Naruto's civilian cannon fodder starts with the three-body technique

Chapter 310 Joint Earth Mound
“Roar, ah, ah—”

A roar filled with ecstasy and violence resounded through the sky.

It was no longer the dull, instinctive roar of the sand raccoon, but the distinctive, sharp howl that belonged to the one-tailed Shukaku.

"I'm finally out!!!"

The enormous Shukaku excitedly swung its tail, stirring up a sandstorm. It greedily breathed in the air of freedom, its huge claws slapping the ground as it vented its long-suppressed frustration.

"Finally out?" Sasuke Umino's eyes narrowed, his heart pounding. "Could it be Shukaku's true form?!"

He dared not be negligent and immediately activated his chakra to the fullest extent. The rock giant beneath his feet emitted a deep rumble, and his body grew taller again under the infusion of chakra, breaking through the limit of thirty-five meters with difficulty. The rock and clay on his body became more solid and heavy, radiating a dark luster.

However, even so, standing in front of Shukaku, which is over fifty meters tall, the Rock Giant still looked much shorter, like a strong man facing a real giant.

After a few moments of venting its frustration, Shukaku's enormous, cunning, and ferocious beastly eyes finally locked onto the obstructing rock in front of it, and the tiny white figure standing atop its head that instinctively instilled a sense of apprehension in it.

"Hey! You little brat playing in the mud!" Shukaku's sharp voice carried a hint of human-like mockery and cruelty, "Ready to turn into sand?"

Shukaku's cunning and ferocious giant eyes locked onto the Earth Giant, and as soon as its mocking shriek faded, the battle instantly shifted to a different situation.

In stark contrast to the somewhat clumsy grappling of the monk Bunpuku, Shukaku's fighting style is ferocious, precise, and full of combat wisdom accumulated over a thousand years!

"Roar!" Shukaku's massive sand claws were no longer flailing wildly, but instead, with a piercing shriek that tore through the air, they precisely targeted the weak points of the Earth Giant's joints. At the same time, its massive tail, covered with purple curse marks, swept across like a steel whip, striking the giant's waist and abdomen with immense force.

Bang!
click-

At the joint of the rock giant's left arm, large chunks of rock mixed with clay were torn off! His waist and abdomen were also severely dented by the tail whip, with cracks spreading.

That wasn't all. While launching a fierce close-range attack, Shukaku opened its massive maw and instantly formed a wind-style chakra that had been compressed to its limit!

"Wind Style: Air Training Bullet!"

boom--

A powerful whirlwind slammed into the Earth Giant's already badly injured chest at near-face distance!
Boom! ! !

The massive body of the rock giant was struck head-on by a battering ram, and half of its upper body instantly exploded, scattering countless fragments of rock and clay. The huge shockwave almost blew Sasuke Umino off his head.

Sasuke Umino steadied himself, his expression changing slightly. The hardening technique he was wearing was becoming unstable, and the three layers of viscous armor on the outside were shattered by the shockwave. If Samehada hadn't formed a chakra absorption layer around him in time, absorbing most of the impact and the flying debris, this blow would have been enough to injure him.

"Tsk, that's some serious power!" Sasuke Umino looked down at the rock giant whose body had been almost half blown off, his eyes serious. He quickly formed hand seals, and a massive amount of chakra was once again injected into the damaged giant through Samehada.

hum~
A yellowish-brown light shone, and the shattered rocks and clay, as if attracted by a magnet, rapidly converged towards the remains, attempting to repair themselves. However, Shukaku's attacks were relentless, like a raging storm.

"Useless! Crush me to pieces!" Shukaku cackled sharply, its movements as fast as lightning. Its massive claws, tail, and air bullets came in succession, each attack precisely striking the key points or weak points in the Earth Giant's repairs.

bang bang bang-

Click!

The half of his body that had just coalesced was torn apart again by claws, the newly formed clay arm was shattered by the tail whip, and the chest that was being repaired was blasted open with an even larger hole by a training bullet.

Fine beads of sweat trickled down Sasuke Umino's forehead. The speed of repair was no longer keeping up with the speed of Shukaku's destruction. The massive body of the Earth Giant was collapsing and shrinking at a visible rate. Each repair only allowed it to last for a few more seconds before turning into even finer sand and gravel under Shukaku's ferocious attacks.

