The Hidden Sand's Trump Card

Dozens of kilometers away from the battlefield, a violent gale whipped up sand and dust, forming a wall of grit ten kilometers long and towering like a mountain. The wind, laden with countless shards of rock, yellow sand, and dirt, surged across the ground. The dust clouds rolled forward like a black-and-yellow tsunami, resembling a massive, dark cloud hovering just above the earth. This colossal wall of sand pushed forward, swallowing everything in its path.

The sheer scale of the sandstorm was rushing toward the battlefield with destructive force!

Riyue had naturally seen sandstorms in his past life; that suffocating, pitch-black feeling of the sky being blotted out was terrifying. Once the distant storm reached the battlefield, the Leaf forces would be at a severe disadvantage. The Hidden Sand ninjas lived in the desert and naturally knew how to handle such conditions.

The headscarves they wore to cover their faces were designed for protection against wind and sand, while their loose robes, tightened cuffs, and pant legs were highly effective at keeping the grit out. In contrast, Leaf ninjas lived in forests and were ill-equipped to deal with such extreme weather.

This was Ebizo's trump card!

Having lived in the great desert for years, he was intimately familiar with the local weather patterns. He could predict the arrival of a sandstorm in advance and knew exactly where a storm of a certain magnitude would strike—he held every advantage of time and place! The reinforcements he had spoken of were nothing more than the irresistible, terrifying power of nature itself, summoned to annihilate the enemy!

The Leaf forces were in grave danger!

"Shikaku! Quickly notify Princess Tsunade that a sandstorm is coming! We must gather the reconnaissance squad immediately! We cannot afford to be scattered in the storm!" Riyue shouted to Shikaku.

"A sandstorm?!" Shikaku was shocked by the news.

"This is the Hidden Sand's hidden hand! Tell everyone: use cloth to cover your faces, keep your breathing steady to avoid suffocating on the dust, and do not run around blindly to avoid losing your way. Find cover, crouch low, and hide in areas where the wind is weakest!" Riyue gave rapid-fire instructions, and the reconnaissance ninjas immediately sprang into action.

"What? A sandstorm!" Two minutes later, Princess Tsunade was stunned upon hearing the report. She looked up and could already see the swirling yellow sand ten kilometers away!

"It's too late to retreat. Quickly! Inform everyone to follow Shikaku's instructions!" Princess Tsunade made a decisive call, and the Leaf ninjas moved with haste.

A few minutes later, no further notification was needed; the violent sandstorm was upon them! The suffocating yellow sand slammed into them. Both sides scrambled to move toward their respective camps as best they could.

Sakumo Hatake looked up at the mountain-like wall of sand, his expression grave. "Everyone, follow orders and take cover!" The Leaf ninjas were in a panic, doing their best to hide as Riyue had instructed. The Hidden Sand ninjas, however, were well-trained and immediately gathered according to their standard procedures to weather the storm.

The terrifying, mountain-high wall of sand swept across the entire battlefield, swallowing everyone in one breath. Some were knocked over by the gale while running; others were still fighting and were engulfed before they could find cover; some were knocked unconscious by flying debris. Only about thirty percent of the Leaf forces managed to reach their camp and find shelter, while over seventy percent of the Hidden Sand had succeeded!

The gale whipped up massive amounts of yellow sand and gravel. The dense dust blotted out the sun, turning day into a dark, sunless void. Oceans of sand churned and collided in the air, forming countless dust clouds of varying sizes.

The ninjas were pelted by endless sand and shards of rock. Breathing was difficult, and they couldn't open their eyes; fortunately, they had covered their faces with cloth, or they would have suffocated from inhaling too much dust.

Companions were nowhere to be found. The world was pitch black, with nothing but the roaring wind and the rhythmic patter-patter of sand striking their bodies. They could only crouch low to the ground as sand rapidly piled up around them, making them feel as if they were being buried alive.

Amidst the swirling sand, Kalo led his Wind Style unit to launch an attack. They stood in neat rows, wearing sand goggles. The violent wind was deflected by the concentrated chakra they projected outside their bodies; the sandstorm did not hinder these Wind Style ninjas at all.

Kalo's unit began to advance slowly across the battlefield, killing Leaf ninjas who were huddled in the sand, defenseless against the storm.

