The main Sand pursuit force was receiving reports from every direction—battle results, requests for coordination, and desperate calls for reinforcements.
Overall, the situation still favored Sand.
True, Konoha had deployed rearguard teams, and those teams had indeed killed a lot of Sand shinobi. But to Sand, those losses were nothing more than a drop in the bucket. In exchange, they had wiped out plenty of Konoha's elite blockers.
Then another report arrived.
Jonin Aokawa stepped forward, took the scroll, and began reading. Within seconds, his face turned ugly.
Commander Shamon noticed his expression and knew something bad had happened, but he didn't panic. More deaths were expected in war.
"Lord Shamon," Aokawa said, voice tight, "we have a problem. According to the description, it's that Konoha genius—Matsushita Taiichi. He's operating alone on our flank and has already wiped out nearly fifteen squads… including two jonin."
Shamon's face twitched, but he stayed calm. "No matter. Redirect forces and pin him down. Do not let him run wild—"
Before he could finish, another report was rushed in.
Same process, same grim expression, only the details changed. "Another Konoha shinobi—looks like Namikaze Minato. Preliminary count puts him at nearly twenty squads destroyed, including at least two jonin."
If Shamon had only looked slightly troubled before, now his face was black as iron. Just two men had killed over a hundred Sand shinobi. Did they think Sand ninjas were mass-produced and cost nothing to replace?
"What about the Puppet Brigade?" Shamon snapped. "Split off a detachment and hunt down these Konoha elites. Talents like that cannot be allowed to keep growing."
"But sir, if we pull forces now, our main assault on the Leaf column will be weakened. If they break through—"
Aokawa's words were cut off by the messenger's pale, horrified face. Both Shamon and Aokawa already knew what was coming.
Shamon didn't wait. He snatched the scroll himself and scanned it. His expression grew darker with every line.
"No more discussion," he ordered. "Split half the Puppet Brigade immediately. Coordinate with the rest of our forces and wipe out every last one of those Leaf blockers."
"Yes, sir!"
With the addition of Sand's elite puppeteers, the pressure on Konoha's rearguard skyrocketed. Casualties began climbing fast.
Don't ask how Taiichi knew—he had already run into two puppet squads himself. While his ninjutsu and taijutsu countered puppets beautifully, they had numbers on their side. Taiichi could only beat them back and retreat.
During his flight he had passed more than one Leaf corpse. In a battlefield this size, the fact that he had stumbled across two already told him exactly how many elites had died to buy time for the main force.
Taiichi kept moving, searching for new targets, but after hours of fighting, the easy prey was gone. What remained were the hard ones. If he got bogged down in a long fight and the pursuit force caught up, he would be the one in trouble.
He checked the time. It was almost noon. According to the pre-battle plan, the rearguard only needed to hold until midday before falling back to rejoin the main column. By now they should have reached the ambush zone.
Decision made, Taiichi turned and sprinted toward the Land of Fire at full speed—far faster than before.
As the rearguard teams withdrew, Sand command received the news almost instantly. With no more Leaf interference, their advance accelerated.
By noon, the scattered Konoha blockers had rejoined the main force.
They had set out with roughly one hundred shinobi. Fewer than sixty returned.
The nearly fifty-percent casualty rate left everyone in heavy silence.
Don't underestimate Sand just because Taiichi had run through their lines like it was nothing. Sand was still a major village, and the Leaf had been operating deep inside their territory. Surviving that was a combination of skill and sheer luck.
Most of the operatives who went out had been at least chunin, with the majority being elite jonin squads.
If Jiraiya's plan failed now, not even the title of Hokage's student would save him.
"Taiichi! Over here!"
The shout drew Taiichi's attention. He turned and broke into a wide smile. It was Yohei and the others.
One glance showed all five—Yohei, Saori, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin—were present. Taiichi's grin grew even brighter.
He stepped forward, about to speak, then noticed their grim expressions. Yohei's eyes were the worst; the dried blood trails from the corners were still visible.
Taiichi's face darkened. He grabbed Yohei and leaped onto a nearby platform. Yang-natured chakra surged from his palms, flooding into Yohei's eyes for a deep scan.
