While Hanzo and Orochimaru were fighting fiercely, the grand play directed by Nara Shikaku was also beginning.
In front of the barrier, the formation of the Rain Village ninja continued to advance. The Explosive Tags of the Hyūga clan were nearly exhausted, and the Akimichi clan had completely run out of stamina, collapsing to the ground one after another.
Konoha's side had also suffered heavy casualties.
But for some reason, all the ones lying on the ground had blond hair.
However, the Rain Village ninja, who were now close to victory, had no time to think about such things. They had only one thought in their minds—win this damned war and rescue their comrades.
"Charge!"
"Kill!"
[Five minutes until the Poison Technique activates.]
Time's up. Move quickly.
A bug exploded in front of Nara Shikaku, but nothing seemed to happen. Shiken's signal had arrived.
"Hyūga Hiyasu, you bastard! How dare you abandon your post on the battlefield!"
When Hyūga Hiyasu heard this, he knew the operation had begun.
"Bullshit, Nara clan! Your Ino–Shika–Chō alliance sticks together like family, yet you put the Hyūga clan on the very front line. Did you really think we wouldn't see through your malicious intentions?"
"This was the village's decision, Hyūga Hiyasu. Stop making trouble."
"Don't give me excuses! Since when did the Hokage order us to die? Our Hyūga clan has already lost more than half our people. What about your Ino–Shika–Chō? The Akimichi clan is just exhausted. The Yamanaka clan actually fought desperately—they've probably burned themselves out completely. But look at your Nara clan… your clothes aren't even dirty."
The Rain Village ninja advancing forward were completely confused.
What's going on? Are they fighting among themselves?
Did we even kill those white-eyed guys?
But seeing so many white-eyed corpses lying there, it must have been done by other squads.
At this moment, the weakness of staged assault tactics became obvious.
While rotating waves of attackers allowed soldiers to rest and catch their breath, newly rotated troops always needed time to gather battlefield intelligence.
It had to be said—
Nara Shikaku had chosen his timing perfectly.
It was exactly when the Rain Village forces were rotating their assault teams.
Hyūga Hiyasu and Nara Shikaku continued shouting at each other with full intensity for a full two minutes.
[Three minutes until the Poison Technique activates.]
Both of them silently calculated the time.
Hyūga Hiyasu suddenly used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared behind Nara Shikaku, striking him with a palm.
Nara Shikaku spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed weakly onto the ground.
"Hyūga Hiyasu, what have you done?!"
"I'll kill you! Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
Akimichi Chōza swung a gigantic palm toward him.
Hyūga Hiyasu turned and dodged.
"Hmph. If you want to be dogs for the Nara clan, go ahead. I won't. Hyūga clan—withdraw with me!"
The remaining Hyūga clan members who were still standing immediately retreated with Hyūga Hiyasu toward the rear.
While most Rain Village ninja were still confused about what to do, a group had already stepped forward.
"Great! They're fighting among themselves—charge!"
One Rain Village ninja rushed forward and cut down a pineapple-haired Nara clan member with a single slash.
"Great! They're already at the end of their strength!"
"Charge!"
Several more Rain Village ninja rushed forward.
Some of them followed the charge, but most still waited for orders from the commanders behind them.
...
At that moment—
[Poison Technique: Activated.]
Inside the barrier, the seal that had been locking the cave where the nano-poison insects bred suddenly disappeared.
Countless purple nano-poison insects surged out with thick clouds of toxic gas, rushing toward the three thousand Rain Village ninja trapped inside the barrier.
The moment the insects touched their bodies, blisters formed instantly. Flesh began to rot as the purple insects spread across their entire bodies.
Itching, pain, burning agony—every sensation flooded their nerves at once.
Fear, terror, anger, despair—these emotions spread just as quickly.
Screams erupted everywhere.
"AAAAH! Kill me! Just kill me!"
"Ahhh! Cowardly Konoha! Come out and fight me like a man!"
"Waaah… I shouldn't have become a ninja…"
"Kill me!"
"… don't blame me…"
Many Rain Village ninja could no longer endure the pain and begged the people beside them to end their suffering.
But those people also wished someone would end their own misery.
One of the Rain Village commanders looked at the collapsing state of his subordinates. Ignoring the pain ravaging his own body, he looked up at the sky and said only one sentence:
"Hanzo-sama… I'm sorry. I failed your expectations."
...
Outside the barrier, the screams from within echoed endlessly.
The Rain Village ninja outside had red eyes. Inside were their comrades—people they lived with day after day. Their families.
"Charge!"
"Save our comrades!"
"Charge!"
Harada in the rear suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
Why were the screams appearing now of all times—just as they were about to break through Konoha's defenses?
Sometimes intuition makes no sense at all.
But when it appears, you should trust it.
Harada happened to be that kind of person.
"Quick! Stop the attack! This is Konoha's trap! Their real target right now is us—the two thousand ninja here!"
Harada shouted at his deputy.
The calm confidence he had earlier was completely gone as he hurriedly tried to stop the now-frenzied Rain Village troops.
Meanwhile, Nara Shikaku, who had been lying on the ground moments ago, had already climbed back to his feet.
More than a hundred Hyūga ninja who had been "playing dead" also rose up. Under the leadership of Hyūga Hiashi and Hyūga Hizashi, they immediately struck back the nearby Rain Village ninja before rapidly retreating.
The Nara clan members who had been wounded earlier had quietly disappeared at some unknown moment.
At the Ino–Shika–Chō retreat point, a group of Rain Village ninja arrived in front of them.
Yet both sides were laughing and chatting casually.
Those "Rain Village ninja" soon transformed back into the Nara clan members who had supposedly fallen earlier.
"This Transformation Technique… actually has its uses sometimes."
The Yamanaka clan members who had been lying like corpses also stood up.
"Exciting! This is how the Yamanaka clan's Secret Technique should be used. Controlling people's movements before was way too crude."
...
At this moment, the two thousand Rain Village ninja were being attacked by countless black kikaichū insects.
Dense swarms filled the sky and covered the ground.
Aburame Shiken opened all three hundred summoning scrolls in his hands.
"Let me show you the power of the kikaichū raised by three hundred members of the Aburame clan."
"Aburame Secret Technique — Billion-Insect Swarm Tide."
Each Aburame clan member cultivated at least one million kikaichū. The stronger ones possessed far more than that, especially when combined with special insect-nest ninja tools.
Three hundred people.
At minimum—three hundred million kikaichū.
Enjoy the grand feast our Aburame clan prepared for you.
...
While the Rain Village ninja were being devoured by the kikaichū swarms, the original thousand-plus ninja stationed at the base and the three hundred ninja from small clans following Senju Hideki had already surrounded the Rain Village forces from all directions under the leadership of Namikaze Minato.
"In a moment, only use long-range attacks. No close combat. The insects won't know we're allies."
"And when attacking, don't worry about killing the bugs. The Aburame clan doesn't lack insects, understand?"
Minato spoke seriously.
"Understood! Minato, just say when we attack."
"Good. The objective of this operation: annihilate the Rain Village forces."
"Attack."
"Kill!"
"Kill!"