That voice…
Everyone turned toward the source at once. Beneath the clear, silver glow of the moon stood a Konoha shinobi dressed in black. His pale skin seemed almost ghostly, accentuated by a pair of golden, slit-pupiled eyes.
He simply stood there, without any particular motion—yet the pressure he exuded weighed heavily on every Sand shinobi present.
"Orochimaru!"
One of the Legendary Sannin.
For Sunagakure, that name was all too familiar.
Tsunade was renowned across the ninja world for her medical ninjutsu and monstrous strength—but Orochimaru… Orochimaru had shattered the Sand's confidence head-on on the battlefield.
That endless tide of snakes.
That violent, overwhelming wind release.
The pain and terror from the Second Great Ninja War still lingered, etched deeply into their memories.
"…The Wind of Calamity," Pakura murmured under her breath.
Chiyo's entire body tensed as she called out, "Rasa!"
"I know!" Rasa replied immediately. "I sensed him the moment he stepped into this area. He won't get the chance to ambush us."
From the instant Orochimaru entered the desert, Rasa had already detected his presence and remained on guard.
"How lively things seem here," Orochimaru said with a cold smile, his gaze drifting across the more than twenty Sand shinobi corpses scattered across the ground. "It appears Uzuki-kun wasn't exaggerating after all."
"Chiyo… you've grown old."
In truth, this was a misunderstanding.
Shimizu had only eliminated five of them through sudden, decisive strikes. The rest had been killed earlier by Kosuke and Tsunade.
And as for his bold claim of holding them all here—it had been nothing more than posturing.
Even if he lost, he couldn't afford to lose face.
From Shimizu's perspective, taking down even one of them and forcing the rest to retreat would already count as a near-perfect outcome.
Of course… if he truly went all out—
If he first unleashed a massive Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave to flood the battlefield and create a favorable terrain… then picked them off one by one—
He might actually have been able to keep every single one of them here.
But that was impossible.
The memories of Rakuyō City… the southwestern mountain range… everything replayed vividly in his mind.
…Better to spare Kikyo Castle this time.
"'Shunshin Shimizu,' a Konoha jonin… truly a fearsome young talent," Chiyo said, not bothering to defend herself. Instead, she laughed loudly. "But even if the two of you win, what of it?"
"Konoha has already lost!"
At this point, killing Shimizu had become nearly impossible.
With Orochimaru present, their best hope was to retreat in one piece—and even that was no guarantee.
Chiyo made her decision instantly.
"Withdraw!"
"I'll cover the rear!" Rasa pressed both hands to the ground, pouring a massive amount of chakra into the sand beneath them.
In an instant, an enormous wave of golden sand surged upward, forming a violent, crushing tide that roared toward Shimizu and Orochimaru.
Magnet Release: Gold Dust Great Funeral!
This technique was the precursor to Gaara's Sand Waterfall Funeral, but denser, heavier—far more oppressive. Once caught within its flow, the target would be dragged underground and crushed completely by its overwhelming pressure.
"…Such a wide range," Shimizu muttered. The sheer scale of the attack—both in height and width—successfully stalled their advance.
In the next moment, the golden tide crashed violently against the defensive line formed by a blue water wall and an endless swarm of snakes.
BOOM!!
When the sandstorm finally settled, the Sand shinobi were already gone without a trace.
Silence returned to the battlefield once more.
"They got away…" Shimizu said, a trace of unwillingness in his voice.
"Chiyo is a cunning old fox. She was never going to be easy to deal with," Orochimaru replied calmly.
Shimizu glanced at him. "How did you know I was here?"
"I simply came to confirm your condition, Uzuki-kun."
"I knew you would come out of this unharmed," Orochimaru added, flashing what he clearly believed was a warm and friendly smile.
Shimizu understood instantly.
Orochimaru hadn't come to help—
He had come to check whether Shimizu had already been crushed into paste.
"You knew I'd end up in the sky after reverse summoning?!"
So you really knew this would happen?!
Shimizu had originally thought it was just Ichikishimahime's mistake—but it turned out Orochimaru had been fully aware all along.
"Heh…" Orochimaru chuckled lightly, completely at ease.
"I almost died," Shimizu said flatly, his tone serious.
"Yes, that was my oversight. I forgot to remind Ichikishimahime…" Orochimaru admitted, though only just barely, and even then he still looked utterly unconcerned. "But in the end, didn't everything turn out fine?"
Shimizu paused.
Well… considering Orochimaru had ultimately pulled him out of a life-or-death situation—
What else could he do?
Of course… he'd let it go.
"Right, I should go find Kosuke-sensei… and Tsunade as well. I'll head out first," Shimizu said, turning to leave.
"On my way here, I ran into Maruboshi Kosuke and Tsunade. They've already regrouped with the main Konoha forces—they're safe."
"I see…" Shimizu's raised foot halted mid-step. "Then what about Kikyo Castle? What's the situation there?"
"Heh… in your eyes, such a massive stronghold matters less than the safety of one Maruboshi Kosuke?" Orochimaru teased lightly.
"You're exaggerating. I'm just handling what I can first," Shimizu replied calmly. "Do you really think I'd ignore the bigger picture? Of course Kikyo Castle is more important."
"I was only joking. No need to get so tense, Uzuki-kun."
"…."
"After all, when you think about it, we're on the same boat now, aren't we?"
"…Naturally."
Their arrangement was far from something that could be brought into the light. Saying they were bound together wasn't inaccurate.
But how long would this fragile harmony last?
When the day came that Orochimaru found no more use in his blood… what would he do then?
Maybe… before returning to the village, I should squeeze out a little more benefit from this arrangement.
"Sunagakure dug a tunnel—from outside the city straight into the center of Kikyo Castle. They used it to launch a surprise attack on Tsunade and the others."
"!!"
Shimizu's heart jolted. Sunagakure had clearly been planning this for a long time.
A tunnel like that wasn't something you could just create overnight.
"The exact casualties are still being tallied. Konoha has already begun organizing forces to retake the area," Orochimaru continued.
"From what I've seen, the Sand didn't commit their main forces here. They only sent a small group of elites, intending to strike down Konoha's command center and withdraw immediately."
"Then shouldn't they have coordinated inside and out? That would have—"
Before Shimizu could finish, a deep, rumbling roar echoed from the distant horizon.
Both of them looked up.
Far away, a colossal sandstorm was taking shape—its spiraling mass towering into the sky, its diameter stretching for dozens of kilometers.
This was the Land of Fire.
Dense forests surrounded them.
Where could such a natural sandstorm possibly come from?
Only then did Shimizu fully understand—Chiyo's final words before retreating, "Konoha has already lost," hadn't been a curse, nor empty bravado.
It had simply been her statement of what she believed to be fact.
Combined with the premeditated tunnel…
"This… is Sunagakure's backup plan," Shimizu murmured, staring at the monstrous sand vortex, uncertain what kind of devastation it would bring to Kikyo Castle.
"Uzuki-kun, we need to return to camp immediately. What comes next won't be a small skirmish like this," Orochimaru said, his expression turning serious.
"The Sand's main forces are already gathered outside Kikyo Castle. That sandstorm is likely meant to coordinate with their advance."
"A real battle is about to begin."
..
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