"Damn, I nearly suffocated. Avoiding the Byakugan's detection really wasn't easy... Digging through the ground like rats, hiding for so long."
The many Stone Shinobi emerging from underground all revealed savage grins.
Kurotsuchi, who was fending off Orochimaru's attacks, also showed a cold smile. "Orochimaru of Konoha, you really are strong—but unfortunately, you didn't bring enough men. You might die here today!"
For this ambush, Iwagakure had gone to great lengths.
First, they deliberately leaked information about the vanguard to Konoha, then charged into the Land of Grass from the front, allowing Konoha to roughly gauge the vanguard's overall combat strength and deploy a corresponding force.
Then Iwagakure quietly sent out around thirty elite shinobi, having them travel in different directions under the guise of accepting missions. After completing those missions, they converged at the border of the Land of Fire.
Because they had been dispatched in batches and used missions as cover, even if Konoha's scouts noticed them, they would not attach great importance to the movements of one or two shinobi squads or relay the intelligence.
Once those squads finally gathered, they formed a formidable elite force. More than half were Jonin, and four among them were Elite Jonin of Iwagakure!
The purpose of this mission was to inflict devastating losses upon Konoha's vanguard!
And thereby seize the advantage in the early stages of the war!
"..."
A strange gleam flashed through Orochimaru's snake-like eyes.
There were around thirty elite Stone Shinobi, roughly half of them Jonin. It was impossible for such an elite force to move without causing any stir, yet Konoha had received no intelligence whatsoever about them!
In other words, the Stone Shinobi had indeed put considerable thought into creating this situation.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
The next moment, three Elite Jonin landed around Orochimaru.
Together