On the other side, the giant Fuma Shuriken shrieked as it spun toward the other Sand captain.
This captain was a genuine Jonin, possessing formidable strength.
*Clang!* As expected of a Sunagakure Jonin, his reflexes were outstanding; he actually managed to raise his blade to block the strike.
However, he had underestimated the sheer weight of the Fuma Shuriken.
As the terrifying force slammed into his weapon, the standard-issue Land of Wind Shinobi Saber cracked with spiderweb-like fractures.
At the critical moment, he angled his blade, barely avoiding the fate of being sliced in half along with his weapon.
While this Sunagakure Jonin was lucky enough to survive the devastating blow, the Chunin behind him was not so fortunate.
*Splat!* The Chunin behind him was sliced clean in half at the waist.
His organs spilled out of his abdominal cavity onto the ground—a sickeningly gruesome sight.
But that was not all.
Just as the two giant Fuma Shuriken were about to fly past the remaining Sand ninjas, “Retract!” Sasuke Umino made a sharp, sudden pulling motion backward.
Instantly, two streaks of silver light swept across the battlefield.
*Screeech…* Two steel wires bit deeply into a massive tree ahead, almost slicing the trunk in two under the extreme tension.
“Watch out!” “It’s a rigged Fuma Shuriken!” Before these Sand ninjas could recover from the terrifying assault of the Fuma Shuriken, they were thrust into another life-or-death crisis.
Moreover, it was a completely unexpected, lethal sneak attack.
These Sand ninjas were the elite of the elite, but unfortunately, none of them were Itachi Uchiha.
Even the great Itachi had his thigh pierced when facing Sasuke Uchiha’s sudden trap with the rigged Fuma Shuriken, didn’t he?
Although Itachi had been holding back, he still had to make his performance look convincing to his younger brother, so he couldn’t have held back to a ridiculous degree.
If such a tactic could yield surprising results in a Kage-level battle, one can only imagine how terrifying the sudden lethality of these rigged Fuma Shuriken could be.
However, since they were facing multiple enemies, there was no need to stall the Fuma Shuriken’s aerial movement for a single-target strike like Sasuke Uchiha had.
Instead, using the attached steel wires to execute a wide-area sweeping attack yielded a far better tactical result.
Under the high-speed pull of the giant Fuma Shuriken, the two steel wires transformed into silver blades of light.
Like bootleg versions of the Water Style: Water Severing Wave, they sliced across the majority of the battlefield.
The steel wires sheared through the smoke-filled battlefield, carving the searing air into neat sections.
The strike was simply too sudden and too fast.
When the wires swept through, they were nearly silent at first.
The Sunagakure Jonin failed to react in time, and all five fingers on his left hand were severed clean at the knuckles, blood spurting violently.
The momentum of the steel wires remained undiminished as they swept further across the battlefield, cleanly slicing through the legs of an off-guard puppet master Chunin.
The puppet master’s lower legs remained standing upright on the ground, while his upper body fell into a pool of blood, wailing in agony.
He had clearly lost all ability to fight.
*As expected of Sasuke’s classic tactic.
Truly formidable!* Sasuke Umino felt a surge of emotion as he looked at the severed limbs scattered on the ground and the blood droplets on the steel wires glistening in the firelight.
Most of the threat was now neutralized.
The Sunagakure Jonin was the strongest and most dangerous opponent, but with the fingers of his left hand severed, he could no longer perform hand seals, severely crippling his combat power.
Those in the Ninja World who could perform one-handed seals were few and far between—not everyone was Haku of the Yuki Clan.
This Sunagakure Jonin likely lacked such ability.
With this single move, the core force of the Sand ninjas had been practically crippled.
Had the Sand puppet masters not possessed superior defenses that naturally countered wire attacks, none of the Sand ninjas besides the Jonin would have survived this wave of sneak attacks.
Indeed, when it came to defending against wire attacks, the Sand puppet masters had their own unique methods.
Faced with the sudden slicing wires, they had not only shielded themselves but also managed to assist their nearby comrades.
While the Sand ninjas were still reeling from their narrow escape and paralyzed with shock, Sasuke Umino launched the next phase of his strategy.
“Tekudo!
Now!” “Detonate!” Both formed the Tiger seal, detonating the hidden Explosive Tags.
The instant the Tiger seal was formed, a rustling sound of paper echoed from inside the Fuma Shuriken.
It turned out both Fuma Shuriken were hollow, packed with a massive amount of Explosive Tags and poisoned Senbon.
“Art is an explosion!” *Boom, boom, boom…* In an instant, thousands of poisoned Senbon erupted from the hollow shuriken bodies, fanning out to blanket the entire remaining Sand squad.
“Not good!” “Watch out!
There are traps hidden inside the Fuma Shuriken!” Before the Sand ninjas could even catch their breath, they were thrust into yet another life-or-death crisis.
Their faces drained of color, turning ashen.
With such terrifying, layered tactics, the Konoha reinforcement could only be a Jonin who specialized in traps and machinery.
Now that every one of them was injured, surviving was difficult enough, let alone reclaiming the intelligence from this Konoha Jonin.
However, they had no time for such thoughts now; their sole focus was surviving this latest lethal surprise.
*Thwack, thwack, thwack…* The poisoned Senbon shot out in all directions.
The legless Sand ninja was instantly turned into a pincushion, departing straight for the Pure Land to meet the Sage of Six Paths.
One of the Sand puppet master Chunin, who was closest to the Fuma Shuriken, managed to block most of the poisoned Senbon with his puppet, but could not withstand the full brunt of the Explosive Tags.
His puppet was blown to pieces, and he was severely injured.
“Earth Style: Earth Wall!” A bald Sand Chunin managed to unleash a defensive Earth Style Jutsu at the critical moment.
However, because the explosive trap’s attack was too sudden, he could only protect himself and had no way to shield his comrades.
Cold sweat poured down the bald Chunin’s face as he watched his comrades fall one by one.
The Jonin captain, whose fingers had been sliced off, now had three poisoned Senbon embedded in his right shoulder, the wound oozing an ominous, indigo-green blood.
Except for the puppet master captain, every single one of his surviving comrades had been struck by the poisoned Senbon to some degree.
Fortunately, as experienced veterans, they had managed to shield their vital areas, particularly their hearts.
“It’s poison!” Looking at the blackened wounds on his severed fingers, the Sand Jonin quickly ripped off his headband strap, tied it tightly around his upper arm to slow the spread, and swallowed an antidote pill.
Only then did the Sand ninjas realize that the tissue around their wounds had lost all sensation and vitality.
They had clearly been infected with an extremely potent paralytic toxin.
“Elder Chiyo’s antidote pill…
is useless against this.” The survivors’ faces paled in horror.
This was a special antidote developed by Elder Chiyo specifically for their special operations squads.
It was meant to suppress not only ordinary toxins but even the venom of the Land of Rain’s Hanzo and his Salamander.
Yet now, they found that even Elder Chiyo’s pill could not neutralize this poison.
Fortunately, they could still suppress it using Chakra.
Otherwise, they would have had to commit suicide immediately to prevent capture and interrogation.
However, suppressing poison with Chakra was not a long-term solution.
In the middle of a battle, the moment their Chakra ran dry would be their end.
They were now caught in an inescapable dilemma.
“Everyone!
Even if there is no hope, we must retrieve that intelligence!” The Sand Jonin captain roared, his eyes filled with the resolve of a dying man.
Sasuke Umino felt a chill.
A cornered beast was at its most dangerous.
Since these Sand ninjas refused to give up even in this desperate state, the intelligence they were carrying must be of extraordinary importance.