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Northern Land of Lightning, once the outskirts of Kumogakure.
This place had long been reduced to a burned battlefield.
The ground was marked with giant craters and broken shinobi tools everywhere.
The scent of blood and gunpowder in the air mixed into a sharp smell, making one almost gag.
"Earth Release: Mud Wall!"
A furious roar.
Over a dozen Iwagakure shinobi simultaneously pressed their hands to the ground.
Rumble!
Thick earth walls rose from the ground, connecting seamlessly to instantly form a continuous defensive line.
Several whistling water dragons and wind blades violently crashed against the wall, but apart from kicking up a cloud of dust, they achieved nothing.
"Damn it! It's that turtle shell move again!"
Not far away, a Kirigakure jonin ground his teeth in anger.
To fight for a mountain rich in chakra ore, they and Iwagakure had been locked in battle here for a full day.
The Iwagakure shinobi, relying on the absolute defense of their earth release, had surrounded the mountain like an iron barrel, making it impossible for them to attack.
"Ao! Haven't you found their weakness yet?" The jonin roared at a shinobi behind him whose right eye was covered by an eye patch.
The shinobi named Ao had already pushed his Byakugan to its limit, veins bulging, as he stared hard at the Iwagakure position in the distance.
"No!" He panted, his face somewhat pale. "Their earth release chakra flows perfectly. I can't find any flaws at all!"
As an elite who had taken the Byakugan from the Hyuga clan, Ao's observation skills were far beyond those of ordinary shinobi.
But facing Iwagakure's textbook-like defensive tactics, he also felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
"Then we'll smash it open with brute force!" A ruthless glint flashed in the Kirigakure jonin's eyes. "Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
He rapidly formed hand seals, and dozens of Kirigakure shinobi behind him simultaneously activated their ninjutsu.
Rushing water streams appeared out of nowhere, coming together into a sky-blocking giant wave that slammed violently towards Iwagakure's earth wall defense!
"Good timing!" In the Iwagakure position, a large man let out a burst of wild laughter.
He was Kitsuchi, the son of Third Tsuchikage Onoki. (T/N: don't know why every chonese fanfic thinks this is true)
"You want to play positional warfare with us, Iwagakure? You're still too young!" Kitsuchi clapped his hands together forcefully. "Earth Release: Multiple Mud Walls!"
Boom!
Behind the existing earth walls, three more thicker and taller earth walls rose one after another!
Four layers of earth walls stood across the battlefield.
Like mountains that couldn't be crossed.
The giant wave crashed against the first earth wall with a deafening roar.
The earth wall shook hard, cracking into countless spiderweb-like breaks, but it stubbornly held against the impact.
However, this was only the beginning.
Just as Kirigakure launched their assault, dozens of dark figures silently crept up from the other side of the battlefield.
They bore no shinobi village markings, but the fearless, mad presence giving off from them tightened the hearts of everyone present.
Kumogakure!
It was those Kumogakure avengers who had broken into smaller groups and hidden in the shadows!
"Lightning Release: Running Current!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Spheres!"
Blinding lightning streaked across the ground, and invisible wind blades shot fiercely at the Iwagakure shinobi, who were fully keeping the earth walls up, from the most tricky angles!
"Not good! It's Kumogakure!"
The Iwagakure position immediately fell into chaos.
Several Iwagakure shinobi responsible for the outer edge alert were too slow to dodge and were instantly frozen by the lightning release, then had their throats cut by the wind blades.
They didn't even have time to scream.
"A bunch of annoying flies!" Kitsuchi's face darkened, his killing intent rising, and he stomped his foot fiercely. "Earth Release: Earth Rising Spikes!"
The ground instantly grew countless sharp stone spikes, shooting towards the attacking Kumogakure shinobi!
Pfft! Pfft!
Several Kumogakure shinobi were too slow to dodge, their bodies instantly stabbed by the stone spears, nailed high in the air, their blood staining the ground beneath their feet.
