Chapter 92: The Ninja World Version of the Battle of Yique

The Fourth Raikage was extremely agitated; he felt that he had finally seized the opportunity.

An excellent tactical opportunity to annihilate the main force of the Konoha Ninja!

The terrain of Thunder Canyon is perilous; with over three thousand Konoha Ninja entering the canyon, it would be impossible to pass through with supplies in less than a day.

Once the pursuit force catches up, they will be trapped in a dilemma of either abandoning their supplies or continuing forward.

The Fourth Raikage believes that he will lead the joint force to block both ends of the canyon and wipe out the Konoha Ninja who destroyed Kumogakure.

Even if he cannot kill Orochimaru, he must tear Orochimaru's body apart with his own hands.

Again and again!

Until Orochimaru is so afraid that he flees in terror.

At this moment, the Fourth Raikage, after a series of failures, has had his judgment clouded by anger and exhaustion.

He does not suspect the possibility of a trap at all; he only wants to kill Konoha Ninja as quickly as possible, to kill even more Konoha Ninja.

In fact, the Konoha Ninja were not carrying heavy baggage at all; their food, weapons, medicine, tents, and other supplies had been transported over a day in advance.

Thunder Canyon is the battlefield prepared by Yamanaka Chujiu; it is the burial ground he selected for Kumogakure and the Moon Ninja.

The terrain here is extremely similar to Yique Pass, southwest of Luoyang in his previous life.

The narrow passage can limit the enemy's numerical advantage, the towering cliffs can provide cover for the Konoha Ninja to flank from behind, and the river in the valley can sever the enemy's connection between their front and rear.

The famous general of the Warring States period, Bai Qi, used one hundred thousand men in the Battle of Yique to completely annihilate the approximately two hundred and forty thousand men of the Han-Wei allied forces.

When Yamanaka Chujiu saw Thunder Canyon, his mind instantly drew upon the tactics of the Battle of Yique to formulate a plan to defeat a larger force with a smaller one and annihilate the joint force of Kumogakure and the Moon Ninja.

There was no help for it; the situation was simply too similar.

The Cloud Ninja are like the Wei army in the Battle of Yique—numerous and powerful, yet impetuous in mindset, looking down upon the Moon Ninja who are being driven by them.

The Moon Ninja are like the Han army—fewer in number and weaker in strength; although they have a grudge against Konoha, they also have many conflicts with the Cloud Ninja.

And the Konoha Ninja led by Yamanaka Chujiu are like the Qin army—though fewer in number, their combat power is extremely formidable, and their obedience is exceptionally high.

With so many similar conditions, would he not be a fool if he did not borrow the tactics of the Battle of Yique?

While the Fourth Raikage was struggling on his journey, the first wave of pursuers arrived.

The Third Pursuit Force, composed purely of three thousand Cloud Ninja, and the Fourth Joint Pursuit Force, composed of one thousand Cloud Ninja and two thousand Moon Ninja, arrived at Thunder Canyon almost simultaneously.

By this time, the Konoha Ninja had already passed through completely and turned back to establish a defensive line.

Yamanaka Chujiu had already made all the preparations.

Leading the main force of Konoha Ninja, he had already departed in advance, entering the high mountains and steep ridges to detour toward the entrance of Thunder Canyon.

Orochimaru took over the newly established defensive line, as well as three decoy units, totaling one thousand Konoha Ninja.

They would be responsible for confronting the enemy head-on and pinning down the enemy's forces, making the enemy mistakenly believe that what stood before them was the main force of the Konoha Ninja.

Orochimaru laughed, "Oh hehehe": "The terrain here is truly good; whether it is one thousand people or four thousand, it is all useless."

"Even if ten thousand ninja are concentrated, only three hundred to five hundred of them can participate in the front-line battle."

Another Konoha Ninja added: "Only five hundred ninja can be deployed; if it were clumsy samurai, two hundred wouldn't even be able to squeeze in."

The Konoha Ninja all understood their mission: they did not need to eliminate the enemy, only to drag things out until Yamanaka Chujiu could flank the enemy's rear.

Not long after, the Cloud Ninja launched their attack.

