Maneuvering in the darkness between the trees, accompanied by two jonins, he jumped out on two kumovians that broke away from the main group, which continued to dig into the center of the border guards' defense and very competently covered each other from the three teams that were attacking them, managing to counterattack. Several motionless bodies were already lying under the couple's feet.
Running his hand along the trunk of the nearest tree, the Uchiha stood still for a moment and finished folding the series of seals he had begun when he first saw the nephews.
- Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu (Release Fire: Dragon Flame Technique)!
A dragon head spat out of its mouth, illuminating the forest around it, and quickly flew over the subordinates who spun to the side and crashed into a tall, pale blond man who was too badly wounded to get out of the attack's trajectory in time.
The jonin spared no chakra, and the enemy was almost instantly reduced to a charred corpse with only a short cry, but his dark-skinned partner, who almost blended in with the darkness of the forest, managed to slash at the ninjutsu with his raiton sword, splitting it in two.
It was the only thing he had time to do, however, as the Konoha jonins rushing forward were able to block his weapon and slash through his legs, inflicting serious wounds.
No sooner had the border guard commander joined them than it was all over - numerous support attacks turned the shinobi into a hedgehog with iron needles, and a powerful blow from the two-meter tall Akamichi, who took advantage of the moment, broke his neck.
But that was just the beginning - Kumo's Striking Fist finally broke the trap lane, losing about a third of its lineup, and the battle broke up into many individual bouts, if it could be called that.
Signaling to the accompanying jonins to act at their discretion - many teams were losing in strength and speed to the attackers, and many of them were relying on ninjutsu, which made it difficult to move as a group - the Uchiha infused his body with chakra and used his sharingan to dodge the stray techniques to rush forward, targeting a powerful jonin that had managed to take out a couple of teams and side-step another one that had been distracted by another enemy.
Since the use of fire techniques could hurt his own, he had to go hand-to-hand, using the tanto hanging behind his back.
The muscular man with short, dark hair was able to see him coming, even though his light genjutsu should have prevented it, and was able to block the flaming blade with his wristbands, preventing him from finishing the whole thing with a single blow and showing some serious skill.
Bouncing back from the oncoming blow, the dojutsu wielder took a quick glance to note that one pant leg was almost missing, revealing ugly lacerations on his thigh, while on his left side the fabric was soaked with fresh blood and a fragment of senbon was sticking out.
Despite this, his opponent moved with the grace of a cat and didn't seem the least bit bothered by the damage, going on the offensive with such fury that the Uchiha was involuntarily forced to retreat, although he saw the big man's movements perfectly and even managed to hit him a couple of times, leaving burns on his skin and causing the fabric to smolder.
His fists, shrouded in raiton chakra, flashed dangerously close to his head, forcing him to show miracles of dodging. This enemy was clearly more experienced and stronger even in this state than Shigeru himself at the peak of his form.
When lightning struck nearby, and then a blinding torrent of lightning slammed into the nephew's right side, causing him to scream and convulse, the border guard commander furtively breathed a sigh of relief and used the moment to blow the enemy's head off his shoulders.
With a grateful nod to Ryo Nara's clone that had intervened in the duel in such a timely manner, he rushed towards the nearest enemy, trying to stop the nepotist as quickly as possible, who was leaving a bloody trail of dead chunin behind him. Every second that passed could cost the lives of more of his subordinates.
When the squad finally broke through the death lane prepared by the Konoha ninja around the proposed camp, where every bush or tree branch was being shot and exploded, Wataru was one of the last jonins to move, having been too badly injured earlier to recover to a fighting condition and supporting the offensive with iron throwing.
He had joined the squad due to his talent for sensory awareness, not having much combat power even at the peak of his form, unlike most of his colleagues who had been through the last world war, and was very sober about his own chances of survival in the front row.
At that moment, when the first kumovets finally managed to get close to the leafmen and take out all the anger and hatred, the shinobi still had hope that they would be able to fulfill the Raikage's task, but after a minute of fighting, it became quite clear - the strike force of the first army of Kumogakure was too weakened to hope for anything more than trying to take as many enemies with them as possible.
After killing a few of the chunin with skillful throws and avoiding the enemy ninjutsu behind the trees that lit up the dark grove with flashes and roars of flame, Wataru was heartbroken to note the fading signatures of the well-studied members of the squad. They were being exterminated too quickly!
