Hanzo's strength was undeniable.
But Chiyo was no slouch either.
Even twenty years later, when she had long passed her prime, Chiyo still maintained Kage-level combat capabilities. Now, in her prime, as long as she wasn't caught in close quarters by an enemy, the power she could unleash would rank her among the top Kage-level shinobi.
The two had fought many times, with victories on both sides, and they knew each other's methods inside and out. This fight wouldn't be resolved anytime soon.
The true deciders of victory and defeat were the ninja below.
Unless they were experts like the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara, it was impossible to ignore a large, organized ninja army.
Even the current Five Kage, if besieged by thousands of ninja, would eventually succumb to exhaustion and death if they couldn't find a way to break through.
The Sand Village of this era was not like it would be twenty years later, when its strong shinobi would dwindle, funding would be cut, and its strength would weaken to the point of being at the bottom of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Currently, the average quality of Sand Village ninja was very high. Even though the Rain Hidden ninja possessed considerable combat strength, the Sand Village still held a steady advantage.
Qingshui stood beside Fukami Senran, using the fat man's shoulder to prop himself up for a better view of the battlefield.
"Something feels off. Why do I get the feeling these Rain Hidden ninja aren't fighting with their full strength?" Qingshui asked curiously after observing for a while.
"The Rain Hidden ninja know they can't beat us, so of course there's no need for them to fight to the death," Baki said, as if stating the obvious.
In his opinion, their Sand Village was the best in the world, and this behavior from the Rain Hidden ninja was perfectly normal.
"This means they're feinting," Fukami Senran explained. "The Rain Hidden ninja definitely didn't come alone. No matter how strong Hanzo is, he can't beat us with this group of Rain Hidden ninja. Therefore, there must be Konoha ninja acting as another surprise attack force. But there's no need to worry too much. We already coordinated with the Stone Hidden ninja, and they've dispatched their Explosion Release Squad to intercept them on the inevitable path from the Konoha camp to our location."
Qingshui sat on the fat man's shoulder, watching the blurry chaos of the distant battle.
He's right, there's no need for me to worry too much.
Chiyo was a seasoned Kage-level expert, a veteran of countless battles, and highly experienced. There must also be strategists within their ranks, and those Jonin, who had been ninja longer than Qingshui had been alive, must have already prepared contingencies for anything a Chunin like himself, with limited experience, could think of.
Unfortunately, Qingshui was mistaken. The higher-ups in the Sand Village's forces had also overlooked something.
Or perhaps, they underestimated Konoha's strength.
...
Dozens of kilometers away from the Sand Village camp, in a certain valley.
"Haha, Orochimaru, you're truly clever. You guessed that the Stone Hidden ninja would definitely ambush us here." A tall, white-haired man, arms crossed, stood atop a red toad easily as large as Salamander Ibuse. He laughed heartily at his companion, who stood atop a giant purple snake beside him.
"It's not that simple. Even without the advantage of an ambush, the Explosion Release Squad's combat power is not to be underestimated," Orochimaru said, his face grim, as he watched the fierce battle and listened to the continuous explosions.
"Moreover, even if Hanzo is strong, he probably won't fare well against the main Sand Village army. Now that the Sand Village and Stone Hidden are allied, it's unlikely we can deal with them quickly. For now, while the advantage is still on our side, we should kill more enemies to reduce their threat and future variables." Orochimaru extended his long tongue, licking his lips, then turned to Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, since this group of Stone Hidden ninja arrived here before us, they must have arranged a retreat. If we try to take them all out, we'll lose many of our own."
"Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it," Jiraiya said, waving a hand, leaving the thinking to his "external brain."
"We'll first consolidate our strength and force a path through. You take a thousand men to block the Stone Hidden ninja. Just hold them back; don't aim for kills. I'll take the rest to link up with Hanzo and prioritize attacking the Sand Village."
Orochimaru left one thing unsaid: this would shift more of the casualties onto the Rain Hidden.
"Leave it to your great Jiraiya!" Jiraiya patted his chest, signaling Gamabunta to leap towards the center of the battlefield.
...
...
"It seems the Rain Hidden and Konoha will return empty-handed this time." Fukami Senran said, while assigning personnel to prevent any Rain Hidden ninja from reaching their supply lines and causing damage, and also observing the main battlefield.
The fierce battle had lasted over an hour.
It was all thunder and no rain.
A massive ninja battle involving thousands of individuals, yet not many had died so far.
The Rain Hidden's morale had begun to drop as they waited in vain for Konoha's reinforcements, unwilling to risk their lives. The Sand Village focused on solid defense, not seeking to advance rashly.
Continuing this way would yield no results. All Hanzo could do was retreat as soon as possible to minimize losses.
"Hmph, you old Puppet hag, I'm hungry. I'll come settle the score with you next time, after I've eaten my fill." Hanzo clashed with the Ox-faced Puppet one more time, then body-flickered back to the top of Salamander Ibuse, finding an excuse to hurl a threat at Chiyo.
"Hmph, I just hope you dare to come!"
Chiyo manipulated the Chikamatsu Collection, arraying them before her, seemingly formidable. In reality, she had secretly withdrawn the encirclement of Hanzo by the ten Puppets.
Sand Hidden had only just arrived in the Land of Rain. As an army that had traveled a great distance, they were fatigued from the march. It was best to first establish a firm foothold.
While Chiyo wasn't afraid of Hanzo, she acknowledged his strength. In a fight to the death, even if Sand Hidden won, too many casualties would surely mean they couldn't stand against Konoha afterward.
However, at that very moment...
Several Sensor Squad ninja in the Sand Hidden camp looked up in alarm.
"Bad news! Several kilometers to the east, there's a large-scale Chakra anomaly, possibly... Konoha ninja!"
Hanzo, who had just retreated back to his own lines, having been about to withdraw, also heard the report from his Sensor ninja.
"Hahahaha! Old hag Chiyo! I didn't get enough fighting earlier, let's keep going!"
Hanzo once again picked up his Chain Scythe and charged into battle.
Chiyo, whose expression had turned grim after just receiving the news from the Sensor Squad, resummoned the Chikamatsu Collection and blocked Hanzo.
"Old man with the respirator! Didn't you just say you were hungry and going home to eat?! How did you roll back so quickly!"
"Haha, this old man doesn't know why, but my stomach suddenly feels full. Puppet hag, isn't that amazing?"
At the logistics department.
Fukami Senran drew the Ninja Blade wrapped in cloth on his back.
"Reserve Unit, Squads 1 through 6, rendezvous with the close-quarters combat unit and come with me to defend the east! Squads 7 through 10, continue to guard the warehouse!"
Qingshui and his team happened to be Squad 10 of the Reserve Unit.
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