The sandstorm raged over the battlefield for half an hour before shifting and moving away. The flying sand gradually settled, but the battlefield was unrecognizable; thick layers of earth had altered the landscape significantly. People began to crawl out of the sand dunes, spitting grit from their mouths, their faces covered in dirt. Countless others had suffocated from inhaling fine sand or had been injured by flying rocks.

In the midst of the storm, Kalo and his men had already wiped out nearly 800 Leaf ninjas. The sudden sandstorm had caught the Leaf off guard, costing them another 150 lives, with over a thousand more rendered combat-ineffective. The rest were in total disarray—some were frantically digging to unearth teammates, others lay injured and unable to move, some were coughing uncontrollably on the ground, and others were completely disoriented by the gale.

Very few were capable of immediate combat, and with no one to organize them, the Leaf forces were in complete chaos!

While the Leaf troops were in shambles and their combat strength severely diminished, the Hidden Sand ninjas were largely unaffected. Accustomed to such extreme weather, they quickly regrouped and reorganized.

Chiyo and Ebizo emerged from the shelters they had prepared in advance. Ebizo raised his arms and shouted, "Hidden Sand ninjas! The time for revenge is here! Attack! Defeat the Leaf!"

"Gather up! The Hidden Sand is attacking!" Princess Tsunade stood atop the giant Katsuyu, shouting to the panicked Leaf ninjas. The squad leaders rushed over, attempting to reorganize the troops. To avoid having her commanders buried by the storm, Princess Tsunade had summoned the giant slug to provide shelter.

The Hidden Sand would not wait for the Leaf to recover. At Chiyo's command, "Kill them!" the Hidden Sand ninjas charged forward with fierce, fanatical expressions, fueled by a thirst for vengeance.

"[Wind Style: Wind Cutter]!" Before they even reached the front lines, nearly a hundred Hidden Sand ninjas unleashed their jutsu, sending a hundred transparent, thin wind blades slicing into the crowd.

"[Earth Style: Earth Wall]!" Several Leaf ninjas combined their efforts to raise a row of small earthen walls. However, the walls were sliced through instantly, and dozens of Leaf ninjas behind them fell, either dead or wounded.

"[Earth Style: Earth Dragon Spear]!" The Hidden Sand ninjas combined their jutsu again, causing a forest of stone spikes to erupt from the sandy ground, impaling a large number of Leaf ninjas on the spot.

"Charge! Kill every Leaf ninja!" Amidst the confusion, the Hidden Sand forces surged forward for close-quarters combat. The two sides clashed, and the Leaf suffered heavy losses. Some were finished off while still buried in the sand; others were struck down in the panic.

Before the Leaf forces could organize, they were scattered once more. The ninjas capable of fighting resisted stubbornly, but without effective command and with their formations in ruins, they fought individually and soon began to rout.

The tide of battle had shifted entirely in favor of the Hidden Sand!

"Haha! We can win! We, the Hidden Sand, can win!" a Hidden Sand ninja shouted excitedly, only for a cold glint to flash behind him, spraying blood across the ground.

Sakumo Hatake didn't even look at the man he had killed. He waved a hand at the Leaf ninjas forming up behind him, his voice steady and calm. "Reserve and elite units, move out! Stop the enemy at any cost! Hold the line! Buy time for the main force to reorganize!"

"Yes!" The Leaf reserves and elite units immediately charged, intercepting the Hidden Sand's frantic assault and fighting desperately to halt their advance, buying time for Princess Tsunade's main force to recover from the chaos.

For a moment, the Hidden Sand's advance stalled, blocked by the elite units led by the White Fang and the 1,000-strong reserve force!

"The White Fang of the Leaf? I've been wanting to face you for a long time. [White Secret Technique: The Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu]!" Chiyo and Ebizo would not sit by and watch Sakumo Hatake turn the tide. They immediately intervened, leading the Hidden Sand's elites to entangle the White Fang and his men.

The ten puppets quickly surrounded Sakumo Hatake. The female puppet wielding two large blades, the White-Faced Puppet, and the Red-Faced Puppet attacked him from three directions simultaneously.

"Puppet masters Chiyo and Ebizo, are you?" Sakumo Hatake's figure flickered, dodging the dual-blade puppet's attack before slicing through the chakra threads behind it. The Red-Faced and White-Faced puppets immediately lost control and collapsed to the ground.

