As Tsunade spoke, her words edged with a plea and a hint of coldness, the pale figure before her paused. His gaze flickered with uncertainty, and the hand holding the kunai wavered.
Just then!
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...
A series of violent crashes suddenly rang out from the rocky mountain. The narrow cave where they were hiding shook violently, and broken shards of stone tumbled down without pause, as if they were about to bury them alive.
Outside the mountain, a group of sharp-eyed Rock Ninja, under Nanto's command, were attacking the huge rock formation, which was already riddled with holes.
"Keep attacking! Destroy the entire mountain. Don't give them any chance to escape!"
At Nanto's cold command, nearly a hundred Rock Ninja formed hand seals in unison and shouted.
"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spear!" "Earth Release: Earth Flow Bullet!"...
With their movements, some spat powerful stones from their mouths, sending them hurtling toward the mountain like bullets, while others manipulated spears formed from rock and shot them rapidly at the mountain.
A barrage of impacts rained down on the mountain like a swarm of black dots, weakening the already battered rock even further.
Dust drifted through the narrow cave. Tsunade's beautiful eyes shone coldly as she stared at the person before her, standing firmly in his way.
"Orochimaru, do you know what you're doing?!" Tsunade said coldly.
At her words, the utterly exhausted Orochimaru stared coldly past her, his voice hoarse.
"I know exactly what I'm doing, Tsunade. You're the one who doesn't understand!"
"If we let him keep dragging us down, we'll all die here, and the mission will fail!"
"Do you think that if the village doesn't receive this intelligence, Konoha will still exist when it faces that man?!"
At his words, Tsunade swayed slightly, the light fading