After three bombardments from the Tailed Beast Ball, the city wall's barrier was on the verge of collapse, barely maintaining a superficial layer. To the Hidden Mist ninja, it would only take one more large-scale Water Release attack to break through it. At that point, the long-awaiting samurai would be able to storm in and wreak havoc.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" the Hidden Mist ninja shouted in unison, their hands rapidly forming the hand signs for the Water Dragon Bullet. These were not simplified signs, but the full set, meaning the Water Dragon Bullet's power would be unleashed to its maximum potential.
As soon as the numerous Water Dragon Bullets materialized, they surged towards the city wall. The magnificent sight was like an approaching tsunami. Just as everyone was anticipating the barrier's collapse, an unexpected scene unfolded.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A figure suddenly shot out from the city wall, shouting loudly in mid-air. Immediately, a brown liquid fell from his body, expanding rapidly the moment it hit the ground. In less than a second, a rock-solid earth wall formed in front of the city wall.
Hozuki Gengetsu's eyes widened sharply. He immediately realized that a Leaf ninja had made their move; they were finally no longer waiting. However, he hadn't expected the opponent to be able to unleash such a powerful Earth Release with a mere flick of their hand. As a master of the Hozuki clan, his discerning eye was naturally beyond ordinary. The speed and power of the opponent's jutsu were among the best, even among jonin.
Who exactly was this opponent? To be able to use Earth Release with such power, there might not be many even in the Hidden Stone Village, and even fewer in the Hidden Leaf Village. Who could it be?
Before Hozuki Gengetsu could ponder further, right after that person unleashed the Earth-Style Wall, others immediately leaped to the city wall's edge, jointly performing Earth Release to further reinforce it. When the Water Dragon Bullets struck its surface, they were blocked without any surprise, exploding and then surging back.
"Damn it!" Hozuki Gengetsu immediately cried out, running forward. Their position was in the rear, while the samurai army was in front, ready to charge the moment the city wall collapsed. In other words, the samurai army was about to face the surging giant wave that was coming back.
Although Hozuki Gengetsu reacted quickly, it was too late. The moment the samurai army saw the giant wave rolling back, fear gripped their hearts. The Water Release jutsu unleashed by so many Hidden Mist ninja was almost like a small tsunami, and even a small one, for humans, was an irresistible force of nature.
"Retreat, retreat!" The samurai leader, not expecting this turn of events, hastily gave the order, leading the charge to run back. However, with the samurai army gathered together, retreating was not so easy, and they were quickly overtaken by the giant wave.
A massive impact came from behind. The samurai leader felt as if he was about to spit out a mouthful of blood. After feeling the impact, his entire body was swept away by the giant wave. The wave's momentum did not stop, continuously pushing forward. After sweeping away hundreds of people, Hozuki Gengetsu finally arrived.
Hozuki Gengetsu's body actively made contact with the water flow, then he formed hand signs. His chakra surged out and spread into the waves. The giant wave, as if controlled, immediately stopped flowing, then surged upwards towards the sky, including Hozuki Gengetsu himself.
The water surging into the sky twisted for a moment, and when it stopped, it transformed into a giant "water giant." This "water giant" looked exactly like Hozuki Gengetsu, exuding a powerful sense of oppression.
"So it's someone from the Hozuki clan," Sarutobi Hiruzen, standing on the Earth-Style Wall, stared at the giant in the distance, letting out a soft breath as he spoke.
The Hozuki clan specializes in secret techniques of body transformation, which, in short, allows them to liquefy their bodies. This not only grants immunity to physical attacks but also allows them to absorb surrounding water to replenish their own strength. Currently, Hozuki Gengetsu is utilizing the Water Dragon Bullets unleashed by the Hidden Mist ninja, transforming them into his own power.
In later generations, Suigetsu, a descendant of the Hozuki clan, once used this method to fight against a fully Tailed Beast-transformed Eight-Tails. Although he couldn't block the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball, it did temporarily halt the Eight-Tails' advance, demonstrating its power.
During the First Great Ninja War on the Hidden Mist battlefield, Sarutobi Hiruzen had faced opponents from the Hozuki clan before, knowing that this secret technique was like adding wings to a tiger in places with water. However, it had two drawbacks: first, facing Lightning Release attacks would paralyze the body, making it immobile; second, once the body disintegrated, there was a risk of being unable to reform, and once unable to reform, it meant spiritual death.
