He Flees, They Pursue! He...

"Hey, you old puppet hag! What did you call this old man here for?"

The two sides were still nominally allies, but Sunagakure had originally intended to invade the Land of Rain as well. Naturally, Hanzo had no kind words for Chiyo.

"Hmph! You old man with a breathing tube! Watch your mouth!"

In truth, Hanzo had already guessed that Sunagakure had some plan targeting Konohagakure and needed him, their ally, to cooperate.

"Just say what you want."

Hanzo's tone softened slightly. Constantly bickering from the moment they met would not make for easy cooperation.

"This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi grew overconfident and advanced rashly. We could have crushed Konohagakure completely, but an unexpected variable appeared and led to this outcome! Since it is a variable, we will find a way to eliminate it!"

Chiyo spoke coldly.

No matter what, Orochimaru's presence on Konohagakure's side was bound to have a significant impact on them.

"You intend to make a move against Orochimaru? He is no weakling. What do you plan to do?"

Hanzo was somewhat curious. In a one-on-one battle, Kage-level experts were difficult to kill. Even when outnumbered, an ordinary Kage-level fighter could usually carve out a bloody path to escape.

Unless they had resolved to die, like the Second Hokage who stayed behind to cover the retreat; the Third Raikage, who in the original timeline would later fight ten thousand enemies alone; or the Fourth Hokage, who used the Reaper Death Seal to perish together with his enemy.

Or unless their escape route had been cut off, like the Fourth Kazekage, who was trapped in the Four Violet Flames Formation and then killed.

The Third Hokage had been rather unlucky—both applied to him.

Kakuzu had already fled with his bucket, leaving only Hanzo and Chiyo on their side as Kage-level fighters, matching the enemy's numbers.

With both sides supported by sizable shinobi forces, it would be difficult to secure a kill.

"The Kazekage has already brought reinforcements to the front lines. When the time comes, we will find an opportunity to lure Orochimaru out. The Third Kazekage will hold back Hiruzen Sarutobi. Then, you and I will join forces and kill Orochimaru! Since Konohagakure has killed this old woman's son and daughter-in-law, then Konohagakure should not expect to get off easy either!"

Chiyo's previously calm tone gradually became agitated, and by the final sentence, she was roaring.

Chiyo's plan proceeded smoothly. She and Hanzo felt as though they could already see the dawn of victory.

"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"

After a wall of earth rose before Orochimaru and blocked Hanzo's Water Release attack, he immediately used the Substitution Technique to leave without the slightest pause.

The next instant, all that remained was a wooden post riddled with poison needles from Chiyo's puppet.

Orochimaru was being pursued by Hanzo and Chiyo.

At that moment, the Third Hokage was held back by the Third Kazekage, who had suddenly appeared on the Land of Rain battlefield, and could not break away.

No one had expected the Third Kazekage, who had been leading shinobi troops to guard the Land of Wind's coastline against an attack from the Land of Water, to appear here.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the others were also besieged by the experts brought by the Third Kazekage and had fallen into a bitter battle.

Clearly, the Third Kazekage shared the Third Hokage's thinking: concentrate their superior forces and swiftly resolve the war quagmire that was the Land of Rain.

Orochimaru had not expected that he would be ambushed while merely leading a team out to receive logistical supplies. The shinobi traveling with him had all died.

Clearly, either someone among their higher-ups or someone in logistics had leaked the information.

Fortunately, it was not Tsunade or Jiraiya who had led the team out.

After all, when it came to escaping and staying alive, even a hundred Tsunades and Jiraiyas combined could not compare to him.

Orochimaru was confident that unless a shinobi on Madara Uchiha's level personally intervened, no one could keep him here.

Give him a few more years, and even the Sage of Six Paths would not be able to drag him off to the Pure Land.

Orochimaru had that confidence.

Chiyo and Hanzo of the Salamander's joint pursuit was indeed terrifying.

Chiyo's puppets feared neither death nor injury. To escape, one first had to break out of the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu's encirclement.

And even if one managed to escape, Hanzo—whose Body Flicker Technique had reached the pinnacle—would catch up.

Then the arriving Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu would surround them once more.

If it were any other Kage-level fighter, unless they possessed strength at the Peak Kage-level like the Third Hokage, they would likely find it difficult to escape such a pursuit.

After all, not everyone had an immortal body like Kakuzu and Hidan.

As Orochimaru fled, he analyzed the situation on the main battlefield.

The Third Kazekage was a relatively powerful Kage-level fighter and was also a summoning contract holder of Ryūchi Cave.

Aside from his Sand Iron bloodline limit, he also had a giant snake named Garaga. That snake was likely even somewhat stronger than Manda.

If the Third Hokage and Third Kazekage canceled each other out, their side still had two great generals, Tsunade and Jiraiya. As long as they could bring out Tsunade's advantages as a healer.

In a war of attrition, they held an absolute advantage.

For now, they had merely been caught off guard by the enemy. Once they reacted and stabilized their footing, Konohagakure had a strong chance of turning defeat into victory.

Orochimaru was confident he could retreat unscathed, so he gradually formed a plan for what came next:

He would lure the two away from the main battlefield, then slip away once enough time had passed and decide what to do afterward.

But as he ran, he suddenly spotted a vaguely familiar figure ahead...

Wasn't that... Kakuzu, the elderly wage slave!

