Time passed. A few hours before dawn, violent sounds suddenly erupted from the direction of Sandstorm Town.
The thunderous rumbling resembled a rainstorm, but the Land of Wind only saw rain a few times a year. That meant the commotion could only have been caused by Exploding Tags.
"Just how many Exploding Tags did Lord Orochimaru use? He didn't use every Exploding Tag we brought for this surprise attack, did he?"
Hyuga Mirai wiped away cold sweat that did not exist. Their ambush site was over ten kilometers from Sandstorm Town, yet they could still hear such a huge disturbance and vaguely see the firelight reflecting against the sky.
"Who knows? But the Suna-nin are definitely in trouble. I wonder how many will flee in our direction."
Hyuga Kiyomi clenched her fists, her tone eager. She hoped to encounter a few powerful Suna-nin. She had spent the past two days fighting small fry, and her Gentle Fist had barely had a chance to shine.
"Probably not many. The Suna-nin might suffer a major loss, but they definitely won't collapse and flee."
Hyuga Mirai explained as he kept his Byakugan activated, observing the activity eight kilometers away.
The Suna-nin had over a thousand Ninja in Sandstorm Town. Even if they were caught completely off guard and suffered badly, they would not be routed across the board.
Orochimaru's strategy was to make the Suna-nin swallow a bitter pill before the war even began. Put plainly, Konoha was trading its reputation for starting the war first for Suna-nin casualties.
"If any Suna-nin head this way, they're most likely Jonin returning to Sunagakure to deliver news. Kiyomi, you may have Chunin-level strength, but there's still a gap between you and a Jonin. You don't think you can fight Captain Kaminari Kaede now, do you?"