It did not take long. A day later, the order for a general assault was abruptly delivered into the hands of every ninja.
Orders were as absolute as mountains. Although the ninjas were bewildered by the sudden turn in the situation, the Konoha war machine had already begun moving in earnest.
The entire Konoha Camp advanced, while White Fang led the forces lying in wait at the border in an attack on the Rain Ninja's flank.
At this point, the war erupted in full!
"Earth Release - Yomi Swamp!"
Jiraiya formed hand seals and pressed his hands against the ground. An enormous amount of chakra poured into the earth, and the fortifications and traps outside the Rain Ninja camp all sank into the soil.
Jiraiya stopped channeling chakra and secretly took a breath. As the technique dissipated, it left behind a broad, level road leading toward the Rain Ninja. From then on, nothing stood between the Rain Ninja and Konoha.
Orochimaru bit into his finger.
"Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram—Summoning Jutsu!"
"Poof!" A gigantic, triangular-headed snake with purple stripes appeared beneath Orochimaru's feet.
Manda flicked out its tongue, sensing the scent ahead. Its sinister, unruly eyes were filled with excitement. It raised its head slightly and hissed:
"Orochimaru, this is quite a grand affair. I want twenty cows afterward."
Orochimaru nodded slightly in agreement and pointed ahead with one hand. "The entire army—attack!"
Seeing the immense power of the two commanders, the ninjas behind them howled and charged after Manda.
Sheltering behind Manda's enormous body, the Konoha ninjas followed close behind, throwing ninja tools and unleashing ninjutsu. It was a shinobi-world version of combined infantry-and-tank tactics.
Manda's scales were smooth and hard. Ordinary ninja tools could not cut through them at all, and it could endure small-scale ninjutsu head-on. Large-scale ninjutsu, meanwhile, was blocked by the combined techniques unleashed by Konoha.
Under Manda's advance, the Rain Ninja's defensive line, stripped of its fortifications, was pierced in an instant.
Hanzō had no choice but to summon Ibuse as well and use it to entangle Manda.
However, Ibuse's strongest weapon—the poison gas—could not be released on a battlefield crowded with Rain Ninja. Without its poison, Ibuse could only restrain Manda.
Thus, Hanzō could only use Ibuse to charge toward Orochimaru, attempting to kill the summoner and force the summoned beast to return.
But that was exactly what Orochimaru wanted. This entire series of actions had been meant to lure Hanzō away from the battlefield.
"Clang, clang, clang!" Orochimaru exchanged only a few blows with Hanzō before instantly suffering several wounds. He could only swing his hand and summon a giant serpent to bite at Hanzō.
Hanzō smiled contemptuously. "Is this your resistance, junior?"
With a sweep of his sickle, he cleaved the giant serpent in two. Yet the moment he finished cutting it apart, Hanzō sensed that something was wrong. He lifted his foot and was about to teleport away.
"Arrogant, senior." Orochimaru changed his hand seal. "Evil Snake Arm Explosion!"
The giant serpent that had been cut in two exploded in an instant, engulfing Hanzō.
Orochimaru did not believe Hanzō could be killed by that alone. Using the blood from his wounds, he formed hand seals again. "Summoning: Array of a Thousand Snakes!"
As the smoke dispersed, Hanzō, known as the demigod of the shinobi world, looked somewhat bedraggled. Although he had teleported away from the explosion in time, he had failed to avoid the flesh and blood of the giant serpent that had been blasted apart at the start.
Foul-smelling snake flesh covered his body, and his armor smoked faintly as it corroded under the venom.
"You've angered me, brat." Hanzō did not even look at the wall of snakes closing in around him. He brought his hands together. "Water Style - Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
An enormous volume of water was summoned by Hanzō. In an instant, it swept the snakes into disarray and formed a lake. Hanzō stared coldly at Orochimaru, withdrew the chakra beneath his feet, and sank beneath the surface.
Taking advantage of the time, Orochimaru quickly treated his wounds and turned to run toward the edge of the battlefield.
Orochimaru struggled to hold on. Hanzō beneath the water was like a shark that had caught the scent of blood, pursuing him relentlessly and liable to bite off a chunk of him at any moment.
