Ebizo: "Sigh... I don't even want to think about how many ninja from the village will have to be sacrificed this way."
[The first to reach Sunagakure were, as expected, the swiftest: the Archangel-class Honkai Beasts.
These Archangel-class Honkai Beasts dived toward the ninja atop the walls like high-speed fighter jets.
The good news was that because their numbers were few and they were all charging from a single direction, the remaining forces of Sunagakure could concentrate in one spot without the pressure of being spread thin across multiple fronts.
Therefore, as the Archangel-class Honkai Beasts drew near, the Sand Ninja—who had been prepared for some time—immediately utilized the ballistae atop the walls to deal with them.
The Explosive Tags attached to the bolts detonated in succession.
The entire swarm of Archangel-class Honkai Beasts was instantly engulfed in the fiery light of the explosions.
By all logic, an explosion of such magnitude should leave no one unscathed!
However, Honkai Beasts were the exception!
The defensive power of an Archangel-class Honkai Beast was several times greater than that of a tank!
Consequently, even after seeing most of the bolts find their marks, the Sand Ninja on the wall did not let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't lower your guard! Quick, prepare the next round of attacks immediately!" Temari shouted from the wall.
Everyone atop the wall immediately began preparing for the second wave of attacks.
But the flight speed of an Archangel-class Honkai Beast could rival that of a fighter jet!
Buzz, buzz, buzz~
A sound like the rapid beating of wings—resembling both flies and bees—rang out as one Archangel-class Honkai Beast after another charged out from the flames of the explosions, soaring toward the crowd on the wall.
Out of the dozens of Archangel-class Honkai Beasts, save for a few lucky ones whose wings were blown off, the rest were practically unscathed and had already reached the group!
These Archangel-class Honkai Beasts slammed into the people on the wall like cannonballs.
Fortunately, these Sand Ninja were well-prepared; most reacted quickly and managed to dodge.
Yet, a dozen or so people were still crushed into a bloody mist by the impact, dying instantly.
"Damn it!"
Temari gritted her teeth as she watched the Archangel-class Honkai Beasts sweep past the wall.
But then, something unexpected happened.
The Archangel-class Honkai Beasts did not immediately turn around to continue their assault on the ninja. Instead, they flew toward the interior of the village.
It seemed that after clearing the wall, they had immediately shifted their target, drawn by the settlement behind the fortifications.
"Kankuro, take men into the village immediately! You must find a way to intercept those Honkai Beasts!"
"Understood!"
As Kankuro led a unit back into the village, the number of ninja on the wall instantly dropped by a fifth.
With Kankuro and his team handling the interior, the ones remaining on the wall now had to face an even more difficult threat!]
Minato Namikaze: "There are clearly still so many people on the wall, and they just finished attacking them. Why did those Honkai Beasts act as if they didn't even see them?"
Terumi Mei: "Perhaps they were drawn by the much larger number of civilians within the village?"
Kankuro: "Bastards! Can't these monsters just focus on attacking us properly? What kind of skill is it to go after civilians!"
Uchiha Izuna: "Save it, kid. If those Honkai Beasts could understand human speech, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with."
[Boom! Boom! Boom!
Accompanied by the tremors radiating from the ground, Temari could already feel the wall beneath her feet shivering.
This meant that those massive Chariot-class Honkai Beasts had reached a dangerously close proximity!
"Don't conserve your Chakra, and don't worry about the Honkai Energy! Give me your most powerful attacks now! Focus fire on those three largest Honkai Beasts! We must take them down; we cannot let them reach the wall!"
"Attack!"
Temari drew her Giant Folding Fan and began to absorb the Honkai Energy that was omnipresent in the outside world.
"Yes! We absolutely cannot let them break through the wall!" The other ninja atop the wall followed suit.
"Fire!"
At Temari's command, a barrage of attacks flew from the wall, soaring toward the three largest Honkai Beasts.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
"Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel Technique!"
One powerful Fuuton after another flew toward the three Chariot-class Honkai Beasts.
Compared to ordinary Wind Release Ninjutsu, the power of the Fuuton used by these Sand Ninja was at least dozens or even hundreds of times greater!]
Jiraiya: "This power... it's even greater than Senjutsu."
Minato Namikaze: "More than that. Looking at these ninja, it seems they've all learned the method of using Honkai Energy to bolster their Ninjutsu."
Jiraiya: "Could it be that Honkai Energy is even easier to sense and utilize than Natural Energy?"
Senju Hashirama: "Of course it is. It's just that Honkai Energy, like Natural Energy, has an extremely potent Erosion property. The difference is that the Erosion from Natural Energy can still be reversed, whereas the Erosion from Honkai Energy is irreversible."
Jiraiya: "So you're saying the method to use Honkai Energy isn't hard to learn—you can practically pick it up instantly. Moreover, there's no immediate life-threatening danger while practicing; it's just a form of slow-motion suicide. There's no risk of turning into a stone statue."
Jiraiya: "This is indeed a good way to increase strength in a short period, but the price is simply too heavy."
Tsunade: "Yes. The moment you use Honkai Energy, your life begins its countdown; the only difference is how long you have left. And the more you use it, the faster death approaches. Looking at those Sunagakure Jonin, even if they never use Honkai Energy again, they'll likely live no longer than three months. And that is an optimistic estimate."
Baki: "...Tsunade Hime, even if you don't say it, we understand. And truthfully, you don't need to be quite so blunt about it."
Tsunade: "...I was just feeling a bit sentimental."
Thinking of her patients for whom she was powerless to help, Tsunade sighed silently.
How could she not understand how dangerous Honkai Energy was?
After all, she was the one who dealt with people suffering from Honkai Sickness the most!
[Boom! Boom! Boom!
One powerful Fuuton after another, each capable of tearing through a tank, slammed into the Chariot-class Honkai Beasts. Unsurprisingly, they left deep gouges across their surfaces.
Unlike the previous "baiting" attacks from the Jonin, these ninja were striking with everything they had.
Their goal was to kill these three Honkai Beasts as quickly as possible!
Thus, the most powerful of these strikes left craters nearly a meter in diameter in the Chariot-class Honkai Beasts' carapaces.
Under the assault of hundreds of ninja, the surfaces of these Chariot-class Honkai Beasts instantly became riddled with pits and scars.
But it didn't end there.
Unlike the ballistae, which had a slow rate of fire and required a long time to reload bolts...
...a skilled ninja could use multiple powerful attacks in rapid succession within mere seconds!
Consequently, immediately following the first wave, a second wave of attacks followed!]