Orochimaru was delighted. He immediately changed direction and casually tossed down a small snake, which slithered toward Kakuzu.

He had already made his plan. He would draw those two away, then once Kakuzu received his bounty, he would turn around and join Kakuzu in a pincer attack!

"Is this... business coming to my door?"

Kakuzu picked up the sticky scroll spat out by the little snake and opened it. Inside was a sealed scroll. The amount was...

One, two, three... a full seven zeroes! A big deal worth thirty million ryo!

There was also a note containing Orochimaru's tactical arrangements:

"Three li southeast. Help me defeat Chiyo and Hanzo. Seriously injure one, and the price doubles. Kill one, and I'll add another hundred million ryo!"

"!!!! Orochimaru is this rich? Who knew this guy was such a filthy rich bastard!"

Kakuzu was somewhat excited and decided to see whether he could take on more jobs from Orochimaru in the future.

There was a reason Orochimaru could throw around hundreds of millions so casually.

When he had received the logistical supplies earlier, the ninja delivering the sealed scrolls had been killed by Hanzo and Chiyo. Orochimaru could only tearfully loot the bodies.

The scrolls contained enormous amounts of strategic supplies: crates upon crates of Explosive Tags, and mountains of Kunai, Senbon, and Shuriken.

Orochimaru had seen Explosive Tags packed in crates before, but this was truly his first time seeing Soldier Pills packed in sacks. The entire batch of supplies would be worth over a hundred million on the Black Market.

All he had to do afterward was pin the blame on Chiyo and Hanzo.

After receiving feedback from his Summoning Beast, Orochimaru immediately led the old duo, Hanzo and Chiyo, on another two-minute detour before arriving at the agreed location with Kakuzu.

While fleeing, he could not keep moving in a straight line. Though that would be the shortest route, it would also make it easier for the enemy to spot flaws.

Seeing Orochimaru suddenly stop ahead of them, Hanzo and Chiyo did not dare act rashly.

Who knew what medicine this guy was selling? Along the way, the two had been numbed by Orochimaru's endless tricks.

Traps were nothing. Poison in traps was nothing either—they often did that themselves. But putting shit in traps was just plain wrong, Orochimaru!

And there had been even more outrageous things. Halfway through running, he had transformed into Hanzo in women's clothing, or Chiyo in a swimsuit. Every ridiculous trick imaginable had been used!

It was practically mental pollution!

At first, Hanzo and Chiyo had held back somewhat when facing Orochimaru's attacks, afraid that he had some abnormal trick up his sleeve. But the longer they fought, the more fired up they became.

Once they realized Orochimaru was no longer using those bizarre techniques, they gradually stopped holding back and began fighting with everything they had.

Orochimaru charged at Chiyo without regard for his life, completely adopting a wound-for-wound style of fighting.

Both Chiyo and Hanzo believed Orochimaru was making the last struggle of a cornered beast. A Kage-level expert who fought without regard for his life was still extremely dangerous.

Though Hanzo of the Salamander and Chiyo were temporarily cooperating, they belonged to different factions and were not truly of one mind.

Thus, Hanzo of the Salamander began avoiding Orochimaru as much as possible and did not dare get too close to Chiyo, lest he be caught in the crossfire.

"Got you!"

After enormous effort, Orochimaru was covered in blood. Looking at Chiyo before him, he became so excited that he stuck out his tongue and licked his face again.

"Hmph, Orochimaru, are your injuries so severe that you damaged your brain as well?"

As a puppeteer, Chiyo's taijutsu was not weak, but she was definitely not among the best at the Kage-level.

Therefore, she always had a Minotaur Puppet guarding her. It was the very puppet currently tangling with Orochimaru. Its attacks might not have been particularly powerful, but it was truly thick-skinned and tough, exceptionally hard to take down.

But Orochimaru had done it on purpose.

Pfft!

Chiyo suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Kakuzu had used Earth Release to hide underground. Only after the Minotaur Puppet, Chiyo's final line of defense, had been drawn away did he suddenly strike from beneath.

That was also why Kakuzu had chosen Chiyo rather than Hanzo.

If he had chosen Hanzo, then with Hanzo's close-combat ability, he might well have reacted in time.

For a swordsmanship expert like Hanzo, his own formidable close-combat strength was his final line of defense.

"Orochimaru was right. We really did catch you, sixty-million-ryo old hag."

In addition to "puppet old hag," the nickname Hanzo used for her, Chiyo gained yet another new nickname.

Thirty million ryo as the base price, doubled for seriously injuring one—exactly sixty million ryo.

Enduring an attack from the Kusanagi Sword, the Minotaur Puppet finally rushed back to Chiyo's side and blocked Kakuzu's assault.

However, one of the Minotaur Puppet's arms had already vanished. It had been cut off by the Kusanagi Sword.

But Chiyo had already been beaten so badly by Kakuzu that she could barely stand.

Earth Release: Earth Spear provided an enormous boost in close-quarters combat.

Only then did Hanzō hurriedly arrive at Chiyo's side, watching the two men warily.

Orochimaru had looked rather ferocious just now, relentlessly pursuing Chiyo as if he did not care about his own life.

To avoid being injured by the frenzied Orochimaru, he had run a little too far and arrived too late. In that short span of time, Chiyo had ended up taking the brunt of it.