After Yamanaka Haiichi had completely extracted every fragment of memory from the captured Sunagakure shinobi, Konoha's upper council moved swiftly to devise a countermeasure. Tsunade worked through the night, formulating a new, potent antidote to Sunagakure's infamous poisons, while Orochimaru himself took command of an elite strike team, poised to ambush the enemy's main force.
Three days later — Eastern defensive perimeter of Sunagakure.
Chiyo stood at the forefront of the Suna formation, her weathered face set into a grim mask beneath the stinging wind and rolling sand. Behind her, ranks of Sunagakure shinobi waited in taut silence, every breath measured, every hand ready to draw steel at a signal.
"Konoha's main force has already been hindered by our poison," Chiyo's voice was low but carried the weight of a commander's authority. "Now is the perfect moment to crush them outright. Remember—swift and decisive. Do not grant them even a heartbeat to recover!"
A unified cry echoed from the Sunagakure ranks, and like an unstoppable tide they surged toward Konoha's defensive line.
But as their boots struck the appointed battlefield… there was nothing.
The air was unnervingly still. Not a single Konoha shinobi in sight. Not even the faintest tremor of chakra within sensory range.
"Something's wrong…" Chiyo suddenly raised her hand, signaling the troops to halt.
The very next second—
"BOOOOM—!!!"
The ground collapsed beneath them in a deafening eruption. Hundreds of chained explosive tags detonated in a blinding sequence, shockwaves tearing through sand and steel alike. Screams cut through the roar as the searing flames swallowed dozens in an instant. The Sunagakure formation fractured in chaos.
"Ambush! It's a trap!"
"Those Konoha bastards! They knew we were coming!"
Through the choking wall of smoke and sand, a tall, slender figure emerged, each step deliberate.Golden slit-pupils gleamed coldly, and a thin smile curled with predatory amusement.
"…Welcome, honored guests of Sunagakure," Orochimaru's voice slithered through the din.
"Orochimaru?!" Chiyo's pupils contracted sharply before she bellowed, "Everyone, reform the formation immediately!"
But before the scattered Suna shinobi could regroup, Konoha's ambush force erupted from all directions—elite jōnin from the great clans leading the charge.
A flash of movement—Rin's figure danced between the chaos, her presence flickering in and out like an afterimage in moonlight. Ever since she had driven her own life force to the brink to unleash her ultimate Gutsuei Shunpo, it was as though her pathways had been unsealed. Now, her Gutsuei Shunpo flowed from her body effortlessly, smoother and sharper than ever.
The moment the Sunagakure shinobi caught sight of her, their expressions paled.
"It's… Tsukikage Hime?!" one Suna jōnin gasped, instinctively taking a step back.
"What?" Rin's brow arched at the unfamiliar nickname, though an odd, reluctant embarrassment twisted in her chest.
"It's her! That Konoha kunoichi who cut down over a dozen of our comrades in a single battle!" another Sunagakure ninja shouted in panic. "She moves too fast—like a shadow beneath the moonlight!"
Rin's lips twitched in irritation. She had no intention of acknowledging such a title.
"…Don't call me that." Her eyes sharpened into ice, and her figure vanished in an instant!
"Shu—!"
A heartbeat later, she was already behind that jōnin who had spoken. A silver arc swept across his throat.
"You…" The Suna jōnin froze in place. Before he could even react, Rin had already slit his throat with one stroke.
Chiyo's fury flared. "Konoha brat, don't get ahead of yourself!"
A scroll unfurled from her hand, seals flaring in rapid sequence. Three puppets burst free from their confinement, chains rattling as they lunged toward Rin in perfect sync.
Rin's gaze hardened. In her pupils, faint red hexagonal patterns bloomed, glowing eerily—almost reminiscent of the Sharingan's cruel beauty.
With a step as light as breath, Rin vanished. The puppets slashed and stabbed through nothing but air, striking only her fading afterimages.
"Shu! Shu! Shu!"
By the time their attacks ended, Rin had already circled behind Chiyo, short blade poised at the old kunoichi's heart.
"You're far too slow, old hag," Rin said coldly.
Chiyo gritted her teeth and spun around sharply, launching several poisoned needles from her sleeve!
Rin retreated in a single smooth motion, one hand flashing into a seal.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!!"
