Chapter 215: Civilians Become Test Subjects
Land of Rain, border valley.
After winter comes, the weather becomes bitterly cold.
It is only a few hours away from nightfall, and a faint glow can still be seen on the horizon. The temperature is already very cold.
"..."
Yashamaru, whose face was as delicate as a woman, stood outside the makeshift tent. He frowned as he felt the whistling sound of wind and rain passing by his ears. (Yashamaru is Gaara's Uncle)
This place is far away from the capital of the Land of Rain, and there are very few places with people. Even if there are some residential settlements, most of them have been destroyed and only ruins are left.
"The horrible weather in this small country is really annoying."
A Sand Ninja walked out of the tent, complained, patted Yashamaru on the shoulder and asked, "What are you doing standing here like an idiot? Aren't you cold?"
"Nothing." Yashamaru smiled perfunctorily, looking into the distance and said, "It's just... I don't know why, I have some insomnia."
"Maybe it's because this is your first time at the front line. Don't worry, this should be the safest place. It's much safer than those unlucky guys who have to face 'poisonous weapons'."
The Sand Ninja said something to comfort him casually, with a tone of gloating, and waved his hand and said: "Then I will go back first, and you should also go to bed early. We will have to take turns on duty tomorrow morning."
Yashamaru sighed subconsciously and glanced towards the sky above the valley.
The valley was full of jagged rocks, interspersed with the bare gravel of oak trees.
Suddenly, Yashamaru's eyes narrowed gradually, and he frowned and asked: "What is that?"
"Hmm?" The Sand Ninja who had already turned around to leave was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously followed his gaze to the horizon, "What what?"
In the gradually darkening sky in the distance, it seemed as if a row of flying birds spread their wings and cast a black shadow toward the ground.
"Captain, it seems we have been discovered."
At the horizon, the sky ninja wearing eyepieces looked down into the valley and spoke.
"No, we are the ones who are going to attack." The captain of the Sky Ninja Team raised the ninja tool in his hand and said coldly, "Listen to my orders, reload, one round, volley!"
At the same time, in the valley, a hint of doubt flashed across Yashamaru's narrowed eyes.
The dark shadows in the sky are small, but they can definitely be seen.
Birds?
In this country, in this weather, are there still birds?
In a flash, several thoughts flashed through Yashamaru's mind.
Just then, he saw a row of thin reflective spots flying towards him at a very fast speed.
A sense of death surged into his heart at this moment, and almost driven by his body's instinct, Yashamaru tilted his head with a dazed expression.
All he heard was the sharp sound of wind passing by his ears, and a bullet passed through the tent behind him, making a slight sound of tearing the tarpaulin, and the pain was transmitted from his ears to his brain.
He covered his ears belatedly and felt his hands getting wet, and his expression instantly turned painful.
But the Sand Ninja behind him was not so lucky.
Puff! Bang!
Blood bloomed in Yashamaru's afterglow. The bullet hit his right eye and blood spurted out. He fell backwards in shock, hitting the ground with a dull sound.
Yashamaru didn't care about his bloody right ear, and shrank his whole body and rolled quickly to the side of the stone.
A buzzing sound broke the silence, and hundreds of flying ninja tools with spread wings slowly enlarged in Yashamaru's eyes like a silver-gray cloud.
"Enemy attack!!"
As the roar of shock and anger sounded, bullets like rain were fired at the camp, instantly tearing the tents into pieces, splashing blood in the rain!
In an instant, all the Sand Ninjas stationed in the valley were alarmed.
Without caring about their companions who had survived the attack and were still wailing, the Sand Ninjas who had gathered together scattered in all directions without hesitation.
"Those people are... sky ninjas?!"
Some of the Sand Ninjas instantly recognized those iconic flying ninja tools and asked in surprise: "Haven't they appeared for a long time since they invaded Konohagakure Village?!"
"Why are the sky ninjas here? What are they going to do?"
"Hurry and report to Lord Domu!!"
In the sky, the Sky Ninjas just stared coldly at the Sand Ninjas below, raised the rapid-fire ninja tools in their hands and pulled the triggers downwards.
BANG BANG BANG!!
A large number of bullets shot out from the muzzle, cutting through the air with a terrifying whistling sound.
At the same time, Yashamaru glanced at the place behind him where the bullet hit. The extremely deep and small hole was reflected in his suddenly enlarged pupils, and the surrounding spiral fine lines were clearly visible.
