Chapter 208: The War of Eggs and Stones
The three Kage watched with confidence as the approaching civilian army slowly drew near. These people were less like an army and more like refugees. Just look at their clothes—tattered and torn, and beneath the large rips were muscles as big as heads…
"Wait! Muscles as big as heads?" The three Kage widened their eyes in shock. "Why are these civilians' bodies so strong?"
But at this point, no one could answer that question… because the first wave of snake-marked humans had already slammed violently into the ninja alliance of the three nations!
"Boom!!!"
Nearly a hundred ninjutsu were unleashed at once, their terrifying power almost overturning the entire land. If they had been ordinary people, they would have already been pierced through by flying debris and died on the spot. But these snake-marked humans moved with the agility of monkeys, nimbly leaping and weaving through the shattered terrain…
"Damn it, what is going on?" The commander of the allied ninja forces roared through clenched teeth. "Don't just stand there—use fire-style jutsu immediately and block these civilians outside the flames!"
"Fire Release—Blazing Flame Arrow!"
"Fire Release—Phoenix Sage Fire!"
"Fire Release—Great Fire Wall Technique!"
Scorching flames formed an impenetrable wall of fire.
"Huff…"
After casting consecutive jutsu, the ninjas were already gasping for breath. "This time, these civilians shouldn't be able to get through…"
Without realizing it, they had already begun to feel a trace of fear toward these civilians…
But before they could even catch their breath, the thick wall of fire suddenly warped like a shadow, and a strange humanoid figure slowly protruded from within it.
Then…
With a soft "pfft," a barely clothed snake-marked human burst out of the fire wall. His entire body was charred black, yet even so, the dark curse marks could still be seen writhing beneath his skin. It was as if those marks were not on their skin—but carved into their very bodies…
"M-monster!"
The ninjas stood stunned, frozen in place, before being overwhelmed by the dense swarm of snake-marked humans—who knocked them to the ground, snapped their necks, or tore out their throats with their teeth.
"Counterattack, counterattack!"
The allied commander tried to organize a response, but under the ferocious assault of the endless, fearless snake-marked army…
They held for less than half a minute before the entire defensive line collapsed. The snake-marked humans, like fearless beasts, charged relentlessly—ramming with their bodies, slashing with their claws, even biting with their teeth!
"Damn it, what are these things!?"
Very quickly, the broken line retreated all the way to the three Kage. Hiruzen Sarutobi reached out and snapped the neck of a snake-marked human, then stared at the curse marks in confusion. "I can sense the power of a jutsu… and it seems to carry the aura of Ryuchi Cave…"
At that point, Hiruzen fell silent. Because as far as he knew, only his prized disciple—Orochimaru—possessed the means to access Ryuchi Cave!
Could it be… that all of this was Orochimaru's doing!?
Even if that were true, Hiruzen had no intention of saying it aloud. Such information would be far too disadvantageous for Konoha. Besides, now was not the time to assign blame—it was more important to deal with the crisis at hand!
"Fire Release—Fire Dragon Flame Bomb!"
Three massive fire dragons burst from Hiruzen's mouth, moving under his command as they devoured snake-marked humans one after another, burning them to ashes.
At the same time, the Tsuchikage and Kazekage also took action!
With the three Kage exerting their full strength, they managed to halt the advance of the snake-marked army for a moment, buying time for the other ninjas to retreat. Unfortunately, there were a full fifty thousand snake-marked humans. Without a way to remove the curse marks, it was absolutely impossible to stop them through manpower alone!