"That's... the yellow sand of the desert?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and quickly noticed some unusual details on the Valkyrie Puppet.
Within the Valkyrie Puppet's abdomen, through a hole created by Shin'un's Lightning Release strike, golden sand was continuously spreading outwards.
Recalling the records about the One-Tail Beast in Konoha, the speculation about the source of the fortress-type puppet 'Chakra a few days ago, and Shin'un's statement that the puppet before them had emerged from the body of a fortress-type puppet...
A knowing glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes, confirming that he had anticipated this all along.
"I'm afraid the One-Tail is currently sealed in the abdomen of this puppet, serving as a source of Chakra."
Hearing Orochimaru's words, Shin'un, who had also noticed the yellow sand gushing out from the Valkyrie Puppet's abdomen, nodded in agreement and said:
"That's right, this also explains why it has such a massive amount of Chakra to drive its Wind Release flight."
"Furthermore, my lucky Lightning Release attack just now seems to have broken the seal on the One-Tail creature inside the Valkyrie Puppet."
Orochimaru glanced at Shin'un and nodded.
"You call her Valkyrie Puppet? That's a fitting name."
Orochimaru looked up and gestured to the yellow sand overflowing from the Valkyrie's abdomen.
"That's right, the One-Tail should have been sealed inside the Valkyrie Puppet by the Sand Ninja."
"It's clear that it sensed something was wrong with the seal and is now trying to break free."
"That's probably why the Valkyrie Puppet's Chakra supply is having problems, which is why it hasn't made a move yet."
Shin'un's eyes darted around, and an idea suddenly flashed into his mind.
"Teacher, in that case, could we...?"
Shin'un didn't finish speaking, but Orochimaru glanced at Shin'un beside him and quickly guessed what Shin'un was thinking.
"You mean... we'll just release One-Tail?"
After thinking for a moment, Orochimaru turned his head and glanced at the battlefield not far away.
"Um... no."
"Although the One-Tail Beast hates the Sunagakure ninjas even more than we do."
"But the situation on the battlefield is tense right now, and our Konoha ninjas cannot simply leave the battlefield. They will also be attacked by the One-Tail."
Upon hearing this, Shin'un frowned, but inwardly agreed.
Seeing Shin'un frown, Orochimaru laughed.
"Don't worry, since we can detect the Chakra leakage within the Valkyrie Puppet just by observation..."
" Chiyo inside that Valkyrie Puppet would know this even better than we do."
"Now, she's even more anxious than we are to end the battle and reinforce the One-Tail's seal as quickly as possible."
Just as Orochimaru finished speaking, the Valkyrie Puppet hovering in mid-air seemed to have heard their conversation. The four thrusters on its back suddenly increased their power, propelling the Valkyrie Puppet into the sky.
Immediately afterwards, under Chiyo's control, the Valkyrie Puppet made an extremely smooth turn in the air and flew straight towards the battlefield not far away.
Upon seeing this, Shin'un was taken aback.
"Is she going to reinforce the battlefield?"
The next moment, Shin'un rejected his own idea.
"Given the Valkyrie Puppet's current condition, providing support on the battlefield... is highly unlikely."
After a moment's thought, Orochimaru said:
"Let's chase after them and see."
After saying that, Orochimaru took the lead, using his Body Flicker Technique repeatedly to chase after the Valkyrie Puppet in the air, quickly drifting towards the battlefield.
Shin'un, his body crackling with lightning, pursued closely behind.
As expected, the Valkyrie Puppet flew swiftly to the center of the battlefield, then turned to face Orochimaru and his companion who were running at full speed, raising the wind-wielding sword in her hand and pointing it at her abdomen.
As if on display, the Valkyrie Puppet brandished the wind-borne sword pointing at its abdomen, and Chiyo's voice suddenly rang out.
"All Sunagakure, end the battle and withdraw immediately!"
The voice emanated from the Valkyrie Puppet, and its volume was so great that all the ninjas fighting below heard Chiyo's order to retreat.
