Escape From Konoha

The border between the land of earth and the land of ghosts.

Heavy snow covers the wilderness, and compared to yesterday, the snowflakes falling today are much lighter.

At a glance, in the wilderness connecting the two countries, the land is severely desertified. Although it has not reached the level of desertification, it is not far away.

Most areas are not covered by vegetation and are full of desolation.

On the way forward, there are rugged rocks, some are low and can be jumped up in a few steps, and some are towering and steep, overlapping and abrupt, as if straight into the sky.

On a slightly higher rock, as the captain of the army and the son of the third generation Tsuchikage, Iwagakure Jonin Loess was lying on the steep rock, motionless.

His clothes and hair were covered with snowflakes, and he held a military telescope in front of his eyes to observe the distance carefully.

Late last night, while the attention of the Demon Country was focused on the Konoha ninjas of the Bear Country, he led a thousand-strong Iwa Ninja force to successfully pull out a stronghold in the eastern part of the Demon Country.

Although the troops he led suffered some losses due to the removal of this stronghold, considering the importance of capturing this stronghold in the subsequent battle, this loss did not make Huangtu feel distressed.

Unlike other villages, Iwagakure has been recuperating since the Battle of Kannabi Bridge more than ten years ago.

It can be said that Iwagakure's armed force is the most complete preserved ninja village in the great country.

In terms of the scale of ninja, it even surpasses Konoha and is second only to Kumogakure.

In addition, Iwagakure is good at earth escape and combination attack. If they form a formation and fight head-on, Huang Tu firmly believes that the ninjas of Iwagakure will not lose to anyone.

Even the Konoha Ninja Village, which was once arrogant and at its peak, suffered a lot in this regard.

If it hadn't been for a yellow flash, the Third Ninja War would never have ended with Konoha's final victory.

But now Iwagakure has become an ally with the once hostile Konoha, and has begun to go against his former ally 'Hyuga Ayane'. This dramatic change makes Huangtu lament the impermanence of fate.

He was well aware of his father's intention to intervene in this war.

Unlike Kumogakure, the military threat from the Kingdom of Oni is close at hand, and becomes increasingly serious as time goes by. Once a war breaks out between the two countries, there will be no buffer zone to directly invade the other side's homeland.

With such a 'friendly neighbor', his father Ohnoki has often suffered from insomnia, headaches and anxiety in the past few years.

If it hadn't been for this Four-Nation Alliance, then with his father's cunning and cunning style, he would never have taken the risk to participate in such a dangerous war.

Everything is easy to say if they win, but if they lose, things will not be easy for Earth Country and Iwagakure in the future.

Therefore, this war must not be lost!

Huang Tu carefully stared ahead with a military telescope, observing the movement ahead, without relaxing for a moment.

Behind the huge rock where he was lying, there were densely packed figures with serious expressions on their faces, in a fighting formation. As long as Loess gave an order, they would launch a charge, using the Earth Escape Technique that was ready in their hands. Bury the enemy.

"Lord Loess, the enemy is approaching and will soon enter an ambush."

An Iwa Ninja, who was good at earth escape and hiding, emerged from the hard rock surface and reported the situation ahead to Loess who was still lying on the rock.

"Well, I saw it, let me know and get ready to fight."

In the military telescope, Huang Tu also took advantage of his commanding position to see the movement in the distance.

They were 'steel creations' that had never been seen before. The entire body was made of steel, and the bottom was a rolling crawler that could grip the ground.

In front of this steel creation, a long cannon barrel was set up. The muzzle was so dark and deep that the bottom could not be seen.

At first glance, such a strange steel creation reminds people of a rough and wild aesthetic.

The rolling 'steel' is like a black torrent, crushing the earth and moving forward.

Surrounding these 'steels' were a walking army composed of ninjas from the Kingdom of Ghosts. Some of them wore precious and rare chakra armor. These ninjas were either Jonin or Chuunin from the Country of Ghosts. The best among them.

According to Huang Tu's estimation, the number of this walking army should be 500. Although they are accompanying the mechanized troops, their mobility is obviously more flexible than the bulky armored tanks, so they can be used very well. Clear out the 'rats' approaching the mechanized troops to ensure sufficient firepower for the mechanized troops.

