Chapter 355: Commander vs. Commander
Seeing the woman shrouded in cold air not far away, several Jonin tightened their grips on their kunai, preparing to rush her and cut off the head of the snake.
By the time Saori realized their intentions and tried to shout a warning, it was too late. They had already charged in front of Minazuki Reika, ready to unleash their attacks.
"If we take her down, the threat of the Mist forces will drop significantly. I must..." One of the Jonin gritted his teeth, prepared to use himself as bait to draw the enemy's attention so his comrades could land the killing blow.
However, the moment he stepped within ten meters of Minazuki Reika, he felt the blood inside his body instantly freeze. In a single breath, this reasonably strong Jonin collapsed to the ground, dead. Even in his final moments, he didn't understand when he had fallen under the enemy's technique.
The others witnessed this scene. Although terror was mounting in their hearts, it was too late to turn back. To survive, they had to kill the enemy... veterans of war, they did not lack resolve.
"...Why throw your lives away? My target was not you," Minazuki Reika's cold voice echoed in their ears. She manifested an ice blade from thin air, stepped forward, and delivered a horizontal slash at their bodies.
To be honest, the power behind Reika's slash wasn't overwhelming. At least to these men, who had seen Kyosuke's swordsmanship, her close-quarters combat skills seemed far inferior. Yet, despite this, they found themselves completely unable to dodge.
It was only after the cold blade sliced through their bodies that they realized a layer of frost had covered them without their knowledge. It was this frost that had slowed them down, making an avoidable slash fatal.
"Damn it... if I had known..." One of them uttered words of regret before dying. Unfortunately, a cold body could not rise to fight again, nor could it turn back time.
In a clash between experts, a single error in judgment meant the difference between life and death.
Having disposed of the Jonin with a leisurely stroll, Minazuki Reika continued walking toward Saori. Above them, snowflakes began to fall from the sky, adding a touch of desolate beauty to the blood-stained battlefield.
"Terrifying freezing ability. I cannot approach her rashly." Saori took a deep breath. From her raised palm, a dozen green energy orbs—resembling prayer beads—suddenly materialized. With a soft shout, they flew toward the enemy.
"Petty tricks." Reika waved her hand single-handedly, using her Ice Release to freeze the moisture in the air into ice arrows, shattering the incoming beads one by one.
"Secret Jutsu: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death."
"Bang!"
Amidst the exploding ice mist, Minazuki Reika finally launched her first active attack. And she opened with a powerful Ice Release secret technique.
"Secret Technique: Ice Dragon Dazzling Sky!"
A massive ice dragon roared as it spiraled into the sky above the battlefield, drawing the gaze of everyone within a radius of several kilometers.
The visually stunning ninjutsu caused all the Mist ninja who recognized it to cheer loudly. In contrast, the Konoha ninja watched with worry.
They didn't know if their commander, Hyuga Saori, could defeat such a visibly powerful enemy. Unable to intervene, they could only pray silently.
Fortunately, Hyuga Saori did not let them down.
"Haaah!!!"
With a low roar, green flames erupted from every part of her body. In moments, the flames completely enveloped her, making her look as though she were wearing a cloak of fire.
"Gentle Fist Art: Divine Phoenix Heavenly Drive!"
A dragon and a phoenix, ice and fire. The clash between the two created waves of power that surged higher and higher. The ninja surrounding them retreated again and again, fearing they would be swept up in the intense battle.
Meanwhile, having defeated his opponent, Kakashi arrived at the main battlefield.
However, he did not go to support Saori. Instead, he chose to lead his subordinates in wave after wave of assaults against the Mist army.
In Kakashi's view, no matter how terrifying the enemy commander was, Saori was strong enough to handle it. The critical task now was to deal with the Mist troops, who far outnumbered their own.
With powerful strength, outstanding speed, and god-like swordsmanship, Kakashi was like a firefly in the dark; it was hard for the Mist ninja not to pay attention to him.
Within fifteen minutes of Kakashi appearing on the battlefield, dozens of enemies had fallen to his blade. Seeing this, the Mist hastily assembled a squad of Jonin, preparing to deal a fatal blow to the incoming threat.
Unfortunately for them, Kakashi was not alone. Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi followed close behind, along with many ninja from the Inuzuka and Aburame clans. Unless a true top-tier powerhouse arrived personally, it would be difficult to break this team in a short time.
Acting as the spearhead, Kakashi slaughtered the incoming Jonin squad. Then, bold and skilled, he waved his short sword and charged straight toward the enemy's rear—the gathering point for the medical corps and other special units.
Realizing something was wrong, the Mist ninja began to sacrifice their lives to stop Kakashi's squad from advancing. Although their casualties doubled, they managed to evacuate the medical corps to a distant location just before Kakashi arrived.
"Forget it, Kakashi." Hizashi pulled back Kakashi, who wanted to continue the pursuit. Looking at the killing intent in Kakashi's eyes, Hizashi still found it hard to believe that the rumored Ninshu powerhouse had really been defeated by Kakashi in a one-on-one duel.
If he didn't know that Kakashi had no help, Hizashi might have thought it was a trap set by Saori and the others.
"I don't know when it happened, but experts in Konoha seem to have sprung up overnight. I'm afraid my strength doesn't even rank highly anymore," Hizashi thought with some emotion as he watched Kakashi charge.
"Well, it's a good thing, after all." He exchanged a glance with his brother, and the two chased after Kakashi, facing the enemies swarming from all directions together.
"BOOM!"
A muffled sound came from the sky. The duel between ice and fire had finally come to an end.
Many ninja in the heat of battle instinctively turned their gazes upward. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the Konoha ninja erupted in excited cheers.
Because the figure crashing down from the sky was none other than Minazuki Reika.