Both the Konoha Ninja and the Sunagakure paused for a moment, none of them understanding why Chiyo was issuing such an order at the height of the battle.
The Konoha Ninja were astonished by Chiyo's sudden, idiotic order.
All the Sunagakure were caught in a dilemma.
They could certainly follow orders, end the battle immediately, and turn to retreat.
But the question is, will the Konoha Ninja, who have already gained the upper hand, collectively bid farewell with tears in their eyes, waving handkerchiefs, and displaying extreme reluctance?
How is that possible?
If they retreat and the Konoha Ninja attack, what kind of casualties will they suffer before they can escape?
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, as countless Sand Ninja struggled with whether to carry out orders, Orochimaru and Shin'un also heard Chiyo's command.
Shin'un narrowed his eyes, gazing thoughtfully at the Valkyrie Puppet in mid-air that was pointing its wind-wielding longsword at its abdomen.
"Is Chiyo threatening us?"
Beside him, Orochimaru, his face grim, nodded and said:
"That should be right."
Her meaning was quite clear.
"How about we issue the same evacuation order, and everyone will be safe?"
"Or she could just break the seal right in the middle of the battlefield and release the One-Tail; neither side would benefit from that."
We only have two choices.
Upon hearing this, Shin'un pondered to himself, his heart subtly leaning towards leading the Konoha Ninja to retreat.
In any case, this large-scale operation involving thousands of Konoha Ninja was merely a cover for the destruction of the fortress-like puppet.
Now that the main objective has been achieved, everything else is just incidental.
It would be a losing proposition to face the threat of the Tailed Beast just for a trivial victory.
Shin'un turned to look at Orochimaru, certain that Orochimaru would make the same choice as him.
Orochimaru is always rational.
He would never choose a meaningless victory that involves great risk and is not even guaranteed.
"Phew~"
With a sigh of relief, Orochimaru made his decision.
He reached into his ninja tool pouch behind him, pulled out a signal flare, and launched it into the sky with a clean and efficient motion.
"Hiss~"
The fluorescent blue signal flare rapidly ascended, remaining clearly visible even under the thick, dark clouds of the Land of Rain.
"Ah?"
"This is... Lord Orochimaru's signal flare?"
"You want us to evacuate too?"
"..."
Countless Konoha Ninja on the battlefield immediately noticed the blue signal flare in the sky, and they knew very well what the color of the signal flare meant.
Despite their surprise, the Konoha Ninja stopped fighting and gradually separated from the equally bewildered Sand Ninja.
Standing at the edge of the battlefield, Orochimaru glanced at the two groups of ninjas gradually separating, then at the Valkyrie Puppet in the sky that kept its long sword pointed at its abdomen, and a subtle glint flashed in his eyes.
" Shin'un, how much Chakra do you have left?"
"Um?"
Shin'un was somewhat surprised by the question, but still secretly estimated the remaining Chakra and answered:
"There's still more than half left, what's wrong?"
"Whoosh~"
Orochimaru glanced at Shin'un, then reached out and grabbed his neck, pulling him close.
Shin'un did not resist, but merely raised his eyebrows, looking at Orochimaru with a suspicious expression.
As if afraid of being overheard, Orochimaru leaned close to Shin'un's ear and whispered:
"Once we've distanced ourselves from the Sand Ninja, use your Lightning Pillar to attack the Valkyrie Puppet's abdomen."
"Try to break the seal on the One-Tail as much as possible."
Is it possible?
Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Shin'un was visibly shaken, as if a new world had been opened to him. He gave Orochimaru a thumbs-up and looked at him with admiration.
"Teacher, that was such a sneaky... brilliant!"
Seeing this, Orochimaru released his arm from Shin'un's shoulder, put his hands behind his back, and a slight smile quietly appeared on his usually expressionless face.
"Even if we can't win this battle, we can't let the Sand Ninja just leave like that."
"Didn't Chiyo threaten us with the Tailed Beast?"
"Then let's let her taste the flavor of Tailed Beast!"