章節 57: 200

In a matter of minutes, the camp transformed into a perfectly synchronized war machine. Without needing orders, each shinobi found their place in the formation.

Jōnin, Chūnin, Genin, and special units all aligned in their respective phalanxes.

Silence fell over the camp.

Swish! Swish!

The sound of air being cut by kunai and shuriken as ninjas adjusted their equipment momentarily broke the silence.

Behind Luo Lei were the high-ranking leaders: Jiraiya, Minato, Shikaku, Inoichi, Chōza. Their eyes, fixed on the horizon, shone with determination.

Jiraiya, commander-in-chief of Konoha's army in the Land of Grass, struggled internally. His instinct screamed that he should be at the front, leading his troops.

However, something stronger, perhaps a premonition or simple pragmatism, kept him in his place behind Luo Lei.

Despite his reservations and the many questions he still had about Luo Lei, he couldn't deny a sense of relief at his presence at this critical moment. The thought of what might have happened if they had launched their attack against Iwagakure unprepared chilled his blood.

The image of the 17 Konoha teams being annihilated in an instant, and him becoming the village's great traitor, tormented him.

Minato clutched his kunai. The cold light emitted by the weapon seemed to reflect the icy determination in his eyes.

"Where are the Iwagakure ninjas hiding?"

With every shinobi in position, the atmosphere in the camp seemed to freeze.

...

The horizon remained empty, with no visible signs of the Iwagakure army.

Underground, the situation was equally perplexing. Konoha's sensor ninjas, with drops of cold sweat sliding down their foreheads, strained to the maximum of their abilities but failed to detect anything. Their eyes, filled with frustration, constantly turned to Luo Lei, seeking some sign.

A minute passed... then three... then ten...

With each passing second, the tension in the camp intensified.

'They're too slow...' thought Luo Lei, his impatience growing with each moment that passed.

Through his X-ray vision, he observed with frustration the slow advance of the Iwagakure ninjas in the underground tunnel. What should have been a quick advance had turned into a tortuous crawl. Twenty minutes to cover a few hundred meters; it seemed they were doing it on purpose.

The Jinchūriki Han, at the head of the formation, advanced with exaggerated caution. Each step was measured, each movement calculated to avoid detection.

"Enough," he decided, his eyes beginning to glow with a blinding red light. "We won't wait any longer. We'll begin when they're about 200 meters away."

Originally, he had planned to wait until they were 100 meters away to initiate the attack. But at this rate, it could be hours before they reached that position.

____

In the depths of the earth, Han advanced with caution.

Each step was precise, each movement calculated to avoid the slightest vibration that could betray their presence.

Behind him, hundreds of ninjas held their breath, fearful that the slightest sound could make their stealth attack plan fail.

"Why do I feel like we're being watched?" Han muttered. Since they had reached 500 meters from the Konoha camp, his Jinchūriki sixth sense hadn't stopped sending him alarm signals.

"No, Konoha can't have discovered us," he told himself, shaking his head to dispel his doubts. "We're almost there. Just 200 meters more."

"Two hundred and seventeen meters... Two hundred and fifteen... Two hundred and five... Two hundred meters!"

Exhaling a sigh of relief, wiping away the cold sweat that had formed under his armor.

The moment to act had arrived. His plan was to emerge with more than 300 ninjas specialized in Earth Style ninjutsu, leaving the remaining 700 hidden underground as emergency reinforcement.

'Konoha ninjas, tremble before our power', he thought with a satisfied smile.

Just as he extended his right hand to give the attack order, on the surface, Luo Lei decided that the wait was over.

Suddenly, a violent aura erupted around him. His eyes, glowing with intensity, fixed on a precise point on the ground. Two laser beams of a blinding red emerged from his eyes.

Fzzzzt! Boom!

The sound of burning earth was followed by a deafening explosion. The ground began to shake violently.

The laser beams penetrated the earth as if it were butter. They pierced through layer after layer of rock and soil, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

In the tunnel, more than 20 meters underground, chaos broke loose. The walls shook violently, rock fragments fell from the ceiling.

The Iwagakure ninjas looked around with confusion and growing terror.

"What's happening?!" someone shouted. "An earthquake?!"

Han, sensing the imminent danger with terrifying clarity, abandoned all caution. "Don't stay in the tunnel!" he roared urgently.

"Everyone, get into the cave walls, now!"

But his words came too late.

Boom!

Han's eyes widened in horror as two beams of blinding crimson pierced through the cave ceiling.

Time seemed to stop for a fraction of a second before hell broke loose.

"AAAAGH! IT BURNS! OH GOD, WHA–!" One screamed, his body turning to ashes before he could even move.

"NO! NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Another shrieked, his hands desperately trying to protect himself from the inevitable.

The screams of agony multiplied, filling the tunnel with a chorus of pure terror. Bodies disintegrated in seconds, reduced to nothing but smoldering ashes.

The thermal vision began to move along the tunnel, relentless in its destruction. Even those who managed to react and form seals for defensive Earth jutsus found themselves powerless.

"My barrier! It's useless!" a jōnin cried, his voice breaking with panic before being silenced forever.

"Han-sama! Please help us!" a chūnin begged, tears of terror running down his face as he tried to sink his body into the rock wall. "I don't want to die like this!"

Those with skills in Earth ninjutsu frantically dug into the walls, desperate to escape. The less fortunate ran in panic, their screams echoing in the confined space.

"Let me through! Move!" One pushed his comrades savagely, the survival instinct overriding any sense of camaraderie.

"Mom! Dad! Help me!" cried a young genin, his youth evident in his desperate call to his parents in his last moments.

The tunnel had become a purgatory.

Screams of agony mingled with the nauseating smell of burned flesh and vaporized blood. The air, dense with smoke and terror, made breathing a torture.

On the surface, the devastation was equally terrifying. Luo Lei's thermal vision left behind a charred canyon more than 20 meters deep, vaporizing everything in its path: rock, earth, and flesh alike.

________

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