Duel with Chiyo

On the day the meeting ended, the Konoha Ninja rested and recuperated.

The next day, the Konoha Ninja mobilized in full force. Hiruzen Sarutobi led four thousand ninja straight toward Amegakure.

Orochimaru led a thousand ninja to set up defenses and ambushes along the only route from the Sunagakure camp to Amegakure.

Only a small number of ninja remained behind to guard the camp. With a barrier protecting it, only a few ninja were needed for maintenance.

Within Amegakure, Hanzō was speaking with someone. After pouring the person across from him a cup of cappuccino, he said:

"Let me tell you, Amegakure has seventeen defensive lines now! Who could possibly break through them?!

If anyone dares to come knocking at our door right now, I'll eat this table on the spot!"

The moment Hanzō finished speaking, a shrill alarm sounded outside...

"Doo~~ doo~~"

It was the alarm signaling that Amegakure was under attack...

"Bad news! Konoha Ninja have attacked the village!"

An Amegakure ninja shouted from outside.

Hanzō and the person across from him stared at each other with their green eyes for a moment. Then Hanzō looked down at the table in front of him, and an idea struck him.

Smack!

Hanzō suddenly slammed his palm down, shattering the table into pieces.

"I'd like to see who dares to tug Amegakure's tiger whiskers."

Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed his Sickle and strode outside. Yet no matter how one looked at it, his retreating figure carried the air of someone fleeing in disgrace, as though he had been humiliated off the air.

The person across from him blinked his tiny green eyes in a daze, then followed him out.

Perhaps there was another deal to be made this time.

Meanwhile, when Chiyo received intelligence that Hiruzen Sarutobi was leading a large force of Konoha Ninja toward Amegakure, she gathered a group of Sunagakure ninja and prepared to head out in support.

When the Sunagakure force arrived beneath a valley, Chiyo looked at the empty valley and could not help but sneer.

Mashaki, Sunagakure's newly promoted Jōnin, was clearly quite sensible and perceptive. He stepped forward to play along.

"Elder, why are you laughing?"

Chiyo replied:

"I laugh at Hiruzen's lack of strategy and Danzo's lack of wit. If they attacked Amegakure to lure us into reinforcing it, this is the only place they could set an ambush to stop us."

The moment she finished speaking, countless ninjutsu rained down from both sides of the valley, throwing the Sunagakure formation into disarray. Jiraiya and Tsunade immediately led portions of their forces charging down from the cliffs on either side.

With a wave of Chiyo's hands, a thick cloud of poison mist drifted out.

However, not only had the Sunagakure ninja taken antidotes in advance and remained unaffected, but so had the Konoha Ninja.

Earlier, Tsunade had already deciphered the various poisons Chiyo commonly used from samples collected on the battlefield, then made antidotes and had this thousand-man ninja force take them in advance.

Seeing that they had been attacked, Chiyo took out a sealing scroll and summoned puppets, preparing to charge forward and fight.

"Wind Release: Wind Blade Technique."

Orochimaru formed hand seals with one hand and released a fierce gale from his palm. It not only dispersed the poison mist, but also sent countless Wind Blades slicing toward Chiyo.

"Puppet Technique: Mechanism Shield Seal."

A shield formed from Chakra appeared around the puppet before Chiyo. Though it blocked the Wind Blades, the puppet was still damaged.

For a ninjutsu of this level of power, the enemy was no weakling!

Chiyo looked at the pale-skinned young man before her and recognized him—Orochimaru, the Third Hokage's disciple.

From the day Orochimaru became the Third Hokage's disciple, his information had been placed on the desks of every village's higher-ups.

Chiyo had initially assumed that someone capable of using Wind Release at this level was Danzo, but she had never expected it to be Hiruzen Sarutobi's young disciple.

Though Orochimaru was young, that move alone showed that his strength had already reached the level of a Kage.

An opponent of this level was worthy of Chiyo using the trump card in her hand.

"White Secret Technique: Chikamatsu Ten Puppets."

The Chikamatsu Ten Puppets were the masterpieces of Monzaemon, the ancestor of puppetry.

With these ten puppets, Chiyo was confident that she could contend with every powerful ninja in the Shinobi World.

"Puppet Technique: Bind."

A blue-faced puppet extended two iron whips from above its head in an attempt to restrain him, only for them to be entangled by several large snakes.

This was Shadow Snake Hand, Orochimaru's signature ninjutsu.

At the same time, a female puppet rushed forward wielding two large blades, while the other puppets attacked from different angles.

However, the attack was blocked by a massive purple snake Orochimaru had summoned.

"Roar!" Manda howled in pain after being struck.

"Damn you, Orochimaru! This time, a hundred sacrifices won't be enough to settle this!"

Standing atop Manda's head, Orochimaru did not reply. Instead, he continued attacking Chiyo with ninjutsu.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation."

"Wind Release: Divine Wind."

The combined Wind and Fire Release created a magnificent sea of flames that surged toward Chiyo.

"What a powerful brat!"

Chiyo felt somewhat bitter.

Konoha had already produced a formidable White Fang, and now there was Orochimaru as well. Meanwhile, the two successors Sunagakure had cultivated had already been killed.

"Three Treasures Crushing Wave!"