But this tragic scene did not stop the remaining Kumogakure shinobi.
Their eyes held only hatred, no fear.
"Kill!" A roar burst out, and a Kumogakure shinobi charged directly at Kitsuchi, his body glowing with a dangerous light.
"Explosive tag?"
Kitsuchi snorted coldly, advancing instead of backing down, his fist, covered in a rock armor, struck first, slamming hard into the Kumogakure shinobi's chest.
Crack!
The sound of bones breaking was clearly audible.
The Kumogakure shinobi's chest completely caved in, and he flew backward, exploding into a fireball in mid-air!
The violent explosion did not harm Kitsuchi in the slightest.
But Iwagakure's defense line, due to this brief chaos, showed a slight loosening.
And this slight loosening was immediately caught by Ao!
"Now!" Ao roared, rapidly forming hand seals. "Water Release: Water Pistol Technique!"
The Kirigakure shinobi understood, simultaneously forming hand seals, and several highly compressed water bullets shot out, as fast as lightning!
The water bullets instantly pierced through the earth wall defense, breaking through with unstoppable force.
They slammed hard into an Iwagakure shinobi who was keeping the earth release up.
The Iwagakure shinobi's body stiffened suddenly, a fist-sized blood hole appearing in his chest, and the light in his eyes rapidly faded.
His collapse triggered a chain reaction.
The section of the earth wall he was responsible for instantly lost its light.
Boom!
The already shaky earth wall defense line was finally completely washed away by Kirigakure's Great Waterfall Technique!
"Charge in!"
With an angry roar, the entire Kirigakure moved as one, instantly rushing forward.
Hundreds of Kirigakure shinobi, like tigers released from a cage, fiercely clashed with the Iwagakure forces!
For a time, ninjutsu and taijutsu twisted together, blood and screams flew together.
The entire battlefield completely became a meat grinder.
Kitsuchi looked at the charging Kirigakure and then at the Kumogakure shinobi who were constantly harassing from the shadows, his face showing no panic, but rather a cruel smile.
"Finally willing to come out?" He suddenly clapped his hands together. "Earth Release: Super Added-Weight Rock Technique!"
Rumble!
The ground of the entire battlefield began to shake hard, swell, and change shape!
The once flat battlefield instantly changed into a maze made up of countless giant stone pillars!
All the Kirigakure and Kumogakure shinobi who were fighting stopped their movements, startled by this sudden geographical change.
"This is... Iwagakure's trap!" Ao's face instantly turned pale.
They had fallen for it!
Iwagakure was not truly planning to fight a positional battle with them from the start!
They were using defense as bait, pulling them and the Kumogakure attackers into this already prepared trap!
"Hahahahaha!" Kitsuchi's wild laughter came from all directions.
"Welcome to... our hunting ground!"
His figure appeared at the top of a stone pillar, looking down at the trapped enemies below.
Behind him, hundreds of Iwagakure shinobi appeared at the same time, taking the high ground of all the stone pillars, forming hand seals, their chakra rising.
"Now, the game is over." A cold voice, empty of emotion, came from Kitsuchi's mouth. "Earth Release: Rock Shelter Collapse!"
The next moment, overwhelming rocks peeled off from the stone pillars, like a meteor shower, smashing fiercely towards the Kirigakure and Kumogakure shinobi trapped in the stone pillar maze!
Screams instantly echoed throughout the entire battlefield.
The Land of Earth, relying on its absolute geographical advantage and tactical planning, played the greedy Kirigakure and the vengeful Kumogakure in the palm of its hand.
This feast for profit, from the very beginning, was meant to have only them as the sole winners.
In the distance.
A Sunagakure scout, watching from the shadows, took all of this in, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"Too... too strong..."
He dared not look any longer, turned, and ran towards the Sunagakure camp.
This information must be reported to the Kazekage immediately!
The Land of Earth's strength and ambition had far exceeded everyone's expectations!