Though the Konoha Ninja Forces had charged across half the ninja world with high morale, their physical and mental exhaustion from the long journey couldn't be compensated for merely by military rations or secret medicinal pills.
However, due to the sudden appearance of the Konoha forces, they rushed into the battlefield just as Iwagakure was shifting formations to ease their encirclement—a maneuver that opened up gaps in their defense. As a result, Hyuga Soushu's three thousand reinforcement troops smoothly entered the battle without suffering any Ninjutsu assault.
But once Iwagakure regained their senses, the Explosion Corps, led by Mahibi, swiftly assumed command and immediately launched a fierce counterattack, dragging the Konoha ninjas into a brutal massacre as relentless as a meat grinder.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and the love-struck fool Jiraiya swiftly summoned their respective Holy Place Summoned Beasts. Riding atop these colossal beasts, they charged toward Sanshouo Hanzo, who was decimating enemy ranks.
"It's actually you defeated brats again!"
Recognizing the three at first glance, Sanshouo Hanzo became furious: "I already spared your lives once; how dare you still come here seeking death!"
Then, he immediately turned his summoned beast Ibuse Poisoning toward the three Holy Place Summoned Beasts.
Now that Sakumo Hatake's army had completely become entangled with Rain ninjas, it would be impossible for Sanshouo Hanzo alone to wipe them all out without affecting his own forces. With the three Sannin attacking fiercely, he quickly made a decisive move. Even if it would mean great losses among the Rain ninjas, he had to stop the Three Sannin from joining the fight. Otherwise, in terms of sheer killing speed, he might not necessarily come out on top against Orochimaru. Moreover, what worried him more was Tsunade, whose Medical Ninjutsu skills were unparalleled. If she entered the battlefield riding atop her summoned beast Katsuyu, the combat strength of the Konoha forces would significantly increase, turning the situation even more disadvantageous for him.
"Don't underestimate this mighty one!"
With a furious roar, Jiraiya activated his summoned beast Gamabunta, which leaped forward. Gamabunta's mountain-sized tantō came slashing down toward Sanshouo Hanzo!
Orochimaru also didn't hold back. While urging his summoned beast Manda forward for an attack, he simultaneously summoned a large number of giant serpents and hurled them straight toward the battlefield where Rain and Iwagakure ninjas were about to converge.
These giant snakes, although huge, were merely unintelligent creatures dwelling at the bottom of Ryuchi Cave, good for nothing except their sheer size and savage nature. Now, releasing them served perfectly to disrupt the enemy formation while simultaneously providing Konoha's pursuing forces with opportunities to engage retreating Rain ninjas.
"Still playing heroes beyond your years?"
Seeing this, Sanshouo Hanzo, as a senior figure in the ninja world, sneered coldly before activating his summoned beast Ibuse Poisoning to release a cloud of poison mist at the three Sages!
As for Gamabunta's massive blade descending like a mountain, he simply maneuvered his summoned beast Ibuse Poisoning to evade it effortlessly.
With the title of semi-god, he naturally had the qualifications to address the Sages condescendingly as kids. After all, it was he himself who bestowed the title 'Sannin' upon Orochimaru and the others!
"An old relic destined for oblivion by this age!"
Orochimaru had acute hearing, so naturally he heard Sanshouo Hanzo's curses and immediately sent Manda forward to meet the attack.
However, it was Jiraiya who was the first to unleash a technique.
Gamabunta slapped his belly, then leaped into the air with both legs as he inflated his belly. He spat out a thick stream of oil, and at the same time Jiraiya released a blast of fire along with this wave of oil, igniting Gamabunta's stream.
[Katon: Gamayu Endan (Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet)!]
[Futon: Shinkū Renpa (Wind Release: Vacuum Multisphere)!]
Orochimaru puckered his lips and spewed countless scythe-like Wind Blades, scattering the ignited oil completely!
"Boom!"
Amplified by the Wind Release technique, the oil-based flames suddenly expanded, forming a wall of fire that engulfed Sanshouo Hanzo and his summoned beast rushing toward them!
This was no ordinary chakra-based flame.
The oil spat by Gamabunta was real material. After being set ablaze by Jiraiya's fire, it became actual physical fire with incredibly high temperatures. Then under Orochimaru's wind technique, these flames transformed into a massive fiery wall aimed at the fiercely charging Sanshouo Hanzo.
What made it even more dangerous was that these flames possessed both physical matter and chakra properties—something no regular chakra resistance or ninja technique could block!
As for Ibuse Poisoning's poisonous mist, it instantly lost its toxicity and dissipated when burned by the fire wall.
[Suiton: Suiryūdaibaku (Water Release: Water Dragon's Crushing Bite)!]
Sanshouo Hanzo's expression suddenly changed. He rapidly formed hand seals and spat out a jet-black water dragon straight toward the fire wall before him.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"
That familiar earth-shaking sound of chakra explosions once again echoed.
