Chapter 951: Chapter 54: The Beginning of the Invasion (Part 4)
The action air combat ninja unit consists of only fifty people.
That’s the number of five squads.
And the opponents are a thousand battle-hardened Hidden Sand Ninja, not only do they not fear them, but instead are excited.
They have immense confidence in the flying devices on their backs.
Although the prototypes of these flying devices were from the Land of the Sky,
after military improvement, the flying devices have undergone several generations of upgrades.
Despite their scarcity, they far exceed the flying devices of the Land of the Sky in flexibility, stability, defense, and endurance.
The fifty-person air combat unit sees Windmill Town, and the Hidden Sand Ninja already on guard in Windmill Town also naturally spot the enemy target through military telescopes.
Windmill Town’s security area has been divided by Maki into over thirty small zones.
Each area is equipped with anti-air ballistas, an ample supply of explosive tags and arrows, effective weapons against the air combat unit from the Land of the Sky.
Each zone is overseen by a captain, each equipped with a radio, allowing Maki to command them at any time, unifying a thousand Hidden Sand Ninja as one cohesive force instead of fighting separately.
Seeing the fifty Ninja of the Land of Demons approaching Windmill Town, Maki’s face becomes serious.
"Attack all out!"
Maki’s voice transmitted through radio reaches the ears of captains in every zone, with an approximate delay of one to two seconds, countless arrows tethered with explosive tags shoot up into the sky like black raindrops.
Boom, boom, boom boom boom...
The originally pitch-black and calm night sky suddenly is replaced by sounds of explosions, the entire sky seems to ignite.
Whoosh—
Such sounds also emanate from the air.
Kunai shoot downwards, also attached with explosive tags, striking buildings and crowds, suddenly erupt in terrifying flashes and explosions, booming into action.
Not only that, along with the kunai are numerous projectiles, likewise detonating on the ground.
A terrifying pale purple poisonous mist spreads over Windmill Town.
The prepared Hidden Sand Ninja also have antidotes ready to resist the assault of the toxin, yet they still feel uncomfortable, their minds groggy, only through sheer willpower do they maintain clarity.
The wind blows fiercely, some Hidden Sand Ninja use Wind Style Jutsu to disperse the poisonous mist.
The sound of explosions continues unabated, a Hidden Sand Ninja using Wind Style to blow away the poison mist unwittingly finds a kunai landing at their feet, its explosive tag detonates instantly, flames consume their body before they can even scream, the blood and flesh mangled and thrown aside.
Maki seethes with rage and shock.
Previously, Hidden Sand Village had the upper hand, letting him think the Ninja of the Land of Demons were powerless.
But witnessing this scene, the underestimation in his heart slowly dissipates, he begins to take the enemy’s tactics seriously.
Undoubtedly, the air combat unit from the Land of Demons possesses terrifying maneuverability, and being airborne, their movement range is more agile compared to the Hidden Sand Ninja on the ground.
Because of this, they are able to contend with many using few, using a small number of people to contain the thousand Hidden Sand Ninja in Windmill Town.
The town is filled with buildings collapsed from explosions, grey dust rises on the streets.
Boom boom boom!
The counterattack from the Hidden Sand Ninja is fiercer than anticipated, countless arrows fly towards the sky, though the attack trajectories are easy to predict, nevertheless their vast numbers pose significant trouble to the Land of Demons ninjas executing air raids.
Fire fills the surroundings, seeing no escape, at the center front of the flying device, a blue jewel suddenly shines.
A light blue protective barrier suddenly envelops the Ninja of the Land of Demons and their flying device.
The flames and impact are resisted by the light blue barrier, but it also causes instability signs in the flying device, however, under the expert control of the Ninja of the Land of Demons, it quickly regains balance, soaring to a safe zone, with lingering fears, they gaze at the Hidden Sand Ninja on the ground.
Realizing they aren’t without countermeasures, they nearly got shot down.
"Dammit! Can that kind of flying ninja tools also produce protection barriers?!"
Maki fixes his glare on the sky, at the Ninja of the Land of Demons who narrowly escaped death.
He never knew those flying devices could still possess barrier-like protective functionality.
This heightens the difficulty for Hidden Sand Village to counterattack.
Yet Maki doesn’t lose heart, remaining calm and starts commanding.
Many Ninja of the Land of Demons begin to activate the protective mechanisms of their flying devices.
Through Maki’s careful observation, he gradually discovers the protection barrier of the flying devices isn’t infallible, and with more frequent usage, the flight speed of the devices decreases.
It’s likely due to the depletion of energy supply within the flying device after employing the protective mechanism.
Finally, as the first Ninja of the Land of Demons follows a flying device trailing black smoke, swaying and staggering into the dark forest, the Hidden Sand Ninja become invigorated.
Soon after, the second and third also appear in succession, the air strike capability of the Ninja of the Land of Demons further diminishes.
The battle raged for a full hour, a total of twenty-one flying devices were shot down by Hidden Sand Ninja, though no hostages were captured, greatly boosting the combat morale of the Hidden Sand Ninja.
Facing the Hidden Sand’s anti-air firepower, having completely surpassed their side, the remaining Ninja of the Land of Demons recognize the odds are insurmountable, promptly withdraw from the aerial battleground.
The result being, with the Hidden Sand Ninja slightly edging out the enemy in the initial battle’s conclusion.
Yet Maki’s face doesn’t show a hint of joy, according to reports from his subordinates, in this air raid, the Hidden Sand suffered at least two hundred casualties while the Land of Demons only lost twenty-one flying devices, the pilots presumably only lightly injured.
No one was captured, under the cover of dense aerial firepower, they all safely escaped, practically zero battle damage.
This was achieved on the premise of their side being fully prepared for the assault.
If the Land of Demons hadn’t issued any warning, directly carrying out an assault on Windmill Town, Maki dares not imagine.
The Hidden Sand’s losses at that time might exceed four hundred casualties.
Despite their lack of mastery in battle tactics, the advanced flying equipment possessed by the Land of Demons is even more difficult to deal with than in the past Land of the Sky, compensating for tactical immaturity.
With things going this way, Maki knows Windmill Town won’t hold out for long, soon to be overrun by the air combat units of the Land of Demons.
"I must report the battle situation here to Kazekage-sama, the strength of the Land of Demons cannot be underestimated. Reinforcements not only need to come quickly, but the numbers must also increase..."
Maki murmurs to himself while gazing at the starry sky scorched red by the earlier battle flames.
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