"Hey, little monk."
"Let this great one handle your current troubles!"
From deep within Bunpuku, Shukaku bellowed at his host's spiritual form.
The mischievous and unruly Tailed Beast had long been itching to wreak havoc. The only reason it had stayed relatively quiet until now was due to a pact made between it and Bunpuku.
Bunpuku had promised to unleash Shukaku on the battlefield.
Unleash the Sand of Slaughter.
Sporting sunken eyes and the appearance of a frail, aging monk, Bunpuku remained serene even as Shukaku mockingly called him "little monk."
Compared to the ancient Shukaku, who had lived for millennia, Bunpuku was indeed a child in age, despite his wizened features. So the nickname, coming from Shukaku, wasn't exactly wrong.
"Shukaku, not yet."
"I gave you my word, I will keep it."
Bunpuku responded calmly to the beast's restlessness, reaffirming his promise.
"Don't keep this great one waiting too long, little monk."
With those parting words, Shukaku's voice faded as Bunpuku's consciousness was ejected from their shared mental space.
As he returned to the devastated battlefield, Bunpuku took in the destruction left by the storm. Veigar and Minato were already gone, having vanished via the Flying Raijin Technique.
"Veigar…"
Chiyo, having just lost three of her puppets, scanned the ruined ground with a scowl. Seeing no sign of Veigar, her expression darkened further with rage.
In the next instant, she sprinted toward the Konoha forward base.
There was only one place Veigar could have fled, and it had to be inside Konoha's encampment.
Rasa and Bunpuku exchanged a glance and immediately gave chase.
Elsewhere, Sōichirō, Ryōma, and Yūki, three elite Jōnin, saw the flare explode overhead. Without hesitation, they began issuing orders to their Suna forces to begin the assault.
Sōichirō raised his arm high and roared,
"All units, prepare for battle!"
"Yes, sir!"
From the skies above, a chorus of Sand shinobi echoed back.
Under the puppet masters' precise control, the Asuka Puppet Corps swooped lower on mechanical wings. Once they had visual confirmation of Leaf shinobi within the forward encampment, they began hurling kunai strapped with explosive tags, raining indiscriminate destruction upon the area.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
The first detonation inside Konoha's forward base triggered a cascading wave of thunderous explosions.
The roars of destruction never ceased.
Watching the chain of eruptions, Hizashi, already evacuated with others, snapped his Byakugan open wide.
His voice was tense as he turned to the ninja beside him:
"Where are those blasts coming from? Was there a breach in the plan?"
But as he peered deeper with his Byakugan, the answer became clear.
The aerial puppet units were fully exposed under his all-seeing eyes.
"Hiazshi-sama, there's no breach. Shadow clones report the explosive tags are falling from above."
Hizashi nodded, eyes still active, tone calm and resolved.
"Understood."
Just then, Minato and Veigar reappeared beside him via teleportation.
"Minato. Veigar."
"You're back."
Relief washed over Hizashi's face.
Minato responded with a nod.
"Yeah. Is everything ready?"
Hizashi affirmed,
"All we need is your order."
Taking command, Veigar stepped forward.
"Then let's begin."
A communications shinobi beside them immediately sprang into action.
"Yes, sir!"
He began signaling to Konoha units hidden across the battlefield.
"Attack!!"
"Spare no one from Konoha!!"
Suna forces surged forward in bloodlust. The base, seemingly held by only a handful of clones, offered almost no resistance, falling back continuously, the clones subtly regrouping.
To the Suna shinobi, this meant one thing: total victory.
The empty base, the lack of casualties, the unimpeded advance, it was too easy. Their excitement turned to frenzy.
The air assault was complete, and the Asuka Puppet Corps descended. With them came over a thousand Sand shinobi, led by Sōichirō, Ryōma, and Yūki. Another three hundred puppet masters followed close behind, each piloting their own Asuka constructs.
"Kill them all!!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!!"
The Sand forces landed amid the Leaf encampment and immediately charged, but the moment they looked around, they froze.
The terrain had been bombarded into craters and rubble, but there wasn't a single body.
Not a single Konoha shinobi remained, not even a corpse.
All that was left was charred timber and scorched rags.
Sōichirō, Ryōma, and Yūki exchanged grim looks.
A chill crept into their hearts.
The trap had closed.
Outside the Konoha base, at eight strategic locations, elite ambush squads lay in wait, each composed of two Jōnin and two Chūnin.
The signal had been given. The time had come.
None hesitated.
Before each team lay a massive summoning scroll.
With synchronized precision, eight Jōnin slammed their chakra into the seals.
"Summoning Technique!"
The scripts glowed violently, then burst open.
Eight colossal serpents erupted from the scrolls, Orochimaru's personal summons.
"Massive…"
"So these are Orochimaru-sama's summons?"
The sight of these towering snakes sent a visceral shock through even hardened veterans.
These serpents had been briefed. Their targets were clear: any living thing in the enemy encampment.
The Eightfold Encirclement of the Empty City Linked Stratagem.
At that moment, the only shinobi still within the Leaf encampment were from Suna.
And so the serpents charged.
Back within the camp, Sōichirō and his fellow commanders, already uneasy, spotted a mass of over a thousand shadow clones converging nearby.
Before they could even issue orders, their own troops surged forward.
"Konoha shinobi spotted! Kill them all!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!!"
Surrounded on all sides, the clones, each having taken the form of Hizashi Hyuga, paused just briefly before Veigar, still in disguise, flashed a grin and gave the signal:
"Now, dispel!"
The moment he spoke, the clones answered in unison:
"Yes!"
Their expressions shifted from retreat to predatory glee.
They turned.
And surged forward into the ranks of the unsuspecting Suna army.
With the closest enemies chosen, they executed self-destructive strikes, the trap finally sprung.
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