At the commander’s tent, Nara Shikaku held a kunai in both his hands. He waved them continuously, making an airtight blockade around his body. Such a low-efficiency method could only be used for defense and consumed significant physical strength. Basically, it could not be called useful.
Huff, huff… Shikaku was already sweating profusely and his chest was rising and falling rapidly as he gasped for breath. Out of the corner of his eyes, he quickly glanced at the Leaf ninjas around him. He saw a few of them standing back-to-back.
The fire-style ninjas among them were releasing fire-style ninjutsu at the bee swarm gathered in the air. The remaining ninjas were using kunai and short blades to slash at the bees.
“Fire Style – Great Fireball Technique.” The fire-style ninjas didn’t dare to stop and released ninjutsu again and again. By this time though, perhaps, because their chakra consumption was too high, they were just producing black smoke instead of fire.
In the next moment, the dense swarm of bees rushed toward the ninjas. The remaining people were scared to death. An earth-style ninja among them quickly made a series of hand seals. “Earth Style – Mud Wall Technique.”
A semi-circular mud wall covered several people, blocking the bees’ attacks. More and more bees pounced on and gradually covered the entire mud wall. These bees weren’t ordinary. Regardless of toxicity, speed, endurance, hardness, or strength, they were multiple times stronger than ordinary bees.
There were even some species of bees that had the same ability as bugs to devour chakra. The earth-style ninja who used Mud Wall Technique could only feel that the chakra within his body was being drained rapidly. He shouted in panic, “No! My chakra is depleting too fast… I can’t hold on for much longer.”
When the other ninjas saw this, they quickly put their hands on his back and transmitted their chakra to him. But even like this, as more and more bees stuck on the mud wall, the chakra depleted faster. Anyone could see that it wouldn’t take long for the mud wall to disintegrate.
The ninjas who had lost chakra had no way to resist. When Shikaku saw this, a hint of sadness flashed through his eyes. Many Leaf ninjas had already died and only a few jonin and some chunin were left alive.
But Uchiha Tonan had not made a move yet. “Is it over…”
Roar… Just when Shikaku was in despair, an ear-deafening beast roar sounded in the distant forest and a pair of scarlet eyes lit up. This was not Sharingan but a pair of unique eyes of a certain beast whose physical restrictions had been lifted. On the top of the trees in the forest, giant birds spread their wings and roared, as they flew towards the Leaf base camp.
As these birds approached, the bees’ behavior changed as if they had encountered a nemesis. They instinctively began to fly around in the same place, seemingly unable to find a way to escape. In an instant, the pressure on the remaining Leaf ninjas was greatly reduced.
“What’s that?”
“Is it reinforcements?”
“It seems like a bird.”
“So many… does Konoha have a ninja clan that specializes in controlling birds?”
“Look! The bees are scared.”
“It seems to be a powerful ninja beast of a certain lord.”
“That is also too much.”
……
Yamanaka Inoichi saw that the bees around him seemed to be out of control, flying around helter-skelter. He looked at Shikaku with an overjoyed look and said, “Could it be that…” A hopeful smile appeared on Shikaku’s face and his dry mouth trembled lightly as he said, “It must be Tonan-sama who made a move… We are saved.”
The beasts’ roars came one after another and reverberated in the mountains for a long time, sounding like tens of thousands of war drums. Obviously, it turned a bit louder in everyone’s ears and the bees seemed to be terrified hearing it.
Some inferior bees fell to the ground. Just the beast’s roar was enough to scare them to death.
At Kikyo Mountain peak, Sasori was surprised by what was happening below. He titled his head a little and asked, “It’s strange. What happened to the bees? Do your ninja beasts have a wide-range genjutsu?”
To put it honestly, this was the first time Tonan used Super Beast Infestation. The previous Beast Infestation Secret Technique was a ninjutsu he developed using the Aburame clan’s secret technique as a reference.
And recently, he acquired a certain number of the Aburame clan’s abilities and upgraded the Beast Infestation. But that was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that the ninja beasts nurtured by this secret art could absorb their master’s chakra to improve themselves. And Tonan had senjutsu chakra.
In other words, the white pigeons absorbed a certain amount of senjutsu chakra every day to improve themselves. Because Tonan hadn’t been able to utilize the Beast Infestation Secret Art since he cultivated senjutsu chakra, he too wasn’t aware of the changes that had happened to this ninjutsu and the ability it possessed.
He closed his eyes but his ear tips kept twitching as he analyzed the beast’s roar in his mind. After a few seconds, he suddenly opened his eyes in surprise and muttered, “Ultrasonic wave…”
Sasori, who was right next to Tonan, was startled. He asked with a confused look, “Isn’t that something only bats have? Also, are bees supposed to be afraid of the ultrasonic wave?”
Tonan looked overjoyed. “Nature is truly marvelous. Every species is born with two instincts – survival and reproduction. The evolution of most species revolves around survival. Hunting too is an important branch of survival.”
Although Sasori was a puppet master, he had sufficient knowledge in all other aspects. He could understand what Tonan meant. “You mean, your ninja beasts awakened the ultrasonic wave during their evolution. Yes, an ultrasonic wave can be used to catch the traces of prey. But why do I feel that this ultrasonic wave has a lot of destructive power? It’s comparable to genjutsu.”
This time Tonan didn’t reply because the answer involved his secret. This was not any ordinary ultrasonic wave but one with the senjutsu chakra boost. As the white pigeons’ master, Tonan could understand their thoughts. They hadn’t fully activated their ability. The roars right now were nothing but just happy cheers.
By now, the white pigeons had already flown into the Leaf base camp. Under the moonlight and bonfires, they had lost their original appearance. Not to mention their enlarged sizes, their entire body was covered with golden feathers and their heads were even more majestic.
If anyone looked at them closely, they could see that the pigeons’ appearance looked a bit like humans. This was because Tonan’s senjutsu chakra was exclusive to the human race. And the white pigeons were animals. Once the Beast Infestation was activated, it was equivalent to activating the Sage Mode.
Humans would show beast-like features when using senjustu energy of the three holy lands. Animals were also similar. They would become humanlike. Sasori’s eyes lit up and he exclaimed, “What a beautiful bird! What’s the name of this ninja beast?”
Tonan casually threw out an answer. “Golden-winged roc. There are just a few in the entire ninja world. They were imported by the Land of Fire’s Daimyo and then were given to me to cultivate.”
Sasori did not doubt Tonan’s nonsense. After all, this name suited this kind of ninja beast well. “This name is amazing.”
The ‘golden-winged rocs’ roared as they were flying into the Leaf base camp. Then, they opened their mouths wide and flapped their wings. In an instant, a gust of wind blew up, causing sand and stones to fly in the air as if a wind-style ninja was casting non-stop ninjutsu.
Under their control, with their mouth as an endpoint, a tornado was formed. Most of the bees were already shaken by the roar. So, in an instant, they were swept up by the strong gust of wind and sucked into the pigeons’ mouths. Some elite bees still had energy left. They flew high under the Kamizuru clan’s control in the distance. They then flew down towards the pigeons.
But it was a pity that these were senjutsu-modified birds. The golden feathers on their bodies were as strong as steel. The poison needles couldn’t penetrate them at all. Under the species’ restraint, the efficiency of the pigeons was astonishingly fast.
In just a moment, the bees in the Leaf base camp were completely devoured. It was a one-sided slaughter.
Seeing that the bees had been completely wiped out, Tonan controlled the white pigeons to disperse into the distance with a thought. He turned his head to Sasori and smiled lightly. “I need to take care of something so I’ll have to go now.” Then, his figure disappeared slowly like an afterimage.