"Bring it on!" Sakumo followed through with a horizontal and vertical slash, his White Fang Blade flashing in a cross-pattern, cutting both puppets into quarters.

"Hmph!" Ebizo pulled out a scroll and immediately deployed two replacement puppets.

The Buddha, Dharma, and Monk puppets also attacked rapidly. Sakumo was cautious; he saw that these three puppets were designed for both offense and defense. He constantly struck to disrupt their coordination, refusing to give them a chance to use [Three Treasures Suction Crush].

The elites of both sides were locked in a fierce battle. The Hidden Sand forces bypassed the clash of the elites and continued their assault on the Leaf troops. By now, only forty percent of the Leaf forces had recovered, and those capable of fighting resisted desperately, but they were gradually being suppressed by the Hidden Sand!

"Damn it! Hold the line!" Princess Tsunade rushed over with a squad.

Kalo also led a unit of ninjas to intercept her, using a Wind Style jutsu to block her path. "Princess Tsunade, I am your opponent! You escaped last time, but that won't happen again!"

"Hmph! I'll settle the score for Dan with you!" Princess Tsunade charged forward.

The two clashed. "Boom! Boom!" Several pillars of sand, a dozen meters high, erupted on the battlefield before collapsing back down.

The Leaf's main force was being relentlessly beaten back by the Hidden Sand, their casualties mounting, and they were on the verge of collapse!

Just then, a force of about 1,000 men appeared at the rear of the Leaf lines, charging straight toward the battlefield!

Ebizo's face broke into a triumphant grin. "Haha! Excellent! Those 1,000 men successfully flanked them and cut off the Leaf's retreat; the Leaf forces will collapse soon! Once we pursue them, the Leaf will surely suffer heavy casualties! We've won!"

Tsunade also noticed the situation behind her, her heart sinking. "This is bad! Did the 500 men I sent to intercept them fail because of the sandstorm?"

"Has our retreat been cut off?" Sakumo Hatake frowned, slicing the spikes off the arm of a white-haired puppet with one stroke, then dodging several steel cables extending from the head of a blue-faced puppet.

"White Fang, you've lost! Haha!" Chiyo laughed loudly.

"Don't underestimate the ninjas of the Leaf! Try this!" Sakumo Hatake raised his White Fang Blade, pointing it directly at Chiyo. Blue lightning suddenly erupted in his palm, and in an instant, dazzling bolts of electricity completely enveloped the White Fang Blade. Arcs of current crackled and danced, spreading a violent, destructive power.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Wolf Chasing Fang!"

Sakumo swung his blade, and a surge of violent current shot out from the White Fang Blade, transforming into a ferocious lightning wolf upon hitting the ground. "Awoo!" An arc of electricity remained connected to the blade, and under Sakumo's control, the wolf charged straight at Chiyo with unmatched ferocity.

"Oh no!" Chiyo's chakra threads danced wildly as the Buddha, Dharma, and Monk puppets flew in front of her, forming a triangular formation in an attempt to block the lightning wolf as it sprinted toward her with claws bared.

The lightning wolf acted like an incredibly sharp blade, with violent electricity flying and dancing everywhere!

"Boom!" It tore the Buddha puppet into pieces head-on, then, without losing momentum, "Boom!" it instantly shattered half of the Dharma puppet's body, and "Boom!" it pierced straight through the Monk puppet, slicing it in half at the waist.

It broke through the triple defense and lunged toward Chiyo!

"Damn it!" Ebizo, standing nearby, was startled; his fingers twitched as he exerted all his strength to control the Ox-Head Puppet to rush forward. The Ox-Head Puppet raised its massive iron fist and slammed it into the head of the lightning wolf!

"Bang!" Electricity scattered everywhere, and the lightning wolf was finally dispersed by the punch, its lightning-attribute chakra spraying out. The Ox-Head Puppet's arm was also blown apart by the violent electricity, its white robes riddled with holes, and its body charred and smoking. Chiyo had narrowly escaped death!

"That was close! Damn that White Fang of the Leaf!" The siblings immediately retreated 20 meters, maintaining a distance from the White Fang of the Leaf, their hearts filled with dread toward the silver-haired man holding the short blade.

Sakumo Hatake, however, was worried about the 1,000 men about to join the battlefield:

Has the Leaf lost...