Grind is My Ninja Way

*Boom*

A loud explosion sounded.

Inside Kogatani Village, Seimei suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed the short sword beside his pillow, and instantly appeared outside the house.

Then, with a leap, he landed on the roof.

This was the highest point in Kogatani Village. During the day, standing here, one could see the scenery outside the village.

But now, it was late at night.

However, this didn't pose a problem for Seimei.

With a thought, his pupils suddenly turned blood red, and three tomoe spun within them. He had activated his Sharingan.

Under the moonlight, Seimei looked towards the direction of the explosion and vaguely saw some Iwa ninjas rapidly approaching.

Then, he scanned the other directions and saw Iwa ninjas approaching from all sides.

"They're finally here..."

Seimei murmured, then glanced at the people in the village who had been awakened.

Because they were mentally prepared, everyone wasn't too panicked. They formed teams and rushed to their designated positions as if they had rehearsed beforehand.

At this time, the support team Seimei brought still hadn't shown themselves.

Now, they just had to wait for the Iwa ninjas to launch their attack.

A dozen seconds later, an explosion sounded, like a signal, marking the official start of the battle.

Instantly, the battlefield was filled with the sounds of exploding explosive tags, clashing ninja tools, and the screams of injured ninjas.

It was a chilling scene.

However, the ninjas present, whether from Konoha or Iwagakure, were already accustomed to the厮杀, and no one retreated because of this.

The less than two hundred ninjas at the Kogatani Village stronghold, facing the siege of twice their number, were unexpectedly holding their ground.

Seeing this scene, the Iwa-nin Jonin in command was inwardly surprised but didn't pay too much attention to it. This stalemate couldn't last.

After all, it was a situation of more people fighting fewer people. Even if they could hold on now, it was useless. As time went on, the side with fewer people would definitely reveal flaws.

At that time, a small mistake could trigger a chain reaction, and Konoha's defense line might collapse instantly.

Then, they could easily break through.

'I just hope we don't let too many of them escape in the end.'

Kurokawa Ichiro thought to himself and was about to instruct his subordinates to prepare for the aftermath of the battle.

But at this moment, an Iwa-nin Tokubetsu Jonin hurriedly ran over and said, "Captain, something's not right."

Hearing this, Kurokawa Ichiro's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly had a bad feeling and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Hearing Kurokawa Ichiro's question, the Iwa-nin Tokubetsu Jonin said with a solemn expression, "I just sensed that there's another group of enemies hidden within Kogatani Village."

"What?"

Kurokawa Ichiro was shocked and quickly asked, "How many are there?"

"About a hundred."

The Iwa-nin Tokubetsu Jonin replied.

"A hundred, that's not too bad!"

Kurokawa Ichiro quickly calculated in his mind and found that even with these hundred people added, the number of Konoha ninjas was still less than his side, so he slightly relaxed.

As for individual strength...

Although the average strength of Iwa ninjas was the lowest among the Five Great Ninja Villages, after more than two years of survival of the fittest, those lower-level ninjas were now about the same as those from other villages.

Moreover, the ones he brought this time were all elites.

Therefore, Kurokawa Ichiro wasn't too worried.

However, to be safe, he still planned to have his subordinates slow down their attacks a bit and see what happened next.

However, before his order could be given, Seimei had already given the order for the support troops to reveal themselves.

The reason he didn't let these people join the battle at the first moment was that he was worried that the Iwa ninjas, seeing the situation was unfavorable, would retreat early.

As the saying goes, "It's not the thief you fear, but the thief who's eyeing you."

Since the Iwa ninjas dared to come, he wanted to keep them here.

Otherwise, being constantly watched by a group of enemies made Seimei feel uncomfortable all over.

As for the Iwa ninjas sending people over again later, that was a matter for the future. In any case, he didn't plan to let these Iwa ninjas in front of him go.

Now was the perfect time. They were already entangled with the original Konoha ninjas in Kogatani Village stronghold, making it inconvenient for them to retreat.

Therefore, Seimei decisively ordered the support troops to attack.

Just as he expected, the Iwa ninjas on the field were caught off guard by this sudden change, and the pressure on the Konoha ninjas from the original Kogatani Village stronghold was greatly reduced.

For a time, Konoha's side was actually suppressing the Iwa ninjas.

However, this situation wouldn't last long, unless...

Seimei leaped down from the rooftop, then used a few Body Flickers to arrive on the battlefield.

He targeted an Iwa-nin Jonin, instantly appeared behind him, and then thrust his sword, leaving a deep wound on the Jonin's left arm, almost reaching the bone.

"Ugh~"

A muffled groan escaped from the Iwa-nin Jonin's mouth.

He forcefully swung the kunai in his hand, blocking the attack of the Konoha Jonin in front of him, and then jumped back a few steps, creating distance.

Only then did he have time to see who had just attacked him from behind.

If he hadn't reacted quickly and moved his body at the critical moment, he would probably be dead now. The opponent's sword strike was clearly aimed at taking his life.

However, the moment he saw the attacker, his pupils constricted, and he inwardly exclaimed, "Oh no!" He immediately wanted to close his eyes.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

The moment their eyes met, Seimei raised his hand and used the Genjutsu: Sharingan, instantly pulling the opponent's consciousness into the illusion.

*Whoosh whoosh whoosh~*

Three shuriken were thrown by Seimei.

Instantly crossing a distance of nearly ten meters, they accurately pierced the Iwa-nin Jonin's throat, heart, and abdomen, three vital points.

Suffering such a heavy blow, the Iwa-nin Jonin broke free from the genjutsu but could only make some meaningless whimpering sounds.

Seimei's movements seemed simple, but in reality, every step was carefully calculated, such as the angle of his sword strike and his standing position.

Even if the first strike failed to kill him, he could still use genjutsu to deliver a fatal blow while the opponent was searching for his figure.

And the events unfolded just as he had planned.

The opponent did dodge his first trap but, unaware of his identity, rashly searched for his whereabouts.

As a result, he fell right into the trap and was instantly killed by Seimei's Genjutsu: Sharingan.

Of course, the fact that things went so smoothly was also due to the opponent being a Tokubetsu Jonin with less comprehensive abilities and Seimei having honed his Genjutsu: Sharingan to the perfected level.

If it were other Uchiha Jonin, they wouldn't be able to use Genjutsu: Sharingan as instantaneously as him. If they gave the opponent even a little time to react, judging by his earlier movements, he would most likely have dodged this attack.

It could only be said that the opponent was unlucky to have encountered him.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

And seeing him instantly kill this Iwa-nin Jonin, the morale of the surrounding Konoha ninjas was greatly boosted, and their movements became even more powerful.

In contrast, the Iwa ninjas' morale plummeted, and they couldn't even exert 70% of their usual strength.

This was Seimei's strategy.

With fewer people fighting against more, even if Konoha could suppress the Iwa ninjas for a while, it couldn't last long, unless... he could kill their high-end combat power.

Then, use this to boost his own side's morale and, at the same time, intimidate the enemy ninjas.

Only with this increase and decrease could Konoha maintain its momentum of suppression.

(End of this chapter)