Hanzō's strength was beyond question.
But Chiyo was no slouch either.
Even more than twenty years later, after her prime had long passed, Chiyo could still maintain kage-level combat ability. Now, at her peak, as long as she didn't let the enemy get close, she could easily rank among the top of the kage class.
The two had fought many times, with wins and losses on both sides. They were intimately familiar with each other's techniques, so this fight wouldn't be decided quickly.
The real decider of victory would be the shinobi below.
Unless you were a powerhouse like the First Hokage or Uchiha Madara, you couldn't ignore the threat of a fully organized, large-scale shinobi army.
Even the current Five Kage, if surrounded by thousands of shinobi and unable to break out, would eventually be worn down and die in battle.
Sunagakure in this era was not yet the weakened village it would become twenty years later, with its strong shinobi fallen, budgets cut, and its strength at the bottom of the Five Great Villages.
The average quality of Sunagakure's shinobi was high. Even though the Amegakure shinobi were formidable, Sunagakure still held the upper hand.
Hardy stood beside Kazekaze, propping himself up on Formentor's shoulder to get a better view of the battlefield.
"Something feels off. Why do I get the sense that these Amegakure shinobi aren't going all out?"
After watching for a while, Hardy asked curiously.
"The Amegakure shinobi know they can't beat us, so of course there's no need to fight desperately," Baki replied matter-of-factly.
In his view, Sunagakure was the best in the world, so this was only natural for Amegakure.
"This means they're feinting," Kazekaze explained.
"There's no way the Amegakure shinobi are acting alone. No matter how strong Hanzō is, he can't beat us with just his Amegakure forces. That means there must be Konoha shinobi acting as another strike force. But there's no need to worry—we've already coordinated with Iwagakure. They've dispatched their Explosion Release unit to intercept Konoha's forces on the only route from their camp to ours."
Hardy sat on Formentor's shoulder, watching the chaotic battle in the distance.
That made sense—there was no need to worry too much.
Chiyo was a veteran kage-level expert, a seasoned commander. There were surely other strategists in the ranks, and most of the jōnin had been shinobi longer than Hardy had been alive. Anything a relatively inexperienced chunin like him could think of, they would have already prepared for.
Unfortunately, Hardy was mistaken. The Sunagakure command had overlooked something.
Or rather, they had underestimated the strength of Konoha's side.
Dozens of kilometers from the Sunagakure camp, in a certain mountain valley—
"Haha, Orochimaru, you really are clever. You guessed that the Iwagakure shinobi would definitely ambush us here."
Atop a giant red toad, no smaller than the salamander Ibuse, stood a tall, white-haired man with his arms crossed, laughing at his companion, who stood on the head of a giant purple snake.
"It's not that simple. Even without the advantage of surprise, the Explosion Release unit is still formidable," Orochimaru said coldly, watching the fierce battle and listening to the constant explosions.
"Besides, no matter how strong Hanzō is, he won't fare well against Sunagakure's army. With Sunagakure and Iwagakure allied, they won't be defeated quickly. For now, our best option is to take advantage of our current edge, kill as many enemies as possible, and reduce their threat and future uncertainty."
Orochimaru licked his lips with his long tongue, then turned to Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, since the Iwagakure shinobi got here before us, they must have arranged a retreat route. If we try to take them all out, we'll lose a lot of people."
"Just tell me what to do—I'll follow your lead," Jiraiya replied, waving his hand and leaving the thinking to his "external brain."
"We'll concentrate our forces and carve a path. You take a thousand men to hold off Iwagakure—just delay them, don't worry about casualties. I'll take the rest to join up with Hanzō and focus on attacking Sunagakure."
Orochimaru didn't say the rest: this meant more of the losses would fall on Amegakure.
"Leave it to the great Jiraiya!" Jiraiya patted his chest and called out to Gamabunta, leaping into the center of the battlefield.
...
...
"Looks like Amegakure and Konoha will have to retreat empty-handed this time," Kazekaze said as he organized the defense, Baking sure no Amegakure shinobi slipped through to sabotage the supply stores, all the while keeping an eye on the main battlefield.
The fierce fighting had already lasted more than an hour.
Lots of noise, little actual damage.
Despite the thousands-strong scale of the battle, not that many had died so far.
Amegakure's morale was starting to flag as they waited in vain for Konoha's reinforcements; they were unwilling to risk their lives. Sunagakure, for its part, focused on solid defense, not taking unnecessary risks.
If things continued like this, there would be no decisive outcome. The best Hanzō could do would be to withdraw early and minimize losses.
"Hmph, puppets—"
Old woman, I'm hungry. Next time, when I've had my fill, I'll come back to settle the score with you."
After another fierce clash with the ox-faced puppet, Hanzo instantly retreated to the top of the salamander Jibaku's head. Finding an excuse, he threw a harsh remark at Chiyo.
"Hmph, I'm just afraid you won't dare come back!"
Chiyo manipulated the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets, arrayed imposingly before her. Though she appeared formidable, she had actually already begun to discreetly withdraw the puppets encircling Hanzo.
The Sand shinobi had only just arrived in the Land of Rain, and as a weary army from afar, it was wiser to first secure their footing and consolidate their position.
Although Chiyo did not fear Hanzo, she acknowledged his strength. If it came down to a fight to the death, even if Sunagakure won, with too many casualties, they would never be able to withstand Konoha's forces afterward.
However, at that very moment—
Several sensory unit shinobi within the Sand's encampment looked up in alarm.
"Not good! There's a massive chakra disturbance a few kilometers to the east—possibly… Konoha ninja!"
Hanzo, who was just about to withdraw and had retreated to his own ranks, also heard the report from his sensory ninja.
"Hahaha! Old hag Chiyo! I didn't get enough of a fight just now—let's keep going!"
Hanzo hefted his chain-scythe and charged back into battle.
Chiyo, having just received the same news, looked grim as she summoned the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets once more to block Hanzo's advance.
"You old man with the respirator! Didn't you say you were hungry and going home for dinner? Why are you back so soon!?"
"Haha, I don't know either. Suddenly, I'm not hungry anymore. Isn't that amazing, puppet hag?"
Logistics Division.
Kazekami Senran drew the ninja blade wrapped in cloth from his back.
"Reserve units! Squads One through Six, link up with the close-combat forces and follow me to defend the east! Squads Seven through Ten, continue to hold the warehouse!"
The squad with Hardy and his companions happened to be the Tenth Squad of the reserve unit.