The Great Battle

Beacon fires rose in all directions, and the earth was stained crimson with blood.

A great sun hung high in the zenith, the sounds of battle shaking the mountains and splitting stones, soaring straight into the heavens.

Before the Konoha encampment, the Sand Ninja surged forward like a tidal wave, crashing thunderously against the camp walls.

After days of probing, the supreme commander of the Sand Ninja had brazenly launched a full-scale assault on the Konoha camp.

To this end, the two Kage-level powerhouses, Chiyo and Ebizo, had secretly arrived at the front lines.

Their goal was to catch Konoha completely off guard.

Following more than two months of infiltration, reconnaissance, and skirmishes over territory, the Sand Ninja had cleared away all obstacles surrounding the outer perimeter of the Konoha camp.

The established objectives had been met.

In terms of the number of ninja and the presence of Kage-level powerhouses, Sunagakure held the advantage.

Once the Konoha front-line camp lost its final geographical advantage, the scales of war tipped firmly in favor of the Sand Ninja.

Sunagakure needed a victory—a resounding, honorable victory—to silence the voices of dissent within the village.

With the timing, terrain, and morale all in their favor, the Sand Ninja's total offensive began.

According to Chiyo, even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit; the Sand Ninja were to crush them completely, never giving Orochimaru a chance to seize an opening.

Her words proved prophetic.

Without the methodical advance of the past, there could be no success today.

Large-scale group warfare is different from individual duels between ninja; it tests the coordination and cooperation of teams far more.

A sky-covering wave of fire slammed into the Sand Ninja forces like a wall of flame over a hundred meters wide, its scorching heat reaping lives with every passing moment.

Nearly a hundred Sand Ninja unleashed the combined jutsu Water Style: Water Wall, successfully blocking one of Konoha's offensives.

On this battlefield, the role of an individual was almost negligible; the exchange of collective ninjutsu was the norm.

A Sand Ninja had just finished releasing an Earth Style jutsu when a Great Fireball slammed down directly upon him.

The temperature of several thousand degrees was right before his eyes; he could even smell the singed scent of his own hair.

As a battle-hardened ninja, he managed to release a defensive jutsu in the final second before the attack struck.

Then, he felt a sharp, searing pain, and knew nothing more.

In a place he could not see, behind the Great Fireball jutsu, three more Great Fireballs followed.

His defense was like paper, instantly reduced to ash under the barrage of fireballs.

"The camp is breached!"

"The camp is breached!"

The excited cries spread like a virus to every corner of the battlefield.

Amidst the "boom, boom, boom" of explosions, a figure resembling a giant atop the Konoha camp wall was blasted into pieces.

The vanguard of the Sand Ninja had blown three breaches into the camp wall in one go.

The troops behind caught up, and the Sand Ninja forces surged into the Konoha camp through the gaps.

Hikaru Inuzuka's partner, Benimaru, had already fallen in battle, and he himself was severely wounded.

When the messenger found him, he did not hesitate to agree to stay and perish with the camp.

His partner Benimaru, who had grown up with him since childhood, had departed first, and now it was his own time to uphold the Will of Fire.

Watching the Sand Ninja pouring in like a tide through the breaches, Hikaru Inuzuka released the final jutsu of his life.

Like one walking against the current, he faced the giant wave—

and plunged straight into it.

Blood splattered onto his body, his face, and even into his mouth; the taste was not pleasant.

It was a bit metallic.

There were many who walked against the current, most of them dragging broken bodies as they vanished into the enemy's tidal offensive.

"Poof!"

Summoning Jutsu.

A giant snake over 50 meters tall appeared in the center of the camp.

Standing atop its head was none other than the commander stationed by Konoha at the Sand front—Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru, you had better have prepared the sacrifices."

"Heh! Manda, you may eat to your heart's content today, provided you have the strength to do so."

While dealing with the summoned beast beneath his feet, Orochimaru fixed his gaze upon the two figures opposite him.

A young man with red hair and black eyes stood at the same height as him, supported by gold dust.

This was likely Rasa, the Magnet Release user whose reputation had been rising rapidly in Sunagakure.

Intelligence reports indicated that he was the frontrunner to become the Fourth Kazekage, which caused Orochimaru to take a second look.

And the other one.

Was the old woman Chiyo, who held the title of a top-tier puppeteer.

Chiyo stepped on a puppet to fly to a high altitude, joining Rasa to pin down Orochimaru.

The three of them rose into the air, detaching themselves from the slaughter on the ground.

"Orochimaru, you have lost! Have you thought about how you will answer to your teacher?"

Facing Chiyo's provocation, Orochimaru suddenly felt a sense of boredom.

The slaughter of ninjas, the hateful gazes, the ambition for higher status—all these desires were tightly intertwined at this moment.

Yet, everything before him failed to pique even the slightest bit of interest in Orochimaru; it was not even as enjoyable as an experiment.

"How truly dull."

Orochimaru muttered to himself, feeling disgruntled.

"Manda, go!"

Having lost interest in playing along with the Sand Ninja, Orochimaru only wanted to end this farce, as he saw it, as quickly as possible.

"ROAR!"

Manda's massive body crushed down like the sky collapsing.

Facing the unshakable giant beast, the Sand Ninja below felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar; they wanted to move, but their legs refused to obey.

This was fear stemming from the genetic level.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Coffin Binding!"

At the critical moment, Rasa manipulated the gold dust to stall Manda for a brief second.

Chiyo retreated in a hurry, while nine figures shot up from below, launching a simultaneous attack on Orochimaru atop Manda's head.

