Chapter 168: Bunjin Dies, the Sand Ninja in Chaos
Drip, drip.
Blood dripped from his severed shoulder. Although Bunjin had tried to block the fatal slash, his Blade of Wind, along with his right arm, had been directly cut off by Kyosuke's sword.
The severed shoulder and the numerous serious injuries on his body seemed to be telling him that today was probably his last.
However, at this moment, Bunjin's heart was surprisingly calm. There was no fear, no anger, only a faint sense of regret.
"I never thought I'd die here today. I should have been more careful."
"The Kazekage has disappeared. I'm not without a chance... hehe, no, even if I survive, the Kage's seat won't be mine. Rasa's personal ability is much better than mine. Chiyo and the others will definitely choose him."
"It's a pity I won't be able to see that day. And once I'm dead, this war will be lost!"
"No, I can't let the Sand be defeated because of me. I... I can still fight!"
As his thoughts fell, a wave of chakra, almost visible to the naked eye, suddenly erupted from his body.
Kyosuke, who had been on his guard, immediately leaped back the moment he noticed that something was wrong. At the same time, at the cursed seal on the back of his neck, a pure stream of sage art chakra madly spread throughout his body.
Sage Mode, activated for the third time.
Unlike the previous two times, this time, the activation was almost instantaneous. It did not require Kyosuke to painstakingly absorb and then convert. Of course, this was also his last trump card.
The snake shadow and the single horn reappeared. Kyosuke, whose speed had instantly increased, while retreating, he used the transparent snake shadow to launch a ninjutsu.
"Sage Art: Scorch Release: Blazing Sun."
This single-point damage Fire Release Sage Art was thus used by Kyosuke.
His purpose was simple: to kill the seriously injured and dying Bunjin first. Otherwise, the desperate counterattack of a veteran Kage-level powerhouse was something no one wanted to face.
Originally, Kyosuke's decision was not wrong. But who would have thought that Bunjin, faced with the oncoming flames, would not even dodge, but would lower his head and continue to charge up his power.
It was only after the surging flames had touched his body that Bunjin suddenly raised his head.
His hair and clothes, which had been set ablaze by the high temperature, could not affect his bright eyes and the somewhat twisted and exhilarated smile on his face in the slightest.
"Your attack is still too slow. Come with me, Uchiha boy."
"Wind Release: Divine Gale."
Before Bunjin's words had even fallen, his entire body was directly engulfed by the white-hot flames of the Blazing Sun. In less than a breath, his body was thus burned to ashes.
The Sand ninja's front-line army commander-in-chief, the Kazekage's right-hand man, the veteran Kage-level powerhouse, Bunjin, had thus died at Kyosuke's hands.
In an instant, the众人 who had witnessed this scene, whether they were from Konoha or the Sand, couldn't help but stop fighting.
"Bunjin is dead, just like that?!" a Konoha ninja muttered in disbelief.
"Lord Bunjin, how is that possible..." Unlike the Konoha ninja, the Sand ninja's faces were not so much surprised as they were panicked, or even terrified.
However, Kyosuke, at this time, had no time to pay attention to the thoughts in their minds.
Because the attack Bunjin had launched before he died had already come down on him. Even Orochimaru, who was not far away, was not spared.
In this hurricane that had descended from the sky, the two of them could barely even stand. If it weren't for the three strange gates that had suddenly appeared, Kyosuke, even if he didn't die today, would have been seriously injured.
"Rashomon? It's almost the strongest defensive ninjutsu in the early to mid-game. I have to find a way to get it," Kyosuke thought, his gaze on Orochimaru's eyes, not hiding his fiery gaze in the slightest.
Seeing Kyosuke's expression, Orochimaru, while using an Earth Release ninjutsu to reinforce his defense, said with a strange smile, "When we get back today, I'll teach it to you."
"Alright," Kyosuke replied simply, then turned to look at the still-raging wind around him.
"This ninjutsu is really not bad. I wonder if I can find a way to copy it."
Meanwhile, a few kilometers away from Kyosuke, on another battlefield.
Chiyo was leading a large number of Sand ninja, and was rapidly approaching.
