The Hidden Leaf Village.
The battlefield was utterly tragic. The once prosperous village had been reduced to ruins by war. Corpses lay everywhere—villagers of Konoha, Leaf shinobi, as well as Sound and Sand nin.
This was completely different from the Konoha Crush of the original timeline.
Back then, things had not been so brutal. Aside from the Third Hokage's death, the village had only suffered minimal damage. After all, when Shukaku awakened, it had already left the village and rampaged on the outskirts of the forest, causing no real harm to Konoha itself. Furthermore, once Orochimaru's impersonation of the Kazekage was exposed, the Sand forces had retreated leaderless. In the end, the only real casualties were the Sound shinobi and Hiruzen, who had sacrificed himself with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
That so-called "Konoha Crush" had been little more than child's play in comparison.
But now—
With Rasa personally commanding, two rampaging Tailed Beasts wreaking havoc within the village, and the Akatsuki lending their assistance, this battle was on an entirely different level.
Although the Sound forces had once again been annihilated, and the Sand had lost many shinobi, their main fighting force still remained intact. Konoha, on the other hand, had suffered horribly. Many of its shinobi had perished, and as for the villagers—countless had already fallen at Shennong's hands alone.
Overall, the Sound Village had lost the most. This minor village, entirely under Orochimaru's control, had sent out all its elites, only to be virtually wiped out—effectively destroyed after this battle. Next was Konoha: with the fight taking place on its soil, the casualties were immense, not to mention the staggering economic losses. The Sand's losses were relatively lighter, though they too had suffered a significant number of deaths.
"Fourth Kazekage," Jiraiya spoke solemnly from atop Gamabunta's head, his voice carrying across the battlefield. Behind him stood countless Leaf shinobi, facing Rasa and the Sand army. "Your ally Orochimaru has already fled. Continuing this fight will only lead to needless sacrifices on both sides. Konoha can consider not pursuing your betrayal of our alliance. For the sake of peace, let's end this here."
Whether or not that promise was true didn't matter—the priority was to trick the enemy into withdrawing. If the battle continued, it would only worsen for Konoha.
The Third Hokage was missing, the two village elders and Danzō had vanished without a trace, and the only one qualified to take command was Jiraiya himself. He had no choice but to shoulder the responsibility.
He could already foresee the elders pressing him to become the Fifth Hokage after this war.
Shukaku and Chōmei, the two Tailed Beasts, had already reverted to their human hosts, though their whereabouts were unknown.
Now it was purely Sand versus Leaf.
"Jiraiya." Rasa's gaze was dark, his burning face stinging with pain that only fueled his anger. "If you want the Sand to retreat, you're not the one who can decide that. Have your Hokage come speak with me."
It wasn't just his personal rage. Both sides were now fully invested in the war. A mere word from Jiraiya could never settle things. Moreover, the Sand had paid a massive price for this plan. To simply retreat now would mean those sacrifices were wasted. The Sand had gone all-in—they could not afford to lose.
Not only that, but with the chakra armor provided by the Land of Snow greatly enhancing their forces, and with the Akatsuki's overwhelming strength supporting them, Rasa's confidence far surpassed Jiraiya's.
And lastly, he remembered the guarantee of that terrifyingly powerful, mysterious president of the Maritime Company.
'Hokage… I'd like to know where that old man has gone too,' Jiraiya cursed inwardly. First, he had to deal with the triple-headed Orochimaru, then two rampaging Tailed Beasts. After barely managing those, he had to face the Sand's main force.
He still didn't even understand why the Sand had attacked Konoha in the first place.
Even the ANBU didn't know where the Hokage was—how could he?
"It seems the Kazekage insists on provoking war," Jiraiya shot back, deliberately avoiding the question. On the battlefield, he could never admit the Hokage was missing—it would crush morale. Better to pin the blame first.
"It is Konoha who provoked this war!" Rasa roared. If there had been another way, who would gamble everything like this?
But Konoha's slow strangulation had pushed the Sand into a corner.
The Sand could not be allowed to die under his watch.
Then there was no choice but to fight on!
Almost simultaneously, Jiraiya and Rasa struck.
"Oil Bullet!" Gamabunta spat out massive amounts of slippery toad oil.
"Fire Release: Big Flame Bullet!" From Jiraiya's mouth surged an intense torrent of fire.
Oil and flame fused together into a raging inferno.
"Combination Technique: Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
Jiraiya and Gamabunta, longtime partners, unleashed a technique whose power far exceeded ordinary ninjutsu. Not only devastating in its destructive force, but because the oil amplified the flames, ordinary Water Style could not extinguish it—water only spread the burning oil further.
But Rasa was still the Fourth Kazekage—canon had shown him to be someone capable of suppressing Shukaku multiple times. If not for Orochimaru's sneak attack, he would have been an extremely difficult opponent.
Slamming his hands together, Rasa summoned forth dazzling golden light from the ground.
"Magnet Style: Great Gold Dust Burial!"
A golden ocean of sand surged forth, forming an immense wall that completely blocked the Toad Oil Flame Bullet.
Flames could be smothered not just by water, but also by sand—and gold dust was sand.
Standing behind Rasa, Kakuzu's eyes widened, his tiny green pupils bulging. His gaze locked upon that golden sea, unblinking.
At that moment, he seemed to see the light!
His eyes shifted back to Rasa, and in his heart, he made a decision.
'This man—I, Kakuzu, will befriend.'
With their leaders making their moves, the shinobi of both sides charged into combat.
The top fighters quickly found their respective opponents.
"I heard you've got a Sharingan too," a brash voice called from behind Kakashi, just as he finished off a Sand ninja.
Deidara.
He crooked a finger at Kakashi. "Let's play."
A sudden sense of danger exploded in Kakashi's mind. He instantly leapt aside—BOOM!—an explosion erupted where he had just been standing.
"Che, what a waste," Deidara clicked his tongue.
From underground, a white clay centipede burst forth.
"Kakuzu, where's Three?" Sasori asked as he arrived beside Kakuzu, wary eyes fixed on Kurenai, Asuma, and Guy.
"Three"—the partner Kakuzu valued at three million ryō.
"That fool tried to ambush Kakashi," Kakuzu answered flatly, "but he got himself killed instead. Still, I didn't waste him—he's already become part of me."
His eyes then turned to the Leaf jōnin, a greedy light flashing across his face. "Those heads are all worth over ten million each. That one in particular—Asuma Sarutobi—is valued at thirty-five million."
With that, he dropped the large black bag he'd been carrying. "Sasori, give me a hand this time."
"Fine. But the bodies are mine."
Kakuzu and Sasori had a surprisingly good relationship, especially when it came to "handling spoils." One absorbed hearts to extend his life, the other collected corpses to turn into puppets. In true Akatsuki spirit, nothing went to waste.
"As usual, I'll take the heads for the bounty, then return the bodies to you afterward," Kakuzu said, clearly indicating they'd done this before.
"I take two, you take one," Sasori said coolly, already dividing the targets. "Three against two."
"No. Three against three."
Another Akatsuki member stepped onto the battlefield, carrying a massive sword.
"Kisame? What are you doing here? Where's Itachi?"