A towering wall of water surged upward, intercepting the poisoned barrage. Chiyo's scowl deepened.
But before she could attack again, another voice cracked through the air like a whip.
"Chiyo—your opponent… is me."
Tsunade's figure tore through the haze, her fist smashing into one of Chiyo's puppets and reducing it to splinters.
"Tsunade?!" Chiyo's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Old hag, your poisons are useless against me now." Tsunade's smirk was cold, her tone a blade. "Now… it's our turn to strike back."
"That's… impossible… you—"
Chiyo had no time to finish. The legendary Sannin was already upon her.
Tsunade's hemophobia had been a closely guarded secret, and since the start of the war she had remained in the rear. Even when Rasa had launched an all-out assault alongside Hanzō to attack the Fire Country's borders—forcing Orochimaru to face them alone—Tsunade had never taken the field. Suna had assumed she was incapacitated and hadn't factored her into their battle calculations. Yet here she was, suddenly making a move!
Chiyo's face turned grim.
Meanwhile, Rin's path was blocked by a figure stepping from the flames—a young woman with sharply defined features, brows like drawn blades, amber eyes glinting with metallic coldness in the sunlight. Around her, an aura of deep orange-red chakra shimmered, distorting the air with heat. Her hair lifted in the rising thermals, as if she stood amidst an eternal blaze.
She was none other than Suna's prodigious kekkei genkai kunoichi—Pakura of the Scorch Release (Shakuton).
"Konoha's Tsukikage Hime?" Pakura's hands moved in a blur, three orbs of blinding orange heat spiraling into existence behind her. "Let's see which is faster—your speed… or my Shakuton."
Before her words had even finished, the fireballs roared forward. Rin's toes pressed lightly against the ground as she retreated at high speed, the intense heat curling the tips of her hair. She flicked three shuriken toward the incoming flames—only to watch them liquefy into molten droplets before reaching their mark.
"Pointless," Pakura said flatly. "My Shakuton will vaporize even steel."
Suddenly, the ground beneath her erupted—Rin's true body lunged upward from below! The earlier retreat only a shadow clone feint, her real self had used Earth Release to tunnel beneath her opponent's feet. Her short blade, carrying a killing chill, stabbed straight toward Pakura's throat—
"Clang!"
The strike slammed against an invisible wall of superheated chakra, sparks bursting where steel met searing energy.
"…Good reflexes," Rin said coolly.
Pakura's hand shot out like a viper, seizing Rin's wrist. Heat roared through her bracer, the scent of burning leather filling the air. Rin wrenched away in a blur, forming several kage bunshin in midair.
One clone moved in, weaving seals—
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
A massive sphere of water engulfed both a clone and Pakura. Inside the boiling bubbles, Pakura's Shakuton fireballs weakened noticeably. Rin seized the opening, driving her knee into Pakura's stomach before springing back again.
"Scorch Release: Overheating Kill!"
Pakura's palms pressed together. The entire water prison erupted into steam with a deafening hiss. The superheated steam sliced through the surroundings like blades, turning the surrounding sand into gleaming glass. Rin's clones shattered one after another.
"You can't run," Pakura advanced over molten ground, her heat shimmering like a mirage. "My Shakuton is the perfect counter to your water ninjutsu."
Rin's lips curved faintly. So—her intel on Rin's true capabilities was still incomplete.
Pakura's expression shifted—something felt wrong. She felt chakra leaking from her body without command. Her eyes snapped to Rin, who stood a few paces away, one hand forming the familiar seal of a Fire Release technique(Katon).
Pakura braced for flames—only to realize a fraction too late that Rin wasn't a Katon user at all. The seal was nothing but misdirection.
Her true technique—Sange no Mai—required no seals.
"…Detonate,"Rin said lightly.
Pakura's eyes widened as a violent surge tore through her chakra system. Pain wracked her body as her own chakra ruptured inward, shredding her organs. Blood spilled from her lips—thick and heavy, laced with fragments of her own viscera.
Rin surged forward, her silver blade driving toward Pakura's heart—
"Splat!!"
The blade sank three inches before halting. Pakura's chakra flared, searing her own flesh shut around the wound, locking the weapon in place.
Bloodied fingers gripped Rin's collar, her grin twisted with madness as she poured scorching chakra into Rin's body.
"…Then let's burn together—in hell."
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