After receiving Bunjin's request for help, she was preparing to act, but was unfortunately stopped by Hyuga Saori and the others, who fought desperately.
For this, Chiyo, who had a bad premonition in her heart, directly launched an almost life-risking offensive.
In just a few short minutes, the three of them were almost killed by her.
Fortunately, Chiyo, at this time, had no time to get entangled. Seeing that the few of them were powerless to stop her, she directly led her subordinates and quickly left. Otherwise, Saori and the others would have surely died today.
"Cough, cough," Saori coughed violently. She looked down at the huge wound on her abdomen, where her internal organs were faintly visible, and a wry smile appeared on her face.
"We've done our best. The rest is up to you, Kyosuke."
Saori's consciousness gradually faded. In the end, when she saw the equally scarred Thirteen struggling to walk up to her, her whole body fainted.
"Her injuries are too severe. I need to give her emergency treatment," Thirteen said to Seven, who had also walked over.
Seven looked at the blood that was constantly seeping from her clothes, and the corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn't say anything. In the end, he could only nod helplessly.
He then turned to look in the direction Chiyo had left, a hint of worry in his eyes.
But his broken ribs did not allow him to go and support Kyosuke. For this, he couldn't help but curse in his heart.
At this time, Chiyo had already led her men close to the battlefield where Kyosuke was. But when she looked at the scene that had gradually quieted down ahead, the bad premonition in her heart grew stronger.
"It's impossible. With Orochimaru's strength, at most he could repel Bunjin. It's impossible to kill him. Even with that suddenly appearing Uchiha brat, it's the same."
But although she was comforting herself in her heart, Ebizo's previous words kept echoing in her ears.
"Uchiha Kyosuke's disappearance must be part of some plan."
They had previously thought that Kyosuke was probably preparing to launch another surprise attack on some important camp. But what had happened today clearly showed that Konoha had set its sights on Bunjin, the commander of the army.
Even if Bunjin's strength was great, since Konoha dared to plot like this, they were undoubtedly full of confidence. Chiyo knew this very well in her heart.
So, seeing the battlefield ahead, which was now devoid of any fighting, Chiyo's heart was filled with such unease.
"Damn it," Chiyo said, her gaze grim, and she sped up again, directly leaving the many subordinates behind her, and ran quickly toward the plain.
"Lord Chiyo, wait a minute."
"Damn it! Everyone, speed up and follow the master."
The many Sand ninja behind her, seeing that Chiyo had left them behind in a few breaths, were anxious and could only erupt their chakra and use their fastest speed to follow.
But soon they found that Chiyo's figure seemed to have been frozen, and she was standing motionless in front.
When these Sand ninja walked up and were about to ask, the scene before them made them all speechless.
On the plain not far ahead, there were countless corpses, but the vast majority were Sand ninja corpses.
Of course, they had seen this scene countless times in the past few years, so it did not cause too much of a psychological fluctuation. What really made them speechless was the young man who was surrounded by many Konoha ninja in the center, or rather, the token in his hand that represented the identity of the supreme leader of the Sand ninja army.
Just then, Kyosuke and the others also noticed Chiyo's arrival.
His eyes sinking, Kyosuke directly walked past the crowd and came before the Sand ninja unit.
Ignoring the guarded enemy, he looked at Chiyo's ugly face and asked in a cold voice, "Those Konoha ninja from before... what happened to those three who were blocking you?"
"" Chiyo raised her hand to stop her subordinates' attack, and after a moment of silence, she slowly said, "Those three are very good. I was in a hurry. They should still be breathing now."
"This brat... is he the young man who defeated Sasori in the Chunin Exams...?" Chiyo thought, looking at Kyosuke. Although she knew that it was inappropriate to think about these things now, Sasori's figure still appeared in her mind.
After another moment of silence, she suddenly asked, "Brat, that old fellow Bunjin, was he killed by you?"
Kyosuke, who was relieved in his heart, nodded with great pleasure, indicating that her guess was correct.
Although she already had the answer in her heart, when the truth was really laid out before them, the Sand ninja, for a moment, still could not accept this bad news.
Just then, a series of dense running sounds and a deafening sound of fighting came from the distance.
