Chapter 208: The Melee Begins
Chapter 208: The Melee Begins
As the second circle shrink of the day began, the safe zone slowly moved, and the remaining teams in the arena started to converge.
"They're here," Hinata, who was in charge of reconnaissance, immediately spotted the tracks of 9 ninjas rushing towards them with her Byakugan. "They are all wearing Cloud Village forehead protectors."
"It seems the Cloud ninjas have also started a joint operation," Shikamaru's voice sounded in everyone's ears via the Yamanaka clan's secret jutsu. "But why are there only 9 people? Are there only 3 Cloud squads left?"
"Don't worry about that for now. Kiba and I will lure them towards trap #8. Be ready to provide support," Shino said at this point, raising his hands and releasing a large swarm of insects from his sleeves.
"Understood. Sakura, go to trap #6 nearby and prepare to detonate the explosive tags. Choji, wait in the west-side cave—remember to put away the potato chip bag."
"Understood," the voices of the two came through the channel.
"Naruto, you're the closest to that location. After they enter the trap, the frontal combat is up to you. Kiba, Shino, and Hinata will assist you. It would be best to finish them off within three minutes," Shikamaru said while scribbling on a map.
"Three minutes is enough for me to take care of all of them," Naruto said, rubbing his palms together.
"Don't underestimate the enemy. This is very likely just the Cloud's vanguard. It's imperative to deal with this squad at the fastest speed."
"Got it," Naruto replied.
As the three squads of white Cloud ninjas advanced rapidly into the safe zone, a sky-blotting swarm of insects rushed out from the surrounding dense forest. The sunlight, already considerably blocked by the forest, was completely obscured by the insect swarm.
"Get lost!" Within the three Cloud squads, members formed seals, attempting to use Lightning Release to drive away the scalp-numbing swarm.
"Lightning Release? Then let's try this out: the effects of the semi-finished Lightning-Devouring Insects cultivated by my clan using Lord Hokage's lightning chakra."
For insects, both the high temperatures of Fire Release and the explosions of Lightning Release should have been fears to be ingrained in their DNA. However, the swarm of insects released by Shino, upon seeing the Lightning Release ninjutsu unleashed by the Cloud genin, became excited as if they had seen food. They swarmed forward, and the opponent's Lightning Release jutsu was devoured completely just as it was forming.
"This... how is this possible?" The Cloud genin whose jutsu was devoured wore an expression of disbelief. The current situation had clearly exceeded his understanding.
"It seems the clan's cultivation direction isn't the problem. It's because Lord Hokage's and Kakashi's lightning chakra is too special," Shino muttered to himself after receiving the feedback from his insects.
As one of the core families in Uchiha Douhuan's interest group, the Aburame clan also understood parts of Uchiha Douhuan's long-term plans. Having been clearly informed that a war was coming in the future, they had long since begun research on insects targeting the Lightning and Earth Release chakra of the Cloud and Stone villages.
The cultivation of insects targeting Earth Release chakra went very smoothly. An insect user from the Aburame family, with sufficient supplies, could release Rock-Devouring Insects capable of directly destroying a combined Earth Release jutsu from a ten-man Iwagakure joint ninjutsu unit. This was a result secretly tested on the battlefield of the Taki-Iwa conflict.
However, the Lightning Release side was not as smooth. Compared to Earth Release, Konoha had far fewer Lightning Release ninjas. Among them, besides Konoha's current number one and two figures, the number of Jonin specializing in Lightning Release didn't even reach double digits. Therefore, the experimental materials the Aburame family used to cultivate the Lightning-Devouring Insects were always provided by Uchiha Douhuan and Kakashi.
The results of the experiments were self-evident. Uchiha Douhuan's lightning chakra had long since become intertwined with natural energy. Even if the insects cultivated by the Aburame family could withstand the power of the lightning chakra, they would be corroded by the natural energy. As for Kakashi's chakra, after learning Uchiha Douhuan's training methods, the lightning generated by his Lightning Release chakra had also begun to approach the properties of natural lightning. The Lightning-Devouring Insects cultivated by the Aburame family could eat the chakra within it, but they couldn't withstand the physical properties of the lightning.
However, when facing the Cloud ninjas, the insects cultivated by the Aburame clan, which cost a great deal of research funds each year, finally showed their prowess.
"Damn it, use sword techniques!" The Cloud genin surrounded by the insect swarm gritted his teeth and drew his sword, swinging it so fast it seemed impenetrable. Only then did he barely carve a path through the overwhelming swarm. However, before they could get far, a white whirlwind came sweeping towards them.
"Fang Wolf Fang!"
