"Damned Leaf... was this all just a trap?!"
Three days later, at the border of the Land of Fire, Chiyo grit her teeth in fury. Before her stood a triumphant Tsunade, backed by a Konoha force that far exceeded the numbers reported by her scouts.
When she had first gained the upper hand weeks ago, Chiyo had harbored doubts—wondering if it was a Leaf stratagem. But over the course of the following week, Konoha had lost engagement after engagement. The consistent failures had lulled her into believing that Orochimaru and Tsunade simply lacked the experience to lead a campaign.
Driven by an impatient desire to crush the Leaf—and perhaps even draw out Hatake Sakumo to avenge her son and daughter-in-law—Chiyo had allowed herself to be swept up in the intoxication of repeated victories.
She wasn't alone in her recklessness. Beside her was the equally hot-headed Sajin, and the sentiment permeated the Suna ranks from top to bottom. They all believed this war was Sunagakure's greatest opportunity in history. Even though several members of her tactical council had warned that this smelled of a Konoha conspiracy, Chiyo and Sajin had dismissed the possibility.
She simply couldn't believe that two young ninjas—commanding a war for the first time—would have the sheer audacity to sacrifice so many lives and so much territory just to bait her into a corner.
But looking at the opposing army now, Chiyo felt a cold sink into her bones. Orochimaru and Tsunade alone were enough to neutralize her on the battlefield. Beyond them stood a sea of elite shinobi whose reputations and strength were nearly as formidable.
There were the rising stars of the new generation: Mumeki Kaname, Yuhi Shinko, and Umino Ikkaku. Alongside them stood the veteran pillars of the Senju clan, Rima and Tekka, leading a massive contingent of Senju clan members.
With the exceptions of Jiraiya and Hatake Sakumo, almost the entire elite core of Konoha's younger generation had been mobilized to this front. They weren't just here to defend; they were here to systematically dismantle the Suna expeditionary force.
Suddenly, Chiyo's eyes widened. She had noticed a large number of Hyuga ninjas earlier... but now, the white-eyed scouts had vanished.
She instinctively looked toward her rear before snapping her gaze back to a grim-faced Suna shinobi beside her. "We've likely been surrounded. Our units scattered throughout the Land of Rivers... they've probably already been..."
The shinobi's face paled. "Then, Lord Sajin..."
Sajin was currently deep within the Land of Rivers, leading a sweep of the "straggling" Leaf units they had bypassed. But those Leaf units hadn't been cut off by accident—they were the bait used to split the Suna forces.
If Chiyo's hunch was right, those fragmented Leaf squads had already linked up to form a defensive line, cutting off the path home. Sajin was walking straight into a slaughter.
"Take a thousand shinobi and retreat immediately!" Chiyo ordered sharply. "Find Sajin and break through the encirclement. Link up with the village reinforcements at all costs!"
The shinobi hesitated. "Lady Chiyo... if I take a thousand, you'll have fewer than five hundred left here."
"Better five hundred than all of us! Go, now!"
As the Suna ranks shifted and the majority began a desperate about-face toward the Land of Rivers, Tsunade's smug expression wavered. She turned to Orochimaru. "Orochimaru, aren't we going to stop them? Are we really just going to let them run?"
"They can't run," Orochimaru replied with cold clinical precision. "Engaging them now would be disadvantageous. The Sand is ready to fight to the death to escape, while our reinforcements have just completed a forced march and need time to recover."
He watched the retreating dust clouds. He didn't mind the retreat; the "back door" was already guarded by a dense web of Konoha ninjas. They didn't need to annihilate the Sand on the spot—they only needed to delay them.
The front line was the priority. Once his troops were rested, crushing the remaining five hundred Sand ninjas would be trivial. Then they would advance and pincer the fleeing remnants. It was the most stable, low-casualty tactic available.
Konoha had already paid a steep price in blood to set this trap. If they couldn't control the casualty rate in the final decisive battle, the victory would be hollow.
Deep within the Land of Rivers, Tatsuma's squad had successfully maneuvered behind the enemy, though not without cost. They were currently locked in combat with a Suna detachment that outnumbered them several times over.
