Unfortunately, as he shouted, he looked into Mieko's eyes. Mieko didn't miss the chance and cast a Genjutsu on him.
Hodaka engaged the blind Chunin. The Chunin was already blind, and his right leg was severely cut.
But even in this state, he still used every weapon he had, attacking Hodaka fiercely. Such a counterattack showcased his experience and desperation.
However, Hodaka remained calm and maintained his fighting stance. He said,
"You are already within my attack range."
Then he launched an attack, performing the Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms.
All of Hodaka's attacks hit their targets, and the final blow struck his opponent's chest, stopping his heart. The Chunin fell to the ground, dead.
Unlike Mieko and Hodaka, Feng Zheng first attacked the weakest enemies.
He first flickered behind two blind Genin, killing both of them with a single sword stroke. Then he quickly flickered to the remaining two Genin one by one, killing them as well.
These four couldn't even block a single strike from Feng Zheng. Only one of the four raised a kunai to block Feng Zheng's sword, but his kunai was cut in half, just like his body.
Among the two Ninja on top of the ruins, one was a Chunin and the other was a Genin.
They were still afraid of the sword slash that destroyed the forest and also feared the rockslide. So when they saw the three children flicker, they didn't react.
When they realized what was happening, the Chunin wanted to go help his comrades. But before he could take a few steps, Feng Zheng killed two people. This made him stop in his tracks.
In the next few seconds, he watched Feng Zheng kill two more people and then look directly at him.
He quickly retreated, thinking,
"What a bunch of madmen! Are they still children? Is Konoha sending Anbu in disguise?"
He looked down at the wreckage and screamed internally,
"Where are the rest? Run away quickly!"
The Genin also retreated.
Feng Zheng stopped after killing his opponents. About half a minute later, Hodaka also killed his opponent. Soon after, Mieko's opponent stabbed himself in the throat.
Feng Zheng immediately flickered to Mieko after she finished off her opponent and said,
"Let's begin."
She nodded and performed several Hand Seals.
They simultaneously cast Fire and Wind Dragon Technique.
Feng Zheng and Mieko could both see the Ninja's Chakra emerging from the ruins. A fifty-meter-long giant dragon, mostly composed of extremely hot air, with four claws and many teeth made of fire.
Seeing the giant dragon, the two sped up and ran towards the direction of the third wave of people.
The giant dragon moved quickly and arrived above the ruins. Then it plunged into the spot where six Ninja were climbing up. They were about to move the last piece of wood blocking their way when the giant dragon swooped down on them.
Fortunately, there was a beginner Sensor Ninja among them, and he shouted,
"Cast defensive Water Release Ninjutsu above us! Quickly!"
Fortunately, there was a Chunin in this group whose natural affinity was Water Release. He quickly made Hand Seals and performed Water Release: Water Shield Technique.
A water barrier appeared above him. Its surface curved like a sphere, it was over ten centimeters thick, and it grew thicker as he infused more Chakra into it.
When the giant dragon was ten meters above the group, it opened its gaping maw and fired a Feng Bao Qiu (Wind Burst Ball) composed of extremely hot air.
The Feng Bao Qiu (Wind Burst Ball) hit the barrier and exploded. The water barrier protected the group from the blast, but it was also dispersed as a result.
The next second, the giant dragon crashed into them, exploding in flames that quickly spread with the help of the wind.
The Ninja saw the giant dragon coming towards them and tried to scatter. Unfortunately, the ruins around them blocked their escape routes.
They all took direct hits. The surrounding fallen trees also caught fire. The fire began to spread rapidly. With no escape routes, they jumped into the hole created by the giant dragon.
Seeing this, Feng Zheng sighed inwardly, even though the attack had successfully hit its target.
"It's a pity the Wind Dragon doesn't have the intelligence of a Wind Clone. If it did, this Ninjutsu would become incredibly powerful."
All six Ninja successfully jumped out of the ruins and escaped the fire.
The Chunin with Water Release affinity made Hand Seals, formed a water barrier around himself, and then brought the water barrier down on himself to extinguish the fire. Then he began spraying water at the other five, starting with the Sensor Ninja.
He successfully extinguished the flames on them. He and the Sensor Ninja both had first-degree burns. Two of them had second-degree burns. The last two were unconscious and in very bad condition. They needed immediate treatment.
Just then, the remaining two Ninja who were buried under the ruins finally escaped.
All the Ninja from the second wave finally regrouped.
Meanwhile, the third wave of bandits arrived at the edge of the forest, at the ruins.
Seeing this, Feng Zheng, Hodaka, and Mieko did not advance but waited there.
Renjiro had by this time cleared the hillside and slowed the rockslide with a mud river, allowing the rocks to fall slowly to the ground.
He flickered to the back of the squad, while his Shadow Clone watched over the merchants.
The ruins blocked the bandits. They could no longer advance. However, the Ninja had a bad feeling.
Kairan Tomio led the Ninja to the top of the ruins, where he regrouped with the remaining Ninja.
He saw the scene before him and exclaimed in shock,
"Only eight of the hundred attackers are left? Half of them are already injured. It hasn't even been a few minutes since the first wave attacked!"
Then his gaze drifted to the mountain on the other side of the clearing.
"Even the fifty people who attacked from the mountain are gone! Where did that useless Tamaochi Norio go? And why does it look like there was a landslide there?"
He quickly questioned an uninjured Chunin.
"What happened here? Speak quickly! Also, where are Tamaochi Norio and the others?"
As he asked, his full attention was on Senju Renjiro.
Due to the small numbers, he had no confidence in fighting him. The other nine Ninja accompanying him were also on high alert.
The Chunin, the same one who had retreated earlier, was startled by Kairan Tomio but quickly began to explain to him.
On Renjiro Squad's side, as the Ninja of the third wave began to regroup with the Ninja of the second wave, Feng Zheng said,
"The Ninja of the third wave should be very confused. We can take this opportunity to attack quickly. Does Sensei have any suggestions?"
He asked, thinking,
"If it's just defense, the best way is to completely burn down this forest. The fire can act as a wall. Then Renjiro can hunt them down."
"But if we want to completely eliminate them, then the fire will become an obstacle for us, and it will take more effort to eliminate them all."
Renjiro nodded and said,
"My Shadow Clone will take care of the merchants, so let's just attack head-on. I'll deal with that Jonin directly and take him out. You guys hold back the rest. I'll create another Shadow Clone to watch over you."
Saying that, Renjiro made the Hand Seals for the Shadow Clone Technique again, creating another Shadow Clone, and said,
"Let's go."
The five of them used Body Flicker Technique together and departed.