"Konoha scum, your doomsday has arrived!"

The Cloud Ninja roared and launched their charge.

Lightning Release chakra fluctuations erupted from their bodies, transforming into streaks of Ninjutsu, condensing Lightning Blades, Lightning Balls, Lightning Storms, and Lightning Arcs that smashed toward the Konoha Ninja's defensive line like raindrops.

Seeing this, a cold sneer curled the corner of Orochimaru's mouth.

Without even needing his order, the Konoha Ninja immediately took action.

Powerful chakra fluctuations erupted, and the Konoha Ninja released targeted Wind Style Ninjutsu.

Wind Blades against Lightning Blades, Wind Balls against Lightning Balls, Wind Storms against Lightning Storms, and Wind Pillars to disperse the Lightning Arcs.

Because Wind Style suppresses Lightning Style in terms of elemental attributes, the Konoha Ninja annihilated all of the enemy's Lightning Release Ninjutsu with less chakra.

Immediately following this, the Konoha Ninja's Fire Release, Water Style, Earth Style, and Lightning Release series of Ninjutsu struck back fiercely at the heads of the Cloud Ninja.

Deafening explosions rang out, gravel splashed in the canyon, and fire soared into the sky.

The Cloud Ninja suffered heavy casualties and could not reach the front of the Konoha Ninja at all.

The Moon Ninja had originally been hiding behind the Cloud Ninja, wanting to take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

But since the Cloud Ninja could not charge up, the poisoned short blades in their hands were useless, and they could only accompany the Cloud Ninja in enduring the bombardment of Ninjutsu.

The intense exchange of Ninjutsu between the two sides could not stop the advances of the Elite Jonin and Shadow-level Ninja.

Orochimaru aggressively displayed his powerful strength, blocking dozens of Cloud Ninja single-handedly, not giving them any chance to interfere with the Konoha Ninja.

The terrain here was too disadvantageous for the attackers; the more anxious they were to attack, the easier it was to suffer huge losses.

Conversely, if they were not anxious to attack and advanced steadily, they would not suffer such a disadvantage even while attacking.

Soon, the Cloud Ninja adjusted their tactics.

They replaced all the attacking ninja with Cloud Ninja, patiently exchanging Ninjutsu with the Konoha Ninja, and pushing forward inch by inch.

As for the Moon Ninja, who were not skilled in Ninjutsu, they were driven by the Cloud Ninja to the entrance of the canyon to serve as reserves and sentries.

The Moon Ninja were even more resentful about this, complaining incessantly about the Cloud Ninja, and were hardly willing to keep watch attentively.

The Konoha Ninja and Cloud Ninja rotated six times, and after four hours of fierce fighting, the Konoha Ninja's chakra began to fail to keep up with the consumption, forcing them to accelerate their retreat.

The Cloud Ninja's morale was greatly boosted, and the intensity of their Ninjutsu attacks reached a new level, causing the Konoha Ninja's casualties to increase sharply.

It was at this very moment that the three thousand Konoha Ninja led by Yamanaka Chujiu successfully detoured to the direction of the entrance to Thunder Canyon.

Yamanaka Chujiu grasped the battle situation within the canyon, confirming that the Cloud Ninja were attacking with all their might and exchanging Ninjutsu with Orochimaru's decoy units.

The Moon Ninja had been expelled to the rear of the battle line, not even qualified to watch the fighting on the front lines.

The Moon Ninja were all full of complaints and deep resentment, and their formation was loose—they were the perfect target for a surprise attack.

Yamanaka Chujiu did not hesitate and directly gave the order: "Attack! Rout the Moon Ninja!"

Three thousand Konoha Ninja heard the order and immediately leaped down from the mountain like fierce tigers, launching a fierce assault on the unprepared Moon Ninja.

When the Konoha Ninja charged over, the Moon Ninja were all completely stunned.

They had not even figured out if the other side were enemies before their throats were precisely pierced by Kunai and their formations were thrown into chaos.

The Moon Ninja were already weaker in strength, and having been caught off guard and had their formations thrown into chaos, they could no longer withstand the fierce assault of the Konoha Ninja, and for a time, the screams of the dying echoed throughout the canyon.