Tatsuma's expression was grim. He was injured; his left sleeve was soaked through with blood, and his teammates were in various states of distress. One had already fallen.
He could feel a surging, restless power thrumming through his veins, but it brought him no joy. This was the effect of [Graveyard Phantom]. The more allies fell, the stronger he became in the short term. It was a power fueled by the price of blood.
"Wind Style: Wind Cutter!"
Tatsuma's hands blurred through seals. He stopped being conservative with his chakra, unleashing invisible blades of wind that struck two Suna ninjas attempting to flank his teammates. He followed up with a Body Flicker, positioning himself as a shield in front of his squad.
"Senpai, you two need to stop the bleeding yourselves," Tatsuma said without looking back. He couldn't afford to divert his attention to medical ninjutsu right now.
The two Leaf ninjas nodded grimly, pulling out bandages and styptic powder.
"Kid, you think you're going to stop us all by yourself?"
Two Suna ninjas landed in front of him. Tatsuma tightened his grip on his chakra-infused short sword. "You might have the numbers, but I don't plan on making this easy for you."
"Spoken like a true 'Rapping Tobirama'!" the tattooed Suna ninja mocked, baring his teeth in a wide grin. Beside him, a ninja wrapped in bandages like a mummy let out a wheezing chuckle.
Tatsuma's expression remained stony as he held his ground.
"Think about your mistakes in the next life!" the tattooed ninja barked, lunging forward. His partner began a set of seals. Tatsuma recognized the sequence for Great Breakthrough and shifted his focus to the melee attacker.
The tattooed ninja feinted, trying to bait Tatsuma's center of gravity. He suddenly reversed his grip on his kunai, driving it downward toward Tatsuma's left shoulder.
Tatsuma's brow twitched. Between the [White Yaksha] debuff and sheer bad luck, his left shoulder had become a magnet for every blade on the battlefield this week.
He didn't flinch. Despite the feint, Tatsuma's small frame and low center of gravity allowed him to recover instantly. He dropped low, his left hand snapping up to parry the attacker's wrist outward.
Then, his left hand transitioned into a grappling maneuver, snaring the ninja's arm and yanking him downward with surprising force.
The tattooed ninja's face transformed into a mask of shock. He hadn't expected a boy this size to possess such raw physical strength. His balance shattered, and he was pulled forward into a lurch.
Tatsuma seized the opening, driving his short sword straight toward the man's gut. The ninja tried to grab Tatsuma's wrist, but his compromised posture made him too slow.
Squish.
The blade sank deep into his abdomen. Tatsuma wrenched it out and released the man's arm. As the ninja fell forward, completely exposed, Tatsuma stepped into his space and delivered a crushing horizontal elbow to the ribs.
CRACK!
The tattooed ninja was sent tumbling across the dirt. Tatsuma didn't bother following up; he was already weaving seals. A slab of earth surged from the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth Shore Return!"
Thud-thud-thud!
The Great Breakthrough from the mummy-ninja arrived, carrying a volley of hidden shuriken that slammed into the earthen shield. The mummy-ninja blinked, stunned by the speed of the counter.
In that second of hesitation—torn between continuing his assault or checking on his fallen comrade—he lost his life.
Tatsuma vanished in a Body Flicker, reappearing directly in the mummy-ninja's face. The man scrambled backward, but Tatsuma's short sword was already wreathed in sharp, humming green light. [Gale Blade] extended the reach of the steel with a shimmering edge of wind.
Slash!
The wind blade tore a massive gash across the ninja's chest, the invisible edge biting deep enough to leave notches on the exposed ribs.
[Ding! SPD +10, ENG +10...]
Hearing the system notification, Tatsuma immediately retreated to his wounded teammates. The prompt meant that the system had judged both enemies as "incapacitated" or dead.
"Senpai, are you alright?" Tatsuma asked.
Before they could answer, Tatsuma's face went pale. Nearby, Inuzuka Shin, who was busy fighting another group, suddenly stiffened and snarled.
"Senpai," Tatsuma whispered, his voice heavy with dread. "New enemies are here."
A moment later, several figures landed in the clearing. Looking at the man leading the group, Tatsuma's heart sank. It was the man who had been "dreaming" of him for days.
Sajin.