"Clan chief Mohu, we can't hold Shukaku down anymore!" Ebizo stressed gravely.
In the past, he would have acted immediately—
But the White Clan had caused this mess in the first place, so Ebizo didn't dare take it upon himself to kill the jinchuriki!
Otherwise, how would they explain it when the Kazekage returned?
We disobeyed orders and attacked Konoha without authorization, suffered heavy losses, and only captured one Uchiha. Then that Uchiha caused the jinchuriki to lose control, so—we killed the jinchuriki too?
Ebizo didn't dare shoulder any more responsibility now, so he urgently tried to persuade Mohu!
Mohu was the elderly chief of the Ao Clan. As long as he agreed, Ebizo could immediately "act on orders."
But Mohu stopped him outright, leaving Ebizo even more reluctant to act. Meanwhile, Mohu piloted his gigantic puppet into another contest of strength with Shukaku.
Chiyo kept glancing toward Shukaku as well. Unable to find Akaseki for the moment, she gritted her teeth and turned back to help subdue Shukaku!
As Shukaku wrestled with Mohu's gigantic puppet, he occasionally spat "Air Bullets" at Akaseki's Mirror Clones.
With the sun fully set, Sunagakure descended into utter chaos.
On one hand, Akaseki's Mirror Clones deliberately drew Shukaku's attacks toward Sunagakure's vulnerable spots. On the other, the village was already short on ninja, so rescue efforts and evacuations were nowhere near as smooth as they had been in Kumogakure—
And Akaseki's Mirror Clones weren't afraid of being blown up at all!
Thanks to his "shared vision," Akaseki had the most comprehensive view of the battlefield and could easily evade the attacks. Even if he couldn't, it didn't matter. Trading one shattered Mirror Clone for an Air Bullet plastering a critical part of Sunagakure was still a win for him!
Ordinary jonin and chunin were