"Then here's to our success."
Seeing the confidence on Rasa's face, Orochimaru said nothing more.
In truth, as an Akatsuki member who had personally witnessed Pain in action, Orochimaru did not think the Tenseigan, which was said to rival the Rinnegan, would be so easy to handle.
But Hyuga Chiba was only twelve years old, and he had only recently awakened the Tenseigan. Those two factors meant his strength could not possibly have reached Pain's level.
Besides, the value of the Tenseigan was enough for Orochimaru to take a gamble.
Meanwhile!
At the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers!
"As expected of the Land of Wind. This place is truly awful, isn't it?"
As far as Chiba could see, there was nothing but endless yellow sand.
Under the blazing sun, even the air had become scorching and dry.
Simply standing in this environment gave him the terrifying illusion that he could be drained of all moisture at any moment and turned into an ugly, shriveled corpse.
"Good thing I'm a ninja. The physical boost brought by the Tenseigan also far exceeds that of most Jonin."
Chiba felt somewhat uncomfortable as well, but it was still within his limits.
"Even so, I can't afford to travel at a leisurely pace. Otherwise, my condition will be affected before I even reach Sunagakure."
With that thought, Chiba instantly activated the Tenseigan. Under the effects of Shinra Tensei and Universal Pull, his body rapidly soared into the sky, then shot toward Sunagakure like a green meteor.
Fortunately, Sunagakure had been built in the center of the Land of Wind, and Chiba's Tenseigan possessed far greater long-range vision than other Hyuga—even surpassing his own Byakugan.
Otherwise, in this boundless desert, he might have faced another fatal problem: getting lost!
At the same time!
"Hyuga Chiba has sped up."
Hyuga Nozomu, who had entered the Land of Wind from another direction alongside Kakashi, glanced at the sky and said, "His Chakra has changed as well. He should have used the Tenseigan's abilities."
"His scent has gone into the air, and he's moving too fast. We're probably already unable to catch him," Pakkun added.
"As expected, Hyuga Chiba has completely recovered long ago." Kakashi's expression turned grave before he said, "We'll proceed as planned and head directly to Sunagakure."
"We have to stop him before he obtains the Tailed Beast's Chakra!"
"Mm!" Hyuga Nozomu nodded.
But neither Kakashi nor Hyuga Nozomu held much hope for that.
Who knew how much time had passed!
"Almost there."
Chiba had continued flying swiftly through the air. Gradually, a unique village appeared within his Tenseigan's field of vision—a city-like settlement surrounded on its outer perimeter by towering rocky cliffs, with only a narrow gap left open for passage to block wind, sand, and enemies. Within were houses, training grounds, and other structures built from clay, sand, and stone.
"Oh?"
"Sunagakure seems to have known I was coming in advance?"
After observing carefully, Chiba discovered that Sand Ninja in full combat readiness had been stationed throughout Sunagakure, both inside and outside, along with various defensive installations.
Yet what was strange was that a terrifying, gloomy-looking youth in a brown Sunagakure uniform stood outside the village's rocky cliffs, before every Sunagakure ninja. He had short red hair, the character "love" on his left forehead, and a Large Gourd on his back, with his arms folded across his chest.
He was none other than the Fourth Kazekage Rasa's son, the current One-Tailed Jinchuriki, Gaara!
"Oh?"
Chiba raised his brows, somewhat surprised. "Konoha probably inferred from my direction of travel and my current greatest weakness that my target might be the One-Tailed Jinchuriki, then passed that information to Sunagakure."
"But instead of heavily protecting Gaara, Sunagakure has placed him in the most dangerous position?"
"Are they that confident they can stop me, or is this itself a trap aimed at me?"
"Or... is it to keep the battle from affecting Sunagakure itself?"
The good news was that if that truly was Gaara, Chiba would not need to find his target himself.
The bad news was that whether that Gaara was real or fake, he might have to fight all of Sunagakure alone.
If Orochimaru was here as well, the pressure on him would only grow greater.
And this was very different from when Chiba had attacked the Hokage Building.
At the very least, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Yamato might not have wanted to kill him back then.
But these Sunagakure ninja would most likely not be willing to let him live.
"Still, it's nothing special."
As long as Chiba carefully calculated the duration of his Tenseigan Chakra Mode, he could still flee at light speed whenever the situation turned too unfavorable.
Besides, when he had been in Konoha, he had not truly intended to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others either.
Otherwise, his Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion would not have merely destroyed one Hokage Building and half of Kage Rock.
Most importantly, once Chiba obtained the Chakra of Shukaku inside Gaara, he would be able to keep his Tenseigan Chakra Mode active almost indefinitely.
At that point, forget all of Sunagakure plus Orochimaru's combat strength—even if Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were resurrected, he would dare face them head-on!
Not only that!
"They seem not to know—or perhaps they overlooked one thing: I can absorb the Chakra inside any ninja."
In theory, any ninja without sufficiently powerful taijutsu, or without the means to suppress Chiba in some respect, could become Chiba's battery pack.
The only reason Chiba had not used that ability against Konoha's pursuers earlier was because he was not a complete villain, and because he still felt, more or less, attached to Konoha—the "hometown" of this life.
But Sunagakure... they truly should not have allowed so many Sand Ninja to join this battle!
"Since that's the case, let me give you a welcome gift before the real battle begins."
As he drew closer and closer to Sunagakure, to the point where both sides could nearly see each other with the naked eye, Chiba suddenly curled his lips into a smile as an idea came to him.
"Wind Release: Great Sandstorm Technique!"
The next moment, Chiba raised both hands. The yellow sand across an area exceeding a hundred meters beneath his feet swiftly rose into the sky, forming a sandstorm that blotted out the heavens and swept toward Sunagakure.
Of course, this Wind Release: Great Sandstorm Technique was not simply Wind Release. It was a composite ninjutsu combining Wind Release, Shinra Tensei, and Universal Pull.
Combined with Chiba's Chakra reserves, which were no less than Uzumaki Naruto's, it instantly created a scene akin to a minor natural disaster—at least to those on the ground.
"W-what is that?"
"Is that the enemy we're about to face?"
"That kind of ninjutsu... it's utterly terrifying!"
"Everyone, can we win?"
"Don't worry. With Lord Kazekage, One-Tail Shukaku, and Orochimaru-sama, one of the legendary Sannin, we'll win!"
As they watched the massive sandstorm rapidly sweeping toward them, countless Sand Ninja felt a chill shoot from the soles of their feet straight to the tops of their heads.
Traces of fear inevitably welled up in their hearts.
Fortunately, the presence of Rasa, Gaara, and Orochimaru kept these Sand Ninja from truly losing confidence in battle.
Before you continue