With Tsunade—one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin—successfully neutralizing the deadly poison of Chiyo, the frontline commander of Sunagakure, Konoha had completely suppressed the Sand Village.
After suffering heavy losses, Chiyo had no choice but to request reinforcements from Sunagakure. The Sand Village immediately dispatched three thousand reinforcements! They opened one of their hidden reserves—the puppet warehouse—retrieving one thousand five hundred puppets and transporting them to the Rain Country battlefield! In addition, they sent countless supplies such as explosive tags, kunai, and launching equipment!
Konoha Frontline Base—Command Headquarters!
Orochimaru frowned deeply as he studied the situation report in his hands.
During this period of intense fighting, Konoha had also suffered significant losses. Of the original six thousand ninjas stationed at the front, eight hundred had already fallen. Most of these casualties had occurred earlier due to Chiyo's deadly poison.
On the Sand Village's side, they had lost around one thousand ninjas, and approximately five hundred puppets had been destroyed.
It could be said that Konoha had previously held an absolute advantage!
However, with the arrival of Sand's reinforcements, the situation had drastically changed. Now, Konoha's army of five thousand two hundred ninjas faced a Sand force exceeding eight thousand!
Moreover, with the opening of the puppet warehouse, not only had the Sand Village replenished their previous puppet losses, but they had also added an additional one thousand puppets to the frontlines!
According to intelligence reports, combined with the puppet masters accompanying this reinforcement, Konoha would now be facing a terrifying total of two thousand puppets!
Even within Sunagakure, puppet masters were relatively rare. Among the eight thousand Sand ninjas, roughly one thousand were puppet masters. Most of them were classified as first- or second-tier black-level puppet masters.
However, there were five terrifying fourth-tier black-level puppet masters!
The combat power these five could unleash was absolutely at the peak of Jonin-level strength—and compared to ordinary peak Jonin, they were far more specialized in battlefield slaughter!
Orochimaru silently compared the combat strength of both sides.
In terms of high-end combat power, Konoha was not inferior in the slightest!
First of all, Orochimaru himself had already begun stepping into the Kage level. His unique ninjutsu also made him exceptionally suited for large-scale battlefield combat. Facing three peak Jonin-level opponents alone would not be a problem for him.
Then there was the vice-captain of the special operations unit—Hatake Sakumo.
He was even more terrifying.
Orochimaru had a strong intuition—
He was no match for Hatake Sakumo!
Hatake Sakumo alone could restrain at least four or more peak Jonin-level enemies—and possibly even kill them!
As for Tsunade, she too had begun stepping into the Kage level. On the Sand Village's side, they simply did not have enough high-end fighters capable of dealing with a powerhouse like her.
As for the remaining third-tier black-level puppet masters and elite Jonin on the enemy side—
Konoha's elite Jonin were not to be underestimated either. In fact, at this level of combat strength, Konoha even held an advantage!
In terms of high-end combat—
Konoha was absolutely the strongest in the entire ninja world!
As for the Sand Village's most terrifying figure—the white-level puppet master Chiyo—
Naturally, she would have to be dealt with by Konoha's strongest combatant—
Yoru.
Orochimaru thought silently.
So the real problem lay in troop numbers.
This was what gave Orochimaru the greatest headache.
Including the puppet army, Konoha's five thousand two hundred ninjas now had to face nearly nine thousand units of combat power!
Even though Konoha's ninjas were highly elite—
The gap was simply too large!
"It seems… we still need to request reinforcements from the village," Orochimaru muttered to himself.
As long as the balance of power had not completely collapsed, numerical superiority remained a decisive factor.
If the disparity in troop numbers grew too great, even Konoha's high-end fighters could be overwhelmed and killed through sheer numbers!
Soon, a report requesting reinforcements was sent back to Konoha.
Konoha—Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned as he looked at the two reports before him.
Both were requests for reinforcements.
First, from the Sand battlefield—Orochimaru requested one thousand additional Chunin. Since Konoha's high-end combat power far surpassed Sand's on that front, an additional thousand troops would allow Orochimaru to directly contend with the Sand forces head-on.
Meanwhile, the situation on the Stone battlefield—commanded by Senju Senra—was far less optimistic.
Four thousand against eight thousand.
And on that front, Konoha had not deployed sufficient high-end combat power.
Fortunately, the Stone Village seemed content to watch Konoha and the Sand Village fight each other to exhaustion. Rather than launching full-scale attacks, they aimed to reap the benefits as a third party.
Even so, Konoha's losses on that front were severe, and their defensive line was close to collapse.
Senju Senra had requested two thousand reinforcements, along with several peak Jonin-level fighters.
Three thousand reinforcements in total…
Hiruzen frowned.
Including the forces already deployed, Konoha would be committing thirteen thousand ninjas to the battlefield. Combined with the losses from the previous war against the Rain Village, this was already approaching the limits of what Konoha could sustain.
But for now—it was still acceptable.
Hiruzen sighed inwardly.
What he feared most was further escalation.
If the war intensified again…
Then even Genin would be forced onto the battlefield.
After deliberation in the Konoha Elder Council, it was decided to send a total of three thousand reinforcements to the frontlines.
One thousand would be sent to the Sand battlefield.
Two thousand would reinforce the Stone battlefield.
Additionally, three peak Jonin-level fighters would be dispatched to the Stone front:
Senju Xuanluo of the Senju clan, along with two elite Jonin from the Hyuga clan.
However, since Senju Xuanluo specialized in Water Release—which was countered by the Stone Village's Earth Release—
He would instead be sent to the Sand battlefield.
In exchange, Senju Moluo, currently stationed on the Sand front, would be transferred to the Stone battlefield.
Like his brother Senju Senra, Senju Moluo specialized in Lightning Release—perfectly countering the Earth Release techniques of the Stone Village!
At the same time—
Massive quantities of war supplies were dispatched!
Konoha was not only unmatched in high-end combat power—
It was also the wealthiest village when it came to war resources!
When cannons fire, gold flows like water.
Similarly, in ninja warfare, the consumption of explosive tags was terrifying.
And as the richest village—
The number of explosive tags Konoha deployed on the battlefield was far beyond what the Sand or Stone Villages could match.
This was precisely why Konoha dared to fight against forces with far greater numbers on two separate battlefields!
…
On the Stone battlefield, Senju Senra finally let out a sigh of relief after receiving the reinforcements report.
The pressure on him over these past days had been immense—constantly guarding against Stone's attacks.
Now, with reinforcements on the way, he could finally relax slightly.
Meanwhile, on the Sand battlefield—
Orochimaru also breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that reinforcements were coming.
With the additional forces, Konoha's army would finally be able to stand toe-to-toe with the Sand Village.
From all directions—
Reinforcements and war supplies were continuously being funneled into the Rain Country battlefield.
The war escalated further—
And countless ninjas were thrown into this terrifying meat grinder.
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