Sand Ninja Depart

Yellow sand filled the sky, crossing the Earth Flow Wall as wind and sand danced.

Konoha's forces had their vision obstructed, unable to open their eyes much in the swirling yellow sand.

Enduring the stinging in their eyes while fighting Sand Ninja, the situation was dire.

The Sand Ninja had lived in the great desert for years and were already adapted to this environment, while this was the first time Konoha's people encountered such a situation. It was as if someone was constantly using sand throwing, the blinding effect significant.

"This won't do."

The only one unaffected on the field was Hyuga Ao. Hyuga Ao closed her eyes, activating her Byakugan to search for Rasa's figure.

"Tsunade-nee!"

Hyuga Ao called out loudly.

Although the healing was interrupted, the immediate deployment of a high-level combatant and a Medical Team greatly improved Konoha's situation.

Even though Tsunade's Chakra was insufficient, a starving camel is still bigger than a horse, and besides, she wasn't starving yet.

"What is it?"

Tsunade moved closer.

"Throw me up there!"

"Okay!"

Tsunade instantly understood Hyuga Ao's intention.

Calling a teammate to help cover her, Tsunade lifted Hyuga Ao's small body onto her shoulders. Using her monstrous strength, Hyuga Ao flew like a cannonball toward the top of the Earth Flow Wall.

With Tsunade's monstrous strength and the help of her Wind Cloak, Hyuga Ao bypassed the Sand Ninja's scattered defenses in mid-air and landed on the wall.

Rasa was currently focused on pushing the sea of sand, causing it to continuously fall from the top of the Earth Flow Wall, creating an advantageous environment for the Sand Ninja.

As soon as Hyuga Ao landed, she immediately charged toward Rasa. Three Sand Ninja Chunin jumped out to intercept Hyuga Ao.

Hyuga Ao dealt with the three Sand Ninja Chunin in an instant, but they successfully bought Rasa time.

Rasa looked at Hyuga Ao, whose face appeared even younger than his own, and showed disdain. His pride led him to decide to handle this himself.

Rasa waved his hand, and a mass of sand leaped from the sea of sand, transforming into a swimming fish that violently slammed into Hyuga Ao.

Hyuga Ao rolled forward, dodging the impact, and got up, sending an open palm strike toward Rasa.

In this combat environment, there was nothing lacking except sand.

Rasa didn't even need to form hand seals. With a thought, a sand barrier appeared, blocking the open palm strike.

Rasa crossed his arms, a hint of arrogant smile on his lips, leisurely watching the miserable Hyuga Ao, who was being harassed by the sand.

Hyuga Ao understood that some things were just impossible. A Taijutsu Kage was indeed difficult to deal with for this kind of defensive shell.

You Kage are either playing with dolls or sand, why are you called Kazekage? You should be called Sand Shadow.

Although Rasa's current strength was only that of a normal Jonin, with the environmental advantage and type disadvantage, he could reach Quasi-Kage level.

But fortunately, the original work had already provided a solution.

Hyuga Ao unleashed her speed, her figure flickering as she constantly struck around Rasa.

To outsiders, only exploding sand and occasional afterimages could be seen in the air.

Hyuga Ao unleashed her full power, with Dan energy, Chakra, and her Wind Cloak providing a triple boost. Her punches and kicks were heavy and fast, forcing Rasa to increase his Chakra output to block them.

Sweat beaded on Rasa's forehead. His sand release defense was ultimately not like Gaara's, sand filled with his mother's love and possessing a will of its own.

Rasa's defense relied entirely on his own activation, far inferior to Gaara's. However, Rasa's basic stats were better than Gaara's, so he could still barely defend himself.

Hyuga Ao, like boiling a frog in warm water, gradually increased her strength, depleting Rasa's Chakra and energy.

When Rasa's reactions slowed, Hyuga Ao channeled her Chakra and unleashed a Mountain Breaker strike, successfully shattering Rasa's sand net. The Chakra hit him.

Rasa was sent flying by Hyuga Ao's strike, heading out of the Earth Flow Wall, intending to get him away from the sand.

Rasa tumbled in the air, revealing patterns like shattered porcelain on his body. Following a few open palm strikes, Rasa spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air.

The Sand Armor shattered into fine sand. Rasa saw Hyuga Ao running down the wall from the corner of his eye, heading to his landing spot.

Startled, the sand of the Sand Armor peeled off and was immediately manipulated by Rasa, forming a mid-air platform that caught him.

Hyuga Ao was frustrated. Was this the Palm of Buddha's Mercy?

Rasa spat blood miserably, but couldn't help but smile triumphantly.

Surprised? I can fly.

Hyuga Ao's expression turned displeased. She turned back to climb the wall, preparing to attack Rasa.

Rasa's smile froze. He hurriedly manipulated the sand, bringing himself towards the sea of sand, and plunged into it with a splash, disappearing.

Hyuga Ao's face puffed up like a bun in anger. She watched Rasa's Chakra dive deeper and deeper into the sea of sand, gritting her teeth in hatred. Isn't this cheating?

But Hyuga Ao truly had no way to deal with him right now and could only turn back to check the situation below.

The last and most elite forces of both the Sand Ninja and Konoha were entangled below.

After the Sand Ninja's environmental advantage was disrupted, they were being pushed back by Konoha's forces led by Tsunade.

Tsunade's counter to Puppeteers was far too great. It didn't matter what flashy techniques they used; one punch and they were gone.

No Sand Ninja could withstand a single punch from Tsunade.

The scales of victory slowly tipped towards Konoha.

Just then, Orochimaru returned, with Chiyo close behind.

With the return of both sides' commanders, the Sand Ninja and Konoha forces slowly separated, each side taking a heavy blow.

Both commanders knew they couldn't continue fighting.

After a period of confrontation, Ebizo and Jiraiya gathered their respective troops. Seeing the exhaustion of their forces, both sides exchanged a few harsh words and departed.

Inside the large tent, the fire burned brightly as the Sannin spent the entire night handling post-battle matters.

This battle was a draw for both Konoha and the Sand Ninja, with both sides suffering heavy losses.

Before, Tsunade's treatment had been interrupted. While the elite battlefield was fine, the Konoha ninja elsewhere had instantly collapsed, and many had died in that moment.

The Sand Ninja, due to poor decision-making, weren't doing much better. To achieve this result after initiating a surprise attack was truly a failure.

After a major battle in the Konoha camp, they had to relocate their encampment. On the way, they discovered traces of a large army that had stayed behind them.

They had stayed for a long time.

Perhaps they had watched the entire battle unfold.

Konoha was filled with lingering fear, unsure why that army hadn't attacked, only feeling immense relief.

"Should we send more reinforcements?" Jiraiya asked.

"The Sand Ninja are crippled now, only the Rain Ninja remain. If the Rain Ninja persist, we'll still need reinforcements," Tsunade sighed.

Orochimaru's expression was unreadable. He recalled the army that had lingered behind them and seemed to have an idea, but he shook his head, dismissing it as speculation, and remained silent.

Besides personnel casualties, Konoha had another major problem at the moment.

The Sand Ninja Puppeteers' lethal weapons, besides their mechanisms, included poison.

The poisons that the Konoha ninja had been afflicted with on the battlefield earlier had all been suppressed by Tsunade and hadn't erupted.

Now, during the inspection, it was discovered that the vast majority of ninja had been poisoned with the same type of toxin. Konoha had never encountered this poison before, and there was currently no antidote.

Therefore, to reduce non-combat attrition, Konoha had to find an antidote.

"When are you leaving?" Jiraiya asked.

"Soon. We'll try to make it a quick trip," she replied.

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