The Chōga battlefield, the Sunagakure camp
Chiyo watched the signal flare from the direction of Kashiwagi. For some reason, unease stirred in her heart. She quickly said, "Pakura, I have a bad feeling about this."
Pakura was taken aback. She had also seen the flare in the distance. That meant Elder Ebizo had begun the plan. Wasn't that a good thing? The mountain had also sent the correct response. What was there to worry about?
"Perhaps you're worrying too much, Lady Chiyo. With Lord Ebizo's intelligence and cunning, I think we're sure to win a great victory on the Kashiwagi battlefield!" Pakura said, trying to reassure her.
Just then, a scout rushed into the camp. "Report! Orochimaru is leading Konoha Ninja to surround the two entrances to our camp. They're three hundred meters outside the gates!"
Chiyo frowned. Surrounding them without attacking—why did this strategy resemble the siege of Rainy Clearing in the Land of Rain? What was Orochimaru planning?
Then she shuddered and cried out, "This is bad! Ebizo is in danger. Orochimaru is stopping us from joining up with the Kashiwagi troops!"
Pakura looked confused. "Lady Chiyo, Lord Ebizo's plan has gone smoothly so far! How could he be in danger? Even without us, he can still destroy the Konoha forces!"
Chiyo gritted her teeth. "No, no, no! You weren't part of the war in the Land of Rain, so you don't know how terrifying Konoha's strategies are. If my guess is right, Konoha has already taken control of Mt. Kikyo!"
Pakura went pale. But that couldn't be right. Hadn't the mountain responded? Wait—the timing of the response!
If you didn't think it through carefully, it was easy to overlook this detail. Sunagakure signal flares followed a rule: the second flare had to follow the first immediately. The