On the Land of Wind front, while Leng and her team were in Lou Lan completing their mission, Orochimaru, relying on numerical superiority, pushed the battle line into the Land of Wind.
Sunagakure suffered heavy losses, and now Orochimaru was preparing to break through Sunagakure's last line of defense, which had gathered the defeated troops from the previous lines, now numbering over two thousand.
Facing Orochimaru's full-scale assault, they could only barely hold on. Orochimaru pinned down Ebizo, while Uchiha Fugaku led some Uchiha and other Ninja clans' elites to prepare to assault Sunagakure's Puppet Master unit.
Although Fugaku was only a Revolving Sharingan with three tomoe at the moment, his strength had reached that of an Elite Jonin, supported by several hundred elite Ninja with Chunin-level strength or higher.
These Puppet Masters, fewer than three hundred in number, were defeated very quickly. Although each of these Puppet Masters could control three or four puppets, creating a numerical advantage,
the Uchiha, with their Sharingan enhancement, exquisite taijutsu, extremely powerful observational abilities, and Fire Release countering poisonous smoke, were truly at a disadvantage.
"Lord Ebizo, it was a loss of face for me last time when you escaped from my grasp!" Orochimaru's long tongue, wrapped around the kusanagi sword, continuously attacked the frantically dodging Ebizo.
Not far away, Manda's massive body continuously charged and devoured within Sunagakure's formation, making the situation even more precarious. It could be said that if nothing unexpected happened, Sunagakure would undoubtedly be defeated.
Although Ebizo already knew that Rasa had dispatched the One-Tail Jinchuriki for support, he himself had no confidence in the combat power of an old monk who had never made a move.
"Don't worry, I'm only capturing you alive; I won't kill you. However, if you like to resist, then losing some parts is understandable, isn't it?"
Orochimaru's five-element Ninjutsu and snake-style Ninjutsu were extremely troublesome, with good fault tolerance and deceptive offensive capabilities. Compared to Ebizo, who only knew Wind Release and Earth Release, he was indeed stronger.
Furthermore, Ebizo was old and frail, while Orochimaru was in his prime. Although both had the strength of ordinary Kage-level Ninja, Ebizo was being severely suppressed.
Under Manda's rampage, Sunagakure's Ninja soon suffered heavy casualties. Their combined Ninjutsu had difficulty harming Manda, and coupled with Manda's shedding ability, these Sunagakure Ninja were truly helpless against Manda.
Meanwhile, the Konoha army followed Manda, picking off injured and disabled Sunagakure Ninja, as well as a small number of intact ones, advancing like a hot knife through butter.
This was also Orochimaru's tactic during the Second Great Shinobi War: a single move to conquer all. Coupled with Manda and Orochimaru's even greater strength now, the actual effect was incredibly good.
Sunagakure's defense line was ultimately breached by Manda leading the Konoha Ninja army. Now, they would either be completely surrounded and wiped out, or sacrifice a portion of their forces to cover their retreat and preserve some Sunagakure Ninja.
Ebizo watched in grief as Sunagakure's defense line crumbled, and the Puppet Master unit was almost completely destroyed by Fugaku and his elites. In the end, he could only watch everything unfold helplessly.
Because Rasa's order to him was to hold the last line of defense and wait for the One-Tail Jinchuriki's support, he knew that Rasa was retaliating against him.
After all, the Land of Wind had vast deserts. As long as they retreated and engaged in guerrilla warfare, they could trap Konoha in the desert and slowly whittle them down.
However, Rasa resented him and his sister for holding onto power and not giving him, the acting Kazekage, full authority.
And this first batch of vanguard troops were actually Ninja who did not belong to Rasa's faction; most of them had supported Pakura, and now they were being purged.
Rasa wanted to use Konoha's hand to eliminate these dissenters, and at the same time, achieve the goal of exhausting Konoha. It must be said that Rasa's political methods were insidious, but also too childish.
Couldn't Pakura see through such an obvious conspiracy? She really didn't. Pakura's political wisdom was even more idiotic. The two of them could be considered a perfect match.
Just as Sunagakure's Ninja were being slaughtered until only a thousand or so remained, a cloud of dust in the distant desert rapidly sped towards the battlefield.
The massive Tailed Beast Chakra emanating from him caused Orochimaru's snake-like eyes to narrow slightly. He instinctively used his radio to command the Konoha army to be vigilant and disperse.
Then, Orochimaru had a Shadow Clone temporarily tie down Ebizo, while having Fugaku come to hold Ebizo, and he himself went towards the direction the Jinchuriki was coming from.
"Manda! Hold back the Jinchuriki!" Orochimaru immediately arrived on Manda's head, ordering Manda to confront the One-Tail Jinchuriki.
"Hiss~! Orochimaru, this is a different price. To deal with a Tailed Beast, you need to prepare three hundred sacrifices for me!"
Manda showed no fear; instead, his fighting spirit was ignited. Although he might not be a match for Ichibi, he could still hold his own against a Jinchuriki who wasn't a perfect Jinchuriki.
"Heh heh, I'll satisfy you. There are plenty of sacrifices for you on the battlefield."
Orochimaru didn't care about Manda's greed; it was his fault for not taming Manda.
So, looking at the Jinchuriki wrapped in earthy yellow Ichibi Tailed Beast Chakra, Manda slithered over without any fear.
At this moment, Bunpuku was desperately trying to stabilize his mind. In fact, if he had waited a few more years, he might have been able to completely pacify Shukaku and purify his ferocity.
Unfortunately, after this battle, all his efforts would be in vain, and he himself would perish in body and mind due to the war and breaking his vows. However, he had no choice.
"Yes! That's it! Release your inner desire for slaughter! Heh heh heh heh!"
Shukaku continuously clamored within Bunpuku's mind. After being confined within Bunpuku for so many years, its patience had long run out.
An earthy yellow tail with black patterns grew from behind Bunpuku, and half of his body had already undergone Tailed Beast transformation. His strength and speed instantly changed from an old and decaying appearance to a Kage-level.
Looking at Manda, who was flicking his tongue and was incomparably massive, a hint of suppressed brutality flashed in Bunpuku's eyes. Only through many years of Buddhist practice could he barely maintain his mind from being corroded by the Tailed Beast's will.
"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!" Bunpuku directly opened his Tailed Beast-transformed mouth and almost instantly spat out a huge orb containing turbulent Wind Release Chakra.
Facing the incoming Drilling Air Bullet, Manda easily dodged several attacks by simply relying on his agility, wriggling away. Even if he couldn't dodge, he could withstand them with his physical body; the snakes of Ryūchi Cave were known for their strong physical bodies.
"Sand Burial!" A large expanse of yellow sand swept towards Manda like a tsunami, quickly trapping Manda in the desert.
Many yellow sand tentacles stretched out from the desert, firmly binding Manda in place. However, Manda immediately shed his skin, emerging directly from the snake skin, and quickly bit the Tailed Beast-transformed Bunpuku.
Orochimaru also directly used his kusanagi sword, extending it for dozens of meters, and directly pierced Bunpuku's Tailed Beast-transformed chest. Unfortunately, although it penetrated an inch into the yellow sand armor, it could no longer pierce further.
Under Manda's impact, he directly pushed Bunpuku, rapidly plowing a gully in the desert, and then directly disappeared into a sand dune.
It must be said that with Manda combined with Orochimaru, their combined strength indeed surpassed that of an ordinary Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.
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