Chiyo went all out, directly unleashing her ultimate technique to break through the sea of flames and charge at Orochimaru.

Manda had already received Orochimaru's orders and headed to the main battlefield to vent his anger, leaving Orochimaru without his meat shield.

"Summoning Technique: Triple Rashomon."

Orochimaru formed hand seals and slammed his hands onto the ground. Three enormous Rashomon gates rose before him, blocking Chiyo's attack.

The clash of ninjutsu between these two Kage-level powerhouses covered an immense area. No one dared approach them.

Orochimaru's mission today was to hold Chiyo back.

That way, Sunagakure would sooner or later be routed by the Konoha Ninja led by Tsunade and Jiraiya.

Amegakure battlefield.

The Third Hokage was having a difficult time.

A Green-Eyed Takigakure Missing-Nin had suddenly appeared on the other side. He was immensely powerful, and with him joining forces with Hanzō, the Third Hokage could only barely hold them off.

Meanwhile, many of the subordinates he had brought had been caught in the enemy's ninjutsu. Hanzō's poisonous mist in particular was a problem. Once the medicine developed by Tsunade wore off, it would likely cause massive casualties.

"Who exactly are you?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the green-eyed man before him, hoping to draw some information from him while buying time.

At the same time, one hand behind his back quietly made signals, ordering someone to notify Orochimaru and have him come reinforce them.

"Speak my name, and you'll be frightened. I am Kakuzu, the bounty hunter who once fought your First Hokage."

The Third Hokage thought he was bragging. The man was indeed strong—aside from himself and Orochimaru, he was the first person Hiruzen Sarutobi had ever seen wield Five-Attribute Ninjutsu with such mastery.

But fight the First Hokage and still survive at that level? Did you throw a shuriken from eight hundred miles away or something?

Yet Kakuzu's words made Hanzō cast him a sidelong glance. If someone like this joined Amegakure, he might threaten Hanzō's position.

"He's stalling for time! Kakuzu, I'll add another Ten Million Ryō. Go all out and capture Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

"Only another Ten Million Ryō for a Hokage? Not enough. That's far too little. Who do you think you're looking down on? Pay up! At least Thirty Million Ryō."

Kakuzu instinctively began haggling.

"Name your price. As long as you capture Hiruzen Sarutobi, any amount is fine. But if you fail to capture him, there's nothing to discuss!"

"How much did Hanzō pay you? This old man will offer double!"

The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his mouth, it was obvious he was filthy rich. Konoha's next batch of supplies would arrive soon enough—Thirty Million Ryō was nothing.

Hanzō felt pained on his behalf. If that money were spent in Amegakure, how many Rain Ninja could it train?

"As a bounty hunter, I'm a man of integrity. But after I capture you, you can use that money to hire me to rescue you."

Kakuzu was somewhat tempted, but in his line of work, integrity was everything.

Still, Hiruzen Sarutobi was offering too much, so he came up with this less-than-ideal solution to satisfy both sides.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. It seemed they still had to fight.

The battle erupted once more. The collision of Five-Attribute Ninjutsu and the clash between the sickle and Gilded Staff displayed the ferocity of the fight.

At the valley battlefield.

"Rending Ground Kick!"

Tsunade sent a White Puppet flying with a kick. It became lodged in one of the valley walls, clearly smashed beyond repair.

"Toad Flame Oil Bomb!"

Jiraiya's ninjutsu shot toward Chiyo, only to be blocked by an Ox-Head Puppet using a Chakra shield.

After several leaps, Jiraiya and Tsunade landed beside Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru, the Communication Toad brought news. Something has happened on Old Man's side. We need to head over and support him as soon as possible."

As the smoke dispersed, the situation on the battlefield gradually became clear.

Most of Sunagakure's experts had been dealt with by Tsunade and Jiraiya. At this moment, the three massive Summoning Beasts—Manda, Gamabunta, and Slug—were rampaging across the battlefield. Sunagakure's defeat was already certain.

Chiyo looked at the three young people before her. Orochimaru had fought her to nearly a draw earlier. If two more youths with strength close to Kage-level joined in, she would probably be left behind as well.

She stamped her foot and gritted her teeth, deciding to lead the Sunagakure ninja in retreat first.

As Sunagakure fell back in defeat, Mito Uzumaki and the other Konoha Ninja were preparing to press their advantage, but Orochimaru stopped them.

"Lord Orochimaru, why are you stopping us? And Lady Tsunade, Lord Jiraiya, why are you..."

A ninja asked in confusion.

"Something has happened to the Third Hokage. We leave immediately to reinforce the main force! All Konoha Ninja, the wounded will remain behind to clean up the battlefield. Everyone else, depart at once!"

"Yes!"

Under Tsunade and Jiraiya's leadership, the Konoha Ninja on this battlefield had not suffered too many casualties. After all, with Tsunade's Slug present, it was hard to die even if one wanted to.

Most of the Konoha Ninja had been taken out of action due to injuries; few had truly died. More than eight hundred still retained combat ability. As for Sunagakure, of the nearly two thousand reinforcements they had sent, a conservative estimate put the dead at over five hundred, with even more injured. Orochimaru estimated that fewer than a thousand remained capable of fighting.

With Orochimaru's order given, the eight hundred ninja rushed toward Amegakure.