The Stone Village's advance force arrived at the battlefield aboard gigantic hovering transport ships, just in time to see the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas being steadily driven back by the White Zetsu army. Outside the hatch, the frigid wind from the Land of Lightning swept in chaotically with chunks of rock and snow, carrying the stench of scorched leather and mangled flesh. Kitsuchi stood at the very edge of the hatch, scratching the itchy back of his neck with callused fingers before spitting a wad of muddy phlegm onto the road below.
"Damn, there sure are a lot of these pale little bastards."
On the snowfield below, the vast White Zetsu army wriggled toward the Hidden Cloud Village's positions like an endless tide of white maggots. A Hidden Cloud Village chunin with one arm severed, his face slick with oily sweat and black ash, clutched a chipped ninja blade tightly in his remaining hand.
"Hold the line! Cough, cough... Don't let these monsters drag away the wounded!" His voice scraped from his throat like sand through bellows as he shouted at his companions, only to be drowned out by the shrill, vicious laughter of the White Zetsu nearby.
"Kitsuchi, quit dragging your feet. Those dark-skinned brutes down there are about to get swallowed alive by this mud." Yoru stood with both hands in his trench coat pockets, leaning against the cabin wall, his gaze calm. Even the collar of his coat had not been disturbed by the cold wind.
"Orochimaru's new toy has been sitting in the lab for half a month. We ought to take it out and air it, or Kakuzu will start pestering me about warehouse rent again." He nudged the dust on the deck with the tip of his shoe, speaking as casually as if discussing