Rasa of Sunagakure, after receiving Chiyo's plea for help, also quickened her pace to rendezvous with Chiyo and the others.
Susanoo had appeared in the ninja world more than once before.
It was a long-exposed secret technique, and Sunagakure had naturally studied several countermeasures.
But Chiyo did not have those.
Because the Susanoo fought before was never this large.
A four- or five-meter-high skeleton and a thirty-meter-tall giant are vastly different.
Chiyo soon received the messenger bird sent by Onoki, and immediately sent word to Rasa.
Because the two teams were separated by a Land of Rivers, the messenger bird still took only half a day to arrive.
Rasa saw in the report that Onoki had already surrounded and killed Senku, and felt a bit encouraged.
Senku's jinchuriki-targeting ability was of no use against Rasa.
But Senku was the Akatsuki's second strongest fighter. If Senku was dead and the Akatsuki did not respond, that meant the earlier intelligence was true: Pain is dead.
This undoubtedly removed an uncertain factor from this ninja war.
Rasa and the others also increased their speed and joined up with Chiyo and the rest.
On the other side, at Kumogakure's encampment, the Raikage had just received the message delivered by a messenger bird from Iwagakure.
He read the report with a grave expression, then handed it to Dodai without hesitation and asked urgently, "Dodai, what do you make of this intelligence?"
Dodai took the report, skimmed it at high speed, pondered for a moment, then analyzed calmly, "In my view, if Iwagakure's follow-up troops can arrive in time, then this news is likely to be credible."
"However, if the forces they sent are sparse, then it could just be a false ruse."
The Raikage nodded slightly in agreement with Dodai's assessment. Then he decisively issued an order, "In that case, we can't waste any more time. We move out at once!"
From the current information, Konoha had mobilized almost all of its core forces this time.
If they were not short on troops, they would never have struck a cooperation deal with the Akatsuki to have the Akatsuki hold the border line against our Kumogakure advance.
Keep in mind, the Akatsuki had recently made a vicious move against Konoha, yet now they accepted Konoha's employment.
"Akatsuki, hmph!"
The Raikage snorted coldly, clearly displeased with the Akatsuki's behavior.
"Is the village's defensive deployment all in order?", He turned to Dodai.
After all, leading a great army out, his greatest worry was leaving the rear exposed and allowing the enemy to take advantage.
Dodai nodded confidently and replied, "Rest assured, Lord Raikage. Everything has already been arranged."
"Even if Yagura dares to attack again, we will make sure he gains nothing."
Hearing this, the Raikage was somewhat reassured.
"All right, then no more delay, depart! I'll personally go see what the Akatsuki can do to stop our advance!"
With that, the Raikage waved his hand and led Kumogakure's elite shinobi as they set off in magnificent fashion.
———
On the Land of Rivers battlefield, under the intelligence probing of those with the Sharingan and Byakugan observation, it had been discovered that Sunagakure was steadily retreating. Preparing to link up with Rasa's unit.
He deliberately let Senku die in battle so that those jinchuriki carrying tailed beasts could fight more freely and more boldly.
At the same time, Senku's death also indirectly confirmed the important fact that Pain was dead, making them bolder in their attack.
At this moment, whether Sunagakure or Iwagakure, both sides had nearly committed more than half their village forces.
The scale of this war had truly become a full ninja world war.
At the same time, Kumogakure should have also made moves.
Faced with such a complex battle situation, Rengoku remained confident.
And in his mind he already had a complete response plan.
He decided first to concentrate forces against Sunagakure and Iwagakure, leaving Kumogakure for last.
He was not overly worried about whether the Akatsuki could successfully stop Kumogakure's advance.
Because he knew well that Konan's strength should not be underestimated; even she alone could temporarily hold off Kumogakure's offensive.
Not to mention the other Akatsuki members.
As long as he bought enough time, after dealing with Sunagakure and Iwagakure, then turning back to fight Kumogakure with full force, Kumogakure's crushing defeat would be nearly certain.
———
The fertile, rich soil of the Land of Fire was incomparable to that of the Land of Hot Springs.
When people left the Land of Hot Springs heading for the Land of Fire, they would cross a very distinct border line.
Along a stretch of that road, trees and vegetation were unusually sparse, as if forgotten by nature.
Suddenly, with a rumble, a detonation tag was triggered.
Kumogakure's scouting team members all stopped, watching their surroundings warily.
One of the team members casually picked up a stone and tossed it to the distance, wanting to test whether there were other hidden dangers.
But to their surprise, another detonation tag exploded.
"They actually set such a dense field of detonation tag traps!"
One member cried out.
Immediately another said, "Quickly notify the main force to halt. A few of us will go check the situation first."
So the squad moved swiftly, cautiously approaching the direction of the detonation tag explosions.
Soon, after scouting, they arrived at the Raikage's tent.
A team member hurried into the tent and respectfully reported to the Raikage, "Boss, we found a large number of detonation tag traps ahead."
Hearing this, the Raikage, who had been sitting in the tent, frowned and showed a trace of puzzlement, "Is there anything special about these traps?"
For them, encountering various obstacles on the march was routine.
But someone had come to report specifically, so these traps must be unusual.
The team member below quickly replied, "From what we've checked so far, the type of trap is not special, but the number is astonishing."
"We've confirmed that a full three-kilometer stretch ahead is covered with detonation tag traps."
"Three kilometers?"
The Raikage was taken aback.
He thought to himself, to set up detonation tag traps on such a scale, how many detonation tags would that require.
In an instant, a thought rose in his mind, 'Could this be Konan's handiwork in the Akatsuki?'
After all, three years ago when Konan attacked Konoha, everyone had witnessed her overwhelming, countless detonation tag onslaught.
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