That was Chiyo's signature technique—

"White Secret Technique: Chikamatsu Ten Puppets!"

Shikaku Nara sprinted through the forest; he had long since moved away from the Konoha base and would soon be clear of this mountain range.

He was followed by two teammates, Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka.

They were the Ino-Shika-Cho of this generation.

The three had grown up together, their bond was inseparable, and their combat coordination was perfectly synchronized.

Although they were only Jonin, with the combination of their clan's secret techniques, they would not be easily defeated even when facing Kage-level opponents.

Yet, such high-end combat power was not present on the main battlefield.

Trees flew past them one by one, and all three of them bore more or less some injuries.

It was evident that the previous battle had not been easy.

"Inoichi, how far are the pursuers?"

As the eyes of Ino-Shika-Cho, Inoichi Yamanaka possessed equally sharp sensory ninjutsu.

While leaping, he pressed his index and middle fingers to his brow, taking only a few breaths to focus.

"The pursuers are about 800 meters behind us, and they are biting hard."

Shikaku Nara nodded, leaping to land on a tree trunk, his chakra erupting beneath his feet as his body shot toward the next foothold.

While fleeing, Inoichi Yamanaka reported the enemy's position from time to time.

Leading the squad, Shikaku Nara maintained a distance of about 1,000 meters from the Sand Ninja pursuers at all times.

"Shikaku, what is this mission? Can you still not tell us?"

Choza Akimichi's voice carried a natural, honest tone; one could tell just by hearing it that he was a reliable teammate.

Shikaku frowned involuntarily, as if thinking of something unpleasant.

"Don't ask. You will regret it once you know."

Choza wisely shut his mouth; he had unconditional faith in Shikaku's intelligence.

Since Shikaku was doing this, he must have his reasons.

Although Inoichi was also puzzled, he merely glanced at Shikaku.

Seeing that his expression was not good, he did not press the matter further.

Ten minutes later, the three of them stepped past the last large tree, and the view before them suddenly opened up.

A vast expanse of grassland stretched out to the very edge of their vision.

The three of them burst out of the jungle, which meant they had finally broken free from the front-line battlefield.

The enemy was still in pursuit behind them, and there was little time left to spare.

As soon as the three appeared, the ninja squad responsible for the extraction immediately moved to meet them.

Shikaku Nara didn't waste words; he nodded to the extraction team and issued his final orders.

Ten seconds.

A series of explosions rang out, shaking the heavens.

Accompanied by the blasts, a massive fire ignited in the forest, the flames instantly consuming the entire mountainside and spreading rapidly into the depths of the woods.

This was no natural disaster; accelerants must have been prepared in the forest long ago, or the wildfire would never have spread with such ferocity.

Shikaku seemed to be waiting for something, his gaze fixed on the distance.

The secret plan had already been set in motion, and now it was time to close the net.

They were not kept waiting for long.

At the highest point of the distant ridge, a sun suddenly rose.

Shikaku narrowed his eyes into slits; he knew that was no sun.

It was the effect produced by the simultaneous detonation of over one hundred thousand explosive tags.

A massive mushroom-shaped cloud appeared above the ridge, and even from over ten kilometers away, he found it blinding.

The mushroom cloud hung silently in the sky.

Four words suddenly popped into Shikaku Nara's mind.

Great music is silent!

"BOOM!"

Sure enough, after a short delay, the earth-shattering roar of the explosion finally reached them.

Their eardrums buzzed, and immediately after, a Gale slammed into them, pinning the wild grass beneath their feet flat against the ground.

The wind whistled past their ears, their hair whipped violently backward, and the force of the blast etched lines of strain onto their faces.

The deafening roar, the gale, the mushroom cloud—the location of the explosion was exactly where the Konoha base on the front lines had been.

Choza Akimichi stood dumbfounded, staring toward the ridge as he muttered to himself.

"Mutual destruction?" He immediately shook his head. "No, that's not it!"

The word "trap" surfaced in his mind, and his expression turned solemn.

Suddenly.

He turned to stare at Shikaku, his voice trembling as he asked:

"Who... who was it? Who stayed behind to act as the bait?"

Shikaku Nara remained silent, his clenched fists tightening and loosening.

His mind kept replaying the words Orochimaru had once spoken to him.

"Shikaku-kun, why do fish bite the hook? Only because of the bait."

"This is war, and in war, people die!"

He could not refute Orochimaru's words, but he could not bring himself to repeat them to his two dear friends.

Silence was also an answer.

Likewise, he could not say that Orochimaru was wrong; on the contrary, it was precisely because of the execution of this strategy that the Sand Ninja's offensive had been successfully halted.

It had also bought time and space for subsequent maneuvers.

Judging solely by the results, Orochimaru was undoubtedly an outstanding commander.

But it felt as if a heavy stone were blocking his heart, and a stifling frustration in his chest refused to dissipate.

Eight hundred people—eight hundred ninjas, all fearless warriors who carried the Will of Fire in their hearts.

Such a massive loss was a first in the history of Konoha, and he did not know if what he had done was right or wrong.

Among the sacrifices were not only the wounded but also those who had voluntarily stayed behind for the sake of the village.

Even...

He had personally issued the orders to send six squads deep behind enemy lines to cut off the Sand Ninja's supplies.

Then, he had inadvertently allowed a Sand Ninja spy to obtain that intelligence.

He had done it only to deceive the opponent, to make the enemy believe that Orochimaru would hold his ground indefinitely and was still searching for ways to break the stalemate.

It was just that this time, the bait had been far too heavy.