White Fang Has Arrived

"This can't go on!"

Chiyo's face was gloomy.

"Shall we make a move?" Rasa asked.

"Don't rush, observe for now. Space-Time Ninjutsu, even I have only heard of the Second Hokage's legendary speed, but I have never witnessed them firsthand. I don't know what makes them so powerful. However, one thing is certain: a senior who was fortunate enough to witness the Second Hokage in battle and survived told me something... The number of people is meaningless in the face of a user of Space-Time Ninjutsu."

"Is besieging it... useless?"

"Yes, users of Space-Time Ninjutsu have absolute initiative, able to advance and retreat at will. You've observed for a while now; that blond brat is basically facing one person at a time. It's said to be six against one, but if you look closely, you'll find that under that brat's control, the battle is always a one-on-one situation. The blond brat has never faced an attack from more than two people."

Chiyo's tone was quite low; the clearer she saw, the more exhausted she became.

"Konoha has so many geniuses!" This wasn't the first time Chiyo had uttered such a sigh. Her spirits instantly sank, Chiyo wearily rubbed her eyes.

"······"

Rasa stood silently, riding the Gold Dust waves to the edge of the battlefield. Obeying Chiyo's orders, he did not join the melee, but used his Sand Eyes to observe and understand the characteristics of Space-Time Ninjutsu. He knew very well that his status as an observer would not last long.

Everyone was racing against time; Konoha was desperately trying to stall for time, while the Sand Village was desperately trying to gain time.

It all comes down to who's faster!

"Rasa, go around that route, let's go to Black Tail Mountain first."

Chiyo suddenly issued an order.

"Clear."

Without questioning Chiyo, Rasa manipulated the Gold Dust wave to avoid the battlefield ahead and move diagonally. From a high altitude, one could see the golden sand drawing a beautiful arc, circling behind the Minato, and rapidly surging towards Black Tail Mountain.

Minato noticed Chiyo and Rasa leaving. After a slight hesitation, he suppressed his greed. The six Jonin in front of him were already close to their limit. If two more seemingly formidable individuals joined them, the situation they had managed to maintain would easily collapse.

Golden light danced erratically in the rain, intertwining with the wind- Kunai, and a strong killing intent echoed across the plains.

On the other side.

"Wind Release: Sand Scatter Shot"

The sand bullets, each the size of a human head, were launched at extremely high speeds, streaking across the sky, wave after wave covering half the sky.

However, the silver lightning darted freely through the dense, net-like barrage of bullets, always managing to find a gap and escape safely. The thick, dense barrage tore through layers of dark clouds, yet it was helpless against the lightning-wielding Katsuki, Shukaku roared to the sky in anger, its thick tail lashing desperately at the earth.

"Flying Ninjutsu..."

Roshi, Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, stood on the lava lake, gazing up at the sky with a gloomy expression.

He hesitated, considering whether to release the Four-Tails, constantly weighing the pros and cons in his mind, unable to make up his mind. In the current situation, if he wanted to hurt Katsuki, he had to release the Four-Tails, otherwise his attack would have a hard time reaching Katsuki, who was hovering in the sky.

If it weren't for the One-Tail being here, he might have unleashed the Four-Tails without hesitation. But the One-Tail Beast is here, and this foolish tanuki is still unable to deal with Katsuki. Roshi is extremely annoyed. Shukaku's lack of success is partly due to Katsuki's formidable strength, but another reason is that the will of the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beast is still locked in a constant struggle.

Since the One-Tail Jinchuriki hadn't completely released his chains, Shukaku couldn't unleash its true power. As for this slow and indecisive Jinchuriki, Roshi wished he could drag him out and beat him up. Since he was powerless to resolve the current predicament, why not just hand it all over to the Tailed Beasts? This also made him afraid to release the Four-Tails, lest the two Tailed Beasts ignore Katsuki and start fighting amongst themselves.

The relationships between the Tailed Beasts are anything but harmonious.

As a veteran Jinchuriki, his relationship with the Four-Tails wasn't exactly friendly, but he did know a bit about them. The relationship between the Nine Tailed Beasts was definitely not friendly; they seemed to have fought each other many times.

It was precisely because of these various worries that Roshi was so depressed that he was almost going crazy.

"That's some serious skin..."

Katsuki piloted the Thunderclap Chariot, dodging Shukaku's relentless attacks and occasionally looking for opportunities to counterattack. However, so far, the results haven't been very good. Even he couldn't use the super-powerful trump card 'Great Thunderclap' multiple times in a row. His Chakra consumption was too excessive, and it would take time to recover.

Aside from the Great Thunderclap, the other Ninjutsu were practically ineffective against Shukaku, much to Katsuki's dismay. The thick hides of the Tailed Beasts were truly a headache.

This led to a vicious cycle where neither side could gain the upper hand, yet neither could ignore the other and leave the battlefield. To be precise, Katsuki was clinging to the two Jinchuriki, stubbornly maintaining the current stalemate.

Katsuki desperately wanted to defeat Shukaku and Roshi, but even with his mastery of the Lightning Release Materialization technique, he still felt powerless against such a colossal creature as the Tailed Beast.

"Fuinjutsu... an area-of-effect attack Ninjutsu. It seems I'll have to find a good opportunity to study it after this is over." Katsuki to herself, contemplating the future. Although she was somewhat disappointed that she couldn't defeat Shukaku and Roshi on her own, the overall situation was already decided.

Konoha's White Fang is here!

Today, the Stone Ninja and Suna ninjas left only the wounded and a small number of men at their main camp west of Black Tail Mountain, while the rest of their main forces were engaged in the attack on Black Tail Mountain.

"Haa~"

The Sand Ninja, who was wandering and keeping watch in the fields, couldn't help but yawn and wiped away the tears that had squeezed out of the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, though it was hard to tell whether they were tears or rain.

"How boring. There shouldn't be any enemies here, right? Why are we wandering around aimlessly?" The Sand Ninja rubbed his eyes, then perked up and started chatting with his companions.

"We have no choice but to obey orders from above." The Sand Ninja next to him shrugged, revealing a helpless expression.

"Damn it, why aren't we sent to the battlefield? Why are we being forced to patrol this godforsaken place at a time like this?" The Sand Ninja suddenly lost his temper, kicking the mud at his feet in frustration.

The other two remained silent, sharing the same thought. Growing up in the desert, the Sand Ninja were not cowards who feared death; on the contrary, their blood was already filled with violent tendencies, and they craved battle and bloodshed.

"Sizzle!"

A soft sound suddenly echoed in my ears, like the sound of water being squeezed out from the inside when a water pipe is cut.

"Huh? Why do I feel a little dizzy?"

The hissing sound grew louder, a red fountain appeared in my eyes, and a tearing pain shot through my throat.

Could it be that they were attacked...?

After that last, lingering thought surfaced in my mind, I was completely enveloped in darkness.

The three corpses lay silently in the wilderness. From birth to death, it felt like the blink of an eye, so fast that they were completely unaware.

A white-haired Konoha Ninja appeared on the road leading to the Sunagakure and Stone Ninja camps. Konoha Ninjas stepped over the corpses on the ground, desperately chasing after the illusory figure ahead. The noisy footsteps broke the silence of the rain.