Inside his perception, both of Yohei's eyes were heavily damaged. Capillaries had ruptured, and even the optic nerves showed slight injury.
"If you keep pushing like this, you really will go blind," Taiichi said quietly, but the words hit Yohei like thunder.
Yohei let out a tired sigh. "I didn't want to either… but if I hadn't gone all out, you might have come back to four of us instead of five… or maybe three."
Taiichi's pupils shrank. Thinking back on his own close calls today, he said nothing more. He simply focused on treating and nourishing Yohei's eyes.
---
At two o'clock in the afternoon, twenty kilometers from the Land of Fire border, Sand finally caught up to Konoha's main force.
There was no greeting, no pre-battle taunts. The moment the two armies made contact, the fighting exploded.
One side wanted total annihilation. The other side was fighting desperately to hold the line long enough for the ambush to spring.
Sand attacked first. Countless puppets led the charge toward the Leaf formation, followed by waves of close-combat shinobi.
Before the lines even clashed, a storm of ninjutsu, shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags filled the sky.
On Konoha's side, Jiraiya had heard about Taiichi's terrifying golden flames and placed him on the front line. His job was to work with the others and use Fire Style to stop the incoming puppets.
The moment the puppets entered range, the front-line Leaf shinobi unleashed every Fire Style technique they had.
Great Fireball. Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. Great Fire Annihilation. Fire Dragon Bullet. Flame Bullet. Massive Flame Bullet.
Every Fire Style imaginable crashed toward the charging puppets.
Among the sea of flames, one patch of brilliant gold stood out the most.
Sand's puppets were fire-resistant, and Sand had prepared for that weakness. Most of the Leaf flames only scorched them. Many puppets kept charging even while burning.
But against that golden fire, resistance was meaningless. Any puppet touched by the flames turned to charcoal in seconds.
Suddenly the golden flames weren't just eye-catching—they were terrifying.
Every shinobi near the battlefield turned toward the source of that fire—Matsushita Taiichi.
Sand's charging forces immediately changed course to avoid the golden flames. Even their fireproof puppets couldn't withstand it. Flesh-and-blood shinobi wanted nothing to do with it.
The two battle lines finally collided. The roar of clashing steel and battle cries shook the entire forest.
Leaf and Sand formations interlocked like jagged teeth. Ninjutsu flew overhead while shinobi and puppets tore into each other in brutal close combat.
The pressure on Taiichi's section of the line spiked. His Fire Dragon Flame Bullet had cleared a huge swath of puppets, but more poured in from the sides to fill the gap.
"That's the one with the golden flames—Matsushita Taiichi!" Sand commander Shamon stared hard at the most glaring flame source on the battlefield.
Remembering the recent reports, he gave the order immediately. "Divert part of the Puppet Brigade. Priority target: eliminate Matsushita Taiichi. A talent like that cannot be allowed to keep growing."
He emphasized the next words. "At any cost. Wipe him out completely."
The order was relayed at once. Soon three powerful, cold-eyed Sand jonin slipped away from their original positions and began stealthy advances from three different directions, closing in on Taiichi like sharks smelling blood.
At that moment, Taiichi was in the thick of it, fists glowing with monstrous strength as he flickered between puppets.
Every time he appeared, a punch landed. The sickening crunch of shattering wood and metal rang out as puppets flew backward. Then he flickered again, appearing in front of the next one.
Wherever Taiichi moved, enemies were sent flying—puppets and shinobi alike.
At the same time, his Fire Style never stopped. Without seals, golden Phoenix Flowers formed around him and rained down on anyone trying to attack from range.
For a brief time, the small section of the battlefield where Taiichi fought became a nightmare of golden fireballs streaking across the sky like meteors, sniping threats with pinpoint accuracy while he personally crushed anything that got close.
His overwhelming performance was a massive morale boost for the Leaf forces and took enormous pressure off the others. It allowed more Leaf shinobi to break free and reinforce collapsing sections of the line.
Such a glaring display of power only made Sand want him dead even more. The three elite puppeteers had now drawn close. They formed a triangle around Taiichi, their killing intent cold and focused. The lethal encirclement was about to close.
But Taiichi, viewing the entire battlefield from above through his sensory jutsu, had already noticed them. Their attempt to circle around against the flow of battle had given them away.
