To their surprise, just as the towering fortifications were breached, a world-shaking roar echoed, accompanied by a streak of rapidly approaching red light.
Orochimaru was the first to react.
Always cautious, he had already suspected there might be an ambush.
"Triple Rashōmon!"
Three demonic-faced Rashōmon gates descended from the sky, only to be swiftly crushed by the incoming attack.
The red light, after smashing through the three gates, was deflected and eventually crashed into a distant mountain peak, obliterating its top.
"Tailed Beast Ball—the Ichibi Jinchuriki."
Orochimaru narrowed his long, snake-like pupils, looking at the massive, bloated yellow tanuki in the distance that was roaring in a frenzy.
Previously, this Tailed Beast had not appeared on the Land of Rain battlefield because the Hidden Sand Village's Sealing Techniques were inadequate, making the Jinchuriki uncontrollable.
Now that they had released this Tailed Beast onto the battlefield, it meant they had played their final trump card.
In the next instant, the Ichibi's roar was interrupted.
"Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique!"
A giant red toad descended from the sky, pinning down the fat tanuki.
"Orochimaru! You and Tsunade go deal with Chiyo."
"Leave this big guy to me and Elder Homura!"
Jiraiya stood majestically atop Gamabunta's head.
However, in the next second, both were sent flying by Ichibi Shukaku.
"Fighting a Tailed Beast? Jiraiya, you really think highly of me," Gamabunta grumbled loudly, a pipe clenched in his mouth.
"We and Elder Homura just need to lure this guy away."
"A rampaging Tailed Beast is powerful, but it's not truly fighting for the Hidden Sand with its whole heart," Jiraiya chuckled, clutching his hip.
He followed Gamabunta and Homura Mitokado as they charged toward Ichibi Shukaku.
At the same time, Orochimaru and Tsunade teamed up to face Chiyo.
Although they were half a tier weaker than Chiyo in terms of raw strength, their abilities countered her.
Orochimaru's snake-like body had high poison resistance, and Tsunade's case went without saying—Chiyo's poison techniques were completely ineffective against her.
Conversely, if Tsunade, with her supreme close-quarters combat strength, got close, a puppet master with a relatively fragile body could only flee or take a beating.
Boom!
Several falling rocks were smashed by a gigantified hand.
From the back of the hand, Uchiha Gen leaped down, finishing off a Hidden Sand ninja in front of him with a single blade strike.
"Choza, on the left!" Hyuga Hizashi shouted loudly, his Byakugan active.
"I've got it!"
A curtain of water sprayed from Uzuki Ruri's mouth, blocking wind blades flying from a distance.
Sarutobi Enjun and Maiko attacked the assailants from the left and right.
Uchiha Gen flicked the residual blood off his ninja sword and moved to support his teammates.
In just a dozen seconds, his kill count increased by several more.
He realized he seemed to be going into "Dynasty Warriors" mode.
With Jonin-level combat power, as long as he didn't provoke those few top-tier experts, he was an undisputed high-end combatant on this battlefield.
In just this short while, a dozen ninjas had fallen by his hand, and even more had been taken down by their entire squad.
Not long after the battle began, his dungeon rating had already climbed to green.
Uchiha Gen actually wanted to keep a low profile, but it wasn't that they were actively seeking out these Hidden Sand ninjas; rather, the ninjas were running into them.
Their mission was to attack this location and then blockade the area to prevent the Hidden Sand inside from escaping in their direction.
They were also meant to prevent Hidden Sand returning from outside missions or other outposts from providing support.
It wasn't supposed to be the most intense area of combat.
But it just so happened that the Hidden Sand deployed a Tailed Beast as a war weapon—and an uncontrollable one at that.
The commotion from Jiraiya and the others fighting the Tailed Beast was too great and the destructive power too strong.
This directly caused ninjas from the surrounding battlefields to be driven toward this location.
And since Uchiha Gen's team had a very low average age, looking at most fourteen or fifteen, they were naturally targeted as soft targets.
However, as more and more enemies fell at their feet, people finally realized something was wrong.
Other surrounding squads seemed to be coordinating with their team as the core, cutting through the enemy's formations.
As a result, they became quite conspicuous.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Wind Release: Air Bullets!"
Wind and fire clashed, exploding into a sea of flames in mid-air.
"Wind Release Ninjutsu with Nature Transformation."
Uchiha Gen made a judgment as he watched the figures charging toward him.
The reason was simple: the opponent's Wind Release Nature Transformation was also of a cutting nature.
Uchiha Gen was also practicing this Nature Transformation; although he hadn't mastered it yet, it didn't stop him from having a certain understanding of it.
Furthermore, despite the elemental disadvantage, the opponent was only slightly at a loss, which spoke volumes of their strength.
"Formation Four. Command of the squad is temporarily handed to Hizashi."
Uchiha Gen issued an emergency order and charged with his blade toward the enemy with the strongest chakra reaction in his Sharingan.
He would have to focus entirely on dealing with this troublesome fellow.
Hyuga Hizashi had the Byakugan, which was inherently good for commanding.
He was the oldest in the squad with strength second only to Uchiha Gen, making him the most suitable candidate for second-in-command.
Clang!
A crisp sound of clashing blades rang out.
After delivering a strike, Uchiha Gen spun rapidly.
Relying on the insight of his Sharingan, he avoided several shuriken flying from his side and warily observed the two enemies surrounding him.
A man and a woman, both appearing to be in their twenties.
The man wore a white headcloth and held a ninja sword.
The woman had face paint and held a special ninja tool—a fan taller than a person, marked with two stars.
It was a version of the Giant Folding Fan that could amplify Wind Release, but with only two stars.
Even so, this fan was a quite decent ninja tool.
It was because of it that this female Hidden Sand ninja could block Uchiha Gen's Fire Release with her disadvantaged Wind Release.
"Two against one. Tsk, I feel like I'm getting used to this."
Any enemy who saw his Sharingan, regardless of how many tomoe were in his eyes, would never choose to duel him one-on-one.
The ancestors of the Uchiha Clan had established such a fearsome reputation that any descendant who awakened the Sharingan had to get used to fighting multiple opponents.
"Attack together!" the male Hidden Sand ninja shouted low.
In the next instant, the large fan swung, and several gusts of gale-force wind carrying endless wind blades swept toward him.
Uchiha Gen was also prepared; he leaped back to create distance and spat out sparks, releasing the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
Simultaneously, he paused his step, turned, and raised his blade to parry the strike from the male Hidden Sand ninja.
In just a few rounds, he had already gained the upper hand in close-quarters combat.