Although Sanshouo Hanzo's water technique successfully weakened part of the fire wall's power, temporarily revealing the oil's true nature beneath; in an instant afterward, the surrounding flames reignited the oil, quickly restoring the fiery barrier.
"This is unbelievable!"
At this moment, unable to comprehend the mysteries behind Orochimaru and Jiraiya's techniques, Sanshouo Hanzo could only directly pull out a scroll from behind, placing it between his teeth as he formed a Hand Seal of the Tiger with both hands and activated a secret technique.
[Katon: Gōka Messhitsu (Fire Release: Blazing Inferno)!]
A long wall composed entirely of explosive tags suddenly appeared, blocking the path of the existing fire wall!
Immediately after, Sanshouo Hanzo activated the technique, detonating this seemingly endless wall of explosive tags and directing the resulting shockwave right onto the oil-fueled fire wall!
"Rumble rumble rumble!"
The explosion was incredibly powerful.
The oil-and-fire wall scattered under the concentrated shockwave from the explosives, splattering everywhere, igniting countless new fires upon landing that rapidly spread outward.
Then, a figure burst through the swirling inferno and charged ahead, throwing a punch straight toward Sanshouo Hanzo's face.
[Monster Strength Punch!]
Such reckless behavior naturally belonged to none other than Tsunade, a rough giant with an appearance and demeanor that defied expectations.
Boom!
This punch landed precisely on Sanshouo Hanzo's face—but instead of the blood splatter Tsunade had envisioned, the kind where bones would fly like flower petals in all directions, the figure simply dissolved into smoke.
"It's actually a Shadow Clone!"
Tsunade was greatly startled.
Then, a non-reflective blade gently glided across her neck.
Tsunade likewise dissolved into smoke and vanished.
"So it's also a shadow clone!"
Sanshouo Hanzo felt just like having swallowed a dead fly, filled with disgust.
"Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Immediately after, Orochimaru used Body Flicker to appear at Sanshouo Hanzo's right side. With a swing of his right hand, more than ten snakes shot out from his sleeve, coiling around and binding Hanzo's body.
However, as soon as the snakes wrapped around Hanzo's upper body, the poison gas from his icy breath killed them instantly.
Orochimaru then opened his mouth, shooting out a blade of light. Under the control of his long, elastic, and highly flexible tongue, it swept toward Sanshouo Hanzo's neck.
[Sword of Kusanagi - Sky Cut!]
Earlier, during the battle when charging into Konoha's military camp in the Land of Rain, Hanzo had already witnessed the Sword of Kusanagi's sharpness. Not daring to slack off, he quickly swung his chain sickle to strike the back of the Kusanagi blade, sending it flying away.
Following that came Gamabunta's [Waist-Level Slash!]. However, this time the target was Ibuse Poisoning, whose massive size made him relatively slow and inconvenient in movement.
But it didn't stop there—Katsuyu, Tsunade's summoned slug, rushed forward next, spitting out a large area of highly corrosive mucus directly onto Sanshouo Hanzo and his Torres!
This series of consecutive techniques threw Sanshouo Hanzo into complete disarray.
Although not enough to lead to immediate defeat, he indeed found himself somewhat overwhelmed—an obvious contrast compared to easily defeating the three opponents previously.
"Air-tube old man! If you keep judging people with outdated views, then you deserve to be called blind!"
Jiraiya immediately charged forward, forcing Sanshouo Hanzo even further into disarray.
In no time, the four combatants became locked in chaotic melee!
With Sanshouo Hanzo unable to simultaneously handle affairs at his main forces anymore, the Konoha Ninja Forces under Sakumo Hatake's command successfully routed them, driving the retreating Rain ninjas straight into Iwagakure's lines.
However, before he could fully demonstrate his strength, a pillar of light descending from the sky forced him backward.
Boom!
Under its caster's control, the heavenly light pillar swung left and right, instantly carving out a deep chasm that separated the Konoha ninja from Iwa entirely!
It was precisely the Dust Release Secret Jutsu technique employed by Third Tsuchikage Onoki!
Although many Rain ninjas were accidentally harmed during the jutsu's execution, the effect was undeniably significant.
Faced with such earth-shaking power, neither Sakumo Hatake nor his subordinate ninja dared to act recklessly again. They gradually dispersed and retreated under the command of their respective Jonin leaders.
The Iwagakure forces didn't take advantage of the moment to strike back either. Instead, after rescuing part of the Rain ninja remnants, they slowly withdrew as well, increasing the distance between themselves and Konoha's forces.
Judging from appearances, it seemed as if Iwagakure had no intention of continuing the fight?
Sakumo Hatake's brows immediately furrowed tightly.