Huang Tu frowned when he saw this army that was a mixture of ninjas and steel chariots.

It's not that he underestimated the combat capabilities of this unit, but he didn't see the commander of this unit.

Could it be that he was hiding behind the troops and his view was blocked, so he didn't see it?

Moreover, they only sent so few people to guard the eastern territory of the Demon Country. Are they, Iwagakure, being underestimated?

Only a thousand people were used to attack the eastern stronghold of Oni Country last night, but with the arrival of support troops, the number of Iwagakure ninjas gathered here has now reached more than three thousand.

In addition, there are two thousand-man companies stationed at the rear to ensure that transportation and supply work can smoothly connect with the front line.

It’s not that I look down on the power of ninjas and technological weapons in the Kingdom of Ghosts, but it would be too rash to rely on this kind of steel ‘toy’ to even out such a huge gap in numbers.

Just as he was thinking this, the walking army organized by ninjas stopped in the area visible through the telescope.

As the foot army stopped, there were hundreds of armored artillery vehicles.

The scene seemed to freeze for an instant, with only the cold wind mixed with snowflakes blowing away.

"As expected, there is no way to conduct an ambush. If that's the case, then—"

Loess saw the troops from the Kingdom of Demon stopped advancing. As expected, their troops were unable to hide themselves in front of the enemy's Sensing Ninja and Byakugan Ninja.

Then, the so-called hiding is meaningless. We can only rush in from the front, use the earth escape ninjutsu to completely disrupt the formation of the Demon Country troops, and then bury those 'steel toys' that seem to have sufficient firepower deep underground. , making it useless.

As long as they stand on the ground, their Iwagakure are invincible.

So Huang Tu stood up, put away the military telescope in his hand, put it in his arms, and then stretched out his hand, preparing to make an attack gesture.

"Master Loess, look up there, there is a sudden and powerful chakra reaction!"

The sensing ninjas who were following him suddenly opened their eyes, turned back, and pointed to the sky.

Huang Tu couldn't help but turn around, his eyes followed the direction pointed by the sensing ninja's finger, and glanced at the gray sky filled with wind and snow.

A small black dot appeared in the gray sky, and gradually enlarged as it descended.

It wasn't until they got closer that Huang Tu and others saw the true face of this black spot - it was a person.

Moreover, judging from the familiar figure, it was still his old acquaintance on the battlefield of the Third Ninja War——

Hinata Ayane!

"Everyone retreat!"

Huangtu realized something, his face changed with shock, and he shouted loudly to the Iwagakure ninja below who was still staring blankly at the sky.

However, when he shouted these words, it was already too late.

Like a meteorite falling to the earth, the soil mixed with snowflakes accompanied by an explosion flew to all directions under the terrifying impact force, sending up billowing dust and smoke.

This sudden landing attack caught the Iwa Ninjas off guard, causing many of them to roll out involuntarily, leaving scars all over their bodies and unable to get up again.

"No need to fight, keep the distance! The chunin and genin stand back, the jounin is responsible for restraint!"

Seeing the brief chaos in the formation, Loess began to command the entire field, allowing the stronger jounin to stay where they were, while the weaker chuunin and genin only needed to evacuate to a safe area.

The military orders were like mountains, and in the chaos, the Iwa Ninjas found their backbone.

According to Loess's arrangement, they left the jounin behind and asked the chuunin and genin to quickly evacuate from the center of the battlefield.

The tactical arrangement is indeed just right. Considering the difference in personal 'quality' between the two sides, this approach will undoubtedly minimize the losses of the Iwa Ninja.

Unfortunately, the moment Huang Tu issued this order, a figure rushed out from the dust and smoke.

The ninja outfit modified from a kimono danced with the long black ink hair as he leapt. On such a cold frozen soil, a bright smile as dazzling as the sun hung on his face.

While it has a sweet taste, it also makes people feel that her sweet smile is mixed with biting coldness and blood.

