Inada Fujino clearly had the same intention as Sarutobi. Seeing that he commanded nine Suna Jōnin and a number of elite Chūnin that far exceeded Konoha's, his uneasy heart settled slightly.
With an icy tone and chilling killing intent, Fujino loudly issued his command to his subordinates: "Egawa, you will help me hold off Sarutobi later. The rest of you must ensure that all of Konoha's Jōnin are left here!"
"Yes, Lord Inada!" The nine Suna Jōnin behind him were highly motivated and displayed astonishing fighting spirit, seeing the absolute superiority in the number of Jōnin on their side!
As a Kage-candidate level powerhouse with extremely rich combat experience, Inada Fujino immediately brought along his most trusted subordinate, who had coordinated with him for many years.
In his mind, although Sarutobi was a Kage-level powerhouse, the young Sarutobi's chakra would certainly not be able to sustain the continuous release of his extreme-level elemental ninjutsu. Fujino's accumulated chakra from decades of practice should be significantly greater than Sarutobi's. Furthermore, with his subordinate, who had coordinated with him for years, helping to flank Sarutobi, it was enough to make Sarutobi suffer a considerable loss.
As long as he could open up the situation on his side, and then use their twice-as-many Jōnin to completely annihilate the four Konoha Jōnin, the balance of victory would heavily tilt towards their side, even with the presence of the Uchiha and Hyūga bloodline limit holders!
With this thought, Inada Fujino's plan became clearer. He called his subordinate, Jōnin Egawa, and suddenly accelerated, charging toward Sarutobi.
Sarutobi, seeing the Kage-candidate level powerhouse on the opposing side charging forward alone, also focused his gaze. His battle intent boiled over. Rousing all the chakra in his body, he shot forward like an outgoing cannonball, the ground echoing with a burst of sound as he rushed to meet the attack.
Boom!—
Sarutobi, like a tiger let out of its cage, clashed with Inada Fujino in a straightforward punch.
The physical strength (taijutsu) of both was immensely powerful, and dull clashing sounds continuously rang out: "Boom, boom, boom!—"
The powerful air currents generated by their formidable physical strength constantly spread out, raising columns of air and waves of sand on the ground. These shot out like bullets before falling back to the earth far away.
Jōnin Egawa rushed up as well, displaying the practiced, tacit coordination he shared with Inada Fujino. The two continuously formed a flanking attack against Sarutobi, and the connection between their ninjutsu was extremely tight, leaving few openings.
Scorching high-temperature flames, solid earth walls, invisible sharp wind blades... constantly collided and clashed between the three in the air, with ear-splitting explosions and colossal roars sounding non-stop.
The terrifying and powerful ninjutsu forced the other ninja to keep their distance, fearing they might be caught in the crossfire!
Inada Fujino seemingly had only Kage-candidate level strength, but his refined physical prowess honed over years, his chakra accumulated over decades of training, and the seasoned connection between his attacks allowed him to fight Sarutobi to a stalemate.
With the addition of his subordinate, Jōnin Egawa, who coordinated with him for years, they even managed to subtly suppress Sarutobi's offensive. However, Sarutobi was still a Kage-level powerhouse. His understanding and control of ninjutsu were at the peak level. The combination jutsu and the extreme-level elemental ninjutsu unique to Kage-level figures that he deployed from time to time displayed astonishing power, breaking open the situation repeatedly.
The three soon entered a thrilling, desperate tug-of-war, with neither side able to decisively defeat the other!
Observing the stalemate in Sarutobi's battle, Orochimaru couldn't help but frown.
While Sarutobi single-handedly held off a Kage-candidate and an elite Jōnin, the other Konoha Jōnin also unleashed their power!
Aokita and Aokino, the elite Jōnin brothers, had trained together since childhood and both later became Jōnin and joined the Anbu. They had a telepathic understanding that multiplied their combat power geometrically.
Aokita and Aokino exchanged glances and performed the hand seals together.
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!
Aokita took a deep breath and continuously spat out over ten high-temperature fireballs, each the size of an adult's head, flying toward the opposing Suna Jōnin.
Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!
Aokino, sharing a mental connection with his brother, also took a deep breath, but spat out over ten high-pressure wind spheres.
The fast and rapid high-pressure wind spheres instantly caught up to the blazing fireballs.
Each fireball accurately enveloped a high-pressure wind sphere spat out by Aokino.
The ninjutsu released by the two immediately underwent a radical transformation.
Wind enhanced the fire's power, and fire boosted the wind's might!
The high-temperature fireballs, burning with intense flames and enveloping the fast-moving wind spheres, instantly grew several sizes, becoming the size of millstones, incredibly hot and extremely fast. They reached the opposing Suna Jōnin in the blink of an eye.
Seeing the astonishingly powerful attack launched by the two Konoha elite Jōnin brothers, the opposing Jōnin, Tanai, felt his heart sink. He charged forward with two other Jōnin to intercept the attack from Aokita and Aokino.
Uchiha Tomosuke looked coldly at the remaining five Jōnin on the opposing side. His three-tomoe blood-red Sharingan spun rapidly.
Having initially mastered extreme-level Fire Release, he spat out a high-temperature Great Fireball—the size of a manned hot air balloon, blazing red with a streak of dazzling white—and single-handedly held off the three Suna Jōnin led by Kawa.
Facing the last two remaining Suna Jōnin, Hyūga Harano let out a hearty, robust laugh that spoke of his age and strength. The pale, ghastly blue veins bulged out around his eyes as he majestically performed the profound and proficient Hyūga Clan's Gentle Fist taijutsu. Every push and punch delivered a long wave of fist energy through the air, trapping the two Suna Jōnin within an invisible Eight Trigrams Fist Array.
The Konoha elite Chūnin, along with the two rogue Jōnin, Asō and Asaoka, also engaged in combat, facing the combined attacks of one to several Suna Chūnin, or even seven or eight Suna Genin. Even Asō's and Asaoka's three hundred-plus rogue ninja subordinates were spurred on, fighting and killing with the four hundred-plus rogue ninja on the opposing side.
"Clang, clang, clang! Kill! Ahh!—"
For a thousand-meter radius, the sand dunes and grasslands became a heart-stopping, bloody battlefield of life and death.
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