Boom! Boom! BOOM!
The ambush erupted in an instant!
The pre-laid explosive tags were triggered, blazing firelight tearing through the darkness. Dense wind blades, fireballs, and earth-style dragon projectiles poured down like a torrential storm from multiple directions, all aimed directly at Konoha's not-yet-stabilized defensive line!
However, thanks to Shinichi's early warning and Tsunade's swift decision-making, Konoha was far from unprepared.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
The Konoha combat shinobi, already in position, reacted with remarkable speed. Hand seals flashed as defensive ninjutsu were unleashed—thick earthen walls and surging water barriers rose from the ground, interlocking into a temporary shield that blocked most of the first, fiercest wave of attacks.
The roar of explosions and the shriek of colliding ninjutsu echoed across the night sky, firelight illuminating the faces of the shinobi.
After a brief but intense long-range exchange, Sunagakure's assault force had already closed in to melee range. Konoha's side drew kunai and blades, preparing for close combat.
In Shinichi's sector, over thirty elite Suna shinobi burst out of the darkness. A combined volley of wind blades and fireballs came crashing down first, terrifying in momentum.
The dozen or so teammates beside him turned pale, hastily preparing to defend or evade.
Yet, before their stunned eyes, Shinichi didn't move.
He simply swung the Adamantine Staff in his hand forward with brutal force!
With overwhelming, unstoppable force, it swept across the battlefield!
Where the staff passed, the air was compressed and detonated, producing deep, mournful booms!
The incoming ninjutsu—whether razor-sharp wind blades or explosive fireballs—shattered on contact with the staff like fragile glass!
The scattered chakra turbulence whipped Shinichi's hair and clothes backward wildly, yet he stood as steady as a mountain.
"Everyone, be careful!"
The moment his voice fell, the ground within several meters beneath his feet cracked into a spiderweb of fractures—
—and his figure vanished!
Instead of retreating, he advanced!
Shinichi transformed into a blurred afterimage, staff in hand, like a cannonball fired from a barrel—or a sudden storm of death—tearing through the gap between both sides at astonishing speed, charging straight into the front line of the Suna formation!
His target: a Suna chūnin in the front, hands forming seals, preparing his next jutsu.
The Suna shinobi only felt a blur before his eyes—an icy gale already upon him. His pupils shrank; before he could finish his seals, the enemy had already closed the distance!
At the edge of life and death, he reacted instinctively, drawing the katana at his waist and bracing it horizontally before him to block.
Crack!!!
A single, extremely short metallic shatter!
The instant the Adamantine Staff struck, the blade exploded into fragments!
Countless shards scattered outward, glittering like a fleeting meteor shower in the firelight.
In the Suna shinobi's eyes, the last image was a black staff rushing closer and closer.
Pfft!
Like a ripe watermelon smashed by an iron hammer.
Red and white splattered outward, carried by the violent wind of the strike.
The Suna shinobi froze mid-block—then his headless body was flung backward by the overwhelming force of the staff, crashing heavily into four comrades behind him and throwing them into chaos.
Shinichi pressed the advantage without mercy. The ground beneath him exploded again as he launched forward like a projectile!
Gripping the staff with both hands, he rode the momentum of his charge and leap, swinging it in a heavy yet elegant arc. His body trailed a fleeting afterimage, as though stirring the night itself.
Below, the four Suna shinobi—staggering from the impact of their comrade's headless corpse—had just barely regained their footing when the shadow of death descended with a shrieking wind pressure!
"Not good!"
"Dodge!"
Their cries were cut short.
The Adamantine Staff fell like a meteor, carrying Shinichi's full strength and the acceleration of his descent—
Boom!!!
A far deeper, more violent explosion erupted!
At the point of impact, the ground caved inward and fractured violently, cracks spreading outward for over ten meters!
Earth, stone, and flesh blasted outward in all directions!
The shockwave alone tilted the forehead protectors of several Suna shinobi further away.
Dust and blood mist rose together.
