Konoha: This Uchiha is extremely sneaky

Chapter 167 Sneak Attack

If we're talking about the five attributes, the Earth attribute is definitely one of the most suitable for large-scale battles.

These ninjas, from the northwestern plateau of the ninja world, are all burly and short, but each one is resolute and loves to stick together.

Once these Iwa ninjas reach a certain size, they become quite difficult to deal with, largely due to the characteristics of their earth attribute.

They always stand behind various earth and stone obstacles created by their ninjutsu, and in groups of three or five, they launch the Rock Cannon Technique to attack you from a distance.

And some of your attacks can easily be blocked by the ninjutsu in front of them.

This is not finished!

When you try to get close to them, you will face a swamp they have created, so you must be extra careful with your footing when you attack, lest you accidentally fall into the Yellow Springs Swamp.

Even if you get close to the opponent, there is still a wall of earth in front of them that you need to go around before you can attack their main body.

However, once you get behind that earthen wall that will block your view, it's hard to say whether you'll be faced with an explosive tag or three burly men waiting for you.

Even if none of these situations occur, and you successfully start a one-on-one confrontation with your opponent, they are very likely to choose another battlefield when they are at a disadvantage.

And this so-called other battlefield is easy to understand; it's the ground where everyone stands!

The Iwa ninja often use Earth Release: Earth Infiltration when they can't win a fight. At that point, whether to chase or not becomes a rather complicated issue.

Without a certain level of sensory ability, you might not be able to detect the traces of an enemy hidden deep underground. Even if you do manage to spot them, you must be proficient in Earth Release ninjutsu.

Otherwise, once you've chased them underground, it's hard to say whether you're actually pursuing them or just getting yourself killed. After all, the opponent has home-field advantage, and in that environment, you might not be able to defeat them.

This is even when you still have the upper hand!

If things go wrong, they'll greet you warmly with their Rock Fist and Earth Release: Hardening Technique. Don't let their short stature fool you; their powerful limbs, combined with their Rock Fist, mean you might not be able to withstand more than a few heavy punches.

While they couldn't completely destroy large defensive fortifications, creating breaches wouldn't be a problem for them.

Learn about earthmoving and excavation techniques, soil manipulation, and the Earth's core tremors!

This has resulted in Iwagakure holding a relatively strong position among the five great nations.

Even the talented Konoha dared not underestimate the Iwa ninja.

Boom! Crack! Bang!

As the rock ninjas' iron cannons rained down, the entire grove erupted in a cacophony of sounds, followed by billowing dust.

When the smoke cleared, the grove of trees, which had been perfectly normal just moments before, was now riddled with holes. Scattered stones and broken tree trunks littered the ground.

These are all consequences of the rock-iron cannon. Although it didn't hit any of the agile enemies this time, the immovable trees and the ground suffered greatly.

Apart from a few giant trees that several people could encircle, anything else that was hit—branches, trees, and vegetation—was rendered unrecognizable.

Even the earth was riddled with craters by these rock cannons, with dirt and rocks flying everywhere, occasionally catching some Uchiha brats who couldn't get away in time.

"Don't stop! Sensory ninjas, keep a close eye on the enemy's movements!"

Seeing one or two unlucky souls injured by the flying rocks, Jonin Gangshan showed no sign of stopping and continued to order his subordinates to keep attacking.

Where is this?

He didn't intend to stop until the opponent had used up half of their chakra. If he was lucky, he hoped a few unlucky souls who couldn't dodge in time would be hit by these stone projectiles.

That way, I'll be much more relaxed later!

Right behind them, less than twenty meters away, Toshiro, who had been completely invisible, was getting impatient.

If he didn't intervene, he estimated that his comrades wouldn't be able to withstand more than a few rounds of bombardment from the rock-iron cannons before they couldn't hold on.

The problem is that each attack by these Iwa ninjas subtly covers an area of ​​tens or even hundreds of square meters. Even if they can't directly hit their comrades, the scattered rocks can still cause considerable trouble.

Each time these stone projectiles trace a parabola, they always carry a considerable amount of potential energy when they fall.

If the leaders, Yan and Zhe, didn't use fire-style techniques to slow down the rocks, the little devils behind them might not all be able to dodge them.

However, this naturally left traces of high temperature on the stone projectiles, making them even more powerful when they were ejected.

If this continues for another seven or eight rounds, they will probably lose most of their fighting ability, which will be quite disadvantageous for the upcoming close combat.

Even those kids who haven't been on the battlefield for long will expend a lot of energy just to dodge these attacks.

This made it impossible for Toshiro, who had been lying in ambush behind the enemy, to continue waiting.

If I don't step in to stop them, their large group probably won't stand a chance!

With his eyes slightly narrowed, he began to pinpoint the location of each Iwa ninja using the corner of his eye. At the same time, the three black tomoe in his eyes began to slowly rotate around his pupils.

He slowly formed several hand seals, then puffed out his chest, gathered his strength slightly, and exhaled the high concentration of chakra that had been accumulated in his mouth.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Flame Bullet!"

As Toshiro completed his ninjutsu, a large mass of highly concentrated chakra transformed into a fireball the size of a basketball in front of him.

Then, it suddenly exploded, turning into about thirty orange-red fireballs, each about the size of a billiard ball, which spun rapidly and flew toward their pre-locked targets.

Meanwhile, the Iwa ninja were facing away from Toshiro, and were almost completely unprepared.

The reason why Toshiro only used the corner of his eye to lock onto those Iwa ninja was because he was afraid that they would discover some clues.

These seasoned veterans of the battlefield are easily aroused by the slightest deviation.

(End of this chapter)