Chapitre 59: Chapter 59: The Battle Begins
A few minutes later, the Iwagakure (Rock Village) troops appeared at the far end of the team's line of sight.
As they got closer, Qingming roughly counted around two hundred of them.
He sighed in relief, thinking to himself that Orochimaru's plan had worked.
Otherwise, with this much time passed, there was no way Iwagakure would only send such a small force.
Now, with their side having three hundred against two hundred, they had the upper hand, and the battle wouldn't be as brutal.
The Iwagakure troops drew nearer, and Qingming and the others raised their kunai, waiting for their commander's order to launch the first strike.
However, just then, the leading Iwagakure Jōnin suddenly stopped.
Seeing this, the Konoha commander gave the order without hesitation: "Fire!"
Immediately, a barrage of kunai shot out from both sides of the forest, raining down on the Iwagakure forces like a storm.
"Watch out!" the leading Iwagakure Jōnin shouted.
But the attack came so suddenly that many of the Iwagakure shinobi, especially the Genin, couldn't react in time and were instantly skewered, dying on the spot.
In just one wave of attacks, Iwagakure lost about a tenth of their forces.
Then came a second wave. This time, the Iwagakure troops were ready, pulling out their weapons to block, and only a few unlucky ones perished.
Since this was an away mission and their supplies were limited, after the second wave of attacks, the Konoha commander ordered a full-scale assault.
At that moment, the Konoha Jōnin let out battle cries and charged out of the forest.
Before they reached the enemy, several Konoha Jōnin unleashed a third wave of attacks.
Powerful ninjutsu rained down, striking directly into the Iwagakure ranks.
The Iwagakure Jōnin weren't slow to react and countered with their own ninjutsu, but having lost the initiative, they couldn't prevent nearly ten more Iwagakure Chūnin and Genin from dying, with an additional twenty to thirty getting injured.
Now, the surviving Iwagakure forces were less than two hundred, many of them wounded.
It was clear that Iwagakure's haste to provide reinforcements left them vulnerable to such ambushes. If they had been more cautious and sent out scouting parties, they wouldn't have lost so many troops.
That said, using elite shinobi as scouts would have been costly as well. Whether it was more efficient to sacrifice lower-ranked shinobi or risk losing elites was a matter of perspective.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The battlefield was filled with war cries and deafening explosions.
Qingming didn't rush in too quickly. Before the Jōnin of both sides clashed, it was dangerous for lower-ranking shinobi to get too close, as a stray attack from a Jōnin could easily kill them. No one followed the "unwritten rules" of battle at times like these.
Qingming stayed in the middle of the group, and once the Jōnin had engaged, he singled out an Iwagakure Chūnin to fight.
Why not a Genin?
Simple—most of the nearby Genin had already been picked off by other Konoha shinobi.
Clearly, each person on the battlefield had their own survival strategies.
Rushing in early came with risks, but it also made the subsequent fight easier.
Turning his focus to the Iwagakure Chūnin before him, Qingming noticed a coincidence—the enemy also wielded a long sword. This was a rare sight, as most Iwagakure shinobi didn't practice swordsmanship due to their preference for straightforward taijutsu and ninjutsu over "fancy" sword techniques.
Now that he'd come across a fellow sword user from Iwagakure, Qingming was eager for a duel.
Similarly, the Iwagakure Chūnin, seeing that Qingming was just a Genin, happily rushed over to engage him.
But he was far too optimistic.
In a flurry of swift, metallic clangs, Qingming struck dozens of times in just a few breaths, each strike aimed at the enemy's vital points.
At first, the Iwagakure Chūnin didn't take him seriously, believing that such a young shinobi couldn't possibly have mastered advanced swordsmanship. After all, geniuses weren't as common as weeds growing on the roadside.
He blocked Qingming's attacks rather casually at first.
But as the battle went on, the Chūnin's expression grew increasingly grim, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.
The reason was simple: he realized that, in terms of swordsmanship, he was no match for Qingming.
Several times already, he had narrowly escaped death, and the frequency of these close calls was only increasing, making him incredibly tense.
In contrast, Qingming, after overcoming his initial nerves, found himself relaxing.
He realized that not only was the opponent's swordsmanship inferior to his "Konoha-Style Swordsmanship," but his skill level was also significantly lower.
With that settled, there was nothing for Qingming to worry about.
He hadn't had a chance to practice his swordsmanship in days, so this duel was the perfect opportunity to brush up on his skills.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The fight proceeded in an orderly manner, with Qingming periodically checking on Mizutani Shizuko's situation.
She was also fighting a Chūnin, though her opponent didn't seem particularly skilled. Mizutani was holding her own, unable to dominate but also not in serious danger.
Seeing this, Qingming felt reassured.
Time ticked by, and the battle on the field grew more intense by the minute.
While Konoha's goal was mainly to delay the enemy's reinforcements, so they could afford to drag things out, Iwagakure didn't have that luxury. Their orders were to reach the attacked outpost as quickly as possible, so they couldn't afford to waste time.
This urgency became apparent as the Jōnin on both sides began hurling powerful ninjutsu at each other, forcing the Chūnin and Genin to back away from their fight zones.
Qingming and Mizutani also retreated from their original positions.
The Iwagakure Chūnin Qingming had been fighting used this opportunity to flee, and another Iwagakure shinobi quickly replaced him.
This new opponent was another Chūnin, one who had just killed two Konoha Genin and now set his sights on Qingming.
"Heh, kid, bad luck for you running into me," sneered the Iwagakure Chūnin, Nishimura Ishihei, as he charged toward Qingming, locking his eyes onto him, hoping to see a familiar look of fear.
As an experienced Chūnin who had survived the battlefield for over a year, Nishimura knew exactly what scared freshly-graduated shinobi.
If he acted brutal enough, these rookies would be too terrified to fight back, barely able to muster even seventy percent of their strength. Some might even panic and flee in terror.
So…
"Fear me, rookie!" Nishimura screamed internally.
But as he drew near, he noticed something odd. Qingming showed no trace of fear—his expression remained calm and unwavering.
"What's going on?" Nishimura's heart skipped a beat, realizing he might have picked the wrong target.
But it was too late to stop now.
With a shout, he lunged at Qingming, thrusting his kunai with all his strength.
plz support me if you can.
patreon.com/Mano99
all the fanfic is 30 chapter a had and you will get 1 chapter everyday.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone