"Bastards! The intelligence was leaked! They were prepared!" Yashiro clumsily dodged a heavy punch from Shunji. Looking at the heavy casualties among his subordinates around him, his heart turned to ice.
He desperately tried to move closer to Pakura's position: "Pakura! Rally to me! We must break out together!"
Pakura, upon hearing this, flashed a glance.
The three Scorch Release fireballs orbiting her moved as she slowly approached Yashiro.
Yashiro, seeing her approach, felt a surge of relief and was about to speak-
A sudden change occurred!
The light in Pakura's eyes suddenly vanished. The three Scorch Release fireballs originally used for defense, without any warning, shot with astonishing speed towards the completely unprepared Yashiro at point-blank range!
"Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"
"What?! Pakura, you-!" Yashiro's pupils contracted to pinpoints, his face filled with disbelief and horror!
He instantly understood everything.
Why their unit had been ambushed with such precision, why Pakura had been so silent all along!
She wasn't frightened by the monsters at all, she had long since... betrayed Sunagakure!
But Yashiro, realizing the truth, had no time to mount any effective defense!
Sizzle-!
The high-temperature fireballs instantly engulfed Yashiro!
The terrifying heat didn't burn… it instantly vaporized all the moisture within his body!
Yashiro didn't even have time to scream. In an instant, his entire body turned into a desiccated, charred remnant, frozen in an expression of shock, stiffly collapsing onto the sand and shattering!
This sudden, treacherous strike from their own commander acted like the final straw that broke the camel's back, completely destroying the already precarious fighting spirit of the remaining Sunagakure's Ninjas!
"Pakura-sama, she...!"
"Why?!!"
"Yashiro-sama!!"
"Traitor! She's a traitor!!"
The remaining Sunagakure's Ninja let out despairing and furious roars, their morale completely collapsing!
Several Sunagakure's Special Jonin trying to organize resistance were also stunned by this turn of events, and were swiftly killed by Hotarubi, Shunji, and the others who seized the opportunity!
The battle quickly turned into a one-sided rout and capture.
Half an hour later, the sand valley returned to silence, leaving only the lingering smell of blood and gunpowder.
Of the two-hundred-strong Sunagakure's surprise attack force, over a hundred were killed or severely wounded. The remaining nearly one hundred, with their captain's betrayal and their will to fight gone, chose to surrender and became prisoners.
Pakura stood where she was, the Scorch Release fireballs around her long dissipated.
She looked at the scene of devastation and the Sunagakure's prisoners gazing at her with hatred and incomprehension. Her eyes were vacant, her face expressionless. A faint red mark on the back of her hand flickered briefly, then faded.
She silently removed her forehead protector and walked towards Hotarubi.
"You've worked hard. Leave the rest to us." Hotarubi gave her a slight nod, asking no further questions, simply directing his squad members to begin cleaning the battlefield and rounding up the prisoners.
Pakura nodded and silently walked to the side, like a puppet.
The Star Ninja, despite experiencing a fierce battle, had minimal casualties thanks to their equipment, tactics, and individual strength advantages.
Shunji, panting heavily, watched the prisoners being led away. Wiping sweat and sand from his face, he excitedly said to Hazuki beside him, "Haha, I took down eight Sunagakure's Ninjas this time! That's got to be a good amount of merit!"
Chino, who had only killed seven, lifted her chin and gave a light snort. "Hmph, consider yourself lucky this time."
"Alright, you two are both very impressive." Hazuki looked at her two companions and smiled, then helped tally the numbers and casualties, confirming that their side had only a few lightly wounded and no fatalities.
Not far away, Toneri was helping Ai bandage Sato's injured arm, while Ai complained that Sato had been somewhat reckless, otherwise the wound wouldn't be so deep, making Sato scratch his head in embarrassment.
…
Land of Wind, Star Ninja Camp at the Shasansen Oasis.
The morning sun dispersed the desert's chill, but the camp was a scene of bustling activity.
The two Star Ninja's squads that had been performing outer interception missions returned almost simultaneously, escorting large numbers of dejected prisoners.
Just as Shunji finished helping his teammates hand over the nearly hundred prisoners they had brought back and wiped his sweat, he saw Kimimaro's squad approaching from another direction, also escorting prisoners.
He counted the prisoners behind Kimimaro, which is only about fifty, and his eyes lit up. He approached, asking with a mix of teasing and competitive spirit:
"Hey, Kimimaro! Didn't you run into many Sunagakure's Ninjas over there? Only this many prisoners? What were your results this time?"
Kimimaro stopped. His pale eyes swept over Shunji with a dismissive glance, his tone flat and unemotional, as if stating a trivial matter. "Two hundred. Only these are left."
"Two hundred?!" The smile instantly froze on Shunji's face. His eyes widened, his voice involuntarily rising. "You... you killed the remaining hundred and fifty... all of them?!"
Kimimaro frowned slightly, seeming somewhat impatient with Shunji's fuss. He said coldly, "Otherwise? Should we have invited them for tea?"
A chill shot up Shunji's spine from his feet. Looking at Kimimaro's matter-of-fact indifferent expression, he subconsciously gulped.
He recalled the rumors about the Kaguya Clan's battle frenzy. His desire to compare instantly vanished, replaced only by a sense of awe towards this sharp, merciless killing intent.
'This guy... is a real battle maniac...'
