Sand Ninja Attack

The moon was bright and the stars sparse, a clear moon shining for a thousand miles. Under the pristine moonlight, an army of pitch-black figures advanced in silence.

"Is Amegakure in position?" Chiyo asked.

"In position, sister," Ebizo replied.

Chiyo was still a middle-aged beauty who could be called the Flower of Shinobi at this time, her sharp edges and temperament not yet worn smooth by successive griefs into the cunning old woman she would become by the time of the main story.

Thinking back on it now, Tsunade and Chiyo—these two women who had clashed head-on during the Ninja War—shared such similar fates.

Konoha, still recuperating, likely never imagined that at this very moment, the previously silent Sand Shinobi would suddenly circle around behind them.

Although the Sand had opened a new Fire-Wind Battlefield, the forces stationed in the Land of Rain remained motionless, and they had even dispatched the Chiyo siblings to command that army.

All for the sake of this very situation.

The Sand needed the Land of Rain battlefield to become a quagmire, ceaselessly draining Konoha's energy, thereby gaining an advantage on the main front.

The thousand men led by the Chiyo siblings were the elite of the elite. The ratio of Puppeteers to ordinary shinobi even reached one to one.

Their combat doctrine was for ordinary shinobi to protect the Puppeteers, allowing the Puppeteers to maximize their output.

A single Puppeteer typically had three puppets—one or two in regular use, and one as backup.

Calculated that way, this thousand-man force could even be considered twenty-five hundred.

Konoha Rear Outpost.

"Hah... ahh..." The Chunin on watch let out a long yawn.

"Stay sharp. Someone might come," his companion warned.

"How could they?" The Chunin pointed at the sky. "Who would launch a sneak attack in weather like this? With the moon this bright tonight, you can see clearly for ten miles."

"True, but let's be careful anyway. Just in case."

"Fine."

Urged by his companion, the Chunin focused his eyes on the distance. But the night was too quiet—so quiet there wasn't a single sound.

He stared into the distance, his mind gradually drifting, entering what we call a daze.

Pft. A faint sound rang in his ear.

He snapped awake. "What—"

Crack. His neck was twisted with brutal force. In his dying, unseeing eyes, the footsteps of the Sand Anbu faded silently away, just like this silent night.

This scene played out at multiple posts of the Konoha Rear Outpost.

But assassination was a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. Konoha still caught on.

"Ahhh!!!" A bloodcurdling scream tore through the night sky.

The alarm bell rang. Konoha shinobi scrambled to their feet and rushed to meet the enemy.

But it was too late. The Sand forces had already pushed to the outskirts of the Konoha Camp.

The sound of crossbow mechanisms rang out.

Kunai, shuriken, Explosive Tags, Fuma Shuriken, poison needles, senbon.

They poured out like a tide from all kinds of puppets. The overwhelming firepower instantly shattered Konoha's hastily organized defensive line.

Screams filled the air.

In that moment, the lethal power of the Puppeteers was on full display.

This time, the Sand had traveled light and couldn't bring large-scale weapons, so they had specially mass-produced a batch of Ninja Tool Throwing Puppets to ensure sufficient firepower.

In a short time, the high-density, high-intensity barrage—like a submachine gun just introduced to the battlefield—tore through Konoha's positions. The scattered defensive jutsu rising here and there in the Konoha Camp were utterly useless.

"Where's Lady Tsunade? Lord Jiraiya? Lord Orochimaru?" a Konoha shinobi cried in panic.

His comrades had died in the blink of an eye, and he was terrified out of his wits. A rapidly advancing puppet cut him down.

"Those lords you speak of were wiped out in the first wave, hahahaha!" a Sand shinobi laughed heartily.

"Summoning Jutsu: Toad Flatness Jutsu!"

Before the laughter faded, a giant toad fell from the sky. The Sand's offensive ground to a halt. Gamaken swung his steel fork, constantly blocking the Sand's advance.

At the same time, a giant snake and a giant slug appeared in the midst of the Sand formation.

The appearance of three giant summoned beasts immediately stalled the Sand's assault.

Giant summoned beasts were generally rare and invaluable in large-scale wars, and for Konoha to bring out three at once was significant.

But the Sand weren't pushovers either. Due to Shukaku's unstable seal and frequent breakouts, they had accumulated enough experience dealing with large creatures.

Three Sealing Squads stepped forward, skillfully using various ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu to tangle with the three massive lumps of flesh.

Manda and Gamaken were plagued by all sorts of restrictive jutsu.

The Slug didn't wait for the Sand to restrict it. Seeing the jutsu flying toward it, it shook its body, split into countless smaller slugs, and followed Tsunade's orders to search for the wounded.

The sudden appearance of the three giant summoned beasts quickly eased Konoha's situation, halting the Sand's blitz and giving Konoha a chance to catch their breath.

The three Sannin swiftly organized a counterattack at the center of the camp.

Heavenly Foot! Monster Strength Fist!

Tsunade cleared the Sand Ninja around her with a few quick strikes.

"Activate Battlefield Medical Plan D!"

At Tsunade's command, two teams from the Barrier Team arrived and erected four curved pillars around her.

Battlefield Medical Plan D was a strategy centered on Tsunade. Using the Slug's chakra-conducting properties, Chakra Conduction Amplification Pillars were set up around her.

At the same time, a squad of elite medical ninjas moved in, channeling Medical Chakra through the Magic Array for Tsunade to draw upon.

Barriers rose at the edge of the camp, and the Slugs each attached themselves to a Konoha ninja.

The strongest medical ninja in the ninja world activated her full aura, becoming a fountain of life. Konoha's sustained combat capability skyrocketed exponentially.

The Sand Ninja noticed this too. Though their initial surprise attack had inflicted heavy casualties on Konoha, the appearance of three giant summoning beasts gave Konoha a backbone. Once those strange Slugs attached themselves, the fighting spirit of Konoha's ninjas surged rapidly.

Now the Sand Ninja's offensive had slowed. Both sides faced off across the center of the Konoha Camp, divided like a river and a boundary.

"Sister, this won't work. We need to deal with Tsunade first," Ebizo said.

"Yes, I noticed. That distant, powerful chakra reaction is why the Konoha ninjas keep getting healed."

"Order the troops to push toward the center. Take out Tsunade first."

"Notify the Rain Ninja. They can move now."

The Sand Ninja shifted formation into an Arrow Formation, charging straight at Tsunade in the middle of the battlefield.

This played right into Orochimaru's hands.

Orochimaru arranged his forces in a Wild Goose Formation, forming a V-shape with the flanks attacking and the center holding.

It was a race to see whether the Sand Ninja would break Konoha's center first, or Konoha's flanks would annihilate the Sand Ninja first.

In front of the Konoha Camp.

Hanzō's trusted subordinate, Yoshikawa Daichi, asked, "Lord Hanzō, aren't we joining the attack?"

Hanzō shook his head.

"I've seen it clearly now. In the eyes of the great nations, the Land of Fire is a threat, but still an equal. The Land of Rain is not. They don't want to see the Land of Rain rise."

"The Iwagakure and Sand Ninja are both counting on us to fight Konoha to the death. They want to use us as a blade, and then see us die."

Yoshikawa Daichi was confused. "But my lord, this is our chance to eliminate Konoha!"

"No, Yoshikawa, you're wrong. Konoha's potential is beyond our reach. Destroying this unit will only make Konoha send another army."

With a faint sigh, Hanzō planted his sickle-blade in front of him. His straight back seemed to stoop for a moment, but it vanished like an illusion.

"Let them fight. The Land of Rain has lost. No matter what, I will end the war in the Land of Rain today. From now on, we only look after ourselves."