Wind attribute chakra is condensed on the bullet?!
"Don't block it!"
A shout of fear rang out, but his warning was too late.
The Sand Ninjas below subconsciously raised their weapons and swung them accurately at the bullets flying towards them...
Puff! Puff!!
"Ah!!"
The ninja tools used by Tori and others are no longer the crude ninja tools of the past, but advanced ninja tools that have been improved by research institutes and have been replaced for several generations. They can convert chakra into wind attributes through built-in devices.
Driven by wind-attribute chakra, the speed and power of the projectile far exceed the power of a kunai fired by an ordinary ninja.
The terrifying penetrating ability instantly pierced through the bodies of the Sand Ninjas, and screams and wails of pain and fear echoed throughout the entire Sand Ninja camp.
Bullets came one after another. Yashamaru dodged while spreading his five fingers and extending the chakra lines in his hand towards the ninja tool bag.
"Ninjutsu: Attack Blade!"
Several kunai were pulled out by the silk threads and surrounded his body in defense, emitting sparks continuously.
The rest of the Sand Ninjas, like Yashamaru, suffered heavy casualties because they were caught off guard, but they were well-trained ninjas after all, and they quickly suppressed their fear and maintained their offensive and defensive formations.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Dozens of Sand Ninjas cooperated tacitly and formed hand seals at the same time. The strong winds from their mouths swept up countless raindrops and wreaked havoc on the incoming wind-style projectiles.
The momentum of the wind-style ninjutsu instantly overwhelmed the rain-like bullets, and also instantly made the huge stones in the hearts of the Sand Ninjas fall.
"That's it! Maintain the formation!"
Yashamaru encouraged his companions and shouted, "Don't panic, there are only about a hundred of them, and Lord Domu and his men will be here soon!"
The Sky Ninjas kept circling above the valley, like falcons waiting for their prey to relax.
The Sky Ninjas didn't expected that this kind of attack can defeat all the elite ninjas of Sunagakure.
If they can be dealt with so easily, the ninjas of the great country may not be a such big deal.
At the front of the V-shaped formation, the captain of the Sky Ninja made a gesture and said in a cold voice: "Reload!"
After hearing the order, the Sky Ninjas all took out red bullets from the ninja tool bags on their arms and loaded them into their own ninja tool magazines.
At the same time, the Sand Ninjas below felt that the attack from above had weakened.
"These guys really underestimate us! Pay attention to cover and use wind release to deal with these damn bats!"
The Sand Ninjas who were good at wind release ninjutsu formed seals with their hands to prepare for powerful offensive ninjutsu, while the Sand Ninjas who were good at earth release ninjutsu stood beside them and used ninjutsu to build a defensive fortress.
Just as the chakra in the body was about to be released, several bullets drew bright red tracks in the darkness and fell towards the Sand Ninjas below.
"No! Why is it so slow?" Seeing the bullets with a completely different firing speed from before, Yashamaru suddenly felt an ominous feeling in his heart.
He saw that the falling bullets were getting bigger and bigger in his field of vision.
The ninjutsu of those wind-style ninjas were also released directly at this moment.
However, when he finally saw what it was, Yashamaru's face suddenly changed.
That breath of fire chakra...
"Get down!"
"That was the detonation..."
Before Yashamaru and several Sand Ninjas could finish their words, the wind release ninjutsu met the red bullets in the sky...
Boom! Boom boom boom!!
The originally dark and peaceful night sky was suddenly replaced by a roar, and the entire sky was lit up, as if it was noon.
Smoke, rain and fog accompanied by flames spread out in all directions, and the Sand Ninjas were swept away by the impact of the explosion.
Some of the projectiles that were not triggered exploded on the ground, and the Sand Ninjas within a radius of several meters were blown into pieces before they could even scream.
————————
"It looks like they've already started."
At the same time, in the deepest part of the valley, even the sky above was obscured by the valley.
Yahiko turned his head and looked into the distance behind him, and saw orange-red "fireworks" suddenly exploding in the originally dim night.
The sky, which had already darkened, was now illuminated again by the light of the fire.!
The scorching flames engulfed from afar, the temperature of the air began to rise, the heat rushed towards Yahiko's face, and it was mixed with the smell of burnt gunpowder.
In the quiet night, the sound of the bombing was purer and duller than usual. It was the weight of life...
