After dealing with the four unexpected guests, Seimei returned to Shinohara Kei.
Seeing Seimei approach, Shinohara Kei struggled to get up and asked, "Are they taken care of?"
"Yes," Seimei nodded. "They were four Iwa ninja."
"Iwa ninja?" Shinohara Kei pondered. "That must have been an Iwa reconnaissance team. Based on the timing, they should be arriving soon."
Seimei agreed with his assessment. Based on their calculations, the Iwa ninja on the perimeter should be closing in on their location.
This meant the area was no longer safe, and they had to leave quickly.
Without hiding anything, Seimei shared his thoughts and asked, "Can you walk now?"
Shinohara Kei stood up, moved his body a bit, clutched his chest, and coughed twice. "As long as I don't exert myself too much, it should be fine."
Seimei nodded. "Alright, let's go."
"Okay," Shinohara Kei agreed, sighing softly. "I wonder how the main force is doing?"
Seimei heard his mumbling but didn't respond.
He believed it wouldn't be easy for the main force to escape this time. Since they failed to stall Han, it was almost certain that Han would intercept the main force.
Even though Han was alone, it would be very difficult for the main force to deal with him without adequate preparation.
And against a jinchuriki, ordinary attrition tactics were useless, so the Chunin and Genin in the team couldn't contribute much.
In fact, these people would become Han's shields, making it difficult for the Konoha Jonin to attack freely.
Therefore, delaying for a while wouldn't be difficult for Han.
The Iwa encirclement force was already five kilometers away and wouldn't take long to arrive.
Once surrounded, a major battle was inevitable.
Perhaps the large-scale conflict had already begun.
In fact, that was indeed the case.
While Seimei was killing Koharu Shuji and treating his own wounds, Han had already caught up with the Konoha main force.
He even withstood attacks from several Konoha Jonin, broke through a defensive jutsu jointly cast by two Jonin, and charged into the crowd.
The Chunin and Genin had never seen such a scene.
Before they could even react, they were terrified by the savage aura emanating from him, their combat effectiveness reduced to less than 70%.
This wasn't a big deal, as even at full strength, they couldn't break through Han's Tailed Beast Cloak.
But the problem was that their slower reaction speed made it even harder to dodge Han's charges.
And because there were no allies around, Han could go all out, causing significant casualties to the main force in a short time.
In contrast, the Konoha Jonin were somewhat restrained because they were surrounded by their own people and couldn't fight freely.
This made Han even more reckless.
Finally, Nara Shikamaru, along with several other Nara clan ninja in the team, used the Shadow Imitation Technique simultaneously to temporarily control Han.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Chunin and Genin quickly moved away from him, while most of the remaining Jonin surrounded and attacked Han.
However, Han dodged the attacks when he could and endured them when he couldn't. His main goal was to continue pursuing the Konoha main force and prevent them from escaping.
Thus, the two sides fought intermittently, and the Konoha main force's progress was slow.
Finally, the Iwa encirclement force arrived. Although they hadn't completely surrounded the Konoha main force, they had at least caught up.
Escaping was no longer easy for Konoha. Unless they abandoned a large number of people, they couldn't break free.
And even then, escape wasn't guaranteed.
After weighing their options, Nara Shikamaru ordered them to defend their position and engage the enemy.
With both sides mixed together, Han couldn't attack recklessly anymore, and the Konoha casualties finally slowed down.
Although this meant they couldn't leave, Nara Shikamaru had calculated that as long as they held on for fifteen minutes to half an hour, reinforcements from Tiger Mountain camp would arrive.
Then, they would still have a fighting chance.
...
Meanwhile.
Elsewhere.
Before Seimei and Shinohara Kei reached the battlefield, they heard the sounds of fighting.
There were the clangs of metal from clashing ninja tools, the booms of exploding tags, and the screams and groans of injured ninja from both sides.
All sorts of sounds filled the air.
Seimei and Shinohara Kei exchanged glances and quickened their pace.
However, as soon as they stepped onto the battlefield, several kunai flew towards them.
Seimei's ears twitched, and he swiftly turned towards the source of the sound.
In an instant, the trajectories of the kunai were clear in his vision.
He then flickered, dodging all the attacks.
Not only that, but he also locked onto the attacker, an Iwa Chunin standing on a tree branch in the distance.
The moment their eyes met, the Iwa Chunin sensed danger.
But it was too late.
Seimei activated his genjutsu, and the Chunin froze. Seimei then threw a shuriken.
*Whoosh*
The shuriken flew out at high speed, accurately hitting the Iwa Chunin's throat.
With this fatal blow, the Chunin finally broke free from the genjutsu, but he could no longer make a sound.
He stumbled a few steps and fell from the tree branch.
*Crack*
A crisp sound of bone breaking. The Iwa Chunin's head hit the ground, and his neck snapped instantly.
Even in death, his eyes were filled with unwillingness.
Seimei shook his head, no longer paying attention to him, and turned to Shinohara Kei. "Your injuries haven't healed yet. Should I escort you to the medical team first?"
"No need," Shinohara Kei refused. "The situation is critical now. Others need your help more. Don't waste time on me."
"Is that so..."
Seimei pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, take care of yourself!"
With that, he drew his short sword, flashed to a nearby bare rock, and swung his sword.
The next moment, blood appeared out of thin air, splattering on the ground.
Then, a figure materialized. It was an Iwa Genin who had used the Hiding in Rock Technique.
He had been hiding there from the beginning, either passively avoiding combat or cooperating with the Iwa Chunin on the tree branch.
In any case, Seimei had spotted him as soon as he arrived.
In fact, not only him, even the injured Shinohara Kei had sensed his presence.
However, both of them tacitly kept quiet.
This led to the Iwa Genin being caught completely unprepared when Seimei suddenly attacked, resulting in his instant death.
Of course, even if he had been prepared, it wouldn't have mattered.
The gap between him and Seimei couldn't be bridged by a little preparation.
Sheathing his sword, Seimei nodded at Shinohara Kei and walked into the battlefield.
After Seimei left, Shinohara Kei waited for a while, estimating that Seimei had cleared most of the enemies ahead, and then followed his footsteps onto the battlefield.
Although he didn't want to burden Seimei, he wasn't foolish enough to not take advantage of the situation.
He knew the path Seimei had taken would be safer than other areas. Following his footsteps would definitely save him some trouble.
Shinohara Kei wouldn't give up such an advantage.
Thus, the two entered the battlefield, one after the other.
(End of Chapter)