The three Iwagakure chunin immediately charged towards Sora.
The Iwagakure jonin himself formed hand seals with both hands, aiming at the Baku and the Tanuki on its head.
"Earth Release, Earth Flow River."
Rumble.
The ground beneath the Tanuki and the Baku instantly softened, turning into a churning mudslide, attempting to trap and wash them away.
'Bastard.' The Tanuki cursed inwardly, forced to make the Baku leap up while forming hand seals with both hands.
"Wind Release, Vacuum Great Sphere."
A highly compressed wind sphere shot towards the Iwagakure jonin, trying to interrupt his jutsu.
The battle erupted instantly. The Iwagakure jonin entangled the Tanuki and the Baku.
Over here, the three Iwagakure chunin had already closed in on Sora.
Sora's eyes narrowed. Just as he was about to move, one of the Iwagakure chunin rapidly formed hand seals, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
"Demonic Illusion, False Surroundings Technique."
Sora only felt the scene before his eyes blur. The surrounding rocks and environment seemed to twist and deform. His sense of direction instantly became disoriented, even the enemies' positions became difficult to discern.
'C-rank genjutsu. And a disruptive type.'
Sora realized immediately.
Under normal circumstances, he would either forcefully break it with Dragon's Might, or open the Eight Inner Gates to accelerate chakra flow to dispel it.
But right now...
'Cannot break it.'
A thought flashed through Sora's mind like lightning.
'Right now I am "chakra depleted", "physically exhausted". This is a perfect opportunity. The Iwa-nin want to capture me alive, there won't be immediate danger to my life for now.'
'Let them and the Root dogs fight each other. I can use this chance to recover.'
Thinking this, Sora forcibly suppressed the Dragon's Might that instinctively wanted to surge from within his body. He even directly deactivated the Eight Inner Gates state. The green steam instantly dissipated. Instantly, feelings of exhaustion and muscle tearing assaulted him simultaneously.
Sora acted as if affected by the genjutsu. His eyes became "dazed", his movements also became "sluggish", as if he had lost his sense of direction.
"Got him. Capture him."
Seeing this, one Iwagakure chunin immediately rushed forward, taking out a rope to bind Sora.
The moment he got close, under the cover of his body "staggering", Sora performed an extremely fast and concealed motion, grabbing a large handful of soldier pills from his ninja tool pouch, quickly stuffing them into his mouth. He chewed roughly a couple of times before forcing them down his throat.
He almost choked to death.
'Damn it... the taste is consistently terrible as always... but I need to eat more.'
Sora inwardly complained, while simultaneously fully operating the super-fast digestion ability brought by the Azure Dragon Fruit.
Streams of hot energy quickly rose from his stomach, transforming into nourishment for his nearly depleted body. The fatigue began to slowly recede, and chakra also started to gather bit by bit.
Sora's appetite had always been huge. Although it couldn't match Hinata's achievement of over forty bowls, he currently needed to eat over twenty bowls per meal.
It wasn't that his stomach was that large, but his digestion speed was extremely fast. This was also one of his hidden trump cards.
Sure enough, that Iwagakure chunin only roughly tied Sora's hands behind his back. After confirming he couldn't form seals, he didn't pay any more attention.
In their view, a chakra-depleted, genjutsu-affected, and tied-up brat was no longer a concern.
"Done. The brat is captured." He shouted towards his companions.
"Good. Let's go help the jonin-sama."
Seeing this, the other two chunin immediately turned and rushed towards the Iwagakure jonin who was fiercely battling the Tanuki and the Baku.
The chunin who had tied up Sora also pushed Sora behind a large rock, saying "Stay put.", before also rushing towards the main battlefield.
For a moment, no one was paying attention to Sora anymore.
Sora leaned against the rock, his eyes "vacant" as he stared ahead, as if truly trapped in the genjutsu and unable to break free.
But his brain was operating at high speed. Inside his body, he was frantically digesting the soldier pills, feeling the slow return of his strength.
'Fight. Fight more fiercely...'
Sora cautiously observed the distant battle from the corner of his eye.
He saw the distant Iwagakure jonin clearly had very rich combat experience. He didn't engage the Baku head-on, but continuously used Earth Release to alter the terrain, create obstacles, and disrupt the Baku's movements. At the same time, he used various Earth Release: Rock Projectiles and Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spears to attack the Tanuki standing on the Baku's head from range.
"Earth Release, Rock Pillar Spears."
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Sharp stone spears protruded from the ground, stabbing towards the Baku's relatively soft underbelly.
The Baku cried out in pain, letting out an angry roar. Its long trunk tried to inhale again, but due to the internal burns, the suction force was clearly not as strong as before, and it seemed somewhat painful.
The Tanuki continuously performed Wind Release techniques for counterattacks and defense.
"Wind Release, Vacuum Wave."
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Sharp blades of wind slashed towards the Iwagakure jonin, forcing him to constantly dodge or raise Earth Style Walls to block.
The addition of the three Iwagakure chunin greatly reduced the pressure on the Iwagakure jonin.
Although they couldn't deal fatal damage to the Baku, the constantly thrown explosive-tagged kunai, and occasionally performed low-level jutsu like Earth Release: Earth Flow River and Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu for harassment and restraint, greatly limited the Tanuki's effectiveness and the Baku's movements.
"Wind Release, Pressure Damage."
The Tanuki seemed angered. Forming seals, he released a high-pressure wind sphere, instantly blasting an Iwagakure chunin who failed to dodge in time, making him vomit blood and fly backwards.
But another tall and thin chunin immediately took his place.
"Earth Release, Earth Prison Dome of Magnificent Nothingness."
Sora's pupils contracted. It was actually a B-rank jutsu. It should be noted that chunin generally used C-rank and similar jutsu. Clearly, this Iwagakure chunin's strength was not to be underestimated either.
Sora leaned against the rock without moving a muscle, secretly committing this tall and thin chunin to memory.
He then saw a hemispherical earthen prison trap the Baku. Although, because the caster was a chunin, it was soon shattered by the Baku's trunk, it successfully bought time.
Seizing the opportunity, the Iwagakure jonin pressed both hands forcefully on the ground.
"Earth Release, Mountain Soil Technique."
Rumble. Two massive hemispherical rocks suddenly closed in on the Baku from its left and right sides, as if trying to crush it in the middle.
The Baku let out an earth-shaking roar, straining with its body and trunk to hold back the closing giant rocks. For a moment, it reached a stalemate.
Standing on the Baku's head, the Tanuki continuously used wind blades to chip away at the giant rocks. Crushed stone fell incessantly.
The battle entered a brief stalemate.
Sora silently watched all of this. The soldier pills within his body were rapidly transforming into energy.
'Good opportunity... The Iwa-nin have been a great help.'
He cautiously moved his wrists tied behind his back. For Sora, this level of restraint was practically useless.
'Wait a bit more... Wait for them to wear each other out, wait for me to recover a bit more.'
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
And now, this "oriole" seemed to think it had control of the entire situation.
Little did it expect that Sora, this seemingly helpless "cicada", was quietly accumulating the strength to strike back.
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