Though they couldn't see what was happening on the mist-covered sea, the roaring waves and the shaking ground made it easy to guess what the Mist Village was up to.
"Earth-Style: Multiple Mud Wall!"
Unlike the nurous Leaf Village shinobi whose expressions had changed drastically, Orochimaru remained calm, a faint smile even gracing his lips as he issued his command without hurry.
Fighting against a village like Mist, Orochimaru had already prepared for the possibility of them using combined jutsu for attacks.
After all, they were near the sea; it was the Mist shinobi's ho turf.
"Lord Orochimaru commands: Multiple Mud Wall!"
The ninja who relayed the order shouted out loudly.
The Leaf Village shinobi, who had been prepared for this, stood in a row and began forming hand seals.
Jiraiya seed restless, scratching his head as he left the command post, heading to the front lines to join the defensive team in using ninjutsu to repel the enemy's attack.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
A thunderous cry echoed along the coastline. As each Leaf shinobi completed their hand seals and pressed their hands to the ground, thick earth walls rose from the sandy beach along the coast, layer after layer, offering protection.
"Everyone fall back!"
Without waiting for Orochimaru to give the order, Jiraiya led his n away quickly.
Whether or not these thick earth walls would withstand the overwhelming waves remained uncertain to all.
Based on the number of shinobi using combined ninjutsu, it was likely that they couldn't fully stop the waves and would only slow them down.
To think they could stop the massive waves with just this amount of effort was unrealistic. Even though Earth Style countered Water Style, there was still a limit.
Once that limit was surpassed, the principle of Earth overcoming Water would be shattered.
"Rumble!!!"
The roar of the waves grew louder as the Leaf shinobi continued to fall back, retreating to higher ground. As they withdrew, they used Earth Style to create a rugged terrain of rocky protrusions to reduce the strength of the incoming waves.
Whether or not the earth walls could withstand the tidal wave, no one could say for sure.
"Boom!!!"
The roaring tidal wave, like a natural disaster, crashed against the earth walls along the coastline, producing a loud noise.
Within re seconds, one earth wall after another broke under the imnse force, and the waves continued surging forward, moving inland.
"This is terrifying!"
The sight, like a natural disaster, made many of the Leaf shinobi's faces turn pale.
Orochimaru's long tongue flicked out involuntarily.
"This is indeed quite frightening. As expected of the village with the most Water Style users, such a combined jutsu would be difficult even for the Leaf to execute."
The waves destroyed everything in their path, engulfing all.
Despite the Leaf shinobi retreating, the waves kept coming.
The Mist Village's combined jutsu was far more powerful than anyone had anticipated, even surprising Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
Orochimaru was right. The Leaf had a large base of shinobi, but their elental affinities were scattered across all five elents, none predominating.
This mixed distribution allowed the Leaf to be resilient against being countered in battle.
But during large-scale battles involving combined jutsu, this diversity beca a disadvantage.
Mist Village's Water Style, Sand Village's Wind Style, Stone Village's Earth Style, and Cloud Village's Lightning Style—all the major villages had specialties. But the Leaf had a bit of everything, and none that stood out.
"Use Mud Wall again."
Natural disaster or not, if applied correctly, even that could be resisted.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
The Leaf shinobi worked swiftly. Before the waves could rush further, layers of thick mud walls were raised again, blocking the weakened waves from advancing any further.
The surging tidal wave had broken through the first layer of defense, but as it continued inland, its montum had weakened due to the uneven terrain. The second line of mud walls successfully blocked it.
The Mist's combined jutsu had been stopped.
"We did it!!!"
Seeing the waves halted, many Leaf shinobi cheered in excitent.
"Hahaha, we stopped it! We stopped the Mist's combined jutsu!"
So of the more emotional Leaf shinobi even hugged each other in tears of joy, jumping up and down. Jiraiya couldn't help but smile, seemingly affected by the mood.
Unfortunately, their joy was premature.
Just when everyone thought that the Mist's wave assault was over, transparent blue sharks erged from the water, lunging toward the shinobi near the mud walls.
Even more terrifying, these sharks multiplied quickly as they broke through the surface, their numbers becoming overwhelming.
The sudden twist caught everyone by surprise, even Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
They had assud that the tidal wave was the Mist's first wave of attack; who knew there would be sothing hidden within it?
"The Hoshigaki Clan."
Seeing figures moving within the water, Orochimaru gave a self-deprecating smile.
It seed he had let his arrogance get the better of him and had forgotten about the unique Water Style users from the Hoshigaki Clan, whose numbers were few but whose techniques were highly distinct.
Using Water Style attacks while riding on the waves to catch the Leaf shinobi off guard—this was Yagura's hidden move.
Yagura had indeed put in considerable effort to defeat Orochimaru.
"Ah!!!"
The chakra-ford sharks lunged at the unsuspecting Leaf shinobi closest to the mud walls, biting viciously.
In an instant, many Leaf shinobi were caught off guard.
Even Orochimaru hadn't anticipated this; it was even less likely that ordinary shinobi would.
They had barely begun celebrating when disaster struck.
Silhouettes jumped out of the water, charging the Leaf position as battle erupted in full.
The shark attack was rely an appetizer—it couldn't cause significant damage to the Leaf forces, especially since most shinobi weren't standing too close to the mud walls.
As for those who were too close—they could only consider themselves unlucky.
"Attack!!!"
Groups of Mist shinobi charged across the waves and into the Leaf's ranks.
The Leaf shinobi reacted swiftly, gripping their weapons and eting the oncoming assault head-on.
With the enemy already at their doorstep, there was no ti for hesitation.
"Just fight!"
One wave of Mist shinobi after another infiltrated the Leaf's lines, and the battle comnced. The fighters of both sides clashed, and Jiraiya imdiately joined the fray.
Orochimaru, however, had no intention of getting involved. He stood atop a makeshift platform, his gaze fixed on the command ship out at sea.
Onboard the ship, Yagura and Orochimaru locked eyes from a distance, neither of them showing any intent to join the fight personally.
Yagura didn't move, and neither did Orochimaru.
"Yagura, have the jinchūriki already been deployed?"
An elderly voice called out from within the ship's cabin.
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