The Cloud ninjas, who had just escaped death, were caught off guard and hit squarely by this move. The leading white Cloud ninja was knocked back several meters. Although his body was tough from years of training and the blow didn't cause much substantial damage, when he stopped, a small dog was still firmly latched onto his rear.
"Akamaru, let go! We have to go!" At this moment, Kiba Inuzuka appeared, caught Akamaru as he fell from the opponent's rear, and then turned and ran.
"Damn you, Konoha ninja!" Veins bulged on this Cloud ninja's forehead. Kiba's move wasn't very damaging, but it was extremely humiliating. If his Black comrades in the village found out he got his butt bitten by a dog during a mission, could he still hold his head high in the village?
"After them!" The ninja with the bitten butt roared, ignoring his still-bleeding rear, and took the lead, drawing his sword to follow Kiba's steps.
"They seem to be angry," Kiba said gloatingly in the channel. "Naruto, get ready!"
After speaking, Kiba formed a seal, and his figure instantly split into six, running in different directions.
After Team 8's leading Jonin was changed from Kurenai Yūhi to Uchiha Shisui, Team 8's strength became much greater than in the original timeline. After all, having a genjutsu specialist like Kurenai lead a reconnaissance team was more about the Third Old Geezer's idea of paving the way for his own son; anyone could see that Kurenai couldn't teach the three of them much.
When Shisui became their teacher, as the first squad of disciples he took on, Shisui was very dedicated in teaching them.
The first ninjutsu Shisui taught them was not some high-power technique, but the art of escape.
After all, for a reconnaissance team, being able to bring back gathered intelligence alive was far more important than inflicting damage on the enemy.
Therefore, Shisui taught them a simplified version of his signature Body Flicker Technique. Now, with Kiba using this move, it was truly causing great trouble for the pursuing Cloud ninjas.
"The amount of chakra hasn't decreased, so it's not a Shadow Clone," the pursuing Cloud ninja thought, staring intently at Kiba while quickly calculating. "But which one is the real body? Why do all six look like the main body?"
"Captain, what do we do? Should we split up to chase?" a Cloud ninja asked after throwing a string of shuriken at one of Kiba's figures, which was easily dodged.
"No! We can't split up. The enemy's situation is unclear. If we split up rashly, we might be defeated one by one." Although Kiba had infuriated him to the point where he wished he could tear him and his dog to shreds, he still maintained his basic composure.
"The enemy has entered the trap's coverage area," said Hinata, who had been observing the situation with her Byakugan.
"Sakura!" Shikamaru shouted.
"Got it!" Upon hearing Shikamaru's command, Sakura divided her chakra into portion after portion, precisely injecting it into the remote detonation formulas for the explosive tags before her.
A series of explosions rang out around the Cloud ninjas. They dodged in a panic but found that no matter how they dodged, they couldn't escape the range of the explosive tags and could only endure them with ninjutsu.
Before Sakura, the chakra injected into each formula was just enough to detonate the explosive tag. At this moment, there were nearly a hundred remote detonation formulas in front of Sakura. The detonation sequence for each formula was meticulously designed by Shikamaru in advance. If it were anyone else, it would take at least three people to perfect the trap's effect, but Sakura managed to complete the task relying solely on her precise control and superb memory.
"Amazing, Sakura!" Ino couldn't help but praise in the channel.
"Heh heh, this level of operation is far from comparable to a complex surgical operation," Sakura said with a dry laugh.
"Naruto, you can go in and finish up. Choji, you continue to hide in your original position. If there are any fish that slip through the net, you'll be responsible for dealing with them."
"Yes!"
"Finally, my turn!" Naruto, who had been waiting for a long time at the top of a large tree, finally heard Shikamaru's order to attack. After cracking his wrists, he looked down at the area already enveloped in the smoke and dust of the explosions and shouted, "Big Brother Kurama, lend me some chakra!"
Kurama, lying in the seal space, glanced up to sense the opponent's strength, then cursed, "My power is not for you to use against such small fry."
"Big brother, help me out. This smoke won't clear for a while. I need your chakra's sensory ability to determine their positions," Naruto said, but he had already leaped from the treetop.
"Hmph, troublesome little brat," Kurama grumbled in the seal space, shifted his position, and continued to sleep. However, in the next moment, a faint golden layer appeared on the surface of Naruto's body as he descended from the sky.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
In mid-air, Naruto continuously formed seals. Dozens of figures appeared in succession along with smoke. A trace of chakra provided by Kurama precisely helped him locate the 9 Cloud ninjas who were still within the explosion's range.
...
(End of chapter)
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