Spirit Transformation Technique!
Ye Zi's soul emerged, hovering above his shoulders.
The plan was to force Sakumo out of the main battle, then wait for Sasori's support to take him down two-on-one, before returning to assist Jūzō and the others holding off the Konoha shinobi.
Given how tough Sakumo was, it was clear that widening the distance wasn't feasible, so they would have to keep the fight confined to this location.
As the light flashed, Ye Zi's spirit form took shape and lunged at Sakumo.
Ye Zi's Spirit Transformation Technique was no secret, as it had been documented in the intel.
When the white light appeared, Sakumo immediately began retreating, fully aware of the technique's danger, especially at such a close range.
He quickly sheathed his sword and pulled back, avoiding Ye Zi's spirit form and widening the gap.
This was the downside of having one's abilities known. Otherwise, at this close distance, the spirit form would typically hit its target due to its incredible speed.
However, that would only apply if the opponent didn't know about the Spirit Transformation Technique.
After missing, Ye Zi didn't retract his spirit form, as the floating spirit itself was a great threat to the enemy. His only concern was sealing techniques, though he was certain that Sakumo didn't know any, so he remained unbothered.
"So, this is the Spirit Transformation Technique, Dan Katō's legacy. This is my first time facing it as an enemy," Sakumo observed Ye Zi silently.
When Ye Zi had glanced past him to look back at his own forces, Sakumo had guessed his intention: he wanted to take him down first.
With their numerical advantage, Sakumo wasn't worried about his team, so he let Ye Zi have his way. After all, Sakumo had the same idea as Ye Zi.
Taking out the enemy's primary force would be advantageous for both sides.
Sakumo… also wanted to personally defeat Ye Zi.
Meanwhile, the traps in the area were nearly exhausted, and the results weren't promising.
The combined efforts of the traps, Hidden Mist Jutsu, and Sasori's poisoned spikes only managed to kill three Konoha jonin, and all three were killed by Sasori's poisoned spikes, meaning the traps had failed to inflict any real damage.
When the final kunai embedded itself in a tree with a dull thunk, the spectacle of the traps, aside from Sasori's controlled spikes, came to an end.
In their coordinated teams of three, the Konoha shinobi had only suffered minor losses, though their chakra reserves were slightly drained.
In a situation of few versus many, chakra conservation is essential; conversely, a larger group has less reason to hold back on chakra use.
This advantage in numbers meant that even though the traps drained some chakra from the Konoha jonin, it didn't have much impact. In contrast, Jūzō's chakra was more heavily used due to casting Hidden Mist Jutsu twice, though he relied primarily on his sword rather than ninjutsu.
With the traps exhausted, Sasori decided to conserve energy and withdrew his spikes. Only once the Rain ninja and Ye Zi's wood clone arrived would he be able to leave and assist Ye Zi's main body.
Now that the traps were out of the way, three squads—nine Konoha shinobi in total—volunteered to break away and support Sakumo.
They weren't bound by any "code of honor"; with such a large advantage in numbers, even though they trusted Captain Sakumo to handle Ye Zi, they wouldn't leave him to fight alone.
The Konoha counterattack had begun.
"Don't think of leaving!"
As the nine shinobi moved to break away, Sasori's Third Kazekage puppet suddenly flew over, extending an arm inscribed with seals toward the departing Konoha ninjas.
With a burst of white smoke and a series of cracking sounds, a mass of wooden arms materialized, smashing through trees as they advanced toward the Konoha shinobi, primarily targeting those who were attempting to leave.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!
Sangetsu Uchiha, with his head wrapped in a black cloth and his three-tomoe Sharingan active, exhaled a large fireball, more powerful than a Great Fireball Jutsu, aimed at the mass of wooden arms.
The Uchiha clan specialized in Fire Release, and Sangetsu was one of the best. Using his Sharingan, he predicted Sasori's move, and despite requiring seven hand seals, he executed the Fire Release just in time.
As the giant fireball exploded over Sasori's wooden arms, two Konoha shinobi followed up with Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, amplifying the scattered flames.
In an instant, the raging fire engulfed hundreds of wooden arms, burning them to ash.
However, despite the destruction, a significant number of arms remained intact, continuing their relentless assault on the Konoha shinobi.
"Scatter!"
Realizing the jutsu couldn't stop the attack, Sangetsu yelled before dodging, and the other Konoha shinobi scattered as well.
The Thousand Hands Manipulation technique had a limited range, so after the Konoha shinobi dodged, the arms halted, but the nine Konoha ninjas intent on supporting Sakumo were forced back.
Swish, swish, swish!
Suddenly, the wooden arms split open, revealing pipes that sprayed a thick cloud of poisonous gas toward the Konoha shinobi.
The moment the poison gas was released, several Konoha shinobi used Wind Release to disperse it, then charged at Sasori from the sides, while the nine Konoha shinobi resumed their attempt to support Sakumo.
On the other side, Jūzō, who favored close combat, charged into the enemy formation, decapitating a Konoha ninja with his Executioner's Blade.
The Konoha ninja had tried to block the Executioner's Blade with a kunai, only to be cut down, kunai and all.
With that, the battle between the two sides had officially begun, and Konoha had already lost four shinobi.
As Jūzō continued swinging his Executioner's Blade, holding off three Konoha shinobi, a sharp whistling sound came from behind.
Hearing the sound, Jūzō quickly pushed back the Konoha shinobi in front of him, then turned, raising his Executioner's Blade in defense.
Kōri Uchiha appeared from behind, delivering a powerful kick to the Executioner's Blade.
Boom!
With a dull thud, Jūzō was sent flying, the force of the kick evident.
As he flew through the air, surrounding Konoha shinobi threw a barrage of kunai at him.
Jūzō's face darkened, and he turned the Executioner's Blade to deflect the kunai.
At that moment, a member of the Hyūga clan called out, "Reinforcements are coming—watch out!"
Before the words were finished, a figure cloaked in lightning cut through the air, deflecting the kunai aimed at Jūzō before rushing toward the nearest three jonin.
Moving with lightning speed, the figure's blade, wrapped in lightning, sliced through the three Konoha shinobi, cutting them in half before they could react.
"Finally."
Jūzō and Sasori both sighed with relief.
It was Ye Zi's wood clone, a sign that the Rain ninja were nearly there as well.
"Isn't that Ye Zi?"
The Konoha shinobi were stunned, seeing Ye Zi take down three of their comrades in an instant. They were puzzled, as Ye Zi had just been fighting Captain Sakumo not far away, yet now he was appearing from another direction.
"It's a shadow clone."
Ninashi Uchiha said calmly, slightly biting his lip as he glared coldly at Ye Zi, who was now flicking the blood off his blade.
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