Pakura of the Hidden Sand

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On a high cliff, the four members of ANBU Team Eleven crouched or stood along the edge, all looking toward the towering palace in the distance.

The priestess's palace was currently protected by a barrier as thin as a cicada's wing. The surrounding terracotta warrior puppets seemed unable to enter the barrier. They could only surround the palace in layer after layer.

Seeing this, Kakashi let out a long breath of relief. "It looks like the priestess's palace has not fallen yet. We still have a chance."

Guy said anxiously, "But with so many terracotta warrior puppets outside, how do we get in?"

Kakashi turned to Naoki. "Naoki, can you find a route into the palace?"

Naoki shook his head. He had already observed the area. The priestess's palace was completely surrounded on every side by terracotta warrior puppets. There was no gap and no blind spot.

Shisui said in a low voice, "It seems we can only force our way in."

Forcing their way in would obviously not be easy.

Team Eleven had already dealt with these terracotta warrior puppets more than once. Although the puppets were extremely clumsy, each one possessed tremendous strength. Once they formed ranks, fighting them head-on would be very troublesome.

While observing the surroundings, Naoki suddenly pointed at another high cliff opposite them. "Look over there."

Everyone looked and saw several figures appear on the opposite cliff. Judging from their clothing, they seemed to be Hidden Sand shinobi.

As captain, Kakashi pondered for a moment and said, "They should be reinforcements sent by the Hidden Sand. We may be able to cooperate with them and break through the terracotta warrior puppet encirclement together to enter the priestess's palace."

The enemy before them was an otherworldly demon, so in this crisis, no one objected to cooperating with the Hidden Sand. They all nodded in agreement with Kakashi's proposal.

Very soon, the two sides met.

The Hidden Sand had also sent a four-person squad to support the priestess. The shinobi leading them was named Pakura. She was a Scorch Release kekkei genkai user whose fame in the Hidden Sand was second only to the Fourth Kazekage, and her strength was extremely formidable.

Kakashi stepped forward and exchanged a few words with Pakura, quickly reaching an understanding.

At the very front of the assault would be the two captains, Kakashi and Pakura. The middle would be handled by the three Hidden Sand shinobi and Guy. Naoki and Shisui would cover the rear.

Once the deployment was set, the breakthrough operation began immediately.

Chirp.

Amid a sharp cry like birdsong, Kakashi, whose body was not tall, charged first like a spear flashing with lightning and plunged into the ranks of terracotta warrior puppets.

Boom.

With a series of crashes, terracotta warrior puppets fell one after another.

At that moment, Kakashi displayed the piercing power of Chidori to the fullest. In only an instant, bathed in lightning, he had torn through five or six layers of puppet ranks.

Pakura, following close behind, immediately formed hand signs once Kakashi began to lose momentum. She shouted, "Scorch Release: Five Rings of Fire!"

Five fireballs circled Pakura as if alive, burning the surrounding terracotta warrior puppets until they cracked apart and tearing the puppet ranks open even farther.

The three Hidden Sand shinobi in the middle of the formation used ninjutsu together.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

In an instant, two earthen walls rose from the ground, protecting the passage Kakashi and Pakura had forced open and creating a temporary safe corridor through the terracotta warrior puppet ranks.

At the very rear, Naoki said to Shisui, "Go to the middle. I can cover the rear alone."

Knowing Naoki's strength, Shisui did not waste words. He knew he was not suited to clashing head-on with these terracotta warrior puppets, so he quickened his steps and left the rear.

Naoki, now at the very back, fully activated the Tenseigan. Every attack from the terracotta warrior puppets became like dropped frames in a film before his eyes. Aside from occasionally using Rotation once or twice when he had no room to evade, the puppets' attacks posed almost no threat to him.

Through close-range exchanges, Naoki sharply discovered that the chakra inside every terracotta warrior puppet was identical. It clearly came from the same source, and that source felt evil and violent.

'If the source of this chakra is that otherworldly demon, Moryo, then...'

Thinking of that, Naoki secretly shook his head.

Chakra with such evil and violent properties was clearly unsuitable as the chakra source for an artificial Tailed Beast. Because of that, he eliminated Moryo as an option.

Although the two squads together had only eight shinobi, almost all of them were elites from their respective villages. Pakura, in particular, already belonged to the Hidden Sand's decision-making class. Because of that, the joint squad did not spend much effort before fully breaking through the terracotta warrior puppet encirclement and safely entering the palace protected by the barrier.

The moment the joint squad entered, the guards protecting the palace cheered.

With the demon descending, the priestess of the Land of Demons was the first to bear the threat. These past few days, the palace guards had not dared relax for even a moment. Now that more powerful reinforcements had arrived, those shrouded in anxiety and fear naturally cheered with joy.

Inside the shrine, the priestess sat on a cushion with worry covering her face. Beside her was a little girl just over one year old. She looked very similar to the priestess on the cushion and seemed to be her daughter.

A squad of Hidden Stone shinobi also stood nearby.

Clearly, the Hidden Stone shinobi had arrived here before Team Eleven. Each member of the squad looked arrogant, openly unruly.

The moment Naoki saw this group of Hidden Stone shinobi, anger surged through him.

They were the same Hidden Stone shinobi who had ambushed him outside Konoha while he escorted the wounded back to the village. That time had been the closest Naoki had come to death during the entire war.

If Konoha's supporting jonin had arrived even a moment later, Naoki would have died in frustration only a few miles from the village, just like the vast majority of people in the convoy.

Afterward, Naoki had deliberately asked about this powerful and audacious Hidden Stone squad and learned that they were one of the Hidden Stone's famous beheading units.

At the same time, the Hidden Stone shinobi were also examining the newly arrived reinforcements.

There was no need to mention Pakura of the Hidden Sand. During the war, she had been one of the Hidden Sand's representative figures and belonged among the most famous shinobi in the world. Because of that, the captain of the Hidden Stone beheading unit skipped over the Hidden Sand group and said mockingly to the four members of ANBU Team Eleven, "Hmph. Konoha sent a few brats here to die? Looks like Konoha really is finished."

Among Team Eleven, even the oldest members were only fourteen or fifteen. The younger Shisui was only eleven or twelve. In terms of height, they were indeed shorter than the Hidden Stone and Hidden Sand shinobi.

Naoki replied icily, "You had better be careful. You might die by accident at the hands of one of those brats."

If someone else had provoked him, Naoki might not have bothered to respond. But facing the Hidden Stone beheading unit that had nearly killed him, he failed to restrain his anger.

The Hidden Stone captain crossed his arms, his face darkening. "Brat, are you looking to die?"

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