Unexpectedly, instead of surrendering after witnessing the bombardment from our forces, the enemies hiding in the forest dared to retaliate.
After the cannons roared and the path was cleared, the tanks began to advance. At that moment, ninjas and samurai hiding in the forest launched their attack.
Fire Style: Great Fireball.
Water Style: Water Wave.
Earth Style: Earth Flow.
All sorts of chaotic jutsu were hurled at the Sand Ninja convoy, along with arrows, shuriken, scythes, and a variety of ninja tools.
Muzake stood up in his open-top command jeep, seeing ninjas and samurai charging out of the forest on both sides.
What the heck? Aren't they afraid of tanks?
Not. Muzake even saw a group of samurai running at the tanks with swords, attempting to slash the barrels.
He facepalmed.
What the hell...
Do they think they're presidents or something, trying to cut tanks with swords?
What, does everyone think they can perform anti-tank Iai slashes now?
Of course, the Sand Ninja army had already scouted out these ninjas and samurai. Muzak had assumed that after seeing the power of the tanks, they would retreat. He hadn't expected them to refuse to surrender and dare to fight back.
This was intolerable.
"All units, open fire."
Rat-tat-tat.
The tanks opened fire with their jutsu guns, ninja tools, and explosive tag machine guns.
Boom, boom, boom.
The machine guns unleashed their fury.
The first to suffer were the samurai charging with swords. Those who weren't killed outright were injured and knocked down, their armour shattered.
Some were hit directly by explosive tags, blown skyward and reduced to ashes.
The samurai leading the charge were cut down ruthlessly, like wheat being harvested, leaving a field of bodies and severed limbs around the tanks.
This burst of gunfire stunned the attackers.
The firepower was overwhelming.
Before they could react, the other squads began to act.
From the troop carriers, the long-range support units of the first and second squads deployed their Concentric Puppets.
Whirr, whirr, whirr.
Hundreds of bomber drones took to the sky, darkening the sun like a sudden cloud cover.
The drones flew over the combined forces of the ninjas and samurai, dropping self-detonation tags like snowflakes.
Holy crap!
When the ninjas and samurai on the ground saw the dense barrage of explosive tags overhead, their legs became weak.
They panicked.
They started scattering in all directions.
As the enemy fled, each squad began pursuing them.
Muzake sneered.
I was trying to avoid unnecessary killing, but you've forced my hand.
The squads launched their attacks. The first and second squads continued their usual tactics of bombing everything with drones.
Sasori of the third squad didn't even bother to join the fight. He thought it was a waste to use his giant puppet to cut down such weaklings. He could wipe them out with just two swings.
The main force was the fourth squad, led by Sasuke. Orochimaru, a scientist and an excellent recruiter, lured all sorts of strange individuals to his side. The ones willing to fight were assigned to the fourth squad.
Jugo, clad in custom armour that absorbed natural energy, leapt from the vehicle and landed in the middle of five enemy ninjas.
Seeing Jugo in his black armour that covered him like Iron Man, the five ninjas were visibly nervous.
The fully armoured Jugo looked incredibly menacing.
The five ninjas attacked simultaneously.
Water Style: Water Bullet.
Fire Style: Scorching Flames.
Wind Style: Vacuum Wave.
Earth Style: Earth Spear.
Lightning Style: Lightning Bullet.
The five ninjas even managed a decent combo attack, with five different elemental jutsu coming at Jugo from all directions.
Jugo remained calm.
His armour continuously absorbed natural energy, and the combined jutsu couldn't even scratch it.
But Jugo had a better solution.
He raised his right arm, revealing a round hole in his palm. It housed the third-generation chakra absorption engine, a product made from the flesh of the Samehada.
"Absorb."
The Lightning Bullet, being the fastest, was the first to be absorbed. In an instant, it was sucked into the hole in Jugo's palm.
He quickly aimed his left hand at the Earth Spear rising from the ground.
"Fire."
The absorbed Lightning Bullet shot out, destroying the Earth Spear.
Lightning overcomes Earth.
The Earth Spear was shattered.
The five ninjas attacking were dumbfounded.
What kind of technique is this? And what kind of ninja tool is that?
Jugo didn't waste time posing. He absorbed the Water Bullet and used it to extinguish the Scorching Flames, taking a direct hit from the Vacuum Wave.
The Vacuum Wave managed to slightly dent Jugo's natural energy armour, but the dent quickly popped back into place.
Not even a scratch was left.
Seeing this, the five enemy ninjas panicked and fled.
Jugo chased them down, knocking each of them out with a single punch.
He didn't bother chasing down more ninjas. Instead, he carried the five unconscious ninjas back to the squad.
Fighting was only a side job for him. His primary duty was testing new equipment.
He handed the prisoners over to Kabuto.
"Thanks," Kabuto said as he began administering medicine to the five and loading them into an ambulance.
These people were going to be helpful.
Kabuto asked, "How did the third-generation product feel?"
Jugo raised his right hand.
"It seems to have a particular resistance to Fire Style."
Kabuto nodded, "That's an old problem with Samehada."
"Anything else?"
"The power of the jutsu I absorbed and fired seemed to be reduced, and the absorption speed wasn't fast enough. I still got hit by the Vacuum Wave."
Jugo had more feedback to give, but just then, more prisoners were brought in.
Kabuto pushed up his glasses.
"Alright, you can go back to work. Just write up a report on the shortcomings and areas that need improvement and submit it to me later."
Jugo sighed.
Being a product tester is such a hassle.
Even on the battlefield, he was still testing new gear.