The Second Army and the Sand ninja unit led by Rasa had arrived on the battlefield at almost the same time.
Perhaps because of the strange atmosphere here, they did not start fighting right away, but gathered together and simply exchanged some intelligence.
When these Sand ninja learned of their commander's death, besides an indescribable anger, a question couldn't help but quietly rise in their hearts.
"First, Lord Kazekage disappeared, and now Lord Bunjin has also died in battle. Can we really win...?"
Although Chiyo and Rasa tried to use words to motivate the众人's fighting spirit, the effect was minimal.
Seeing this, Chiyo directly took over the command and immediately began to command the troops to retreat.
Now that the people's hearts were not united, to continue fighting would only be to increase the casualties. Chiyo, as an experienced battlefield commander, was still very clear about this.
However, the Southwestern Army would not let them leave so easily.
"All of you, listen to my command," Orochimaru said, seeing the Sand ninja's chaotic retreat, countless thoughts flashing through his mind. He then said in a loud voice, "Now, begin the pursuit of the routed Sand ninja. Don't let a single one escape."
"Yes, sir," the many emotional Konoha army ninja replied in unison.
After fighting for so long, today they had finally suppressed the Sand ninja's arrogance again. No, they should say that they had broken the Sand ninja's sharpest blade. So, every Konoha ninja who bore a grudge was eager to just charge directly into the Sand ninja's den.
So, Orochimaru's order almost instantly ignited the emotions that had been suppressed in their hearts for a long time.
Watching his comrades flash past him, Kyosuke, who had once again accumulated the sage art chakra in his cursed seal, also slowly stood up.
He nodded to Fugaku and Ukyo, who had walked up beside him. The three of them didn't have time to talk, and just followed behind Orochimaru and charged at the routed Sand ninja unit.
Along the way, although Chiyo set up traps from time to time to try to delay the Southwestern Troupe's pursuit, these traps were all cleared by Orochimaru one by one.
And Chiyo was directly entangled by Orochimaru. Although her Chikamatsu Collection of Ten's abilities were strange and powerful, Orochimaru's endless forbidden jutsu also made her suffer greatly. So, at this time, she had no time to care about other people.
As for the Sand ninja's other powerhouse, Rasa, Fugaku, leading Kyosuke, charged straight at him.
Two Chidori joined forces to break his gold sand. Rasa, helpless, had no choice but to give up on blocking the others and turned to focus on dealing with the two's attacks.
And so, the Sand ninja, in the face of the Southwestern Army's frenzied attack, left behind hundreds of corpses along the way before finally safely returning to the range of their camp.
This place had long been set up with countless traps by the Sand ninja, so although the Southwestern Army was in a state of righteous indignation and wanted to continue the attack, Orochimaru ultimately announced the order to retreat.
After all, the Sand ninja's combat-ready numbers were still not small. Even if the Southwestern Army could forcibly break into the camp, the casualties would definitely not be low.
Not to mention, now that Bunjin was dead, in the following time, no matter what means the Sand ninja used, they were doomed to be at a disadvantage. So, there was no rush.
Just as Orochimaru had predicted, for the next two months, the Sand ninja's battles almost always ended in failure. If it weren't for Ebizo, who saw that the situation was not right and once again transferred some troops from the Land of Wind, they probably would have been unable to resist the Southwestern Army's offensive long ago.
Even so, the Sand ninja could only barely maintain the balance of the situation and were completely unable to launch an attack again.
Now the Sand ninja's purpose was clear: to drag it out. Drag it out until the battlefields of other countries changed. Only then could they possibly win a glimmer of victory for themselves.
Needless to say, this method was definitely from Ebizo.
After two months of stubborn resistance, the turning point the Sand ninja had been bitterly waiting for finally arrived.
Because on a certain day, Konoha suddenly sent an urgent telegram.
The content of this telegram was very simple.
"Mizukage Yagura has personally come to the Land of Whirlpools battlefield. The various families of Konoha have suffered heavy casualties. Now, order Uchiha Kyosuke to lead a part of the Southwestern Army ninja to support the Land of Whirlpools battlefield."
"Upon receiving the order, set off immediately without delay."
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