After the purple ray blasted into the ground, it instantly set off a massive explosion with the fireworks in the Hidden Cloud Ninja army reaching as high as several hundred meters, blowing a pit dozens of meters deep into the hard ground.
Then Uchiha Yoichi turned to control and prepare the next devastating blow against the Hidden Cloud Ninja army.
"Damn it!"
When Kitsuchi, who had gathered Chakra upon arriving, saw the transformed Godzilla monster attacking their ninja, he angrily slammed his hands on the ground.
Earlier, Kitsuchi had witnessed their Ninja Village's Four-tailed and Five-tailed beasts being sliced in half by the purple ray, not knowing their current condition.
"Earth Release: Mountain Earth Jutsu!"
Instantly, massive hemispherical stone mountains rose from Godzilla's two sides, locking Godzilla in place and interrupting Uchiha Yoichi's radiation line.
'More people...'
After the radiation stream was interrupted, Uchiha Yoichi simply dismissed Godzilla's main body, using the Four Symbols Seal to confine Godzilla back into the cage within his body.
Now, Godzilla's consciousness was under his Chakra control, incapable of any rebellious thoughts. Thus, the massive figure was quickly reabsorbed as if by a suddenly appearing whirlpool, returning to Uchiha Yoichi's abdomen.
With the seal completed, Uchiha Yoichi fell from a height of hundreds of meters, but as soon as he hit the ground, he used the Susanoo skeleton to cushion.
"My body is heating up again; is this the aftereffect of using Godzilla's body..."
Uchiha Yoichi suddenly noticed his clothes were smoking, with a burnt smell emanating. His body's surface temperature certainly exceeded one hundred degrees Celsius; though uncomfortable, it was much better than before.
Before the hemispherical stone mountains closed in, Uchiha Yoichi left the area directly.
Afterward, Orochimaru approached Uchiha Yoichi and said, "Mr. Yoichi, the corpses of the Four-tailed and Five-tailed Jinchuriki have been reclaimed, but the Eight-tail ran away, leaving behind only a tail."
"Dead?"
Uchiha Yoichi was somewhat surprised to hear this; he intended to severely injure them, then have Orochimaru capture and bring them back using Sage Mode.
How did a single radiation line kill them?
"Forget it, let's discuss it upon returning. My Chakra is running low; just now, Yamanaka Ijin told me even Senior Sakumo was wounded; we've been defeated...."
Uchiha Yoichi sensed Kitsuchi leading two ninjas around the Mountain Earth Jutsu to approach, his previously amplified Chakra thanks to Hashirama Cells now waning after the series of battles.
The remaining Chakra would barely allow him to use the Flying Thunder God Jutsu to teleport away; this was his final resort.
"Then we should retreat too. The Eight-tailed Jinchuriki is hiding somewhere; we can't catch up. Let's regroup with the larger force first...your last attack probably halted the Hidden Cloud Ninja's pursuit."
After saying this, Orochimaru handed over the storage scroll containing the sealed corpses and Eight-tailed's octopus tentacle to Uchiha Yoichi upon Kitsuchi's swift arrival.
A Purple Sage Curse Seal appeared on Orochimaru's face, and he then conjured an eerie Sage Mode mask, deploying a Shadow Clone, saying
"Let the Shadow Clone hold them off; let's go."
Orochimaru still had a lot of Chakra, and the Sage Mode's Shadow Clone was enough to handle Kitsuchi, initially avoided due to the physical strain of Sage Mode—no need for an immediate all-out fight.
But now, in a retreating situation, Orochimaru didn't have to worry.
"Damn it!"
Kitsuchi saw Orochimaru deploy a Shadow Clone, then unleashed Ninjutsu that blocked their pursuit and prevented them from checking on the status of Roshi and Han.
No choice; they must first destroy Orochimaru's Shadow Clone before addressing anything else.
——————————
Orochimaru and Uchiha Yoichi quickly caught up with the retreating Konoha Ninja, and Hidden Cloud Ninjas were still pursuing them, aiming to prevent their return to the second camp.
Despite Konoha deploying Ninja Squads to intercept, they struggled immensely against the vast number of pursuing Hidden Cloud Ninjas.
