kill, they didn't need to consider defense or evasion too much.
Naturally, their offense became smoother and faster.
Four squads cooperating could kill twenty shinobi in only ten seconds.
For any small group of Kirigakure shinobi, that casualty speed was enough to break them.
Such squad combat looked stiff and unsmooth no matter how one looked at it.
Yet on the overall level of the Tiger Unit, it manifested as fast, smooth slaughter—
Even carrying an inexplicable sense of magnificence.
Only Kirigakure jonin—
And old, experienced jonin at that—
Could deal with such attacks.
But the four-man squads would never attack jonin.
Holding back jonin was the duty of the division captains.
Killing jonin was Uchiha Yoru's duty.
The Tiger Unit's mission structure was so perfectly appropriate.
Each level of shinobi was responsible for its own target, and through mutual support, they crushed the enemy overwhelmingly.
The only issue seemed to be jonin.
The jonin leading the unit had to be stronger than the enemy.
Not only did they need to defeat enemy jonin, they had to do so quickly with the assistance of several chunin.
But this was already extraordinary.
And Konoha's jonin standard was high enough to bear this responsibility.
Even if one person could not manage it, they could simply form a jonin squad.
The more Orochimaru watched, the more satisfied he became.
In his mind, he had already begun planning the training of new-style shinobi units.
As for the Hōzuki clan shinobi standing beside him like an eyesore—
He ignored him completely.
There was indeed no certainty of killing him.
So he could only allow him to remain an eyesore.
Orochimaru was the disciple of the Professor of Ninjutsu.
He knew that the Hōzuki clan was a family that had woven deception into its very bones.
They spread propaganda throughout the shinobi world about their clan's secret Hydrification Technique.
But how could that be a secret technique?
Something capable of changing even the molecular structure of the body—
How could there be such an absurdly powerful secret technique?
It was clearly a body-related bloodline limit.
And one on the same level as the Sharingan, Shikotsumyaku, and Byakugan, directly involving the body's organs.
They also enthusiastically promoted the weaknesses of their clan's Hydrification Technique.
Fear of Lightning Release.
Fear of Ice Release.
Even evaporation caused by Fire Release could severely injure Hōzuki shinobi.
According to that propaganda, the Hydrification Technique was trash.
Hōzuki clan shinobi would be doomed the moment they encountered shinobi who mastered Lightning Release, Fire Release, or Ice Release.
They could only show off in front of shinobi who didn't know ninjutsu, or only knew Water, Wind, or Earth Release.
But anyone with a brain could think it through and notice the problem.
The Hōzuki clan were natives of the Land of Water.
The Yuki clan with Ice Release bloodline limit were also from the Land of Water.
The Land of Water had two neighbors—
Kumogakure, where Lightning Release was widespread.
And Konoha, which was most proficient in Fire Release.
Externally, they were surrounded by these two neighbors.
Internally, they had the hostile Ice Release clan.
In such an environment that supposedly countered the Hōzuki clan's secret technique so thoroughly, they still treated the Hydrification Technique as the foundation of their clan inheritance.
Were their brains diseased?
Or were all other shinobi blind?
During the thousand years of the Warring States Period, and the first decade after the shinobi villages were founded, hundreds of shinobi clans had been destroyed.
For the Hōzuki clan to survive until today, their secret technique absolutely could not be as fatally flawed as their propaganda claimed.
If Hydrification were truly that weak, the Hōzuki clan of the Land of Water would have been destroyed by the Yotsuki clan of the Land of Lightning long ago.
No.
There wouldn't even be a turn for foreigners.
Although the Yuki clan all looked delicate and lovely, they were also a ruthless clan that annihilated entire families at the drop of a hat.
If they truly restrained Hōzuki shinobi to that extent, then there was only one possible reason they would tolerate the Hōzuki clan surviving until today—
The Hōzuki clan had already been annexed by the Yuki clan.
They had become slaves whose lives and deaths were controlled by others.
Like the main and branch families of the Hyūga clan.
Survival was not battle.
What mattered was not defeating enemies.
Nor was it being overwhelmingly strong in a single aspect.
It was having no fatal weaknesses in every aspect—
And not being easily killed.
The Hydrification Technique should have different levels of inheritance.
Low-level shinobi did not master it fully, so fatal weaknesses truly existed.
But the secret technique mastered by high-level shinobi absolutely had no weaknesses.
It could also maximize its advantages.
One could say that every Kage-level Hōzuki shinobi was an unkillable monster.
Very annoying.
Although Orochimaru also pursued being unkillable, that did not stop him from looking down on the Hōzuki clan.
The most hateful thing under heaven—
Was an enemy like himself.
Still, killing this Hōzuki shinobi was not completely impossible.
Before coming here, he had already given Nara Shikaku an order.
If he did not return within four hours, nor contact him, then Shikaku was to mobilize Konoha's army and launch an all-out counterattack.
Counting the time—
It was about right.
If Konoha's army arrived in time, then the Yamanaka clan shinobi skilled in soul attacks would arrive with them.
There were quite a few Ino-Shika-Chō combinations under Orochimaru's command.
As long as the Yamanaka clan members were concentrated, there was a chance to control the Hōzuki shinobi's soul.
At that point, no Hydrification Technique would have meaning.
If they wanted to capture him, they could find a huge water jar and seal the Hōzuki inside.
If they wanted to kill him, they could use Fire Release and evaporate him bit by bit.
Among Konoha shinobi, Fire Release users were the most numerous.
That kind of work could be done very quickly.
Unfortunately, before Konoha's army arrived, Hōzuki Sakuzuki received certain intelligence and withdrew on his own.
A while later, the entire Kirigakure army began retreating.
Having missed the chance to eliminate an enemy commander, a trace of regret flashed through Orochimaru's golden snake pupils.
But soon, he let it go.
No need to hurry.
There would still be many hunting opportunities later.
After receiving the retreat signal and regrouping with Ryō and Kaguya Ren, Hōzuki Sakuzuki strongly agreed with retreat.
In shinobi tradition, there was no habit of fighting to the bitter end.
Since every plan had failed, then they should honestly preserve their lives.
As for losing face?
He didn't care.
Regarding Kaguya Ren's proposal to kill that small group of Konoha shinobi, Hōzuki Sakuzuki also raised both hands in agreement.
But he specifically reminded him,
"My suggestion is ten minutes."
"Kill however many you can."
"If you can't kill them all, absolutely don't be stubborn."
"We may not have much time."
Ryō asked in surprise,
"What happened?"
Hōzuki Sakuzuki frowned.
"When I was confronting Orochimaru, he deliberately acted as if he was ignoring me."
"Not only did he make no defensive preparations, he didn't even try to attack me."
"That isn't right."
"When I retreated, I felt Orochimaru's gaze."
"That gaze was full of regret."
"The regret of food slipping away from his mouth."
"Konoha's army must already be on the way."
"They might arrive very soon."
Kaguya Ren and Ryō's expressions changed at the same time.
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