Even if the Konoha's losses had been more substantial, but to trade pathetic chunin with a rare jonin for experienced fighters!
No, if it weren't for the six identical signatures behind them, which had faded from the blazing pillars of their first appearance, but still exceeded the chakra of all those present on both sides of the battle, the border guards could have been crushed, but with each flash of chakra from the ninjutsu used, a new jonin fell, and it was only a matter of time before the Shinigami were followed by the rest.
But Sensor Kumo had no desire to be among the frozen corpses that would be piled in one heap and burned by fire, so, as soon as the opportunity arose, he ducked into the thick shade of the bushes and taking advantage of the fact that all the attention of the leafmen was focused on the strongest fighters, hurriedly retreated towards the water.
- It's not treachery if the mission is doomed," he muttered, trying not to listen to the sounds of battle and the furious shouts of his former comrades-in-arms as they inexorably subsided, "someone must report the failure of Raikage-dono and the presence of the S-rang on the border.
Empty excuses didn't ease the heavy feeling that settled in his chest, but moving as fast as his wounded and tired body would allow, the sensor was convinced of the correctness of his own decision when the last chakra pockets of the squad were extinguished a few minutes later, and the enemy forces had been reduced by barely a third.
All that remained was to curse Mizu no Seirei for messing up his plans and hope that the new bounty on his head would attract the strongest hunters, allowing Kumogakura to get rid of Nara's genius by other hands without wasting the lives of his men.
Hoshi plopped down on her butt with a quiet groan, dropping the damaged tanto from her hand and gulping greedily for air. Her whole body was burning with pain from the strain on her muscles and wounds, her chakra was at its lowest ebb, but she was happy. Happy to be alive herself.
And also her best friend, even if Asani was now having her stomach patched up by one of Ryo-sensei's remaining two clones.
Even though the first monstrous blow had wiped out most of the nephews, the surviving jonins still went on a suicidal attack, squeezing themselves to the bone and ignoring their mortal wounds in an effort to take as many enemies as possible with them to the Shinigami.
This was not at all how the young kunoichi envisioned war. Blood, pain, dirt, guts released, limbs severed - many opponents were proficient with cold weapons and demonstrated it on everything in range.
Hoshi was very glad that in the course of her training, Ryo had taught both students how to infuse the sword with elemental chakra, otherwise the last kumo who managed to get within striking distance could have taken two more kunoichi with him.
Feeling the medical fuin working, stopping the blood and gradually tightening the wounds, Hoshi looked around, noting how many border guards were left alive - despite the prepared battlefield, the presence of as many as six of Sensei's kage bunshins, even though they'd spent a lot of money, the jonins were dying in packs, unable to give a decent fight to the furious elite fighters of Kumogakure, and their own jonins were too few and not of equal quality.
Only the fact that almost all the enemies were wounded, sometimes quite seriously, made it possible to withstand the first blow, but even so, about a third of the Konohovs fell despite timely medical attention - those cut in half or in pieces would not be picked up even by the sensei - and another third would not be fighters for the next couple of weeks.
And Hoshi herself might have joined the list of the latter, which included her friend, had it not been for the barrier and kibakufuda cleverly placed at her feet.
But even despite the danger, the kunoichi was rightfully proud of herself, because four jonins could be safely recorded on her and Asani's account, even if the lion's share of the work was on the traps with seals, but two girls killed personally, hence the injury of the last one.
- You'll live," Ryo-sensei nodded to the girl who was gritting her teeth in pain, and without further ado, rushed to the next patient, using up her rapidly dwindling chakra reserves.
Of the six clones, only one was dispelled by the enemy's equipment, the rest were spent on the wounded, and Hoshi doubted that Sensei would be able to do more than pull out the critically wounded. The rest would be taken care of by a couple of full-time iryonins until help arrived and all the unfit were sent to Konoha for treatment.
Even so, given the initial balance of forces, the low death toll was a miracle - Hoshi had read the chronicles of the first wars and listened to her teacher's stories, knowing full well of instances where even larger numbers of people had been wiped out by just a few teams of elite fighters from both sides. If Ryo hadn't given them the last chance scrolls...
Hoshi twitched, picturing herself as a chopped up corpse like some unlucky chunin nearby and was glad she hadn't used all her trump cards. The war was just beginning, and who knew what else she'd have to face?
- How are you? - Finding the strength to get up, the kunoichi stowed her weapon in the scabbard on her back and waddled over to her friend who was lying on her back.
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