Naturally, such a crushing blow did not go unnoticed by the shinobi of Nuva no Kuni, who mainly used area tactics, taking advantage of the terrain to delay the enemy — most of the demon worshippers were terrible at walking on water, which only confirmed my theory about the deliberate slaughter of meat.
They reacted very quickly and at night descended on the confused and depleted ninja of Oni no Kuni, cleverly using their numerical advantage and several teams of one to literally crush the enemies burning with nauseating chakra.
The demon worshippers either burned themselves trying to fight back and heal their wounds, or received injuries that even their regeneration couldn't cope with.
In any case, I achieved my goal almost completely, and given the mobilization of the Swamp Country, very soon their army will go on the offensive, which is what the high priestess is waiting for now, and while the allies are holding back the meat, we can deal with Morieu.
Of course, even the army of shinobi and samurai in the service of each daimyo, in addition to ordinary soldiers, is incapable of conducting combat operations without a supply chain, which means I still have a little time to weaken the enemy's forces.
Just as the demon constantly sends his stone warriors to attack, why shouldn't I do the same?
Kage bunshin, even with the reserve of a middle jonin, will still be dozens of times more dangerous than Yureigun (Ghost Army), as the golems are called locally, and given my qualitative advantage over the local ninja, the demon will be busy making his toys faster than I can destroy them.
Suddenly, memories of one of the clones who had been sent yesterday to clear out the observers and warn of the approach of another group of demon worshippers came back to me.
The local guards also discovered them a little later, thanks to the observers on the roof, and a hollow gong rang out through the temple. I think I saw one in the main hall, built into a niche. There was a rush of people behind the door, so I didn't linger, leaving the room and heading for the main door.
Outside, there were already four shinobi led by a jonin, plus a couple of guards and three priests in their long robes, preparing to meet the uninvited guests. Two of the chunin were clearly intent on killing the demon worshippers moving along the road.
Looking closer, I grunted — they were the inhabitants of the infirmary whom I had nursed back to health, and they clearly wanted to repay the demon for all the good he had done them.
Quietly passing through the open gates, I positioned myself a little to the side of the welcoming committee, receiving only a sidelong glance and a nod from the veteran. The young people under his command didn't even notice the new arrivals, too focused on the target in front of them.
A few minutes later, the number of ninja increased to two dozen, and the jonin sent four of his subordinates to hide on both sides of the road with a couple of curt commands, clearly wanting to take the self-confident demon worshippers in a pincer movement as soon as they appeared in front of the temple.
Previously, there were too few healthy shinobi for this, but now, with the stone giants neutralized, they could handle it on their own.
When the features of the Yureigun escort's faces could be made out with the naked eye, Miroku appeared from the depths of the temple, accompanied by his usual kunoichi and two elderly men in priestly robes whom I had not seen before.
"Nara-dono," the girl bowed her head.
"Miroku-dono," I returned the bow and flashed a small smile, "it seems that the opportunity to test the effectiveness of the new seal has not been long in coming."
I've got more interesting stuff on patreon (+ 200 chapter)
patreon.com/Chill76