As soon as she rushed out of the dust smoke, there was no hesitation. Under her white eyes, the formation of the Iwa Ninja troops was clearly visible, and they were all within the 'range'.

"The arrangement is good, but you must have free time to arrange it!"

After overcoming the obstruction of the two Iwagakure jounin, Ayane gave up fighting with them and directly broke through the jounin's defense line at extremely high speed and jumped into the dense area of ​​chunin and genin.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the smile on her face became even brighter.

"Back to the days!"

His body and long hair swirled, and chakra surged out from his palms, forming a chakra ball that covered the twenty or thirty chunin and genin around him.

When the body stopped dancing, the nearby chuunin and genin were all ejected and fell to the ground either dead or maimed.

A circular pit with a diameter of ten meters formed under Ayane's feet.

"Earth Release·Rock Iron Cannon!"

The nearby chuunin who were not affected, and the jounin who came up quickly to support, began to form seals, opened their mouths, spit out stones less than the size of a fist, and flew towards Ayane in the pit.

During the flight, these stones rapidly increased in size and turned into rock cannonballs larger than an adult.

If it hits the human body, it is enough to smash the human flesh and blood.

The huge rock shell passed through the afterimage, and Ayane disappeared from the place. When she reappeared, she had landed on the head of an Iwa nin, raising her right arm to take aim.

boom!

The earth exploded.

A huge gap in the crowd appeared as the Iwa ninjas were ejected by the impact.

"Okay, so fast!"

Surprised by Ayane's speed, their rock iron cannon hadn't even finished its work yet, but the gap here had already been opened.

Even a Jonin would have difficulty following her pace, let alone blocking her from the front.

This is an impossible task.

"Earth Escape·Earthquake Core!"

An Iwagakure jounin seized the opportunity to make the ground where Ayane landed sink endlessly downwards, intending to build a cage to trap Ayane underground, and then use the earth escape technique. Annihilate them.

It was a good idea, but as soon as the land began to sink downwards, Ayane's figure disappeared from the land.

boom!

A familiar explosion sounded, the sound of Ayane tearing the earth apart with her palms, and another area where Iwa ninjas gathered appeared.

This kind of unstructured thrusting made it impossible for the Iwa ninjas to figure out what Ayane was thinking in her heart, and what rules they followed in attacking on this battlefield.

As a result, the Iwa ninjas were completely confused.

The Jonin wanted to contain Ayane, but Ayane did not fight with them. She just relied on her unparalleled taijutsu to teleport and find the weaker Chuunin and Genin in the crowd to attack.

The chuunin and genin wanted to evacuate the battlefield, but in front of Byakugan, unless their teleportation speed could far surpass Ayane, they could only leave it to fate to escape.

For ninjas of Ayane's level, as long as they don't encounter special secret ninjutsu or chuunin and genin who are good at earth escape and stealth techniques, basically everyone they catch will die.

Although Ayane's efficiency in annihilating the enemy is not high due to pure taijutsu, and most of the time she needs to get close to the target to kill her, relying on her own excellent teleportation taijutsu, if it continues for a long time, Iwa Ninja will still be defeated. They couldn't bear it and suffered heavy losses.

"hateful!"

The chuunin and genin who were captured and fled also had a ball of anger in their stomachs.

Since he couldn't escape, he had to fight tooth and nail to gain valuable opportunities for the Jonin.

Aiming at the right moment, the two Iwagakure chuunin circled around Ayane's back, held the kunai and stabbed her.

They naturally knew that such a surprise attack would be useless in front of Byakugan.

But it was enough to attract Ayane's attention and give the others a chance to attack.

What's more, two fists are difficult to defeat with four hands. Even if you have an all-round reconnaissance eye, it is impossible to resist attacks from all directions.

Breaking into the enemy's position alone is the stupidest thing to do.

Just as they were thinking this, a black shadow passed across their necks.

The head rolled down so fast that they could not react, and their consciousness was plunged into black smoke first.

The shadow at Ayane's feet transformed from a virtual shadow into a solid protruding plane. Only the dark shadow weapons were visible. The tips of weapons such as knife tips, sword tips, and spear tips emerged from the shadows, ready to go. .

