"Old hag, stop looking around!"
Rin's short blade slashed a fierce arc through the air, instantly severing the chakra threads of two puppets controlled by Chiyo.
But the seasoned puppeteer merely flicked her fingers—
The broken chakra threads twisted and writhed like living serpents, snaking swiftly toward Rin.
"Puppet Technique: Spider Thread Binding!"
Rin felt a sudden tightness around her wrist—Chiyo's chakra threads had already wrapped around her arm.
Chiyo sneered coldly. "Little girl, let me show you what real—"
Before her voice finished, Rin had already vanished.
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"
A thunderous torrent of water crashed down, tearing through the battlefield. Trees toppled, the forest was drowned, and everything became submerged beneath surging currents.
Rin exhaled heavily.
Even with her chakra reserves, using such a large-scale ninjutsu after fighting for so long had taken a toll.
"Looks like I can't just kill them outright… I need to mark them and draw chakra from them."
She glanced at the Suna-nin floating in the water. On their foreheads, her "Sange-in" seal had already appeared, drawing chakra into her.
"As long as there are people—I'll have an endless supply of chakra!"
At that thought, Rin even dared to cast her eyes toward Shukaku.
If she could mark him—an infinite, inexhaustible reservoir of chakra would be at her command.
Unfortunately, her seals had a time limit.
Rin's toes tapped the water's surface, and before the ripples had time to spread, she was gone again.
Chiyo's puppet attack sliced only through mist and air.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Three water dragons crashed toward Chiyo from different angles.
The old puppeteer had no choice but to split her focus to defend with her puppets.
And in the moment the dragons collided with the puppets, Rin vanished again.
"The first one."
Her chilling voice echoed from behind a Suna-nin. A moment later, his head flew into the air, severed cleanly. Before Chiyo could respond, Rin had already vanished back into the mist and spray.
"Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique!"
Rin had seen this technique on the Mist battlefield and immediately realized how well it suited her. After returning to Konoha, she had begged the Third Hokage to teach it to her. The "Professor of Ninjutsu," as he was known, naturally knew the Hidden Mist Technique.
Now, Rin combined Hidden Mist with her Gutsuei Shunpo—becoming a phantom of death amidst the fog.
Thick fog instantly swallowed the battlefield.
All Chiyo could hear were splashes of water from every direction—and the dying screams of Suna-nin.
Her heart pounded wildly.
But she couldn't pinpoint Rin's position at all.
She could only control her "Father" and "Mother" puppets to stand back-to-back in a tight defense.
But Rin wasn't interested in her.
After several exchanges, Rin had already identified her own weakness:
She had more than enough speed—but her offensive power still fell short.
As long as Chiyo kept herself protected inside her "turtle shell," Rin couldn't break through.
So she made her decision.
Abandon the direct confrontation.
With her speed, she could eliminate every single Suna-nin in the area before Chiyo could react.
If Chiyo didn't want massive casualties, she'd have no choice but to play defense and stay locked into Rin's rhythm.
However, Chiyo's experience ran deep.
Once she realized she couldn't match Rin's speed, she decisively gave up the chase—and turned her attention to the other Konoha shinobi.
It became a deadly competition: who could kill more of the enemy's ninja.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the Konoha forces struggled to maintain the defensive lines.
Hyūga Hiashi's Byakugan gleamed fiercely through the fog.He exhaled and settled into his Gentle Fist stance once more:
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
He struck a Suna-nin and sent him flying.
"Kakashi! Left side!"
Hyūga Yumeko's voice was hoarse from shouting. The silver-haired boy moved on instinct. A flash of silver light burst from his blade, piercing the heart of a Suna shinobi who had attempted a stealth attack.
On another front, Akimichi Chōza was kneeling in blood, his entire body covered in wounds. He had kept his Partial Expansion Jutsu active to its very limit.
"Shikaku... I can still—"
Before he could finish, three poisoned senbon flew toward him from the mist.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A sudden gust scattered the projectiles.
A Chūnin from the Shimura clan had used his jutsu to save Chōza—only to be pierced through by a Suna-nin's kunai himself.
Nara Shikaku seized the moment to activate his Shadow Possession Technique.
"Chōza, fall back!"
---
In the medical camp, Shizune and the medics were desperately working to save lives.
"Lady Tsunade... please..."
A young medical-nin looked toward the corner, eyes filled with tears.
The blonde woman huddled there, clutching her head, body trembling uncontrollably.
