Just as the Iwa jōnin was screaming in pain, another fireball appeared in front of him like a ghostly shadow, about to take his life.
The jōnin beside him instantly dashed forward and struck the fireball with the kunai in his hand. The fireball itself wasn't very large—only about the size of a palm—so blocking it with a kunai was just right.
"Bang!"
The fireball was extinguished by the strike. The kunai hidden inside flew out and landed on the ground nearby, radiating intense heat.
But he had only blocked one fireball.
More fireballs kept coming, endlessly, from the distance.
They were like scythes wielded by the Grim Reaper, relentlessly harvesting lives inside the trench.
Genin had absolutely no chance of dodging—one after another, they fell beneath the fireballs.
Chūnin fared only slightly better. Out of ten, at least seven would still die.
Only jōnin could barely manage to block or evade in time.
But that was only if they were in perfect condition.
Those jōnin who had already retreated from the front lines with heavy injuries had no strength left to dodge or block at all. They could only be taken away by the fireballs.
The Iwa commander's face twisted with rage, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Damn it!! Where is this attack coming from?! Find it!!! Everyone, stop the offensive!! Find the source of the attack!!!"
With his furious roar, the Iwa ninja's advance slowed down.
The smoke and chaos of the battlefield thinned slightly.
Originally, this trench had been dug outside the effective range of Konoha's ninjutsu. Neither side could easily hit the other from trench to trench.
But now—
This place was no longer safe.
If they couldn't stop this kind of attack, they would be completely overwhelmed.
As the fighting at the front eased, it became easier to see Konoha's trench in the distance.
Even then, the fireballs didn't stop—they continued harvesting Iwa lives.
At last, they clearly saw where the fireballs were coming from.
"Behind them! Behind Konoha's trench—there's a watchtower! The attacks are coming from there!!!"
An Iwa ninja with sharp eyesight spotted the fireballs being launched from the tower. Even though their speed was terrifying, faint trajectories could still be traced.
The moment he shouted—
"Bang!"
A fireball pierced straight through his head.
His body, missing half its skull, collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
From afar, Hyuga Arin muttered,
"Daring to get that close—if I don't kill you, who should I kill?"
He was completely focused on harvesting kills and hadn't noticed that Iwa's offensive had slowed—or that his position had been exposed.
Inside the Iwa trench—
Although the scout had died, the information about the watchtower had already spread. A jōnin quickly reported to the commander.
"Sir, the enemy is positioned far behind Konoha's trench. We can't reach them at all."
"How is he even doing this…?" The commander frowned deeply.
What kind of jutsu could reach that far? He had never heard of Konoha possessing such a capability.
Throwing attacks that far should be impossible…
Then again, Tsunade could probably throw something that far and still make it lethal—but how could she be that accurate?
And that position was behind Konoha's trench. They couldn't even break through Konoha's defenses, so how were they supposed to attack that tower?
"Retreat!!" the Iwa commander said through gritted teeth.
They couldn't break through Konoha's line, and staying here would only let that sniper keep harvesting their lives.
In fact, that single person had already killed more of them than those who had died charging the front.
Ninja were highly mobile combat units. Even rushing through intense bombardment, they didn't die easily.
Over many days of attacking, they had only lost a dozen or so people.
Yet in just this short time, that sniper had already taken more than ten lives.
They had no other choice.
Retreat was the only option.
The commander clenched his teeth, eyes bloodshot, staring in the direction of the watchtower.
If they didn't deal with this ultra-long-range attacker, their offensive was doomed to fail.
The Iwa ninja retreated.
Driven off by Hyuga Arin's threat.
If they stayed, casualties would only rise with no gains to show for it.
Inside Konoha's trench, cheers erupted.
This was the first time they had ever forced Iwagakure to retreat.
The Sarutobi clan commander finally let out a breath of relief. Iwa's assaults hadn't stopped for days, and neither had his work.
He turned his gaze toward the distant watchtower.
He knew this was all thanks to the ANBU ninja codenamed Player.
Being able to strike the trench from that position—
Even if he and the Iwa commander swapped roles, he wouldn't have had any good solution.
Meanwhile, inside the watchtower, Hyuga Arin was still trying to snipe the retreating Iwa ninja.
This time, they were prepared. He only managed to harvest seven or eight more before they fully withdrew.
At that distance, continuing the attack would significantly reduce its effectiveness.
He glanced at the notifications scrolling before his eyes.
[Experience: 58,153]
This was the total experience he had farmed here:
3 jōnin9 chūninOver 20 genin
"Why'd they leave?" Arin muttered. "At least let me hit a hundred thousand first."
Still, he could only reliably farm chūnin and genin.
The three jōnin had all been heavily injured—easy targets.
Against healthy jōnin, his ultra-long-range attacks had almost no effect.
"Jōnin Player, you can come down and rest now."
Someone called up to him from below the tower.
Arin curled his lips.
"They're calling me jōnin already, and that old man Sarutobi still won't even promote me to chūnin."
What a complete reversal of logic.
He leapt down lightly from the tower.
Standing before him was a small Inuzuka girl with a ponytail.
"Jōnin Player…" the Inuzuka girl said, her face slightly red.
Arin's face, however, showed clear disdain.
Why is it always these little brats who like me?!
He doesn't like lolis—
He likes onee-sans!
Nearby, a group of Konoha ninja were celebrating. Somehow, they'd even gotten hold of game to roast.
Only one group stood out as completely out of place—
The Root members, sitting silently in the shadows.
Night had already fallen, and their corner seemed even darker.
Arin bit into a sandwich, gazing enviously at the barbecue in the distance.
"Are they not afraid of Iwa launching a surprise attack?" he asked.
Beside him, Crow stuffed a soldier pill into his mouth. He couldn't help wondering where Arin even pulled that sandwich from.
"If you look carefully," Crow said calmly, "you'll notice they haven't lowered their guard at all. If Iwa comes within range, they'll enter combat immediately."
Arin smacked his lips.
"These Iwa guys are really slacking. How can they let Konoha eat this well?"
He stood up and walked toward the rear of the trench.
"Where are you going?" Crow asked in a low voice.
"To experiment with ninjutsu," Arin waved his hand dismissively.
He wanted to find a method that could reliably kill jōnin.
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