Upon witnessing this, Orochimaru and Uchiha Yoichi used their Summoning Jutsu after a detour, with Uchiha Yoichi consuming some Soldier Pills along the way.
Though restoring not much Chakra, coupled with Hashirama Cells' recovery ability, summoning Gates for ten minutes to hold the scene was feasible.
Orochimaru summoned Manda, and whatever transpired between them, Manda didn't demand a sacrifice upon appearing.
"Gates, hold them off for ten minutes; then you can leave."
"Manda, you do the same!"
Leaving the command, both departed with the other Konoha Ninja.
Soon after leaving, a Beast King's roar came from behind.
With the obstruction of two powerful summoned beasts, especially Gates with his magic, Gravity Jutsu, Stone Spike Pillar Stab, alongside his Magic Shield and Earth Bear's multiple skills unleashed in succession, fighting the Hidden Cloud Ninja was akin to whack-a-mole.
Finally, before heading back, Gates gathered golden light in his mouth, delivering a Beast King Roar Bullet to the Hidden Cloud Ninjas, effectively dispelling their pursuit intentions.
Once at the camp, the medical squad immediately commenced treatment; the casualty count was high, with most returning being lightly or severely injured, including Hatake Sakumo who suffered severe wounds from an ambush by A and three other Hidden Cloud Ninjas, pierced through his right shoulder by A's Lightning Release Stab.
Upon returning, Orochimaru promptly organized the camp, lightly injured or those without any injury consumed Soldier Pills and were sent for patrol.
Severely injured ones received treatment, and once all critical injuries were stabilized, intelligence gathering was conducted, preparing to shift the camp inward anytime; the fire country's frontier had been breached by Hidden Cloud Ninjas, Orochimaru worried they might bypass the camp and wreak havoc further inland.
Afterward, Orochimaru tallied numbers, quickly reaching a conclusion.
Out of the thousand two hundred ninjas dispatched, only four hundred thirty-one returned, seventy-three among them too severely injured to fight, with one hundred ninety requiring treatment for minor injuries, while the rest had significant Chakra depletion.
Consuming Soldier Pills enabled a roughly seventy to eighty percent recovery, enough to support reconnaissance and camp patrol duties.
So many dead and wounded made this a significant defeat for Konoha; however, Orochimaru acknowledged this was a sudden incident, none foresaw Hidden Rock Ninjas presenting elite forces to the Land of Hot Water battlefield.
The elite Hidden Rock Ninja utilized Combined Ninjutsu to mount the most substantial attack on Konoha's camp; they exerted their utmost, keeping three Tailed Beast Jinchuriki occupied, but no one was there to handle the Hidden Rock Ninjas.
Nonetheless, Orochimaru understood, compared to them, the Hidden Rock's losses were far greater, two Jinchuriki corpses were collected by him, Hidden Cloud's Jinchuriki's condition was unknown, though retreating hurriedly suggested possible serious injuries.
Despite intelligence shortcomings, they performed optimally in this battle.
"I'm unsure if Teacher Sarutobi will be glad or sorrowful upon receiving this news...."
Orochimaru suddenly chuckled, contemplating Wood Release and Mangekyo, along with the recently emerged terrifying monster resembling but unlike any of the Nine Great Tailed Beasts.
Curious to research this unknown yet incredibly potent entity, pondering if it's within the Ninja World?
Uchiha Yoichi's abilities exceeded expectations, leaving Teacher Sarutobi, typically indifferent to the Uchiha Race, probably sleepless.
Orochimaru documented detailed events from the battlefield into a report, dispatching it swiftly back to the village; they now needed reinforcements more than the situation in the Land of Grass.
Once Hidden Cloud's pursuit was halted, they retracted their ninja forces for defense, preventing another surprise attack from Konoha Ninjas.
The war momentarily paused, prompting the initiation of subsequent plans.
A and Dodai were still assessing casualties, and encounters involving the Jinchuriki and Konoha Lightning Fang's battles remained under scrutiny, especially A's concern for Killer Bee's situation.
Just as A considered dispatching a Ninja Squad, Hidden Rock's Kitsuchi furiously approached A, highlighting immense losses from their reinforcements.
So vast the loss that the Third Generation Raikage's promises seemed insignificant, Hidden Rock lost significantly, with two Jinchuriki killed outright!