Beneath the staff, the four shinobi—along with the remains of the first—had been crushed into an unrecognizable mass.
Only the deeply embedded staff and Shinichi, standing with it in hand, killing intent still radiating from his body, remained at the center of this freshly created circle of death.
In the blink of an eye—
Five shinobi, dead.
Shinichi raised his gaze slightly, his cold eyes sweeping across the Suna ranks, momentarily frozen by the sudden slaughter.
"This…"
A medical-nin widened his eyes, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.
He knew Shinichi was a genius, knew the boy was strong—but seeing him shatter multiple ninjutsu and instantly kill five Suna shinobi in a single exchange still exceeded all expectations.
Too fast!
So fast that they couldn't even react!
The remaining thirty Suna shinobi also froze briefly—but as a village tempered by wind and sand, their hesitation was fleeting, replaced by blood-stoked ferocity.
One of them—apparently a squad leader—locked his gaze onto Shinichi and shouted hoarsely: "It's Higashino Shinichi! That Higashino Shinichi from Konoha! The one from last year's Chūnin Exams!"
Shinichi glanced over. The man had a rugged face with a shallow scar on his left cheek—he recognized him as one of the Suna jōnin examiners from the second stage of last year's exams.
Yoshida Go.
"Kill him! Prioritize killing him!"
At Yoshida Go's command, the remaining thirty Suna shinobi erupted with killing intent. Most of them immediately shifted targets, like wolves scenting blood, charging straight at Shinichi!
"Support Shinichi!"
"Stop them!"
Behind him, Konoha's forces tried to push forward to regroup with him and share the pressure.
"Split ten men to hold off Konoha! The rest—follow me! Surround and kill Higashino Shinichi!" Yoshida Go reacted instantly, dividing his forces with veteran precision.
Ten Suna shinobi broke off, fearlessly intercepting Konoha's reinforcements with a web of jutsu and kunai.
Meanwhile, Yoshida personally led the remaining twenty elites, attacking from multiple directions in a coordinated encirclement!
Kunai and shuriken rained down like a storm. Wind, fire, and earth-style attacks struck from unpredictable angles. Close-combat specialists surged forward, blades flashing, chains whipping through the air!
A twenty-man assault instantly turned Shinichi's position into a vortex of death.
Shinichi moved rapidly, weaving within the limited space.
The Adamantine Staff swept and struck, deflecting most ranged attacks. Each swing carried a terrifying wind pressure.
His footwork was precise—he narrowly avoided intersecting blade strikes and twisted aside from a kunai aimed at his throat.
At that moment—
A tall Suna taijutsu specialist seized the opening from Shinichi's brief pause after evasion. Roaring, he leapt high, bringing down a massive cleaver-like blade with mountain-splitting force toward Shinichi's head!
Before the blade even landed, the pressure alone made the scalp tingle.
Shinichi's eyes turned cold. His footwork shifted subtly as he retreated several meters.
The heavy downward strike cut nothing but air.
In that instant—when the opponent's momentum was spent and his body leaned forward—
Shinichi raised the staff in his right hand and thrust forward with explosive speed!
Simple.
Direct.
Perfectly precise.
Clang!!!
The staff emitted a strange metallic vibration!
Then—
The change came.
The originally two-meter-long staff suddenly trembled under the infusion of chakra—
Whoosh!!!
The black, heavy staff extended forward instantly—growing over ten times its length!
Not only that, the extending shaft carried a visible spiraling force, the tip drilling forward, tearing through the air with a piercing screech!
"What?!"
The Suna shinobi barely managed to raise his blade across his chest—
Pfft!
The spiraling staff tip pierced straight through his weapon, armor, and chest as if cutting through butter!
Blood erupted from his back!
But that wasn't the end—
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
The staff continued forward, driven by terrifying rotational force and extension momentum—
Piercing through four more Suna shinobi lined behind him!
Time seemed to freeze.
The now over twenty-meter-long black staff skewered five corpses in a line, their expressions frozen in shock and agony, suspended in the bloody night wind.
One strike.
Five kills.
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