False and True

At the command of the Fourth Raikage, the Kumogakure ninja eagerly shook off their respective opponents, swiftly retreating from the area within reach of the Yamata no Orochi.

With no fortress left to destroy, they had lost the reason to continue the battle.

The Konoha ninja did not offer much resistance; in terms of sheer numbers, the Kumogakure forces still held the advantage, and even in defeat, they were not a stray dog to be kicked while down.

Thus, the victorious side remained vigilant without pursuing, allowing the retreating forces to depart in a flurry.

Watching the Fourth Raikage vanish from the battlefield, Orochimaru dispelled the Eight Branches Technique, a mocking smile appearing on his face.

Fugaku flashed to Orochimaru's side and asked, "My lord, should we go to support Shisui and the others?"

"No need. We will proceed to the fake fortress as originally planned."

Orochimaru licked his lips and commanded the ninja gathering around him, "Move out!"

"Yes!"

The Konoha ninja responded with a thunderous roar.

Having just secured a victory, their morale was high, and ignoring the exhaustion of their bodies after the intense battle, they immediately followed in Orochimaru's footsteps.

Unlike Konoha, the mood among the Kumogakure ninja was generally somber. They had outnumbered their opponents but, hindered by the disadvantageous environment, had only managed a stalemate, eventually even falling behind.

Not only had they suffered heavy losses, but they had failed to achieve their objective—the fortress turned out to be a fake.

"Big Brother, where are we going now? Yugito hasn't returned yet."

Killer B panted heavily, his eyes filled with fatigue. "Perhaps the outpost she was tasked with destroying is the real one. We should go support her."

This was not the first time the Konoha side had used decoy fortresses on the battlefield. Kumogakure was even aware of their "one real, two fake" design.

Now that one fake fortress had been destroyed, they only needed to destroy two more.

"That doesn't matter anymore. We have already failed."

The Fourth Raikage shook his head. "Given the current state of our village's ninja, we cannot withstand two more major battles."

Killer B was momentarily speechless.

If another battle were to occur, the Raikage's prestige could still suppress the negative emotions of the village's ninja, but a second time would be pushing it.

"Furthermore, we don't know how many fake fortresses Konoha has actually built."

The Fourth Raikage looked behind him, his brow furrowed.

What he mentioned above was only one of the reasons; what truly gave the Raikage pause was Orochimaru's reckless attitude.

When two major ninja armies clash, some things cannot be hidden. As a commander himself, the Raikage sensed that Orochimaru did not seem to care about the losses of his own subordinates.

Recalling the intelligence he had received earlier, most of the ninja under Orochimaru's command came from the Konoha Military Police Force, and the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha was very delicate.

The Fourth Raikage couldn't help but let out a scoff. "Heh, Konoha..."

At this moment, a brilliant pillar of light shot into the sky in the distance, exceptionally conspicuous under the pitch-black night, identical to the one before.

The Fourth Raikage became even more certain of his thoughts. He detached a squad of jonin to support Yugito and led the remaining Kumogakure ninja back toward their base.

Behind them, the Hyuga clan members trailing the Kumogakure group did not dare to continue, instead heading toward the designated meeting point.

A short while later, after returning to the main force, Hizashi Hyuga reported, "Lord Orochimaru, the Kumogakure ninja did not return; they have left."

Fugaku asked, "Lord Orochimaru, should we go to support Shisui and the others?"

Shisui was a genius of the clan, and unless absolutely necessary, Fugaku did not wish to see him fall on the battlefield.

"No need."

Orochimaru was fiddling with the barrier seals of the fake fortress. Hearing Fugaku's request, a strange smile appeared on his face.

"There is no time left."

According to the timeline, Kakashi and Shisui should have split into two groups and reached the real fortress long ago, but until now, there had been no news, whether of success or failure.

Orochimaru was not curious about the accidents involved; he only knew that he could no longer place all his expectations on them.

As for their lives, the moment he sent them out, Orochimaru had already considered them dead.

On the battlefield, anything can happen. Even with Jiraiya's strength, he had been on the verge of death several times.

Of course, if news of Shisui's death arrived, he would abandon the army to retrieve those eyes, which might be Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Hoo..."

Shisui, whose eyes were coveted by Orochimaru, slashed his blade across the throat of the last Kumogakure ninja. He scanned the battlefield, and only after confirming there were no survivors did he let out a long breath.

"With these reconnaissance-type ninja gone, the Kumogakure forces won't be able to keep up with Kakashi-senpai anymore."

Just as Orochimaru had expected, an accident had indeed occurred here. He hadn't expected Kumogakure to value these two squads so highly that they would send the Two-Tails Jinchuriki directly.

If not for the fact that the Uchiha jonin had accumulated experience in dealing with giant enemies during previous drills and had practiced the Uchiha Flame Formation, they might have been slaughtered while facing the Tailed Beast-transformed Yugito.

Even so, the barrier originally intended to block a few jonin squads was stretched thin when used to withstand the attacks of a Tailed Beast.

Fearing they would be picked off one by one, the squad had no choice but to abandon their plan to split up.

It wasn't until just a moment ago, when Yugito struggled to maintain her Tailed Beast transformation, that Kakashi finally led a Barrier Team away.

Meanwhile, Shisui and several Uchiha jonin continued to use this fake fortress as bait to stall the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.

Shisui had been cutting down the scout-type Kumogakure ninja who were tailing them, all to cover the retreat of Kakashi and his team.

Boom, boom, boom...

A series of violent collisions rang out, deafening in their intensity.

Shisui turned back to look, his expression shifting slightly.

Not far away, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, who had only recently exited her Tailed Beast state, was making a comeback.

She had transformed into the giant Matatabi, wreathed in blue flames, and was swiping her claws again and again at the crimson barrier, ignoring the searing backlash of the shield as if it were nothing.

Shisui took a deep breath and sprinted toward the fake fortress, arriving at the battlefield in moments.

By now, the crimson barrier was on the verge of collapse under the Two-Tails' assault, and it wouldn't be long before it shattered completely.

Seeing this, Shisui hesitated.

He could manifest Susanoo to block the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, but the price would be a decline in his eyesight.

If that were the only cost, it might be acceptable, but Shisui knew the consequences of revealing such an ability.

This war was sparked because the Nine-Tails had been controlled, causing the village to suffer heavy losses, which led Kumogakure to launch a sneak attack while the village's strength was depleted.

Under these circumstances, revealing the fact that he possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan would only deepen the suspicions the Uchiha had just begun to clear, a consequence far more severe than the destruction of this fake fortress.

I cannot expose my ocular jutsu, nor can I manifest Susanoo.

Having made his decision, Shisui leaped in front of the Two-Tails and pressed his palms to the ground, causing a thicker, deeper crimson barrier to rise up and envelop both the fortress and the crumbling smaller shield.

"Take this opportunity to recover your chakra," Shisui ordered over his shoulder, though he had no idea how long he could hold out using this method.

At the same time, Kakashi and his group arrived at the real fortress, and just as the squad began to activate the defensive barrier, a hand reached out from the void and dragged one of the Barrier Team ninja inside.

Thanks to "Bandaru" for the tip.