Yahiko opened his eyes, turned around and looked at the door and Nagato in from of him and said, "Can't open it?"
"It's a bit troublesome." Nagato put his hand on the alloy door, felt it carefully and frowned, "Mechanical lock, forged in one piece from a special alloy."
"It looks like a big problem." Yahiko was also a little helpless. "And this is the only way to get in."
"…Then there's nothing we can do."
Nagato was silent for a moment, then took a few steps back and Yahiko was also pushed to the back by him.
He saw nine scarlet thorns as thick as arms suddenly emerge from Nagato tail vertebrae and gradually spirally entwine and twist together.
Crack! Crack!
After a series of teeth-grinding sounds, the nine thorns twisted into an extremely thick one, and slammed into the alloy door in front of them.
BANG!!
A deafening explosion instantly erupted between the two, causing Yahiko, who had keen senses, to cover his ears with a look of pain on his face.
"What are you doing..."
After a moment, the sharp sound in his ears faded away. Yahiko looked up with a complaint and swallowed the rest of his words.
There was an obvious dent on the alloy door, and a large number of cracks appeared on the part of the wall connecting to the wall.
"Really hard."
Looking at his torn flesh and blood, Nagato frowned and shook off the scarlet blood.
"...You're pretty tough too." Yahiko gritted his teeth with a bit of toothache.
What kind of strange power is this?
Is this the strength a weakling like you should have?
Seeing Nagato step back and try to attack again, Yahiko's eyes twitched and he quickly reached out to stop him, saying, "Wait a minute, do you have any misunderstanding about the word 'infiltration'?"
"Completing an operation without any witnesses is called infiltration. If you are discovered, just kill them." Nagato frowned and said something, then asked in a dissatisfied tone: "Do you have a better way?"
Yahiko scratched his head and muttered, "I should have brought the new bombs given to me by those explosion maniacs in the Equipment R&D Department."
"…Then we may not even be able to make it out here alive."
Ignoring Nagato's cold joke, Yahiko looked at the huge alloy door again, touched his chin, then looked at the sword at his waist. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he stretched out a finger: "Hey, got it!"
————————
Hiss!
The extremely scorching red blade distorted the surrounding air and slashed across the alloy door. The places it passed melted and flowed onto the ground like water.
He drew a door shape large enough for one person to pass through, and with a gentle push, a large piece of alloy fell to the ground with a loud bang.
"hey-hey."
Yahiko swung the long sword in his hand, put it into the scabbard, and said with a smile: "I said it would work."
Silently moving his senses away from the sword, Nagato distanced himself slightly from it.
The temperature of the sword was somewhat terrifying.
When it approached just now, Nagato felt like it was about to spontaneously combust.
It seems that this guy has never been lax...
"Stop talking nonsense and let's go." Nagato shook off his messy thoughts and stepped onto the stairs leading downstairs. Yahiko hurriedly followed.
As the two went deeper, the only sounds they could hear were their breathing and footsteps. They were in a silent stairwell with walls on all sides, and there was nothing else except walls and stairs. They did not meet any guards on the way.
Yahiko couldn't even remember how long he had been walking. He only knew that he was walking down but could never see the end of the spiral staircase.
It was as if this road led to hell, and the further he went down, the more uneasy he felt.
Looking at the big gate outside, this place must be very important, but it is so easy to break in without encountering any obstacles.
Even if the Sky Ninja attracted the attention of the Sand Ninjas, there should be some defense here, right?
Yahiko was still thinking this in his heart, but Nagato suddenly stopped.
Bang!
Yahiko felt like he had hit a wall. He couldn't help but take a breath and rubbed his forehead and said, "What are you doing?"
"..."
Looking at the suddenly bright and empty area in front of him, Nagato lowered his head and took a deep breath, his cheeks even twitching slightly with anger.
"Sand Ninjas, you're looking for death!!"
Yahiko was stunned for a moment, looked over Nagato's shoulder, and suddenly froze in place.
He saw that in the huge and wide space, dense black shadows were hung upside down like a forest, and the face of each black shadow could be vaguely seen with the surrounding candlelight.
Those were pale and expressionless faces, with eyes closed, as peaceful as newborn babies.
But their abdomens were cut open and their internal organs were hollowed out.
The limbs hung naturally, making crackling sounds, like those of a wooden doll.
The most primitive fear and weirdness slowly permeated the air.
(End of this chapter)