"Look! Master Fenfu has suppressed that rock monster!"

"This is too powerful! This is the true power of a perfect Jinchūriki!"

"Everyone, give it your all! If we can hold out until Master Fenfu finishes off the Konoha army in the middle and comes to our aid, we'll be saved!"

"Hold on! Reinforcements are on their way!"

On the flanks of the Sand Village, seeing "Monk Bunpuku" display his divine power, defeating the rock giants who had previously been able to fight back so easily and causing them to retreat in defeat, the remaining Sand Village ninjas erupted in ecstasy at surviving a calamity and their last hope.

Like they'd been injected with adrenaline, they were in a final burst of energy, frantically squeezing out their last chakra and stamina in an attempt to withstand the relentless onslaught from both flanks of Konoha.

The left flank, in particular, was riddled with holes and teetering on the brink of collapse under the ghostly sword light and relentless bombardment of combined ninjutsu by Hatake Sagumo. At this moment, it was only holding on by the belief that "support will be here soon."

However, not all Sand Ninja are so optimistic.

"Hold on? What are we holding on with? The last line of defense on the left flank is about to be breached! Look at that! Is that still Master Bunpuku? That's a completely out-of-control tailed beast!" A Sand Village special jonin with blood on his face roared in despair. "It won't come to save us. It hates Sand Village. Once it finishes off the middle lane of Konoha, our next target will be us!"

Another ninja's voice trembled as he echoed, "That's right! Didn't you feel it? That pure malice and violence... that's not Bunpuku-sama at all, it's the One-Tailed Beast. It has broken free of its seal. Rather than waiting to die here, we should take advantage of its entanglement with Konoha and retreat through the western gap. Once they are both exhausted, we'll find another opportunity!"

"Shut up! You're spreading rumors!" A Jonin squad officer loyal to Sandstorm Mountain roared, pointing his kunai at the two ninjas who were undermining morale. "If you dare to undermine morale again, treat them as deserters and kill them on the spot. Your families in the village won't get away with it either!"

The blatant threat, like ice water poured over their heads, instantly silenced any thoughts of retreat. The threat of death and their concerns for their families silenced these wavering Sand Ninja, leaving them only to grit their teeth and, filled with fear and despair, continue their resistance, which seemed destined to fail.

Hearing the discussions behind him, Suna Gaku's face turned ashen, and his heart was equally cold. He knew better than anyone that the two men were right. The One-Tailed Beast's roar filled with resentment and its pure will to destroy had indeed gone berserk and it was impossible for it to come to the aid of the Sand Ninja.

In fact, once Konoha in the middle is defeated, the first thing the out-of-control One-Tail will destroy is probably the Sand Ninja who once sealed and imprisoned it. But he can't retreat. With one side missing, the gap to the west is almost certainly a death trap set by the White Blood Demon. Once he retreats, without defensive fortifications and formation support, how many of the eight hundred Sand Ninja who are chasing after Konoha ninjas will survive?

He could only gamble, betting that after destroying the central route of Konoha, the One-Tailed Beast would continue to entangle with the Konoha ninja army, resulting in mutual destruction. Although the hope was slim, it was better than becoming a defeated army. If the One-Tailed Beast attacked indiscriminately, it wouldn't be too late to escape.

So, Sunagakure could only continue roaring, using empty words like "Reinforcements are coming soon" to numb himself and his subordinates: "Hold on! Master Bunpuku will definitely be able to control the One-Tailed Beast, and victory belongs to our Sunagakure!"

In the center of the battlefield, the Earth Giant was badly damaged, its height reduced to less than 25 meters, and the repair speed was getting slower and slower, with each reconstruction being extremely difficult.

Shukaku, as if toying with a child, finally raised its massive claws once more, preparing to deliver the final blow.

"It's over, you mud-playing brat!" Shukaku's shrill voice was filled with cruel pleasure.

At this critical moment.

"Earth Release Squad!" Sasuke Umino unleashed his Sound Release technique, and the command rang in the ears of the members of the Earth Release Joint Ninjutsu Squad.

The Earth Release Joint Ninja Team, which had been standing as still as a rock, accumulating chakra in the rear, finally moved.