On the battlefield, the most brutal fighting raged in the unit led by Hyuga Soushu. The assault of 3,000 Konoha ninja sent Iwa's Explosion Corps and its affiliated forces retreating repeatedly. Among them, Hyuga Soushu moved like a phantom, appearing and vanishing unpredictably, leaving severed limbs and bloodied bodies scattered in his wake.
As the front line of Iwagakure seemed on the verge of collapse, Kitsuchi immediately dispatched his last reserve unit for reinforcement. However, this only slightly alleviated the shaky frontline and couldn't reverse the overall unfavorable situation.
After all, the total number of Iwa's ninja forces involved in the battle was merely around four thousand. Although the Third Tsuchikage Onoki himself was present at the battlefield, during chaotic melee combat, his devastating secret jutsu weren't actually very applicable and instead made him somewhat hesitant.
Therefore, after repelling Sakumo Hatake's forces, Onoki slowly descended from midair and landed on the other side of a massive trench created by Dust Release techniques, facing off against Sakumo Hatake from afar.
Meanwhile, under Kitsuchi's command, the rest of Iwa's ninja forces launched a counterattack against Hyuga Soushu's relief troops with full strength.
"The situation changed too quickly."
Although Onoki maintained an emotionless expression, he inwardly sighed with regret.
The premature arrival of Hyuga Soushu's forces had disrupted all his plans.
Furthermore, the three thousand Rain Ninjas were utterly crushed under flanking strikes from Konoha shinobi, nearly dragging down Iwa's right-wing position; even Sanshouo Hanzo was engaged by three elite apprentices of the Hokage. Judging from the chaotic melee, it would be quite some time before either side gained the upper hand.
All these changes came too swiftly, leaving Onoki—who had originally believed victory assured—feeling somewhat lost and disoriented.
Thus, at this moment, the best he could do was use his power to intimidate Sakumo Hatake and his directly commanded units while letting Kitsuchi deal with Hyuga Soushu's forces.
However, even though he managed to deter Sakumo Hatake's unit—which had been reduced to barely over five hundred after fierce battles—the direct confrontation on Iwa's front line once again showed signs of deterioration!
In this chaotic melee, Hyuga Soushu was like an unstoppable force, relentlessly shattering Iwa's formations, slaying high-ranking jonin commanders, then rapidly seeking out new targets. As for those Rock ninjas who had lost their squad leaders, they were left vulnerable and were soon surrounded and systematically eliminated by the Konoha shinobi advancing behind them.
So although numerically inferior, under Hyuga Soushu's leadership, the Konoha Ninja Forces successfully pierced through Iwa's Explosion Corps' frontline formation and advanced straight toward Kitsuchi's main camp.
There were no synchronized barrages of ninjutsu, nor dazzling volleys of shuriken and kunai. The Konoha forces led by Hyuga Soushu now displayed nothing but reckless, relentless surges forward—relentless charges like berserkers unafraid of death!
And precisely this unpredictable chaos completely overwhelmed Iwa's disciplined ninja forces, known across the Ninja World for their ironclad discipline!
Witnessing his side's deteriorating situation, Kitsuchi even began questioning his own convictions.
Who in the world fights with such suicidal recklessness?!
Whether it's traditional small-unit skirmishes or large-scale battles with ninjutsu bombardments, things shouldn't descend into this kind of tangled, chaotic mess where both sides are hopelessly intermingled!
More importantly, under these confusing circumstances, Iwagakure's specialty—combined ninjutsu attacks launched en masse—became unusable. With enemy and friendly forces so thoroughly mixed together, launching large-scale ninjutsu bombardments inevitably risked causing heavy collateral damage!
With no other choice, Kitsuchi could only have the messenger ninja contact Third Tsuchikage Onoki, who was personally stationed to suppress Sakumo Hatake's forces, hoping to receive tactical guidance from him.
Soon enough, the messenger jonin received Onoki's response and awkwardly relayed his message: "Take control of all Rain ninjas. Our village's forces will prepare to withdraw from the battlefield!"
"Also, notify the attacking forces in Herb Country to temporarily halt their offensive and retreat back into Herb Country territory while ensuring safety. Under no circumstances should they counterattack if pursued by Konoha Ninja Forces!"
Especially this second order left Kitsuchi feeling utterly bewildered.
Could this actually be a ceasefire?
After all the effort and planning that went into forming this alliance between Iwagakure and the Rain ninjas just to strike against Konoha, could this whole campaign end up amounting to nothing?
Wouldn't that mean Iwagakure lost without even lifting a finger!
Yet Kitsuchi dared not argue with his father. He had no choice but to grit his teeth, pass on the orders, and command his subordinates to disregard collateral damage, launching concentrated [Combined Ninjutsu Techniques] to intimidate Konoha Ninja Forces. This would allow their engaged ninjas to withdraw safely.
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