Orochimaru: This Disciple Is Too Ruthless

In the ruins on the western side of the canyon, the wind and sand carried a pungent, scorched smell.

Chiyo dragged her mangled left arm as she struggled through the rubble.

She knew the terrain here inside and out.

When Handover Canyon had been chosen, Sunagakure had secretly left a maintenance passage beneath the cliff wall.

As long as she slipped into that passage, she could avoid Hidden Leaf's sensory units.

A narrow crack in the rocks appeared ahead.

Chiyo quickened her pace.

Her breathing was as heavy as a broken bellows, and she coughed blood with every step.

Her Chakra was nearly depleted.

Not even a single puppet remained at her side for protection.

She was now nothing more than a frail old woman.

The rock crevice was within reach.

Just as Chiyo stepped forward with her right foot, an astonishing wave of heat descended from overhead.

Boom.

A fireball the size of a human head slammed into the entrance of the crevice.

The intense heat turned the surrounding rocks red-hot.

The passage entrance collapsed outright, and rubble sealed off her retreat completely.

Chiyo stopped.

She did not turn around.

Pakura walked down from the dune behind her.

Four Scorch Release fireballs floated behind Pakura, sweeping away all the wind and sand.

"Where does the elder think she is going?"

No emotion could be heard in Pakura's voice.

Chiyo turned around.

She looked at Pakura, who had blocked her path, without the slightest intention of begging for mercy.

"Do it."

Chiyo straightened her back.

"The plan failed. This old woman admits defeat."

"But this old woman has no regrets."

"Sunagakure needs to survive. The Land of Wind needs to survive."

"As long as we could win, not only your life—even this old woman's own life could be thrown in."