"To shinobi of our level, fodder soldiers do matter—but not all that much, unless there are enough of them to become truly overwhelming."
"But there are three of us, and soon there'll be four. Split between us, the numbers definitely won't be too high."
"And in a situation like this, Yatagarasu's role is much smaller."
Thought after thought flashed through Jinin Akebino's mind.
"The methods Rasa used to defeat the Akayama Clan will have extremely limited effect on us. Which means the ones likely to win... are us."
"If we can kill Rasa here, it'll be an enormous achievement."
"With merit like that, I could directly become the leading candidate for the next Mizukage."
At that thought, Jinin's heart began pounding.
"This Rasa..."
His eyes narrowed.
"It looks like his success against the Akayama Clan has made him overconfident. The moment he heard his disciple was under attack, he rushed here alone."
"He thinks too little of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
As soon as Jinin finished speaking, he barked:
"Together. Kill him!"
"That technique that manifests fodder soldiers, and that summoning beast too, won't be much use against us."
"Kill him, and Kirigakure's disadvantage will be reversed on the spot!"
Kushimaru Kuriarare did not hesitate.
The instant Jinin finished speaking, he charged first.
Using the long sword Nuibari like a spear, he thrust violently toward Rasa's body.
Jinin Akebino raised his blunt blade and swung toward Rasa from the side.
Meanwhile, Raiga Kurosuki stayed slightly farther back, channeling chakra into his paired lightning blades. Soon, fierce electricity began to gather around them.
Just as all three attacks were about to strike Rasa—
"Sand Soldier Manifestation!"
At once, all three of them sensed an overwhelming danger.
The same thought rose in each of their minds.
If their attacks landed, they might indeed injure Rasa—
But if they failed to stop now, then the result awaiting them would be death.
The three had no choice but to break off their attacks and force themselves to turn back.
Then their eyes widened.
Because behind them, six towering golden figures had appeared out of thin air.
They were tall.
Radiant.
Almost gleaming.
Two behind each of them.
Six in total.
And the aura coming off those golden sand soldiers was immensely powerful.
They were definitely not mere fodder.
"This is the fodder Rasa manifests with that technique?"
"What kind of fodder is this?"
"Could Rasa really manifest hundreds of soldiers like these?"
"No... impossible."
"This has to be another technique. Similar in nature, maybe, but these manifested sand soldiers are far stronger—there must be a limit to their number. Maybe only six."
Even so, the realization instantly sank the hearts of Jinin and the others.
Because the situation was no longer what they had imagined.
Hundreds of fodder soldiers would not have posed much of a threat to them.
But six soldiers this powerful absolutely could.
Rasa leaped lightly, withdrawing from the center of their encirclement and landing outside it.
The six sand soldiers enclosed Jinin Akebino, Kushimaru Kuriarare, and Raiga Kurosuki within their formation.
In an instant, the situation reversed.
"Attack."
At Rasa's command, all six sand soldiers charged at once.
Each held a shield in one hand and a spear in the other.
Two sand soldiers against each of the Ninja Swordsmen.
In terms of numbers, they held a clear advantage.
And under Rasa's control, the sand soldiers moved with perfect coordination.
For a moment, all three Ninja Swordsmen fell into a bad spot.
High in the sky, Baki's eyes lit up.
"So this is Teacher's technique?"
"It doesn't seem like the Third Kazekage ever had a jutsu like this... so Teacher developed it himself?"
"That means Teacher's strength really has surpassed the Third Kazekage."
Jinin Akebino's face darkened.
He raised his blunt blade and hacked at one sand soldier.
Clang!
The sand soldier lifted its shield and blocked.
Jinin raised the hammer in his other hand.
"Can you still block that?"
"My blunt blade can break anything!"
But Jinin seemed to have forgotten something.
He was facing not one sand soldier—
But two.
The moment he focused all of his attention on one, the other took the opportunity to circle behind him.
A point of cold light struck first.
Then the spear thrust like a dragon.
Puchi!
The instant the sand soldier's spear pierced into Jinin Akebino's body, he let out a shriek.
His whole body jerked upward.
"Spear of the Thousand Years of Death!"
A streak of red suddenly appeared.
Jinin whirled around and glared at the sand soldier with eyes full of murderous rage, then turned that same hatred toward Rasa.
That attack had nearly frightened the soul out of him.
But very quickly, he had no choice but to pull back his attention.
Because the next wave of attacks from the two sand soldiers was already upon him.
On the other side, Kushimaru Kuriarare relied on his superior agility and speed, constantly shifting and weaving.
A wire connected to Nuibari wrapped around the two sand soldiers.
"Got you."
Kushimaru grinned.
But in the very next moment, he realized something was wrong.
The wire had indeed wrapped around the two sand soldiers, and thanks to its sharpness it had begun to cut into their bodies—
But after sinking to a certain depth, it stopped.
One sand soldier looked at Kushimaru, released its shield and spear, and grabbed the wire with both hands.
Then it yanked hard in its own direction.
Kushimaru's expression changed immediately.
A terrifying force surged through the sword in his hand.
It wasn't him who had trapped the enemy.
It was the enemy who had trapped him.
Now he had only two choices.
One—continue pulling and overpower the sand soldier.
Two—abandon his blade.
But if he abandoned Nuibari, then what would he have left?
Without his sword, his strength would plummet. Against two sand soldiers, victory would become even more impossible.
In the short exchange just now, Kushimaru had already judged it clearly.
These sand soldiers were not weak.
Far from it.
They were strong.
"He can manifest sand soldiers this powerful... this is already beyond any normal clone technique."
Kushimaru gritted his teeth.
"And he manifested six at the same time."
"What kind of ninjutsu is this?"
"How strong is Rasa, exactly?"
The two sides continued to pull with immense force.
Soon, Kushimaru realized something very important.
He was flesh and blood.
In a tug-of-war like this, his hands were already burning with pain.
But the sand soldiers felt no pain at all.
This was never a fair contest.
And just then, Kushimaru saw an even more despairing sight.
The second sand soldier also released its shield and spear—
And joined the tug-of-war.
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