They did not attack as a whole. Instead, the core Jonin led thirty elite Chunin or Special Jonin, who stepped forward simultaneously, quickly forming complex and unified hand seals. The remaining Earth Release ninjas quickly took their positions, waiting for their teammates to exhaust their chakra before taking over.

"Earth Release: Combined Earth Mountain Technique!"

The thirty-one ninjas shouted in unison, their voices converging into an incomparably deep power, which slammed into the earth.

Rumble——! ! !
The earth emitted an unprecedented roar, and the entire battlefield trembled violently.

On either side of Shukaku's massive body, the sand boiled and rose wildly. Two enormous, unimaginably large hemispherical mounds of earth rose from the ground in an instant with overwhelming force. They were not simple mounds of earth, but were composed of highly condensed and compressed Earth Release chakra. Their surfaces shimmered with a thick, earthy yellow light, containing the deepest power of the earth.

The timing and angle of the two hemispheres' appearance were perfect, occurring precisely at the instant Shukaku raised its claws, its old power dissipating before new power arose. Furthermore, their position was neither too close nor too far from Shukaku. A flicker of surprise crossed Shukaku's enormous beastly eyes; it hadn't anticipated Konoha possessing such a large-scale combined Earth Release technique. It instinctively tried to bombard them with a Sky Bullet, but the two hemispheres closed too quickly.

Bang——! ! !
Like two moving mountain ranges, they collided with a deafening roar.

Two enormous hemispheres, with immense force, clamped down on Shukaku's massive, fifty-meter-tall body, and the terrifying compressive force instantly acted upon Shukaku's sand body.

"Roar!"

Shukaku roared furiously, struggling madly. Its huge claws tore at the earthen mound, its tail lashed out violently, and it fired air bullets at close range. Each attack caused the earthen mound to tremble violently and rocks to collapse!

However, the essence of this combined earthen mound technique lies in its powerful strength and self-repairing ability. Every time it is destroyed, the chakra injected by the earth-style ninja behind it flows rapidly. Under the action of the chakra, the collapsed earth and rocks are re-condensed and filled as if they were alive. Moreover, as Shukaku struggles, the two hemispheres seem to have a life of their own, and they continue to shrink and squeeze inward, trying to completely crush Shukaku and completely engulf it.

This is the top-tier Earth Release technique that Iwagakure is so proud of, specifically designed to deal with the rampaging Tailed Beasts. Its principle is not to destroy the Tailed Beasts head-on, but to use the earth's thickness and continuous nature to form an inescapable shackle. In the future Fourth Shinobi World War, Huangtu was able to use this technique to briefly suppress the Ten-Tails, which shows its power.

Sasuke Umino stood atop the nearly crushed earth giant's head, finally releasing the unbearable ninjutsu. He then flipped over and leaped onto the back of the giant white giant that had been hovering in the air, soaring into the sky.

He looked down at Shukaku, who was struggling and roaring wildly in the huge earthen mound below, with indifference.

"impossible!!!"

"The Konoha Ninja Army can actually suppress even a fully transformed Tailed Beast?!"

"Master Fenfu is going to lose!"

"It's over, it's over..."

At the Sand Village's stronghold, after a deathly silence came utter despair and complete collapse.

All the Sand Ninja, whether officers or ordinary ninjas, stared in disbelief at the two enormous earthen mounds that rose like a miracle, firmly imprisoning the invincible Shukaku.

Their last hope, the symbol of Sunagakure's invincibility in the desert, was suppressed by Konoha using an unprecedented combined Earth Release technique.

Fear, like the deadliest plague, instantly shattered the psychological defenses of all the Sand Ninja.

"Konoha's White Fang has broken through the left flank defense!"

"Run! Run away!"

"Master Fenfu is about to be defeated; we can't stop him!"

"Go through the western gap, quick!"

The calls to retreat could no longer be suppressed and erupted like a flood breaking through a dam. The Sand Ninja had completely lost their fighting spirit. Ignoring the officers' roars and the orders to kill the deserters, they rushed madly towards the deliberately left gap in the west like headless flies.

Hatake Sagumo's figure transformed into a silver-white whirlwind of death within the Sand Village's left flank defense. With each swing of his White Fang short sword, he precisely pierced the weakest point of the Sand Village's defenses. Wherever the blade passed, all of the Sand Village's defenses were torn apart, and the gaps opened not only held but continued to widen.

