What!? They Want to Launch a Surprise Attack on Iwagakure!?

"Orochimaru, it's you again, brat."

"Do you wish to borrow This Seat's power? Have the one hundred sacrifices been prepared?"

A massive serpent covered in purple stripes appeared; it was none other than Manda, the great snake of Ryūchi Cave.

As the quintessential evil summoning beast, Manda demanded a sacrifice every time he was summoned, yet his strength was not to be underestimated.

It could be said that a large part of the Sannin's fame stemmed from their respective summoning beasts.

"Of course, Lord Manda."

Orochimaru responded with calm ease. "I have prepared enough sacrifices for you, Lord Manda, but I must trouble you to assist with our travel first..."

This was a battlefield, after all—the place where "sacrifices" were in the greatest supply.

"Is that brat also one of my sacrifices?"

Manda raised his colossal head, fixing his gaze on Ruohuo, who hovered in mid-air.

Then, he locked eyes with Ruohuo's Three Tomoe Sharingan.

"Teacher, I sense a dense aura of darkness coming from him..."

"Lord Manda hails from Ryūchi Cave, and I have a contract with that place, Ruohuo-kun."

Orochimaru tried his best to mediate within the boundaries acceptable to both parties.

"Those eyes... Orochimaru, I've changed my mind."

"This brat can count as five... no, four sacrifices. Let This Seat devour him!"

That was what Manda said, and that was what he intended to do.

When he wanted a sacrifice, why would he need Orochimaru's permission?

Orochimaru felt a touch of helplessness and was just about to end the summoning to ride a different snake when he suddenly heard Ruohuo's provocation.

"Catch me if you can, baka."

With that, Ruohuo steered the Fire Dragon and flew off into the distance!

"You wretched little brat, just you wait for This Seat!"

Manda immediately began to slither his massive body, giving chase to Ruohuo!

"There are boulders ahead, Lord Manda." Orochimaru stood calmly atop Manda's head, smiling as he offered a reminder to avoid them.

"Hmph!"

The two of them and the snake set off.

Their destination was the not-so-distant Kanabi Bridge.

The scheduled journey would take twenty hours, but with the flight capabilities of Manda and the Fire Dragon, it would clearly be shortened significantly.

However, this method of travel... was inevitably a bit arrogant.

But arrogance aside.

To intercept this duo on the road, one would need a great deal of courage.

A flaming Fire Dragon soaring through the sky!

A gargantuan python chasing the dragon, occasionally attempting to strike it!

Ruohuo controlled the direction of the Fire Dragon.

The Fire Dragon controlled the direction of Manda.

Manda's massive body plowed through everything in its path. The Iwagakure ninja they encountered along the way couldn't even dream of stopping them; whether they could even escape depended entirely on the whims of Ruohuo and Manda!

"What is the situation with that giant snake! How is it so big!"

"Has Orochimaru of Konoha launched an attack with a Konoha ninja?"

"No! Look at the sky!"

"Orochimaru's target isn't us, it's that Uchiha... a Uchiha from Konoha!?"

"Communication Squad, report this to the Tsuchikage immediately!"

"Oh no! Their trajectory is wrong! It looks like they are heading toward... their target is Iwagakure!"

"Are they insane! Do they intend to launch a surprise attack on Iwagakure like this?"

"The Tsuchikage has issued an order! Reinforcements are on the way; intercept them at all costs!"

A giant dragon flying in the sky, a giant snake chasing below—this was a sight not easily witnessed.

Amidst their shock, the Iwagakure ninja finally "discovered" the goal of this master and student. If they continued on this trajectory, wouldn't their destination be Iwagakure itself?

The Iwagakure ninja were suddenly filled with righteous indignation, their morale soaring!

Orochimaru was being far too arrogant; did he really intend to charge straight into their homeland like this!?

Did he truly think the men of Iwagakure were weak and easily bullied?

And so, fueled by a bellyful of rage, more and more Iwagakure shinobi attempted to intercept this master and his disciple.

At first, Ruohuo couldn't be bothered to care.

He only needed to control Manda and let the giant snake simply crush them.

Manda couldn't be bothered to care either.

This stinking brat actually dares to provoke Lord Manda; he must be devoured!

Orochimaru was even less inclined to care...

Watching that figure in the sky, Orochimaru felt a faint sense of anticipation.

Ruohuo-kun...

He seems to get along quite well with Lord Manda, doesn't he?

However, as the number of Iwagakure shinobi grew.

Including those chasing from behind and those blocking the path ahead.

Ruohuo was advancing in a straight line, his intentions far too obvious, leading the Iwagakure shinobi to establish a temporary defensive line and combine their efforts to raise a massive wall dozens of meters high!

But how could a mere wall stop Ruohuo?

Ruohuo simply increased the chakra output to the Fire Dragon beneath his feet, soaring hundreds of meters into the air to bypass the Iwagakure blockade, all while not forgetting to leave behind a Fire Style: Heavenly Weeping!

As a rain of fire descended from the sky, the Iwagakure shinobi could only vent their impotent rage upon Orochimaru, who was riding Manda!

Frankly, if Manda had ended the summoning at such a moment and forcibly returned to Ryūchi Cave.

Then Iwagakure might have just bagged themselves a Sannin as a prisoner...

Fortunately, while Manda was evil, he still possessed professional integrity.

With a burst of earth-tunneling, he forcibly bored a hole, then arrogantly emerged from above the wall, opening his blood-red maw to swallow a few unlucky souls to replenish his stamina before continuing his pursuit of Ruohuo!

Watching that blazing dragon in the sky.

And that slippery giant snake.

The Iwagakure shinobi, aside from hurling curses, became even more convinced of one thing.

They were intent on launching an attack on Iwagakure!

And after breaking through that temporarily assembled defensive line.

The obstacles in the master and disciple's path were essentially rendered useless.

One could fly, the other could tunnel underground; how were they supposed to stop them?

The Iwagakure shinobi watched, their teeth itching with fury.

The key was that the master and disciple were moving at an incredible speed, refusing to engage in battle and pushing forward with a single-minded focus!

They didn't give them a chance to fight at all!

"Too arrogant! This is simply too arrogant!!"

Far away in Iwagakure, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales, roared in the Tsuchikage Building.

"Does that old geezer Sarutobi Hiruzen's disciple really think my Iwagakure is weak and easy to bully!"

That junior named Orochimaru, does he think he's Uchiha Madara?

"Get Han and Roshi here at once! Today, I must let this junior know what the power of Iwagakure truly is!"

"Lord Han has already departed for Kanabi Bridge, Third Tsuchikage!" A female Iwagakure shinobi rushed in; she was Ōnoki's secretary and daughter-in-law.

"What!? Why would he go there! There is... there... wait?"

The Third Tsuchikage suddenly realized something, flew over to the map, and compared it with the route sent by the Communication Squad.

"Lord Han said that the destination of these two might be Kanabi Bridge, so he went to take a look."