The silk pouches? Who gave a damn about the silk pouches anymore?
If they were truly useful, why hadn't they been brought out earlier?
If it weren't for the poison in their bodies and their lives being held in soone else's hands, they would have run away long ago.
As for whether the poison was real or fake?
Those ninjas who had previously tried to run away had all acted as if they had lost their minds, covering themselves in explosive tags and charging into the enemy lines to detonate. That was the absolute best proof.
In truth, Negishi Kusanagi was also on the verge of collapsing.
His special physique could neutralize a portion of the incoming attacks, but days of fierce combat and continuous fleeing had left him covered in wounds, and his chakra was nearly depleted.
He looked at the final two remaining pouches in his hand, his fingers trembling slightly.
Should he open them? Though the timing felt wrong, if he delayed any longer, he feared they would all be slaughtered by Konoha.
Ultimately, urged on by the desperate crowd around him, he tore open the pouch marked with the number two.
The letter inside read: > You have fought the Konoha ninjas for so long; surely you already know which ones among them are Wind and Water Style users. The second phase of the plan is to use every ounce of your strength to kill their Water Style users. This is the absolute key to victory!
That was it? That was all? What good would killing Water Style users do?
The crowd was bewildered, but in their current state, they could only follow orders blindly.
"Leader, just open the final pouch too," soone urged.
Negishi Kusanagi hesitated, but in the end, he ignored Military Advisor Shiraki's original instructions and opened the last pouch early.
They were facing death right now, and everyone desperately needed to know if there were any real backup plans or hidden arrangents left.
Inside the final pouch was a crude, hand-drawn map. It marked a specific location called the Ring Valley, and next to it was a small line of text: > I knew you would open this early. But eliminating the Water Style users remains critical. Once that is done, flee into this area. A trap has already been set here.
The Ring Butterfly Valley shown on the map was less than twenty miles away from their current path of retreat.
"Leader, since there's a trap, let's fall back right now! Forget about the Water Style users!"
Another voice pressed, "Yeah, Konoha didn't deploy many Water Style users this ti anyway."
"Shut up and follow orders!" Negishi Kusanagi barked in a low hiss. "We have already been pushed to this absolute limit. We must execute the plan precisely."
In truth, he didn't quite understand why the advisor was being so seemingly foolish either, but Abura Shisui had solemnly promised him before the war that as long as he followed the plan to the letter, he would live.
As for whether the other Grass ninjas survived?
He no longer cared about that. As long as he survived, nothing else mattered.
Furthermore, he knew one secret very clearly: there was no actual poison inside the Grass ninjas' bodies. It was all a lie cooked up to maintain absolute discipline in the ranks—a narrative he and the advisor had agreed upon beforehand.
As for why the deserting ninjas turned into human bombs, that was naturally due to other hidden traps the advisor had placed on them.
Three days later, the Grass Village force had dwindled drastically once again, leaving only a little over a hundred and ten people.
Fortunately, Water Style users were indeed scarce among the enemy ranks. The Uchiha naturally favored Fire and Lightning attributes, rarely producing Water users, while the Hyuga specialized entirely in Taijutsu, with most of their clansn completely lacking—or outright disdaining—the Five Basic Nature Transformations. This allowed their targeted elimination of Water Style users to succeed flawlessly.
Afterward, fighting and fleeing at the sa ti, they finally reached the designated valley.
It was a small circular valley, easily taking in with a single glance. Wild grass covered the surrounding terrain, while the interior of the valley was shaded by lush green trees.
Aside from that, the topography was low-lying, surrounded by poisonous mist and swamp miasma, with very scarce water resources. These features were all entirely visible at a glance. Beyond that, there was absolutely no sign of any hidden traps.
"A trap? Where's the trap!?" a one-ard Grass ninja laughed miserably. "This is just a quiet, swampy valley! Is the advisor playing us? Does he want to bury the last of us here just so he can surrender to Konoha?"
"Silence!" Negishi Kusanagi barked sharply, though his own heart sank.
Military Advisor Shiraki's plans were becoming harder and harder to comprehend. But at this point, did they have any other choice?
"Keep moving toward the center of the valley!" Negishi Kusanagi ordered through gritted teeth. It was the only command left to give.
The remaining Grass ninjas supported one another, stumbling blindly toward the center of the Ring Valley.
Behind them, Konoha's pursuers followed like shadows. The continuous chase over the past few days had cost Konoha another few dozen lives.
Most of them had died in the near-suicidal, frantic counterattacks launched by the cornered Grass ninjas.
This casualty ratio left the Konoha ninjas shocked and deeply humiliated. The arrogant ninjas who had mocked their foes earlier felt as if they had been violently slapped across the face.
But the battlefield waited for no one. Having guessed that the Hidden Stone Village might be backing the Grass, Konoha could no longer alter its strategy to a slow, steady advance.
They had to crush and eliminate every single Grass ninja in one swift motion. Yet, even though they had corrected their attitude and proceeded with absolute caution, their losses and casualties still refused to drop.
The Hyuga clan fared reasonably well; with their Byakugan and disciplined style, they did not overextend, keeping their casualties minimal.
The Uchiha clan, however, charged at the very front every single ti. They had already lost nearly a third of their deployed clansn over these past few days.
However, their surviving forces had grown noticeably stronger, as almost all remaining Uchiha had awakened their eyes, with four ninjas successfully advancing to the three-tomoe stage.
Hyuga Tennin's Byakugan had already mapped out the layout of the circular valley from afar. Though the terrain looked slightly peculiar, he detected no large chakra signatures or signs of an ambush.
"No large-scale ambushes found in the valley ahead," Hyuga Tennin confird with Fugaku.
"Accelerate! Don't let them escape into the valley!"
Uchiha Fugaku gave the order, his Sharingan sweeping across the battered remnants of the fleeing Grass ninjas. The last shred of doubt in his heart vanished.
Fleeing into a dead-end at the end of their rope was nothing more than a final death struggle.
Very quickly, the path ahead ended. The desperate Grass ninjas halted their steps and turned around, only to see seven hundred Konoha ninjas already sealing off their escape routes. The faces of the pursuers flashed with excitent, clearly viewing these heads as stepping stones for their own promotions.
"All forces advance, eliminate them inside the valley!"
With a single command, the Konoha ninjas charged with full force.
The last vestige of hope in Negishi Kusanagi's heart shattered completely. Looking at the dark mass of Konoha ninjas rushing toward them, he let out a furious roar: "Military Advisor Shiraki, you lied to !"
However, right at that mont—
High up in the sky, the cloud layer tore open. The sharp, rhythmic hum of vibrating insect wings echoed down from above, forcing every ninja below to instinctively look up.
They saw a massive insect flapping six wings, blotting out the sun as it scattered countless shimring, colorful scales from the sky.
It was the Seven-Tails, Choi. Their reinforcents had arrived.
Swiftly, the hum of insects began to rise throughout the valley, and a faint mist started to ripple outward from the creature's body. Deep within the forest, a figure with vibrant green hair rapidly ford hand signs.
A voice, too quiet for anyone to hear, whispered through the trees:
"Genjutsu: Breath of Euphoria."
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