Uchiha Shigure saw everything and directly shot a shuriken at Ebizo.
Ebizo, naturally, dodged it swiftly.
Shigure was merely trying to attract Ebizo's attention.
"Your Sand Hidden Village's vanguard foolishly tried to occupy the entire Land of Rivers. If I hadn't been here this time, Orochimaru might have truly suppressed you by holding strong, just as you predicted. But what you never expected was—!"
"I, Uchiha Shigure, am the overall commander of this war! I have already designed a way to cut off your vanguard's retreat, and judging by the time, they should have already been wiped out, right?! Remember my name! I am the one who defeated your Sand Hidden Village!" Shigure used his words to once again strike at the Sand Hidden ninjas' confidence.
"Don't listen to him! He's trying to make us lose confidence!" Ebizo tried his best to boost morale, then said, "Find a way! Rescue Chiyo!"
"Even if it costs me my life!" Ebizo said firmly, seemingly ready to fight to the death.
"It seems that if we take you and Chiyo down, then this battle will be a victory," Shigure then said, "Kakuzu, switch! You handle the Sand ninjas! I'll handle Ebizo!"
"You want to take me down! It won't be that easy!" Ebizo charged directly at Shigure, simultaneously forming hand signs quickly.
"Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm!" Ebizo directly struck with a palm.
"A ninjutsu of this level, I don't even need to defend against it." Shigure chose to take the hit directly. Don't forget, Shigure still had his White Dragon Scale Armor under his clothes.
"Bang!" The Violent Wind Palm struck Shigure, having no effect whatsoever.
"How is that possible!?" Ebizo looked incredulous.
"There's something even more impossible!" Shigure leaped up directly, then stomped heavily on the ground with one foot.
"Painful Heaven Foot!" Shigure roared.
"Kaba!"
The entire ground shook violently, and the earth split in two, forming an extremely deep rift valley.
"This... Shigure's strength is too exaggerated!" Hyūga Hizashi defeated a Sand Hidden ninja with one palm, then his attention was also drawn.
"Rotation!" Kurenai deflected the shuriken attack and also saw the large rift valley on the ground.
"This guy... this kind of strength probably surpasses normal humans, right? Is this Sage Mode?" Kusuo Hatake also speculated.
"Ash Rush!" Kusuo continued the battle while surprised, his chakra also being replenished by Katsuyu.
Ebizo, on the other hand, faced Shigure's Painful Heaven Foot head-on and nearly fell into the rift valley.
"Sand Hidden! Ebizo! You have already lost! Are you still not surrendering?!" Shigure asked again.
"We... haven't lost!" Ebizo remained stubborn, planning to hold out.
"In that case! We don't need to hold back, do we, Shigure!" A hoarse and cold voice appeared.
"You are!? The Sannin Orochimaru!?" When Ebizo saw the overwhelming numbers of Leaf ninjas, he knew that the vanguard had already been completely annihilated.
"Orochimaru, it seems things are over on your side?" Shigure asked.
"Yes! With the threat resolved, there's no need to hold our ground. I've brought all of the Leaf's main forces from the western front. The Sand Hidden Village will no longer have any chance of turning the tables," Orochimaru said.
"Come with me! Let's eliminate the remaining Sand Hidden ninjas!" Orochimaru was indeed an excellent ninja, leading from the front, fierce in battle, and strategic, arriving with the main Leaf forces at a crucial moment.
The pressure on Hizashi, Kusuo Hatake, Kurenai, and the others further decreased. Although both sides were main forces, now, the disparity in troop strength and morale was extremely vast.
Moreover, on the Leaf's side, Shigure, Orochimaru, and Kakuzu possessed at least three Kage-level powerhouses.
As for the Sand Hidden Village, Ebizo was exhausted from resisting, and Chiyo had all five of her senses completely restricted, leaving her with no ability to resist whatsoever.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Ebizo was utterly helpless. At the cost of several ninja squads' lives, he rescued Chiyo and consolidated their forces, retreating southwest.
Shigure had no intention of pursuing, but to his surprise, Orochimaru's thoughts once again diverged from his own.
"All Leaf ninjas! Pursue the victory!" Orochimaru then wanted to use this opportunity to push all the way to Ichisen-ten, but was immediately stopped by Shigure.
"Don't pursue a cornered enemy! We must build another camp on the foundation of the Sand Hidden Village's main base, otherwise it will be detrimental to the upcoming battles," Shigure said.
"Where is there time to build a stronghold? If we don't seize this opportunity, the Sand Hidden Village might make a comeback!" Orochimaru also rejected Shigure's suggestion.
"Orochimaru! I am the overall commander of this war! Which means I am your superior! Are you going to defy orders?!" Shigure, left with no choice, pulled out the token in his hand. Orochimaru snorted coldly, then relented.
"Don't be careless! I understand the Sand Hidden Village's strength better than anyone! Don't be fooled by us breaking through the Sand Hidden front-line command post. The Sand Hidden Village's true strength is far greater than this. If we rush in carelessly and our retreat is cut off, we will be surrounded until death," Shigure painstakingly advised.
He then began to search for a suitable location nearby to serve as a command post, ordering his subordinate ninjas to establish a stronghold and construct defensive fortifications, barely managing to connect the Leaf's supply lines completely.
"This way, our ninjas will not lack food, water, or weapons." As the saying goes, soldiers and horses move, provisions go first. Being prepared for danger in times of peace, repelling the Sand Hidden Village's attack and driving them back to their lair is easy, but destroying a ninja village is not—and most importantly, it offers no benefit and risks being besieged by other ninja villages.
Just as Shigure felt that the entire army was ready and preparing to launch the next phase of the war against the Sand, Shigure discovered something unexpected and utterly speechless.
"What did you say?! Orochimaru? Has already led his troops to actively attack Ichisen-ten?!" Shigure hadn't expected Orochimaru to be so impatient. Logically, Orochimaru had always sought stability before, so why was he so eager for success now?
"Has victory blinded him? How many ninjas did he take?" Shigure asked his subordinate jōnin.
"About three-tenths. Those are ninja units extremely loyal to Orochimaru," the jōnin said.
"What a shame... In this case, we can only grit our teeth and go, otherwise Orochimaru will have his supplies cut off and will surely fail. Sigh, it's fate, there's nothing we can do. This unit of ours will lose the best opportunity to fight against the Sand Hidden Village! But at least we should be able to rescue Orochimaru and some ninjas." Shigure also prepared for the worst.
Even though Shigure and Orochimaru had eliminated so many enemies, the situation was different now. Because of Orochimaru's eagerness for quick success, Shigure suddenly became quite passive.
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