Upon seeing the breach in the defense, the bladed weapon squad, who had been poised to attack, immediately untied the huge scrolls on their backs and pulled them open with a vengeance.

"Ninja Art: Exploding Tag Rain!"

Chi chi chi——

In an instant, tens of thousands of kunai, each with an explosive tag attached to its end, swarmed like a sky-covering bee, their chilling shrieks precisely covering the gap that Hatake Sagumo had torn open and the area behind it.

Boom boom boom! ! !
The continuous, deafening explosions instantly turned that area into a living hell.

Sand walls, traps, bunkers, and even the Sand Ninja who couldn't dodge in time were reduced to dust in the raging flames and shockwaves. Smoke and dust mixed with the smell of burnt flesh and blood rose into the sky, and the original gap was blasted into a huge death tunnel.

"Water Style: Water Chaos and Heavy Waves!"

"Lightning Release: Subduing Lightning Serpent!"

Fire Release: Continuous Flames Burn the City!

The three combined ninjutsu battalions of water, lightning, and fire, which had been prepared for a long time, simultaneously launched their long-prepared combined ninjutsu before the smoke from the bombardment by the weapon battalion had even cleared.

The raging waves, like a river bursting its banks, instantly flooded the blasted passage, scattering the Sand Ninja who had miraculously survived. Then, violent lightning spread across the water curtain, bringing devastating paralysis. Finally, towering flames, like an angry fire dragon, swept through, evaporating the remaining water with a power reminiscent of Boil Release. The water, lightning, and fire chakra of the three natures collided and reacted violently within the narrow space of the death passage, generating a terrifying destructive power far exceeding the sum of any single ninjutsu.

"Hold on! Hold on! No retreat!" Sandstorm Mountain's eyes were bloodshot as he brandished his ninja sword, trying to organize the remaining troops for a final stand.

His desperate roar sounded so weak and feeble amidst the aftershocks of the explosion and the shouts of the Konoha ninja.

As an elite Jonin, he managed to gather a small group of loyal followers, forming a negligible resistance point.

However, just as he cut down a Konoha ninja who had charged too far ahead, a chilling, tangible killing intent instantly locked onto him.

Sandstorm Mountain suddenly looked up and saw, a hundred meters away, in the center of the chaotic battlefield, Hatake Sagumo's silver-white figure moved like a ghost, charging straight towards him with a clear objective. Those cold eyes, through the smoke and the crowd, clearly reflected Sandstorm Mountain's horrified face.

"Protect Commander!" The dozen or so elite guards around Sandstorm Mountain reacted quickly, immediately forming a human wall and fearlessly rushing towards Hatake Sagumo.

"The mantis' arm is like a chariot."

Hatake Sagumo's voice was icy cold and devoid of any emotion, and the white dagger in his hand simply drew a few extremely simple trajectories.

Swish!Swish!Swish!
The flash of the blade was like the sigh of death, gone in an instant.

The Sand Village guards who rushed forward suddenly froze. Blood burst open at their throats, hearts, and other vital points almost simultaneously. Before they could even scream, they fell to the ground like wheat that had been cut down.

Hatake Sagumo moved with lightning speed, stepping over the corpses of his guards, and appeared less than ten meters away from Sandstorm Peak.

Sandstorm Peak's pupils contracted continuously due to extreme fear. He finally personally experienced the terrifying intimidation represented by the title "Konoha's White Fang." The speed and sharpness were simply beyond human resistance. His survival instinct made him forget about commanding and turn to fly backward.

"The commander escaped?!"

"Even Lord Sandstorm has run away?!"

This scene was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The last bit of courage in the hearts of the Sand Ninja who were still trying to resist crumbled instantly. The commander had escaped, were they still waiting to die here?!
"Run!"

"Run for your life!"

The remaining Sand Ninja on the left flank completely collapsed, crying out and abandoning their armor as they frantically rushed backward toward the deliberately left gap in the west.

Sandstorm Peak's escape only accelerated the collapse of the entire operation. At this moment, he only wished that his parents had given him two more legs and wanted to get away from the deadly white grim reaper behind him.

But would Hatake Sagumo give him that chance?
(End of this chapter)