Chapter 180
"You've trained hard, but you're still far behind Zixu," Aburame Hatsuizumi commented on Sasuke, which clearly pissed him off.
"Tch..." Sasuke didn't say a word and charged at Hyuga Chinano again.
But this wasn't some one-on-one duel—it was a chaotic free-for-all. In that kind of brawl, teamwork and gang-ups were the name of the game. No one was gonna play fair with some dude brooding in the corner.
Multiple squads were already sneaking up around them. They had quietly taken out several ninja, but even the strongest warrior couldn't fight off a whole army alone.
Karin got the memo. After dealing with her own target, she immediately rushed to back up Chinano in pinning down Sasuke.
In a team fight, Hatsuizumi had the biggest edge. While she was tangling with Naruto, the wide spread and density of her insects forced surrounding ninja to get dragged into the fight.
Naruto was on the brink of collapse. Sure, his chakra reserves were massive, but they were getting drained fast. Hatsuizumi, on the other hand, didn't need as much chakra—her insects literally fed off her enemies' chakra and topped her up mid-battle. As her power climbed and Naruto's dropped, the tides turned hard in her favor.
Meanwhile, the fight between Hydrangea—who specialized in spiritual summoning—and Tenten was reaching its climax. Their fight wasn't really about skill; it was about who had the bigger wallet. Weapons were flying out of scrolls nonstop. Hydrangea had summoned a massive Archaeopteryx and a chameleon to boot. With those summons, she was about to secure her win.
The forces of Whirlpool Nation were slowly but steadily gaining control of the battlefield. One ninja after another was eliminated. They weren't flashy, but they were damn consistent.
Soon, the nearby small squads were wiped out. The sneaky bastards hoping to pick off leftovers were dealt with—no point letting others profit off their hard work.
After scanning the area one more time, Aburame Hatsuizumi recalled her scouting bugs and booted Naruto off the insect he was pinned to.