The incident that occurred in Sakura and Ino's tent was nothing more than a small interlude.
Aside from the one White Zetsu that managed to escape quickly, most of the White Zetsu were eliminated by Hoshiyomi outside before they could even infiltrate the medical division.
Dealing with the White Zetsu on the medical side took little effort. Furthermore, Hoshiyomi had left a coordinate for his Dance of the Startling Swan at the Alliance Headquarters. Consequently, by the time Hoshiyomi returned to Headquarters to notify them of the night raid, the attacks on the other units had only just begun.
The sensory-type shinobi in each division immediately sprang into action. Hoshiyomi also took Naruto and Killer B with him to several nearby divisions. With the combined sensory abilities of the three, the hidden White Zetsu had nowhere to hide and were easily wiped out.
Once the night-raiding White Zetsu were completely dealt with, the Allied Forces were finally able to get a good night's rest. Everyone seized the time to sleep and recover, conserving their strength for the second major battle the next day.
On the other side, Black Zetsu and Tobi compared notes and realized that on the very first day—without achieving much of anything—they had already lost nearly twenty thousand White Zetsu, and a significant number of Edo Tensei warriors as well.
Both of them felt the pressure immediately. Their original plan had been to slowly wear down the Shinobi Alliance with superior numbers, dragging things out until Madara became the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki and then sweeping the battlefield in one decisive move.
But looking at the situation now, they realized something was wrong.
In order to prevent the Shinobi Alliance from continuing to advance, the two gritted their teeth and made a decisive choice: tomorrow, they would unleash all of their White Zetsu and Edo Tensei forces at once. If they were going to fight, they would go all in.
Releasing everything now was far better than scrambling to respond after the Shinobi Alliance reached their doorstep.
...
Early the next morning, without any signal or warning, the war erupted once again.
At the First Division's camp, a sensory shinobi—who had only just woken up—rushed into the command tent in panic, shouting to Kitsuchi, who was in the middle of eating breakfast:
"Bad news, Vice-Commander Kitsuchi! We've detected a massive number of lifeforms moving rapidly underground ahead—around twenty thousand of them!"
Kitsuchi froze for a moment, then hastily put down his bowl. Without even wiping his mouth, he rushed out of the command tent and shouted:
"All units, on alert!"
As he spoke, he turned to look at Kurotsuchi, who had also rushed out after hearing the report.
The two exchanged a glance and nodded in perfect understanding. Kitsuchi then shouted to the assembled Allied Forces:
"Everyone prepare your ninjutsu! I don't care what element it is—use whatever you're strongest with. Once Kurotsuchi and I force them out, release everything at once!"
With that, Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi rapidly formed hand seals. After finishing, they slammed their palms onto the ground and shouted:
"Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation!"
As their chakra poured in wildly, the earth seemed to come alive, churning violently. Two hundred meters in front of the First Division's camp, the ground erupted like a volcano. Countless White Zetsu were forced up from below, bursting out like molten lava.
Seeing this scene, the First Division roared in unison and hurled their strongest attacks forward.
After a barrage of multicolored explosions, Kitsuchi shouted an order, and the First Division charged forward, plunging into the White Zetsu ranks—now dazed and disoriented by the bombardment—unleashing everything they had.
"Fang Over Fang!"
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"
"Insect Sphere!"
"Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel Technique!"
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
…
Each member of the First Division used their most proficient techniques, delivering a crushing assault on the twenty thousand White Zetsu, who were completely caught off guard. It looked as though the White Zetsu were about to be wiped out entirely.
But at that moment, two figures suddenly arrived from the distance.
"Landmine Fist!"
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
The Edo Tensei–revived Gari and Kakuzu did not look particularly imposing, but the power they unleashed was anything but trivial. Massive explosions and wide-area ninjutsu abruptly brought the Shinobi Alliance's momentum to a halt.
Seeing the two in action, Kitsuchi's expression changed. HHe held back Kurotsuchi, who wanted to step forward, and engaged Kakuzu alone. However, Kitsuchi was only at a semi–Kage level; going up against the veteran Kage-level Kakuzu was clearly a struggle.
Moreover, Kakuzu was now a true immortal in every sense of the word. Before long, Kitsuchi was completely suppressed and forced into a losing position.
Gari, standing nearby, naturally had no intention of missing such a perfect opportunity. He swung a Landmine Fist straight toward Kitsuchi's back.
Just as Kitsuchi was about to fall into mortal danger—and with Kurotsuchi entangled by White Zetsu and unable to break free—everyone thought Kitsuchi was about to die at the hands of the two.
Suddenly, eerie black flames burst out from Gari's arm.
At first, Gari—unable to feel pain—did not take it seriously. But in the blink of an eye, the black flames spread over his entire body, burning his right arm into countless white fragments scattered through the air.
From within the crowd, Uchiha Itachi made his move.
He first used Amaterasu to resolve Kitsuchi's crisis, then took the initiative to confront Kakuzu himself, not forgetting to call out over his shoulder:
"Have everyone retreat two hundred meters. I'm going to use my forbidden technique."
Feeling the terrifying aura emanating from Itachi and the strange, ominous fluctuations of his Mangekyō Sharingan, Kitsuchi swallowed hard and quickly retreated to inform the Shinobi Alliance to pull back.
As Itachi fell into the encirclement of Kakuzu and Gari, Kitsuchi suddenly felt a wave of regret.
He had been intimidated by the young man's overwhelming presence and had forgotten that there were still at least ten thousand White Zetsu on the battlefield. Once surrounded, how could that Uchiha youth possibly survive?
Just as Itachi was swallowed by the mass of White Zetsu along with Kakuzu and Gari—and as Kitsuchi was about to risk his life to rush in and save him—a blinding red chakra suddenly erupted from within the White Zetsu horde.
That chakra gathered rapidly like living flames, and in the blink of an eye, condensed into a crimson half-body giant more than ten meters tall.
As the red giant raised its arm, an orange-yellow chakra gourd suddenly formed at its wrist. When the chakra giant grasped the gourd, an enormous flaming blade burst forth.
This was Itachi's third-stage Susanoo.
Wielding the Totsuka Blade, Susanoo swept across the battlefield before it without the slightest hint of mercy. The blazing sword carved out a wide clearing over a hundred meters across in an instant.
The White Zetsu struck by it were not merely knocked away or cut down—instead, after burning briefly, they were eerily drawn along the flames and absorbed into the gourd of the Totsuka Blade in Susanoo's hand.
It wasn't just the weak White Zetsu. Even Kakuzu and Gari—who had nearly killed Kitsuchi moments earlier—suffered the same fate. Seeing the massive Susanoo, the two tried to evade, but the sweeping flaming blade of the Totsuka Sword gave them no chance to escape.
Their souls were instantly absorbed into the Totsuka Blade. Unlike other Edo Tensei who ascended after being sealed, their souls were trapped forever within the blade.
Everyone in the First Division stood frozen, staring at the scene before them, an inexplicable urge to kneel and submit rising in their hearts.
Even more astonishing was the fact that what they were witnessing was not an isolated case.
On the battlefields of all five combat divisions—
Itachi, Sasuke, Shisui, Shin, and Kuugetsu unleashed their Susanoo almost simultaneously!
Did she lose less money than usual today or something?
...
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