The Hozuki clan members are also very cautious about this. While liquefying the body can ignore any physical attack, facing the powerful impact of ninjutsu could potentially cause the body to completely disintegrate. This choice depends on the opponent's abilities and the battlefield situation.
If it weren't to save those samurai, Hozuki Gengetsu wouldn't have used this method. For them, the Hidden Mist ninja, they would only need to retreat and gain distance, adhering to the surface with chakra. But now, Hozuki Gengetsu, with his giant body, was like a living target. Sarutobi Hiruzen, as a seasoned ninja, would not let this opportunity pass.
With a 'bang,' Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned a Shadow Clone. That Shadow Clone leaped high into the air, shouting, "Lightning Release: Thunderclap!"
A large amount of lightning was spewed from the Shadow Clone's mouth, condensing into a lightning spear and rushing like a strong wind towards the "water giant" in the distance. Seeing this, Hozuki Gengetsu, without hesitation, detached himself from the "water giant." He knew that if he was hit head-on, he would definitely be temporarily immobilized.
If it were just ordinary Lightning Release, Hozuki Gengetsu would still have confidence in using the "water giant's" massive size to disperse the Lightning Release's power. However, the Lightning Release unleashed by the opponent was powerful enough to paralyze a "water giant" of that size. To avoid falling into the predicament of being unable to move, he had no choice but to retreat.
Without Hozuki Gengetsu's control, the "water giant" rapidly disintegrated, falling from the sky, carrying the immense electrical power of the Lightning Release. Meanwhile, Sarutobi Hiruzen himself, along with the clan members he brought, jointly unleashed Fire Release, shattering the Earth-Style Wall in front of them. Rocks wrapped in flames surged like a barrage towards the distance.
While Hozuki Gengetsu was temporarily controlling the waves, the samurai leader immediately reorganized their formation and led his men to higher ground. However, he hadn't expected the enemy to quickly devise a countermeasure, forcing Hozuki Gengetsu to leave. The uncontrolled waves once again crashed down. Fortunately, they didn't have the same powerful impact as before. Only the samurai who couldn't leave the affected area in time were hit, their bodies immediately paralyzed by the strong current, screaming as they fell to the ground.
Before the samurai could catch their breath, they watched in shock as fiery rock projectiles flew from the distance. The dense projectiles directly struck the center of the samurai army, causing chaos and continuous screams. Noticing this, the Hidden Mist ninja hastily used Water Release to extinguish the fires and block the attack, thus preventing further losses.
Hozuki Gengetsu landed on the ground from the sky, his body still in a semi-liquefied state. He gasped for breath, looking at the samurai army, who were in a panic due to the fiery rock projectiles and electrified water flow. His expression was very solemn. He had already recognized the opponent's true identity. The opponent's rich experience and powerful ninjutsu were not rare in the entire ninja world, but to be able to use such powerful Earth Release, Lightning Release, and Fire Release, as far as he knew, there was only one person.
Sarutobi Hiruzen of the Hidden Leaf Village, only he could do it. One must know that an ordinary person has to dedicate a vast amount of time to cultivate one chakra nature to an advanced stage, let alone three chakra natures. Even Hozuki Gengetsu himself, his second mastered attribute was still a distance away from the mastery of Water Release.
Damn it, why is Sarutobi Hiruzen here! Hozuki Gengetsu couldn't help but curse out loud in his heart. This person should be serving as a commander on the coast of the Land of Fire, right? If he's here, then who was that "Sarutobi Hiruzen" that the Hidden Mist Village investigated earlier? Who could impersonate Sarutobi Hiruzen and deceive the Hidden Mist Village's Anbu?
From the very beginning, many questions had been swirling in Hozuki Gengetsu's mind, and he clearly had no time to ponder this matter, because the opponent was about to launch the next round of attacks, forcing him to compose himself and go to command the Hidden Mist ninja.
After the Earth-Style Wall exploded, the city gate opened. First, a cavalry unit charged out, followed by a group of foot soldiers. These were the three hundred elite samurai that Lord Miyamoto had entrusted to Sarutobi Hiruzen, and leading the charge was Mifune, to whom Sarutobi Hiruzen had given an important mission.
