Chapter 417: Retreat
Hiramekarei was the heaviest of the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist. Mei Terumi found it a bit difficult to wield. With a loud shout, she infused more chakra into the sword and then fiercely slashed downwards!
Hiramekarei emitted an eerie blue light, and then a chakra ball, taller than a person, shot straight towards Ino.
With a loud "BOOM," the earth cracked, and thick smoke rolled out. Mei Terumi narrowed her eyes, trying to see the situation behind the smoke. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past her. Thinking it was the same groping hand from before, she swung her sword to cut.
Hiramekarei cut through empty air. Two kunai collided in the air, one flying left, the other right.
Is it the left or the right?
Mei Terumi found that she couldn't make an effective judgment. She could only respond in the way she was most accustomed to, betting that the enemy would appear on the right.
She slashed fiercely to the right. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of gold appear on the left. She quickly twisted her waist, forcefully turning to slash the left, only to miss again. Another kunai flew out from the dust, changing the trajectory of the special kunai. Ino suddenly appeared behind her and placed a Flying Thunder God formula mark on her shoulder blade.
Mei Terumi formed a hand seal with one hand, and the surging water from the Water Formation Wall sent Ino flying.
The next second, Ino drew her chakra short sword, Akisui. Her voice was crisp, but the killing intent within it made one shudder. "Mist ninja, go back and choose a new Mizukage!"
"Flying Thunder God Slash!" Ino used the formula mark she had left behind to unleash the ultimate technique the Second Hokage had used to severely injure Izuna Uchiha!
Even without activating her three-tomoe Sharingan, her speed had reached its absolute limit. Ignoring the defense of the Water Formation Wall, she instantly appeared inside the rotating water current, right behind Mei Terumi. Her short sword stabbed towards her heart in 0.1 seconds.
"Huh?"
"Chuyoshi!?"
Ino was stunned. The short sword stabbed out, and she felt the sensation was wrong. There was no expected flow of water around her. Seeing the sensory ninja Chuyoshi, whom she had stabbed to death, three question marks appeared in her mind.
How did I end up stabbing this fatso? Her mind raced, and she understood the reason.
This damn fatso had actually suppressed and interfered with her perception at the last moment.
The Flying Thunder God Technique required one to sense their own formula mark. This was why Ino had trained Naruto's perception. Sensing the mark was the first step of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Ino had never thought she would make a mistake in perception.
Her perception was very powerful. She had her family's secret jutsu in this area, she had talent, she could level it up, and she had the guidance of the Second Hokage.
Karin, who used the Mind's Eye of Kagura, was only on par with her in terms of perception.
Now, such a fatso had actually suppressed her perception, causing her to misjudge when sensing the Flying Thunder God formula mark. It had to be said, this Mist jonin had something extraordinary about him.
"The next move, there won't be a fatso to save you." Ino looked at Mei Terumi in the distance. A trace of horror appeared on the Fifth Mizukage's expression. She had never felt so close to death. If it weren't for Chuyoshi interfering with Ino at the critical moment, she would be the one lying in a pool of blood right now.
"Protect the Mizukage!"
"If you want to touch Lady Mizukage, you'll have to get through me first!"
Mei Terumi's prestige was indeed not as great as Genpaku's, but this time, for the sake of the old and young of her entire village, she had shouldered all the infamy. At this moment, she had gained the trust of the Mist ninja.
Several Mist jonin didn't understand the mystery of the Flying Thunder God, but they had basic logical thinking skills.
Zabuza put away his Executioner's Blade and took a short sword from a nearby Mist ninja, protecting Mei Terumi from behind.
Even Ino couldn't finish Zabuza in a few moves.
Mei Terumi was extremely annoyed. Raiga Kurosuki was an old guard of the previous regime; his death was his own business. But Chuyoshi was her confidant. The death of such a powerful sensory ninja was a major loss for the talent-scarce Mist Village.
And she couldn't remove the Flying Thunder God formula mark in a hurry.
"Chuyoshi was able to interfere with her, which means her Flying Thunder God relies on perception. Since it's perception, it must be ineffective beyond a certain range. Lady Mizukage, let's retreat first," her aide, Ao, whispered.
Raido Namiashi, Muta Aburame, and the others had already bandaged their wounds. They quickly formed teams, drew their kunai, and glared at the Mist ninja.
In the distance, Shikamaru and Choji were about to arrive at the rear camp with over five hundred ninja. This betrayal by the Mist was a complete failure for them; they had lost both fame and fortune. But for the Cloud, it was an extremely important victory. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a turning point in the war.
Mei Terumi gritted her back teeth. "Retreat!"
Worried that they would feint an attack in one direction while attacking another, Ino's first priority was to protect the wounded, so she didn't pursue.
To vent her frustration, she stabbed the fatso Chuyoshi's corpse two more times.
Shikamaru and Choji brought reinforcements. Tsunade also sent Shizune back from the front lines to treat the wounded. Ino wanted to help, but Shizune refused. Leave the patients to me. You'd better keep an eye on Mei Terumi.
The betrayal was also very sudden for Gonbee. Receiving the message from his own sensory ninja, he immediately led his subordinates to turn against them. Their sudden defection in the middle of the battle stunned the Konoha ninja. Fortunately, Jiraiya arrived on the battlefield in time, stabilized the situation with his title as Hokage, and personally covered the rear, single-handedly holding off the siege of the Fourth Raikage, Killer B, Yugito, and others.
As Tsunade was retreating, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Single-handedly, she captured Gonbee amidst the encirclement of numerous Mist ninja.
Jiraiya signaled for her to retreat first. He alone faced the tens of thousands of the Cloud army. For the first time in battle, he used the Sage's treasured tool, the Crimson Gourd.
The current Crimson Gourd not only had its previous function of absorbing the word-souls of its targets, but also had the ability to store supplies and seal a portion of chakra.
Time inside the Crimson Gourd was almost at a standstill. Jiraiya had the same idea as Naruto from the original timeline.
His Sage Mode had a major flaw: it took a long time to gather natural energy, and its duration was short.
The Crimson Gourd effectively compensated for some of these shortcomings. He could gather natural energy in advance and store it, then call upon it directly in battle.
The problem of the short duration couldn't be solved, but within the effective time, he could still fire off a few Sage Art attacks.
He unleashed various Sage Art fire techniques. Even the Fourth Raikage didn't dare to charge head-on. After the main army had completely retreated, he slowly fell back.
The Mist's betrayal was a huge blow to Konoha's morale. More importantly, their rear was threatened, and they had to withdraw from the Land of Frost.
A day later, the main army withdrew from the long and narrow Land of Frost and returned to the Land of Hot Water.
Mei Terumi, in the name of the Mizukage, officially announced that she was joining the Cloud's side.
Konoha was furious. Someone suggested killing all the captured Mist ninja.
Jiraiya and Tsunade did not quite agree.
The Cloud Village sent an emissary at the right time, proposing an exchange of prisoners.
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