The standoff between Konoha and Sunagakure persisted throughout the afternoon. Konoha's numerical disadvantage was impossible to ignore, and wary of Suna's devastating large-scale battalion jutsus, they were unable to convert their tactical edge into a decisive victory.
By evening, the opening Orochimaru had been waiting for finally arrived: Konoha's Southern Army, led by Tsunade, reached the battlefield.
"I told you so. Tsunade might have been misled by that old hag Chiyo for a moment, but she was bound to see through it eventually."
Receiving the report, Orochimaru let out a sigh of relief and couldn't resist a bit of dry mockery.
"Hahaha, I really envy the friendship you young people have. It's a fine thing," Sakumo Hatake laughed heartily. "I'll go get ready. We strike immediately."
"Senpai, you aren't that old, but you certainly talk like it."
"Is that so? Well, this is already the second Great War I've lived through. Perhaps my heart is just weary."
As the two commanders relaxed into light banter, a messenger suddenly burst in.
"Sirs! The Sand have begun their offensive!"
What?
Orochimaru and Sakumo turned their gaze toward the battlefield. Sure enough, the Suna forces had initiated a proactive assault. Massive, coordinated battalion-scale jutsus cleared the way as thousands of Suna shinobi charged, slamming into Konoha's defensive lines.
Sakumo frowned. "What is the Kazekage thinking? Does he not know Tsunade is nearly here? Or has he decided to go down swinging in a suicidal charge?"
Orochimaru shook his head. No, that wasn't it. The Kazekage's previous gambles had been unexpected, but he was no fool. Attacking now offered zero chance of victory; it would only accelerate their defeat.
Moreover, Sunagakure was one of the Five Great Hidden Villages—powerful and well-organized. It was impossible for them to be ignorant of Tsunade's imminent arrival. Looking at their position on the map, they should have detected her movements even earlier than Konoha did.
Earlier?
A spark of realization hit Orochimaru. He looked up, shifting his gaze just above the Suna army to the horizon, where the setting sun bled a deep, angry red. In that moment, the Kazekage's intent became clear.
"They aren't trying to win an offensive," Orochimaru realized. "They're trying to retreat."
"Retreat?"
"But they're launching a full-scale assault! Their entire army is moving."
Sakumo raised a hand, silencing the murmurs of the other officers. "Quiet. Let the commander speak."
Orochimaru gave a grateful nod and explained. "Once Tsunade arrives, our total strength will hit thirteen thousand. Suna is doomed if they stay here. They must retreat now to avoid being wiped out to the last man."
"However, the Kazekage knows that a direct retreat would leave them open to our pursuit and Tsunade's pincer. They wouldn't survive the night."
"So, he chose to attack. By forcing us into a chaotic melee and dragging the fight into the dark, they can dissolve their formation and scatter. Once night falls completely, every man will break for the border on his own."
The shinobi serving as staff officers near the two commanders were no fools; they didn't need Orochimaru to finish the explanation.
Visibility is zero in the desert at night. Neither Suna nor Konoha would be able to maintain unified command.
But Suna wanted a decentralized retreat. They wouldn't need orders—they just had to run toward Sunagakure. Combined with their familiarity with the local terrain, their chances of success were high.
Conversely, Konoha needed to encircle and intercept. That required tight coordination and organization. If they were dragged into a messy brawl before dark, trying to reorganize and pursue in a strange land would be a nightmare.
"So, what's the move?" Sakumo asked with a gentle smile, patting Orochimaru's shoulder. "Stop the suspense and tell us the plan."
"A total annihilation is no longer possible. We can only focus on inflicting as much damage as we can."
"The Kazekage wants chaos? We'll give him chaos. We'll meet disorder with disorder."
"First, we defend. We let the fight turn into the melee the Kazekage wants. But once the Sand start to break, every battalion, company, and squad is to operate independently. They are to pursue the enemy directly in front of them with everything they have, regardless of the overall formation."
"Total pursuit. Do not fear being scattered. Even if only a single Konoha ninja sees a Suna shinobi, they are to hunt them down."
"This order remains in effect until dawn. At first light, every Konoha ninja is to regroup back at this location."
The officers were stunned. That's the plan? Can that actually work?
Sakumo's expression hardened. "What are you standing there for?" he barked. "Deliver the orders!"
Once the staff officers had scurried off, Orochimaru said softly, "Senpai, thank you."
"Haha," Sakumo smiled warmly. "To be honest, I'm not sure if this new tactic of yours is brilliant or insane. But I trust your judgment, Orochimaru."
"That is exactly why I'm thanking you."
"..."
"Well," Sakumo looked toward the front. "I see the Kazekage. Let's go out and greet him, shall we?"
"After you."
Suna's offensive was ferocious. Ten thousand Suna ninjas swarmed forward, clashing with seven thousand Konoha defenders in a massive, tangled brawl. By the time Tsunade arrived, night had fallen completely. It was impossible to tell friend from foe at a distance. She and her reinforcements were forced into the fray, and before long, they too were swallowed by the chaos.
For miles in every direction, the desert was alive with the roar of battle, lit only by the staccato flashes of Ninjutsu and the orange bursts of explosive tags.
It's as rowdy as a Lunar New Year celebration, thought a Shadow Clone of Aburame Tetsumaru.
Hidden far away beneath a sand dune, he watched the battlefield with a sense of meta-commentary. He hadn't seen a "fireworks" show this intense in years.
Just as he was enjoying the spectacle, a black shadow slammed into his dune with a deafening boom. The shockwave blasted the Shadow Clone out from under the sand, and the violent impact caused the fragile construct to instantly dissipate.
Who was that? I wasn't done watching!
"Huh?" a blonde kunoichi said, blinking in surprise. "There was a Shadow Clone hidden here? Too bad I didn't see whose it was."
"Tsunade, watch your strength. You're going to cause friendly fire at this rate," Orochimaru complained as he stepped out of the darkness, looking annoyed. "What are you going to do if you crush one of our own?"
"Haha! It's fine, it's fine! Even if they're hurt, a Jonin of my caliber can patch them right up. No permanent damage!" Tsunade laughed, clearly riding a battle high and throwing her full weight into every strike.
"Tch. If you hit them like that, there won't be enough left to patch up."
"I'll pay attention next time! I promise! Ha! Hahaha!"
Tsunade laughed it off, scanning the horizon. Suddenly, she pointed. "There! Someone's there, might be the Kazekage! Follow me!"
The legendary kunoichi vanished down the slope in a blur of speed. Orochimaru could only shake his head and follow. "Strange. When Jiraiya is around, she's almost normal. Without him, she's even more reckless than he is."
Somewhere deep in the desert, the "true" Aburame Tetsumaru winced as a sharp pain lanced through his skull. He staggered, nearly tripping over a dune.
"Sigh. Another Shadow Clone gone. This attrition rate is too high. I need to hurry... wait."
Tetsumaru's eyes widened as he processed the final images. "The battlefield at night is actually quite beautiful. I almost miss that feeling."
His pace slowed involuntarily as he savored the mental playback—until the moment of that dune-shattering impact.
"..." Tetsumaru was speechless. With that kind of destructive power, it couldn't have been anyone but Tsunade. Just my luck.
Forget it. I need to keep moving. With a battle that size, a winner will be decided soon. I won't be able to hide behind Shadow Clones forever.
As the night deepened, the battlefield expanded and, paradoxically, grew quieter.
Thick clouds began to blanket the sky—a rarity in the desert—turning the night into an ink-black void where one couldn't see their own hand in front of their face.
Tsunade let out a final, bone-crushing punch that reduced a puppet to kindling, driving the splinters deep into the sand. She stood up and looked around, her only company being Orochimaru, who was currently finishing off a puppeteer.
About two hours ago, the two of them had lost their way. Since then, they had stopped caring about directions, simply hunting every Suna ninja they could find. Now that the last target was down, they had no idea where they were.
Tsunade noticed the clouds and realized she couldn't even use the stars to navigate. "So... which way now?"
"Now? We rest. We wait for dawn, then we head toward the light."
"What? Even you're stuck, Orochimaru? You got lost?"
Orochimaru's face went dark. If you hadn't lead the charge into every random direction, smashing my markers and trail-signs as you went, would we be lost?
Tsunade, sensing she was at fault, didn't press the issue. She sheepishly sat down on the sand to rest. "Got any water? I've been fighting for half the night; my throat is like sandpaper."
Orochimaru sat cross-legged. Hearing his teammate's request, he wordlessly produced a bottle of water and, after a thought, tossed her a pack of ration biscuits.
Tsunade caught the bottle and downed half of it in one go. "Ah! Much better!"
"A drink would be even better, though."
"Shut up, you drunk. This is a battlefield. Try not to embarrass yourself."
"Hmph. I'm just saying. When have you ever seen me drink during a mission?"
"..."
The two of them sat in the dark, trading barbs until the first grey light of dawn touched the eastern horizon.
Before the battle had begun, Orochimaru had ordered a group of Genin to stay out of the fight and set up navigation markers on the periphery. Any lost Konoha shinobi only had to move east to find a marker, which would then guide them back to the temporary camp.
The night of chaos had cost Sunagakure over 4,600 men. Only 5,500 Suna ninjas managed to return to the village before Konoha completed the encirclement.
Konoha's casualties were still being tallied. When Orochimaru returned, only five thousand ninjas were at the camp. With over a thousand confirmed dead on the field, that meant six thousand Konoha ninjas were still "missing" in the desert.
By noon, Orochimaru left a small contingent to continue receiving the stragglers and led 6,400 ninjas toward Sunagakure.
This time, Konoha would truly park themselves at Suna's front door. They would surround the Hidden Village, preparing for its final destruction.
At noon, having found a rare abandoned Suna outpost, Aburame Tetsumaru lit a small campfire in an empty room to cook a decent lunch.
As he ate, he processed the latest intelligence reports and fell into deep thought.
Konoha's performance last night had been spectacular. The Kazekage's decisiveness was commendable, but Orochimaru's "chaos vs. chaos" strategy was a stroke of genius. That battle had effectively broken the back of Sunagakure.
Now, aside from the 5,500 battered survivors in the village, Suna only had five thousand men in the north facing off against the Iwa army in the Land of Bears, and roughly nine hundred puppeteers in the Land of Rain.
By this rhythm, Sunagakure wasn't just facing defeat—it was facing extinction.
The turning point remained logistics. Sakumo's destruction of the supply lines hadn't just weakened their numbers; it had incinerated their food.
Konoha was now effectively blockading the village. Even if they couldn't breach the walls yet, they were stopping every merchant caravan. While Chiyo's army had broken the initial blockade to save the Kazekage, they hadn't had time to secure new supplies.
Sunagakure was out of food. According to spy reports, they had a month's worth of rations left—and that didn't even account for the civilian population.
Tetsumaru was certain Orochimaru would see this fatal weakness and adopt a siege of attrition. As long as they could withstand Suna's desperate counterattacks and hold off any northern reinforcements, the village would fall in two months without Konoha needing to spill another drop of blood. Sunagakure and the Land of Wind would be history.
The only variable left was the Land of Earth. Specifically, Onoki the Tsuchikage.
But honestly, even if Onoki made peace with Suna tomorrow and provided supplies to send their northern and rain-front troops home, those reinforcements wouldn't be enough to break the Leaf's encirclement.
Unless Iwa and Suna joined forces into a 15,000-man coalition army. That would be beyond Orochimaru's current pay grade.
But if that happened, Hiruzen Sarutobi would never sit idly by and let his star pupil be wiped out. He would order the Rain-front army to invade the Land of Wind to pin the coalition down. Konoha had the depth to open a second front; the village hadn't graduated a class early in ten months, and combined with the clan reserves, they could still mobilize at least ten thousand more ninjas.
As the commander of the siege, Orochimaru had the patience, the vision, and the support of top-tier ninjas like Sakumo, Tsunade, and Dan.
Tetsumaru couldn't see a single way for Suna to escape its fate. The glory of destroying a Great Nation was firmly in Orochimaru's grasp.
And yet... historically, Sunagakure didn't fall. It survived until the Fourth Great Ninja War. So, what changed the timeline?
It couldn't be me, could it?
Tetsumaru immediately dismissed the thought. Impossible. I only killed a few hundred Suna ninjas and three or four Jonin. I can't be the straw that broke the camel's back, right?
━(￣ー￣＊|||━━
No, no, no. Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Something unexpected must have happened—I just don't know what it is yet.
It has to be that.
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