The moment they prepared to strike, Taiichi flickered forward at full speed toward the closest puppeteer.
Puppeteers liked to hide behind their puppets. This one had left his own scattered around to avoid drawing attention. Right now he was completely exposed.
Taiichi closed the short distance in a flash. His fist, packed with visible chakra, rose.
The puppeteer's eyes filled with despair.
A top-tier jonin puppeteer, caught in a failed ambush with no puppets nearby for protection.
He desperately gathered every ounce of chakra into his crossed arms to block.
Crack.
The sound of breaking bones rang out. The crushing force slammed into his chest and launched him backward like a cannonball. He was dead before he hit the ground.
The sudden death of an elite puppeteer stunned everyone—Sand and Leaf alike. No one had expected Taiichi to be this ruthless.
But the Leaf forces erupted with renewed energy. The line that had been on the verge of collapse somehow stabilized again.
The other two puppeteers immediately went on high alert. They stopped hiding, recalled their scattered puppets, and formed a defensive wall while sending the rest straight at Taiichi.
Taiichi sneered. Against ordinary jonin he might have been cautious. Against puppeteers? He was even more effective than Tsunade.
More than ten minutes had passed since the battle began. Konoha's main force—clearly outnumbered—had held this long only because of the desperate efforts of their jonin.
Everywhere except a few small pockets where individual Leaf powerhouses held the line, Sand was clearly winning.
If not for the jonin fighting with everything they had, the Leaf formation would have already collapsed.
Even Supreme Commander Jiraiya had been forced into the fray, personally plugging a gap left by a fallen jonin.
At this point, even Jiraiya was sweating. He kept glancing left and right, praying for the reinforcements to arrive soon. The Leaf line was on the absolute brink of breaking.
Behind the Sand forces, Commander Shamon stood on high ground, watching the entire battlefield with open satisfaction.
So what if Konoha had more elites? Did they think every one of them was Hashirama Senju, capable of turning the tide single-handedly? War was won by overall strength!
While he was gloating, Shamon suddenly noticed unusual movement on both flanks of the battlefield.
Before he could focus, a scout rushed up, face pale with panic and despair.
"Lord Shamon! Large numbers of Leaf reinforcements have appeared on both wings! Preliminary estimate—roughly five hundred per side!"
The news hit Shamon like a lightning bolt. He nearly lost his balance.
"Impossible! Where did they get reinforcements?! Konoha never sent out another force!"
His face twisted in rage as he stared at the flanks. The Sand troops there were already falling into chaos. The sudden arrival of the Leaf reinforcements had shattered their formation.
And the numbers were overwhelming. The Leaf forces were moving together, easily crushing any disorganized resistance they met.
Before Shamon could react, signal flares rose from both wings—Konoha flares signaling that reinforcements had arrived.
The sight broke Shamon's mind. In desperation to preserve his remaining forces, he gave an order he would regret for the rest of his life.
"Retreat! Sound the retreat immediately!"
At the front, the two rising signal flares acted like a shot of adrenaline for the Leaf forces. Every jonin recognized the signal—reinforcements had arrived. Morale skyrocketed. As they fought, they shouted the news at the top of their lungs.
"Brothers! Reinforcements are here! We can counterattack!"
One voice might be doubted. Two voices might cause confusion. But when every jonin on the field was shouting it, belief spread like wildfire.
Even the Sand troops began to waver.
Then the sky darkened.
A massive shadow fell over the battlefield, followed by an enormous crash.
Everyone looked up to see a colossal toad standing in the middle of the fight—Jiraiya's summon, Gamabunta.
The Leaf forces erupted in the loudest cheer of the day. Reinforcements had arrived, and now a giant summoned beast had dropped from the sky to help. Victory was in sight.
On the Sand side, already reeling from the news of Leaf reinforcements, the sudden appearance of the giant toad crushed what little morale remained.
At that exact moment, three signal flares rose from the rear—Sand's retreat order.
The already-shaken Sand troops broke completely.
The jonin held together, but the majority of the army was made up of chunin and genin. They were the backbone of the front line.
When Gamabunta and Jiraiya on his head unleashed their combination technique—Gamayu Endan—the collapse was sudden, yet completely inevitable.
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