Fortunately, he was about to leave the lake's range.
Orochimaru struggled onward, yet he did not know that Hanzō was even more astonished beneath the water. He had deliberately exposed an opening to let Orochimaru widen the distance, yet that had resulted in his still being unable to finish him off.
While stealthily pursuing Orochimaru underwater, Hanzō saw him casually use Wind Release, Water Release, Summoning Jutsu, and secret techniques. At the same time, Orochimaru twisted his body and avoided several fatal attacks.
But it ended here. Hanzō's gaze turned cold. Orochimaru's battle had reminded him of the Third Hokage; their fighting styles were truly cut from the same cloth.
This boy had boundless potential. He absolutely could not be allowed to live!
"Flash!" Hanzō leaped from the water once more and charged toward Orochimaru at high speed with his blade. "It's over, junior."
"Slash!" Jiraiya held a short blade and caught Hanzō's sickle. As the short blade and sickle crossed, they threw off a string of sparks.
Jiraiya rapidly exchanged several blows on offense and defense. Arcs of electricity flickered across his body, and one slash forced Hanzō back.
"Hatake Sakumo?"
"That's right." White Fang dispelled his transformation, revealing his true appearance. He was none other than—Hatake Sakumo!
Hanzō sheathed his weapon and swiftly scanned the battlefield. On the main front, Jiraiya had summoned Gamabunta, and together with Manda, they were holding Ibuse at bay. The 1,500 Konoha ninjas were struggling somewhat against 2,000 Rain Ninja.
But at that moment, a force of 1,000 ninjas suddenly emerged from the Rain Ninja's flank and struck directly at it.
The Rain Ninja truly deserved to be a nation capable of challenging the status of the Five Great Nations. Born as mercenaries, they had received supplies from the Sand and Rock and, under Hanzō's organization, rapidly transformed into a regular army.
Faced with Konoha's two-pronged attack, the 2,000 Rain Ninja simply abandoned their formation. Both sides fought chaos with chaos, testing the quality of their respective ninjas.
The Rain Ninja's disadvantageous position was actually stabilized just like that.
Hanzō withdrew his gaze. "Hmph. Did you really think you could deal with me?"
With that, he tore off his mask and began releasing poison. Clearly, he intended to eliminate White Fang, Orochimaru, and Tsunade as quickly as possible.
Tsunade quickly treated Orochimaru's injuries, took out two pills, and gave them to White Fang and Orochimaru. At the same time, she summoned two Katsuyu, which attached themselves to the two men.
After Hatake Sakumo swallowed the pill, arcs of lightning surged across his body. He dragged out a streak of electricity and charged at Hanzō.
In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged dozens of blows.
Orochimaru stood in front of Tsunade, occasionally striking Hanzō by surprise or using ninjutsu to rescue her.
Tsunade sat cross-legged on the ground, calmly controlling Katsuyu to neutralize the poison.
"Clang, clang!" Hatake Sakumo once more wielded White Fang and clashed head-on with Hanzō several times. Then, under Orochimaru's cover, he pulled away and gained a moment to catch his breath.
He truly was the father of the Fifty-Fifty Man. Fifty-fifty really was an inherited instinct. Hatake Sakumo brought Tsunade and Orochimaru into a dead-even battle with Hanzō.
But they were already nearing their limit. During a high-intensity Taijutsu battle, their breathing had to be rapid and frequent. As the poison continued to accumulate, Tsunade found it increasingly difficult to suppress it.
Originally, White Fang could fight for three minutes with Orochimaru's cover before taking a breather, allowing Orochimaru to restrict Hanzō with ninjutsu while Tsunade hurriedly neutralized the poison.
But now he could only last one minute. The chain reaction left both Tsunade and Orochimaru feeling their chakra running dry.
Just as the situation was about to collapse, cheers from the Konoha ninjas suddenly rang out across the battlefield.
They were accompanied by the suddenly increasing cries of agony from the Rain Ninja.
Hanzō turned his head, and his pupils immediately contracted.
The ceremonial robe billowed in the wind. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi—had! ar! rived! on! the! battlefield!
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