"Mifune, the enemy is not weak. Even if we catch them by surprise, we can only gain some time. What you need to do is to maximize our gains during this time, inflict heavy damage on the enemy. The more damage we inflict, the longer our breathing room will be, and the more time we will have to evacuate the people of the Land of Whirlpools."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice seemed to echo in Mifune's ears once again. Mifune's gaze was fixed on the front. As a samurai, he was naturally loyal to his country. He also held respect for the Hidden Leaf Village, which upheld justice. He was still the kind of traditional ninja who always disapproved of actions that betrayed justice.
In Mifune's eyes, this mission was also an act of upholding justice. He would unleash his strength without reservation to rescue the people of the Land of Whirlpools. As for Sarutobi Hiruzen's request, he silently swore in his heart that he would surely make the Land of Water's army, which had invaded the Land of Whirlpools, feel a bone-chilling pain.
The samurai in the rear raised their bows and shot arrows. Numerous arrows drew parabolic arcs, flying over the cavalry that had rushed to the front and landing among the samurai army, who were reorganizing their formation. In an instant, many fell to the ground, and the formation, which had been slowly recovering, became chaotic once again.
The strength of the samurai lies in their disciplined units. When a unit falls into disarray, its threat is greatly reduced, and it also gives the enemy an opportunity to further expand their gains.
Mifune's cavalry immediately charged into the enemy's formation. The samurai on horseback drew their long swords and swung them at the nearby samurai. Because of Sarutobi Hiruzen's two attacks, the samurai of the Land of Water were like startled birds. If they had been given time, they could have recovered their fighting power while reorganizing their ranks, but Mifune and his men came too quickly, truly too quickly.
They met almost no decent resistance, which only caused the Land of Water's samurai army to become even more chaotic, inevitably fleeing backward, creating trouble for the Hidden Mist ninja who had come to help. The samurai leader of the Land of Water, regaining his composure, immediately gave orders, telling those around him to calm down and reorganize their formation to block the enemy.
He saw very clearly that the number of samurai cavalry charging over was not large. If it weren't for his side panicking due to the sudden situation, they would certainly not have been broken through. Therefore, the most urgent task now was to reorganize the formation, otherwise, as the formation continued to collapse, the entire unit would lose its combat capability.
A routed army was like lambs to the slaughter, something the samurai leader had seen more than once in his military career. He didn't expect everyone to calm down, but at least those nearby needed to restore their formation, even if only two or three hundred men, to temporarily stop the enemy and give their own troops time to recover.
An arrow from the enemy struck the samurai leader's shoulder, the pain piercing to the bone, but his expression remained unchanged as he calmly directed his men. Suddenly, he heard a nearby unit erupt into panic. Turning his head, he saw a young samurai leading over a dozen cavalry charging into their midst, unstoppable for a moment.
"That's him!" Near this cavalry unit, there were over a dozen ninja assisting from the side. One young man with white eyes pointed at the samurai leader and shouted.
The young samurai's gaze sharpened. He spurred his horse forward, leaping from the saddle, and gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist with one hand. He shouted, "Prepare to die!"
At this moment, the samurai leader realized that the opponent was targeting him. That ninja must be a Hyuga clan member from the Hidden Leaf Village. The opponent had long intended to attack him, the samurai commander. However, to charge in with just over ten people, their courage and spirit were astonishing.
Even though one of his arms was almost useless, the samurai leader had no thought of retreating. He harbored the same intention as his opponent: if he could repel these people, it would also boost his side's morale. So, he gripped his samurai sword and, shouting, swung it towards the opponent.
The young samurai's eyes widened, and with a flick of his arm, the samurai leader only saw a flash of gleaming blade before his eyes. Without even a chance to react, his sword broke in two, and a massive wound split open from his left shoulder to his abdomen. Blood instantly stained his clothes.
The samurai leader coughed up a large amount of blood with a "wah," and fell to his knees on the ground. He no longer had the strength to move. Knowing that the young samurai was behind him, he whispered, "What is your name?"
"Mifune," the young samurai replied.
"Mifune, good, good swordsmanship." It was the first time the samurai leader had witnessed such an Iaijutsu, as swift as a gale. While feeling that he had failed his country, he also felt a strange sense of emotion, believing that being able to witness such swordsmanship made his death without regret