Soon after Kimimaro and Hotarubi handed over the prisoners and wounded to the logistics personnel, they headed straight to the main command tent at the center of the camp to report their results.
Inside the tent, the atmosphere was serious and filled with fighting spirit.
The Western Front's Commander, Hikari, sat at the head, scanning the map on the table.
The Deputy Commander, Hizashi stood by her side, informing her about intelligence suggesting Sunagakure had sent reinforcements.
Seated on either side were core Jonin like Shisui, Izumi, Inabi, Hyuga Tokuma, and Gotta.
After hearing the detailed reports from Kimimaro and Hotarubi about the annihilation of the two Sunagakure's surprise attack forces, Hizashi spoke with steadiness, analyzing: "According to intelligence from our embedded spies, combined with battle statistics from the past few days, Sunagakure has suffered approximately seven to eight hundred Ninja casualties on the main front. Now, adding these two annihilated surprise attack forces, their total losses exceed one thousand two hundred troops!"
His finger tapped the marker representing the main Sunagakure's force on the sand table. "Currently, Rasa has barely over a thousand usable main force troops left. Even if they mobilize all lightly wounded personnel, they can muster around twelve hundred combatants at most. Even if they desperately dispatch emergency reserves from Sunagakure in the rear, they cannot reinforce the front line with more than five hundred troops in a short time."
Hizashi raised his head, his white eyes looking towards Hikari. "More importantly, the consecutive days of failed attacks, coupled with the total loss of the surprise attack forces, have severely depressed Sunagakure's morale. Complaints are widespread. In contrast, our forces are victorious in successive battles, our morale is high! With this shift in momentum, now is the optimal time for us to switch from defense to offense and annihilate their main force in one fell swoop!"
This was the core tactic Menma had emphasized before the war… 'First, the drumming spirit is high, second, it wanes, third, it's exhausted.'
Use solid defense and local counterattacks to continuously deplete the Sunagakure's effective strength and fighting will at the minimum cost. Wait until they are exhausted and their morale collapses, then launch a general offensive with the force of a thunderbolt to completely crush them!
Hikari gave a slight nod, a flash of resolve in her eyes.
'Menma was currently in the core area of the Sea of Death, accompanying and protecting the Dark Nine-Tails' absorption of the Ten-Tails. This process could not be disturbed, especially by the Ten-Tails' original owner, who was hiding in the shadows and could appear at any time-a huge potential threat.'
'We had to resolve the war with Sunagakure quickly, completely break them, to concentrate on dealing with the potentially greater crisis.'
"Orders!" Hikari stood up, her voice cool yet filled with authority, instantly filling the tent. "The entire army will immediately commence pre-battle preparations, replenish supplies. In one hour, we launch the general offensive on the Sunagakure's main camp!"
Her gaze turned to Hotarubi and Kimimaro, who had just accomplished great deeds. "Hotarubi, Kimimaro, you two will each lead your respective squads as the left and right flanking units. Your mission is to outflank the Sunagakure's main camp from the sides and rear, cut off their retreat. You must not allow important targets like Rasa and Chiyo to escape!"
"Yes!" The two responded in unison, their eyes burning with fighting spirit.
With the orders issued, the entire Star Ninja's camp operated like a precision machine at high speed.
Everyone quickly checked and replenished soldier pills, ninja tools, especially the small Ninjutsu Scrolls issued by the Scientific Ninja Tool Division, and large quantities of specially made kunai and explosive tags.
This equipment had played a huge role in the previous defensive battles and was now indispensable for the offensive.
Aside from the wounded and a few personnel left behind, nearly four hundred Star Ninjas assembled fully. A stern, murderous, yet high-spirited aura shot straight into the sky.
…
Meanwhile, in the Sunagakure's main camp.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was discussing battle plans with Chiyo.
They had just welcomed a roughly five-hundred-strong reinforcement force urgently dispatched from Sunagakure. Though mostly Genin and mobilized retired Ninja, it temporarily alleviated the pressure from continuous troop depletion.
"Let the new troops rest for half a day, let them acclimate. We'll launch a new round of attacks this afternoon." Rasa rubbed his throbbing temples, his voice weary.
"After several consecutive days of strong attacks, the Star Ninjas must also be tired. We'll feign inactivity this morning, or send out scattered units to harass, keeping them on edge. Then we attack suddenly in the afternoon, perhaps we can achieve a surprising effect. Moreover, it can buy time for any further reinforcements we might mobilize from the country later..."
His plan was well-laid, attempting to use psychological warfare and delaying tactics to reverse the declining situation.
However, before his words faded, the tent flap was thrown open violently.
Baki rushed in, his face anxious, even forgetting to salute as he urgently reported: "Kazekage-sama! Chiyo-sama! The Star Ninja... the Star Ninja have launched a full-scale attack! The front lines are already engaged! Their offensive is extremely fierce! Our defense lines... are in critical condition!"
"What?!" Rasa and Chiyo changed expressions simultaneously.
They never expected that the Star Ninja, who had been on the defensive for several days, would launch such a fierce full-frontal assault right after their reinforcements arrived, before they had even stabilized!
This completely disrupted their deployment.
Rasa had no time to think carefully. He could only roar hoarsely: "Quick! Elder Chiyo, Baki, immediately organize everyone who can fight to counterattack! Send all the lightly wounded up as well! We must hold the line!"