"Lady Chiyo, judging by the time, it should be about right." The Jonin standing beside Chiyo—the owner of the Falcon Summoning Beast—glanced into the distance and spoke softly.
"It's time? Then why hasn't the signal been sent yet?" Chiyo asked suspiciously, casting a sidelong glance into the distance.
"Perhaps there are Konoha scouts nearby, and they didn't send the signal to avoid exposing themselves. Besides, the first step of the plan is for us to launch the attack and draw Konoha's attention. Only then will they begin their operation." The Jonin found it strange as well, but with that person involved, failure was impossible. With that thought, he came up with a plausible explanation.
"To be safe, we should wait a little longer."
Jiraiya was too far away to hear their conversation, but he instinctively sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly circulated his chakra. Just as he continuously gathered his focus and refined his chakra to its peak, the Sand Shinobi finally lost their patience and launched the first attack.
A red signal flare slowly rose from the Sand Shinobi position, blossoming high in the sky into the Sand Shinobi's distinctive emblem. It was the signal to attack.
"They're too impatient. Couldn't they have waited a little longer?" Chiyo cursed angrily. The flare had already been launched; it was too late to say anything now. She could only pray that nothing went wrong over there.
The horn of the charge sounded, and the ground rumbled as the army drew closer. The plain chosen by both sides for the decisive battle was exceptionally open, a rare sight in the mountainous Land of Rivers. Across the flat terrain, waves upon waves of Sand Shinobi surged in from afar like rolling black clouds pressing down on the land. Moments later, they had