"All civilians, please remain inside the shelters and do not go out for now!"
Pakura shouted loudly. Then she began issuing orders one after another in a calm and orderly manner, "Quickly count the casualties… The rest, treat the wounded immediately. All genin withdraw from this area at once and stay on guard in case Konoha makes a sudden return attack!"
At the same time, she did not forget to remind everyone, "Everyone must prepare ropes, capture nets, and similar tools. The barrier team must also bring sealing tools…"
The crowd first looked at Pakura, then shifted their gaze to Rasa beside her.
With the two standing there for comparison, the gap between them was painfully obvious.
Rasa was supposed to be the leader, yet his performance in this battle had been deeply disappointing. Naturally, his prestige had fallen sharply as well.
However, Rasa seemed not to care about any of this. After all, he knew very well that he was about to step down from the position of Kazekage. As long as he could stay alive, nothing else really mattered.
But deep down, he clearly understood that Namikaze Minato's retreat this time was only temporary. A greater crisis was likely still ahead.
Once they finished resting and regrouping, they would definitely come back again.
At that moment, Rasa felt a chill in his heart. He suddenly realized that Sunagakure might not be able to stand against them at all.
Even worse, if this continued, the village might simply be dragged down and worn away bit by bit.
"In this battle, our total death toll is one hundred and thirty-seven."
Rasa's gaze instinctively turned toward the ninja who had just gone to count the casualties.
The man stood there with a grave expression, reporting the shocking number to Pakura.
From the moment Minato launched his attack until now, not much time had passed at all. In just a few short minutes, more than a hundred lives had already been lost.
And what about the other side? Without question, their casualties were zero. Simply because they could freely squander their massive reserves of chakra.
Once they felt tired, they would immediately use the Flying Thunder God Technique to retreat far away.
There was no doubt that once their energy recovered and they regrouped, they would charge back again with full force.
"Kazekage-sama, what should we do now?"
Around Rasa, a number of ninja still belonging to his faction remained gathered, surrounding him in a tight circle.
They asked anxiously in unison, hoping the Kazekage could come up with a plan to turn the situation around.
Rasa slowly looked around, only to discover in shock that the elders had already slipped away amid the chaos.
He ground his teeth inwardly, but still took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the unease surging in his chest, and said in a low voice:
"For now, strengthen the guard. Set up all the poison traps we've prepared, then fight them again!"
At this point, Rasa was like a man riding a tiger and unable to get off. Things had come this far. The only thing he could do was gamble everything and try once more to find a slim chance of survival.
But the surrounding Sunagakure ninja exchanged glances, muttering inwardly whether Rasa had really run out of ideas.
As everyone knew, ["You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days."]
If they carefully set up all the traps and Konoha never took the bait, would that not be a complete waste?
Even worse, what if the enemy did not attack from this direction at all. Just as the saying goes, what you fear is exactly what happens. While they were still hurriedly deploying defenses, shocking news suddenly came from the barrier team.
Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Shisui had circled through the sky to the north side of Sunagakure and were bombarding the buildings on the ground.
From afar came repeated thunderous booms.
Although they were still some distance away from the scene, the massive explosions could still be faintly heard.
In an instant, the entire village fell into panic.
Facing such an urgent situation, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Rasa had no choice but to grit his teeth and lead a group of Sunagakure ninja rushing toward the north.
After struggling all the way there, the sight before them left everyone stunned.
The once-standing part of the village was now riddled with devastation, ruins everywhere.
And the one who had caused all this disaster, Namikaze Minato, was standing quietly in the middle of the wreckage.
Namikaze Minato gave Rasa a cold smile without any expression on his face. Then, without hesitation, he used his signature technique, the Flying Thunder God Technique. In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace.
The Sunagakure ninja, exhausted and panting as they had finally rushed to the scene, stared blankly in the direction Minato had disappeared.
Their faces were filled with anger and helplessness.
Although this attack had not caused many casualties in the village,
The collapse of a large number of buildings still dealt a heavy blow to Sunagakure's morale.
Back at the area that had just experienced battle, Pakura felt a surge of panic and confusion after hearing the news.
Even though she had handled things properly just now, facing such a strange and unpredictable style of fighting, hit and run, making it impossible to predict where they would strike next. How was this battle supposed to continue?
For a moment, Pakura felt completely at a loss. Left with no other choice, she turned to the Sunagakure ninja beside her and ordered:
"Go and consult Elder Ebizo. Ask him to decide our next course of action!"
———
Meanwhile, not far from Sunagakure, a sand wall ruin stood quietly.
Many years ago, a large complex of buildings once stood there. As for their exact purpose and historical background, it was now difficult to verify.
The only thing certain was that they had existed long before Sunagakure was established.
Now, that once-glorious complex was reduced to broken walls and ruins, becoming a symbolic landmark.
At this moment, a group from Konoha was hiding within these ruins, resting.
Before this, they had already successfully launched two attacks against Sunagakure.
After a short pause, they were planning their third strike.
It had to be said, this tactic jokingly called "Returning Home Minato" was truly shameless.
Although the members participating in this operation were all powerful fighters, aside from Namikaze Minato, who possessed the Nine-Tails, the others' chakra reserves were limited after all.
Without Minato's elusive Flying Thunder God Technique as support, relying only on the strength of the other team members, even if each of them had unique skills, if Sunagakure were willing to mobilize large numbers at any cost to surround and attack them, Konoha would likely still fall into danger or even be wiped out.
However, as long as Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique existed, the situation was completely different.
During battle, if their chakra or ninja tools were overly consumed, Minato and the others could withdraw from the battlefield without hesitation.
As for when and where to launch the next attack, that was entirely under their control.
The feeling of holding the initiative of battle firmly in their hands was simply beyond words.
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