Serpents filled the sky.
Orochimaru and Pakura clashed in midair, their battle unfolding with terrifying ease. As Orochimaru's bizarre serpent-arms danced, his cold, venomous gaze flickered with an eerie blue glow, as though the entire world were being dragged into darkness.
Genjutsu!
Pakura detonated her Scorch Release chakra from within, forcibly breaking free of the illusion. Yet as the fight dragged on, sweat beaded across her forehead. Flames burned fiercely around her fists, obliterating the endless waves of venomous snakes surging toward her—but the cost to her stamina was rapidly mounting.
"Pakura-sensei!"
Maki's heart clenched with worry, but she knew all too well that charging in recklessly would only become a burden, placing Pakura in even greater danger.
"Shikasa, we have to do something."
"Clear the snakes first!"
Beside her, Shikasa manipulated chakra threads, driving two puppets to slaughter the venomous snakes. Yet Orochimaru's serpent formation seemed inexhaustible, showing no signs of dispersing. It was enough to give Sunagakure a splitting headache.
There had to be a core to the technique—destroying it should end the formation. But everyone present understood the same harsh truth: Orochimaru's jutsu was never something that could be dismantled so easily.
In this era, Orochimaru's battlefield destruction was among the most terrifying in the entire shinobi world. And his assault on Sunagakure was far more than a simple mass summoning of snakes.
From the moment Orochimaru made his move, the war between Sunagakure and Konoha had truly begun.
On the Konoha side, countless figures surged forward, advancing in the wake of the snake tide.
"Puppet Mobile Units, deploy!"
Large numbers of puppets were released onto the front lines. Under the control of puppet masters, they drove back the serpent tide, while Sunagakure's pharmacists began dispersing specialized repellents against venomous snakes. Clearly, Sunagakure was not entirely without countermeasures against summoned beasts.
Explosions and jutsu detonations echoed continuously across the eastern sector of Kikyo Mountain.
The snake tide was gradually brought under control—but at that very moment, Konoha launched its second wave.
Special jōnin-led units broke through Kikyo Mountain, directly targeting the puppet masters and pharmacists who had just been occupied, repelling the snakes.
These special jōnin specialized in taijutsu. The assault team moved like a pack of high-speed assassins, ruthlessly harvesting Sunagakure's frontline specialists.
Once, the White Fang of Konoha had single-handedly terrified Sunagakure. Though the White Fang was long gone, the methods he used against Sunagakure were still devastatingly effective.
Pakura had anticipated such tactics—but Orochimaru's serpent formation itself was nothing more than the first layer of bait.
Puppet masters fell in droves. The eastern flank—already the weakest—was pushed to the brink of collapse.
Several Sunagakure jōnin immediately led Maki and Jōgaki toward the breach to reinforce it—only to encounter yet another wave of Konoha shinobi midway.
Within the Konoha ranks, several jōnin whispered among themselves.
"The true purpose of the snake tide is those troublesome puppet masters and pharmacists. Wipe them out, and Sunagakure's overall threat drops by more than half."
As the mastermind, Orochimaru personally restrained Pakura while directing these special jōnin to carry out the operation. Screams echoed endlessly across Kikyo Mountain as Sunagakure's puppet masters and pharmacists were assassinated one after another.
"Damn it!"
Pakura hurled two massive, blazing fireballs forward, only for Orochimaru to intercept them with two giant serpents. Meanwhile, the snake tide behind her grew denser and denser—his intent clear: to completely sever Pakura from Kikyo Mountain's main force.
"As a commander, you're far too impulsive… and far too inexperienced," Orochimaru said calmly.
As he spoke, multiple Konoha shinobi gathered around him, encircling Pakura completely.
Faced with the crisis, Pakura's expression hardened. Flames erupted violently across her entire body, the savage surge of chakra signaling Scorch Release entering a far more explosive state. The surrounding air itself seemed to ignite, the temperature soaring to unbearable levels.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the situation grew increasingly dire.
With Sunagakure's command structure disrupted, units fought independently. Konoha's assassination squads focused relentlessly on Sunagakure's most valuable assets—puppet masters and pharmacist-medics.
Bodies piled onto the sand. Sunagakure finally realized the severity of the situation and rushed to provide reinforcements—but by then, Konoha's numbers had only increased, tying down Sunagakure's main forces on every front.
In terms of overall strength, Konoha completely suppressed Sunagakure. Combined with surprise assaults and surgical assassinations, Sunagakure's front line was on the verge of collapse.
Jōgaki's eyes turned grim.
Under his chakra-thread control, the twin Red Flounder puppets streaked across the battlefield like two intersecting crimson lights, repeatedly blocking Konoha's advances.
Tch… this kid is troublesome.
The special jōnin leading the Konoha unit signaled for more troops to join. The original three-chūnin attack formation shifted instantly. Though the Red Flounder puppets were fast, their chakra consumption was enormous.
Standing nearby to prevent enemies from closing in on Shikasa, Maki unfurled a scroll and launched a powerful Scorch Release fireball. Flames swallowed the Konoha shinobi ahead. Through continuous combat, Maki had developed her own fighting rhythm on the battlefield.
"Die, brat!"
Unexpectedly, the Konoha ninja dodged away from the killing blow. In the same instant, he flung a handful of shuriken straight at Maki.
Maki responded with her own substitution, flipping backward lightly. As she moved, countless silk cloth strips shot out, forming a sealing array.
She began forming seals—
Boom!
The silk detonated.
The Konoha ninja seized the brief casting window, bursting forward at extreme speed. A kunai flashed coldly in his hand, aimed straight for Maki's life.
In that instant—
A long, echoing wolf howl reverberated across the battlefield.
A blue-white Cyclone Blade tore through the air, intercepting the fatal strike. The kunai shattered, its fragments scattering.
"What?!"
As the howl faded, a figure emerged.
A wolf and a man stepped calmly onto the battlefield.
The young shinobi, draped in Sunagakure's cloak, radiated an astonishing presence that drew the attention of both sides at Kikyo Mountain.
The moment Shiraishi gripped his silver blade, his aura transformed completely.
The blade spun faster and faster, forming a violent storm of cutting winds. Countless Cyclone Blades swept forward dominantly. Konoha shinobi paled and immediately attempted to evade.
But the Cyclone Blades pursued relentlessly—like sharks scenting blood, refusing to let go.
With the Sand Gathering Technique continuously feeding him chakra, Shiraishi watched as the Konoha ninja finally escaped the Cyclone Blade's pursuit range.
At that moment—
His round pupils activated silently.
Shiraishi leapt into the air. His spinning form stirred up a raging sandstorm, shrouding the entire area. His eyes locked onto the target like those of a ferocious wolf.
The silver blade carved through the air in a single decisive arc.
Iai slash merged with Cyclone Blade—
A devastating slash of compressed airflow tore through the battlefield.
Blood sprayed across the sand.
The targeted Konoha ninja's right arm was severed cleanly, while the special jōnin who rushed in to save him suffered deep lacerations across his palm from Shiraishi's cutting wind.
For a brief moment—
The battlefield around Shiraishi fell eerily silent.
Both sides turned their gaze toward the young shinobi who had just entered the war.
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