It seemed to be telling these group of rock ninjas with a cold and cruel fact that a self-righteous sneak attack would also lead to a dead end!

"What a good boy. No wonder Baishi-kun has been reluctant to let you go."

She has not cooperated with shadow dancers many times, but as long as she is on an isolated battlefield, when she thinks of such a terrifying murder weapon hidden in her own shadow, even Ayane can feel a sense of awe from it. A reassuring sense of security.

So, continue to advance.

He used his flesh and blood body to smash the surrounding rocks and mountains, causing large rocks to fall downwards, constantly tearing apart the earth he passed by, creating chaos.

"Asshole, don't run!"

The Jonin of Iwagakure chased and surrounded him.

However, there were only Iwa Ninja corpses left on the ground. Ayane repeated her old trick by leaping to another battlefield and began to hunt down the panicked Chuunin and Genin, completely ignoring the pursuit of the Jonin.

The anger of the Iwa Ninjas was of no avail. They were good at jointly attacking Earth Release and creating favorable terrain to trap the enemy in the prison formed by Earth Release, but they were not known for their mobility.

Of course, it is not impossible to trap Ayane. As long as the Chuunin and Genin who are entangled by Ayane are sacrificed, the chaos can be stopped.

As the commander, Huang Tu naturally noticed this, and just when he was considering whether to do this——

Cannon fire rang out.

Cannonballs fell from the sky like burning meteors accompanied by distant roars.

Every time a cannonball hits the ground, it will spray a burst of fire into the sky and set off a scorching light mist. The terrifying shock wave will also spread to the surroundings, shaking the earth.

Towering rock mountains were shattered by gunfire, and large rocks washed down like heavy rain, knocking down the Iwa Ninja who could not dodge in time.

Huang Tu's face turned pale, and he suddenly realized something.

"Retreat! Everyone——"

Just as he finished speaking, a cannonball fell, the rock cracked, and fire erupted.

Loess rolled on the ground in disgrace, and dust and smoke billowed. When he stood up, half of his body was stained red with blood, a large piece of skin on his forehead was scratched, and he coughed violently.

"Captain Loess!"

The accompanying jounin rushed up regardless of the danger and built a wall of earth to resist the cannonballs flying from a distance.

The fire scattered the earth and rocks, causing a violent explosion.

"Don't worry about me, hurry up and inform me that the first to tenth squadrons will stay behind, and the rest of the squadrons will retreat!"

Huang Tu covered his blood-stained left arm and could no longer move.

If he hadn't used earth escape to harden his body in an instant, the cannonball just now might have killed him immediately.

Even if he doesn't die, he will be seriously injured at least.

The artillery fire was still roaring, and the sky-wide flames spurted out from the mouth of the armored gun barrel without stopping. One artillery shell flew out, and the next one immediately followed, hitting the enemy forces two kilometers away.

"Attention, there are Iwa ninjas lurking underground, ready to fight!"

Among the walking ninja troops that protect the mechanical troops, a Jonin of the Hyuga clan with white eyes summoned everyone through the communicator.

After receiving this news, some of the ninjas from the Kingdom of Oni began to form seals and retreated into the earth to resist the lurking Iwagakure ninjas. They fought with the enemy underground to prevent the enemy from disrupting the mechanized troops' sneak attacks.

"The whole army advances!"

With an order.

The rolling black steel, accompanied by the flying snow, formed a dark torrent, rushing forward.

While the steel chariot was crushing earth and rocks, it was firing artillery fire in the distance, conducting indiscriminate bombardment.

The walking Oni no Kuni ninja charged at the front and started a close combat with the Iwa ninja who charged from behind.

Fire and fog burned the entire wasteland and stone land, and the sky turned red.

In the rocky area covered with fire and gray mist, a figure ignored the roar of the artillery bombardment and the terrible shock wave caused by the artillery bombardment. Like a thousand troops, one person thrust back and forth among the enemy troops several times, greatly hindering the Iwa Ninjas. retreat action.

