Kazekage Ninja: The Rise of the Hidden Sand-Chapter 158 - 53: Desert Campaign (3)

"Listen up, samurai in the relay station! You are surrounded. Surrender your swords now while you still can. Our Black Wind Stronghold's boss is merciful and won't harm your lives. If you resist stubbornly, death is your only path!"

Azhao, the third-in-command of the Black Wind Stronghold, was shouting arrogantly outside the relay station through an iron megaphone.

"Ah!"

A young samurai, unable to tolerate such insult, drew his sword and rushed to fight. However, as soon as he reached the doorway, he was engulfed by countless kunai and shuriken. The samurai blocked the attacks with his sword for a while, but he couldn't withstand the rain of weapons. Soon his body was filled with projectiles, and he collapsed with a thunderous thud.

"Hehe, didn't I say? First surrender your swords, then yield. You got the order wrong, and this is the consequence! Anyone else who doesn't follow instructions, feel free to come out!"

Eerie laughter from the desert bandits echoed at the entrance.

"Lord Senku, let's break through at all costs. Otherwise, staying here will lead to our death eventually!"

The samurai pleaded with Senku Hyoe.

Senku Hyoe gripped his sword tightly, his face no longer showing the previous arrogance, replaced instead by absolute coldness.

Break through? The enemy would love nothing more than that. Senku was certain that if the remaining thousand samurai charged out, the enemy wouldn't even try to stop them, only follow from a distance.

They would wait for the desert's dryness to evaporate all the blood and moisture from his men before coming to deliver the final blow.

Now he recalled two sentences Hidan had said:

"I think the number of men you brought is a bit too few."

"These desert bandits aren't all just a disorganized mob."

Thinking about it now, those were truly words of wisdom.

Currently, he was truly facing the consequences of his arrogance. He had boasted to Hidan about resolving the battle in ten days, but now whether they could even survive ten days was uncertain.

That day, Senku Hyoe didn't foolishly choose to duel Kawashima Tsumi one-on-one because he knew the greatest enemy wasn't the three thousand desert bandits before him, but time.

If he couldn't quickly defeat the bandits and occupy the Black Wind Stronghold, his two thousand samurai would again face water shortage. At Biancheng Relay Station, he had left two hundred samurai specifically to guard the remaining twenty-plus water carts, and that water would last at most ten to fifteen days.

However, he had absolute confidence in his samurai's fighting capability and believed they could wipe out these bandits within ten days.

But he soon discovered that these desert bandits weren't as weak as imagined. The bandits at the front line, though in tattered clothes, executed each move with standard samurai techniques. Their swordsmanship was no less skilled than his own men. Moreover, people from the bandits' rear continuously launched ninja techniques against his formation, causing his samurai to fall one after another.

Desert bandits with so many samurai and ninja? Where did they come from?

The bandits cleverly arranged the chevaux-de-frise at the gate into an inverted figure-eight formation, preventing his two thousand samurai from fully deploying. Only one-fifth of his forces could actually engage the enemy. Nevertheless, he believed that as long as they held their position momentarily, these fragile wooden obstacles wouldn't significantly hinder the samurai's advance.

But he had no time to ponder these issues now, as he was already engaged with the bandit leader Kawashima Tsumi.

"Iaido Slash!"

"Iaido Slash!"

Two sharp blade energies collided in the air, producing the metallic sound of clashing steel.

He knew this bandit leader was formidable, but Senku Hyoe had some understanding of his techniques. After repeated mental simulations, he knew that as long as he kept his eyes on the short sword, he wouldn't fear any variations.

After a probing strike, Senku Hyoe stared intently at his opponent, waiting for Kawashima Tsumi's next move.

Kawashima Tsumi smiled eerily, suddenly holding his sword in reverse grip, then twisted his body and unexpectedly threw his long sword like a javelin toward Senku.

What kind of technique is this?

"Clang!"

Senku Hyoe calmly deflected the flying sword with his own blade.

"Earth Release: Underworld Swamp!"

While throwing his sword, Kawashima Tsumi quickly formed hand seals and struck the ground with his palm, casting an Earth Release technique that created a well-sized swamp beneath Senku Hyoe's feet. Senku's attention was entirely on the "flying sword," leaving him unaware of what was happening below. Instantly, he was submerged up to his knees.

This is bad! How could I forget? The Sunagakure ninja warned me that this guy is proficient in Earth Release techniques!

When samurai fight against ninja, the most effective approach is to launch a swift attack with extreme sword speed, preventing ninja from having the opportunity to form hand seals.

But this opponent before him was skilled in both ninja techniques and swordsmanship, with diverse attack methods. One moment of carelessness, and Senku had fallen into his trap.

"Rock-Shattering Slash!"

Senku Hyoe, with perfect unity of waist and stance, delivered a powerful slash at the ground before him.

The sharp, surging blade energy acted like a giant plow, devastatingly cutting a large, deep crack in the earth that rapidly extended forward. Even Kawashima Tsumi didn't dare to receive it head-on and had to dodge.

The swamp's mud instantly flowed into the crack. Senku Hyoe performed a split to grip the solid ground, freeing himself and leaping out of the swamp's range with a single bound.

"Iaido Lion Slash!"

A surging blade energy like a raging lion pounced toward Kawashima Tsumi.

"Earth Release: Triple Earth Flow Wall."

Having lost his long weapon, Kawashima Tsumi had begun forming hand seals rapidly as soon as Senku Hyoe freed himself. Just as the blade energy was about to reach him, he erected three earth walls in front of himself.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The three earth walls shattered in succession.

Behind the walls, Kawashima Tsumi blocked the final attack with his short sword, but his left arm still bore a clearly visible wound.

"As expected of the Land of Wind's renowned first-class samurai, your strength is indeed formidable. This technique is much stronger than your brother's, hehe. But, look over there..."

Kawashima Tsumi pointed toward the direction of Biancheng Relay Station.

Senku Hyoe glanced sideways and was immediately horrified.

At some point, a column of black smoke had risen from there.

"Don't doubt it. I sent three hundred ninja to attack Biancheng Relay Station. Hehe, why would I leave a fortress that facilitates attacks so close to my lair? You should think about it. And you call yourself a samurai leader, haha!"

Senku Hyoe's face turned pale. He knew he couldn't take the Black Wind Stronghold for now, and with his rear under attack, the annihilation of his two-thousand-man force was imminent.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

Senku Hyoe frantically waved his sword, commanding his troops to withdraw, hoping the water carts and water skins hadn't been completely destroyed.

Kawashima Tsumi laughed loudly.

"Men, pursue them! Only kill those who are isolated."

...

In this battle, the Land of Wind samurai lost over four hundred men, most dying during the retreat from the bandits' pursuit.

When Senku Hyoe returned to Biancheng Relay Station, he found that all two hundred samurai left to guard had been killed, and all the water carts destroyed. The rolling black smoke came from the bandits burning the samurai corpses piled in the courtyard.

Senku Hyoe was so angry he nearly bit his teeth to pieces, but he discovered that the small Biancheng Relay Station was now surrounded by bandits.

Fortunately, following Hidan's suggestion the day before, Senku Hyoe had distributed water to the samurai's water skins one last time. The bandits, busy with killing and destroying water carts, hadn't damaged these scattered water skins.

Unfortunately, how many days could these water skins last?

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