In her mind, she saw them again and again—her younger brother Nawaki, and Dan, both lying in pools of blood.
"No... I... I can't... so much blood... Ah!"
Her fingers clutched her hair fiercely.
She couldn't even lift her head to look.
---
At the battlefield's center, Shukaku's maniacal laughter thundered across the field.
Manda, covered in wounds, was tightly bound in a sandstorm.
For the first time, Orochimaru's golden, slit-pupil eyes showed true gravity.
"Orochimaru! Don't forget my tribute! I want two hundred sacrifices!"
Manda roared as he forcibly ended the summoning contract, vanishing in a puff of white smoke.
Shukaku's massive claw came crashing down.
"Summoning Jutsu: Toad Flattening Smash!"
A giant toad plummeted from the sky, slamming Shukaku deep into the earth.
Jiraiya stood atop Gamabunta's head, his long white hair whipping through the chakra-charged air.
"Yo, Orochimaru! Looks like you bit off more than you could chew this time, huh?"
Orochimaru licked his lips with his long tongue.
"What an... unpleasant entrance."
Gamabunta blew out a smoke ring.
"Jiraiya, this one's a real problem."
As he spoke, he drew his short sword, parrying Shukaku's tail swipe with precision.
Shukaku howled with rage.
"You stinking toad! I'm gonna crush you all!"
The Tailed Beast's chakra surged, dark and violent.
Sand and wind spiraled into a furious storm.
Jiraiya's hands blurred through hand seals.
"Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon!"
His white hair turned into a rain of steel needles.
At the same time, Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword extended, stabbing straight for Shukaku's eye.
"Not bad teamwork," Gamabunta muttered, seizing the chance to unleash a blast of toad oil.
Paired with Jiraiya's jutsu:
"Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
Flames engulfed half of Shukaku's massive body.
Bunpuku's consciousness stirred beneath the Tailed Beast's chakra.
"Stop... Shukaku... please, stop hurting..."
From afar, Chiyo watched Shukaku being pinned down, eyes filled with pain.
She gritted her teeth and blew the retreat whistle.
The Suna-nin, like a receding tide, began to withdraw.
At the same time, Bunpuku resealed Shukaku and regained his senses.
He and the remaining Suna shinobi retreated together—leaving only corpses in their wake.
---
"Trying to run?"
Rin's figure flashed like a ghost—but was stopped by a suddenly-appearing puppet.
Chiyo gave her one final, hard look.
"The next time we meet—will be your death."
Jiraiya, having ended Sage Mode, landed beside Rin.
"Easy, kid. No need to chase cornered dogs."
He turned to the field and called out in a booming voice:
"To all Konoha shinobi—We've won!"
But the price of that victory was written in blood.
As the last silhouette of a Suna-nin disappeared beyond the dunes, the battlefield fell into an eerie silence.
Rin stood in the muddy, blood-soaked water, staring at the earth stained deep red. Dark liquid flowed slowly through the trenches, pooling into sickening puddles.
"Medical corps! There's someone alive here!"
From the distance, Hyūga Yumeko's ragged cry rang out.
Rin turned to see her kneeling beside a Konoha shinobi whose abdomen had been pierced clean through.
Her Byakugan veins still bulged with chakra.
The man clutched a shattered forehead protector, blood leaking between his trembling fingers.
When Rin approached, she saw Yumeko gently close the shinobi's wide, lifeless eyes with shaking hands.
She recognized him.
It was a ninja from the Inuzuka clan—the one who had helped her move supplies just the day before.
She remembered the small puppy cradled in his arms, how it had licked her fingers.
A short distance away, Kakashi leaned against a broken tree, his left arm hanging limply.His mask was soaked through with blood, turned a dark crimson.
At his feet lay three carefully arranged corpses. Among them was Jin Go, who had gone on missions with Rin twice.
The boy with the glasses and the shy smile—who once asked her,
"When will the war be over?"
His war was over now.
---
Orochimaru approached from the other side of the battlefield, his black hair streaked with dust and sand.His golden eyes scanned the carnage—then landed on Rin.
"Well done," he said, voice like a serpent whispering against the ear.
"You killed forty-seven. I'll report the count accurately and request commendation."
Sometimes people laugh when words fail them.
Rin tugged at the corner of her lips and forced a smile.
This cold-blooded snake... still had time to keep track of her kill count?
She wasn't sure she wanted that kind of attention.
---