So, this magical scene appeared——

The fire shock waves formed by the shells continued to spread on both sides, and the deafening roar was also shaking the world, causing the ground to tremble non-stop. Countless rocks fell like raindrops, and a figure flew past like lightning, turning the black and thin shadow in the shadow under his feet. With the shadow blade of paper, the heads of the rock ninjas along the way rolled down one after another, and then the artillery fire covered them, and these headless corpses lost all traces under the cover of the fire.

And that figure was still flying forward, so that the pursuing cannonballs could only follow her heels and keep eating dirt, leaping and spinning her spotless body, as if dancing a gorgeous death ball in the center of the battlefield. Dancing is like entering a place where there is no one, and it is irresistible.

It is the white god of death who brings despair!

◎

In the fortress-like fortress, which was originally built by the military of the Kingdom of Demons, almost half of the area was destroyed at this moment. The golden sea of ​​sand died outside the fortress. Countless Sand Hidden Ninjas poured in, incorporating this fortress into the Wind. within the territory of the country.

Standing on the high wall of the fortress, Luo Sha, the fourth generation Kazekage, looked at the boundless yellow sand in the distance and the sun that was about to sink in the horizon. For a moment, he felt elated.

Five or six years ago, the Kingdom of Wind ceded more than half of the land in the northwest region of the Kingdom of Wind to the Kingdom of Oni due to the defeat of the Sunagakure ninjas. This can be said to be the most humiliating foreign war since the founding of the Kingdom of Wind.

Now, under the leadership of Feng Ying, although they have not been able to completely regain the lost ground, they have taken an extremely critical step.

Being surrounded and suppressed by the shinobi villages of the four countries at the same time, the status of the Demon Country as a great country is already in jeopardy.

Next, Sunagakure only needs to add fuel to the fire, not only to get back all the land he once lost, but also to gain huge wealth from it.

The glory of Sunagakure and the Land of Wind is right before our eyes.

"Kazekage-sama."

Ma Ji, a trusted jounin, walked up and looked in the same direction as Rasa.

"How's it going?"

"The deployment has been completed, and the various brigades and squadrons have also been assembled. In addition, the investigation of the military fortress of the Kingdom of Ghosts in the forward area has also been completed, and the army can be advanced at any time."

Marky replied, unable to hide the excitement on his face.

In this Four Kingdoms Alliance, Sunagakure Village invested 5,000 Sunagakure for this war from the very beginning, and was personally led by Kazekage, one of the Five Kage, with the intention of regaining their homeland and entering the Kingdom of Demons. Actively participate in the idea of ​​​​guomen.

"There is no rush for now, wait for the good news from Konoha and Iwagakure to come. In addition, Kirigakure still needs to contain the main force of the other side of the Demon Kingdom from the sea. At that time, it is our best time to attack!"

Luo Sha looked at the beautiful and peaceful sunset in the distance, which is extremely rare in desert countries.

As he admired the beautiful scenery, he felt a sense of pride in pointing out the country.

"Lord Kazekage, the battle report between Konoha and Iwagakure has arrived."

A Sunagakure ANBU jumped up, knelt on one knee, and presented Rasa with the battle report from Konoha and Iwagakure.

"Marky, it seems that the day when we will attack the Kingdom of Ghosts is almost here."

Luo Sha smiled at Ma Ji.

Marky also smiled, as if he felt that victory was close at hand.

Luo Sha picked up the two battle report letters presented by the ANBU.

Opening the first letter, it was a battle report belonging to Konoha. He glanced at it twice, the smile on his face slowly disappeared, and his brows furrowed.

Without saying anything, Luo Sha continued to open the second envelope and scanned Iwagakure's battle report.

"..."

Ma Ji glanced at Luo Sha, who had read the two battle reports but said nothing after that. Suddenly he felt that the muscles on the face of the Kazekage he respected were very stiff, and the original high-spirited smile had disappeared from his face at some point. .

It must be the delusion caused by the excitement and insomnia in the past few days and the lack of rest.

With victory in sight, how could Lord Kazekage show such a demoralizing expression?

Well, this must be just an illusion.

Marky comforted himself like this.