Chapter 213: Growth

At this point, the Uchiha clan members had basically cleared the remaining enemies on the ground, and they were not simply waiting for the Rock Ninja to launch an attack.

Instead, Yuzhibo Zhe began to use the Earth Release ninjutsu Earth Core, starting another round of their offensive.

These were originally their prearranged plan: after the first round of explosive tag bombardment, Dong Shilang would use a wide-range Genjutsu to suppress the Rock Ninja, helping them clear the remaining enemies inside the stronghold.

Next, this was done by Yuzhibo Zhe, whose second attribute was Earth, forcing those Rock Ninja hiding underground to come out.

This was also Dong Shilang's consistent style: once he seized the initiative, he would launch a continuous offensive, giving the enemy no chance to catch their breath.

As Zhe's ninjutsu was executed, patches of flat ground began to rise under chakra's control, thereby revealing the forms of the Rock Ninja hiding underground.

They suffered attacks from all directions!

"We can't wait any longer! Launch the attack directly!"

The Jonin hiding in the earth mound originally wanted to wait a bit longer, gather more intel on the enemy, and let his companions prepare more thoroughly.

Just moments ago, they were ambushed in haste, and many of them were now completely unarmed.

But the harsh reality forced him to launch an attack prematurely. Since the enemy had trapped them all together with a barrier technique, it was clear they had no intention of letting any of them go~

"Earth Release: Landslide!"

Although he was launching an attack, he did not intend to make direct large‑area contact with the enemy. Instead, he used a ninjutsu that could raise part of the land to separate the battlefield and alter the terrain.

"Earth Release: Yellow Spring Marsh!"

With a ninja's mobility, merely raising some wall‑like obstacles could not possibly stop a ninja's footsteps.

After using the Landslide, he also employed the Yellow Spring Marsh ninjutsu, making those obstacles that had risen high from the flat ground difficult to step on.

This then led the Rock Ninja to pick a group of opponents and go after them.

This is also the Rock Ninja's usual tactic!

In conflicts above the squad level, they use Landslide to create numerous maze‑like obstacles, splitting the enemy apart; then, leveraging the terrain, they gain a ninjutsu advantage and eliminate the opponents one by one.

"Attack!"

Seeing these few people, who had already gained a preliminary terrain advantage, the surviving Rock Ninja had no hesitation and surged out of the ground one after another.

They split into two groups and began the attack!

The reason they split into two groups is that one of the teams needed, under the guidance of a sensory ninja, to search for the genjutsu ninja whose true location was still unknown.

If they did not deal with the enemy, their side would really not be able to rest easy. Even though they had gathered together and could mutually dispel the genjutsu,

they would still be wary of the enemy's genjutsu ability.

"Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Pellet!"

Once their forms appeared, these Rock Ninja displayed their ferocious side. A short, stout Rock Ninja Jonin used his own chakra to create a massive elliptical boulder nearly thirty meters in diameter and hurled it at the target they had selected.

And the target they chose for this first wave of attack was Yuzhibo Zhe, who had just used the Earth Core.

To these Rock Ninja, an enemy capable of dragging them from underground to the surface was the one they most needed to eliminate.

Facing that enormous rock hurtling forward with a crushing, tumultuous force, Yuzhibo Zhe did not choose to dodge.

At that moment, two juniors were beside him; if he dodged, those two would have no good outcome.

"Earth Release: Earth Return!"

"Earth Release: Yellow Spring Marsh!"

Mobilizing his own chakra, Yuzhibo Zhe had already executed two high‑level Earth Release ninjutsu in less than two seconds.

Using Earth Return, he blocked the attacks that arrived before the Earth Mausoleum Pellet could, and also obscured the Rock Ninja's vision. Those Rock Ninja who had revealed themselves would not attack one by one; they preferred to rush in all at once.

Furthermore, by using the Yellow Spring Marsh ninjutsu, he simultaneously blocked the Earth Mausoleum Pellet and created a swamp before him, causing that tremendous boulder to sink into the mire.

This interrupted the Rock Ninja's follow‑up attack while buying him some time for his companions to come to his aid.

"Watch your step!"

Even so, he did not relax at all; after warning his companions, he took the lead and jumped onto the earth wall he had created with Earth Return.

Meanwhile, the spot where he had just been standing was now covered with rows of stone spikes bursting out of the ground.

This was Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear!

When the enemy had just executed that ninjutsu, they had expended a considerable amount of chakra, and almost everywhere behind them was now filled with these spikes.

If he had not discovered this fact in advance via the Sharingan, and decisively brought his companions to jump onto the foothold he had created, they might by now have been skewered like kebabs.

Fortunately, the Earth Mausoleum Pellet that had just come straight at them had not yet fully sunk into the Yellow Spring Marsh; it could serve as an obstacle for them. Otherwise, randomly jumping to a high place while still facing the Rock Ninja would be no different from seeking death.

As that massive obstacle slowly sank, Yuzhibo Zhe hesitated not at all and immediately formed the seal again.

"Fire Release: Balsam Flower Fire Technique!"

He spat out soccer‑ball‑sized fireballs, which flew toward the Rock Ninja exposed in his Sharingan's vision.

It wasn't that he couldn't use higher‑level Fire Release ninjutsu; it was that, having just consecutively executed two high‑level Earth Release techniques, he needed to ease up a bit.

Otherwise, his meridian system couldn't withstand it!

Furthermore~

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Two fireballs six or seven meters in diameter, blazing with scorching light and heat, flew toward the opposite side.

Besides, weren't there still those two clansmen by his side? Although they had not awakened the Sharingan and could not detect the hidden Rock Ninja, with his guidance they could now also threaten those Rock Ninja with the ninjutsu he was using.

Although the ninjutsu's power was limited, it was still enough to leave those Rock Ninja scrambling for a while!

Even so, Yuzhibo Zhe's offensive did not stop; instead, he backhandedly drew several kunai from his ninja tool pouch and threw them at the Rock Ninja whose positions had been exposed.

Moreover, several of those kunai had explosive tags tied to their ends—precisely the ones he had kept as spares for this mission.