Chapter 778: The Best War Tactic!
The rebels stared in horror, as their defenses were first punctured by the Lightning spears before being crushed by the overwhelming Fire-Wind jutsu! Without the need for a single order, every single one retreated!
As they ran, one of the senior ninjas looked back and thought grimly, 'This is a scheme! We were fooled! If we knew it was Konoha, we would have retreated right away irrespective of our casualties. However, now…'
Another thought, 'This isn't the first time we were ambushed. Under normal circumstances, we would launch a strong combination attack and slow down the enemy just enough for us to escape. Of course, depending on how strong the enemy was, we would lose somewhere between 5-20% of our forces.
But, Konoha crushed our attack directly! We failed to slow them down. That fire alone would wipe out more than a third of our forces! And, we'll soon be hunted down by them. We'll be lucky if 20% of us escape alive today.'
Similar thoughts ran through the minds of the experienced ninjas. As for the young ones, terror had long flooded their minds. Despite their proficiency in escaping, the fire engulfed 125 ninjas! Their legs just couldn't outrun the wind-assisted flames. Shrilling screams echoed through the grassland as all of them were burned alive!
Needless to say, only the weakest ninjas failed to escape the range. Hence, they didn't have any means to resist the scorching flames. Even the ones who had jutsus to move underground failed to do so in time. The remaining rebels gritted their teeth in rage but continued escaping without looking back. They could only swear to avenge their comrades. However, in order to do that, they had to escape alive.
Konoha's army split into platoons and chased after the scattered rebels. Since the rebels failed to retreat orderly, they were easy pickings for Konoha ninjas. The slower rebels were eliminated one by one. Realizing that they would die, several fought to buy some time for their comrades.
Unfortunately, the slowest ninjas were once again the weakest among those who remained. They couldn't do much. However, Konoha ninjas paid careful attention to them. They were wary of suicidal tactics and didn't want to lose ninjas needlessly. As such, they successfully managed to slow down the Konoha army.
The faster rebels sensed that the distance between them and Konoha was increasing and sighed in relief. However, they suddenly froze and stopped running. Their relief changed to horror and helplessness in a moment! Even the experienced ninjas were stunned. A few were so shocked that they even dropped their weapons and muttered, "Why…? Why is there another Konoha army here?"