"Lord Orochimaru! The enemy vanguard is within a thousand meters and approaching at extreme speed!"
A scout ninja from the Hyuga Clan dropped from the trees, using his Byakugan to deliver the real-time intelligence directly to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru raised a pale hand, signaling the massive Konoha army to halt. He unrolled a topographical map and traced a finger across the parchment. He noted that the area they were currently standing in was a vast, flat plain known as Kizaki Field.
There were no dense forests to set ambushes, nor high mountains to establish a tactical high ground. The field of vision was wide open, making it an incredibly poor location for setting up a layered defense.
However, the military situation was highly critical. The Sand had penetrated deeply into their borders, and there was absolutely no time to retreat and choose a better battlefield.
"To have pushed so deeply into the Land of Fire in such a short amount of time... these Sand Ninja must have been force-marching at maximum speed without proper rest for days," Orochimaru hissed, a sinister light gleaming in his serpentine eyes.
Orochimaru rapidly assessed the tactical reality and decisively issued his command.
"All forces, prepare for immediate engagement! Take full advantage of the enemy's physical exhaustion and crush their vanguard in one fell swoop! Leave no survivors!"
"Yes, Sir!" the Konoha army roared as one.
The Konoha Ninja had also been force-marching to intercept, and were undeniably fatigued. However, they had not yet experienced the bloody meat grinder of actual combat, so their chakra reserves and combat effectiveness were relatively intact.
Furthermore, they were defending their homeland. Their morale was burning fiercely.
Moments later, the Sensory Ninjas among the Sand forces also detected the massive wall of approaching chakra.
"Lord Pakura! A massive Konoha army is rushing directly toward us!"
Pakura stood at the absolute front of the Sand formation. She merely raised an eyebrow, not worried in the slightest. Instead, her fighting spirit surged violently.
"Have we finally encountered their main force?" Pakura smirked. "I wonder who the Supreme Commander is."
Who else could it logically be? Besides the Hokage himself and his aging Advisors, only the legendary Sannin—Orochimaru and Jiraiya—possessed the military prestige and monstrous strength to command an army of this size.
Because this was only the opening stage of the war, the Hokage certainly wouldn't leave the capital exposed, and the Advisors were strictly administrators.
Therefore, the commander marching toward her was guaranteed to be either Jiraiya or Orochimaru.
Hehe, Chisuke thought, cracking his knuckles. If Jiraiya is leading them, and I intentionally use the Rasengan in front of him... I wonder what kind of stupid, shocked expression he'll make?
Imagining Jiraiya's absolute horror, Chisuke stepped up beside his teacher and took the initiative to volunteer.
"Pakura-sensei, please leave the enemy commander entirely to me! I will crush their leadership in a single blow!"
Although Chisuke knew deep down that even as a perfect One-Tails Jinchuriki, he likely still couldn't defeat Jiraiya in a one-on-one deathmatch... this was war. Standing in front of a thousand exhausted Sand Ninjas, he couldn't exactly show fear. He had to boldly boast of his invincibility to keep the army's morale from shattering.
Pakura nodded, her eyes glowing with absolute confidence in her student. She raised her hand high and issued the order to charge.
"We possess the ultimate weapon! We have a Perfect Jinchuriki! Crush the Leaf in one fell swoop!"
"CRUSH KONOHA!"
The Sand Ninja roared, their exhaustion forgotten as they drew their weapons and followed closely behind Chisuke, charging like a tidal wave across the open plain.
The sky was vast, the wilderness completely boundless.
On the flat, wide expanse of Kizaki Field, a warm breeze blew through the lush, waist-high wild grass. It was a beautiful, fertile land—yet in a matter of seconds, it was destined to become a horrific river of blood.
"KILL THEM!"
"CHARGE!"
The two massive armies collided head-on without a moment of standoff, without a single question or debate, and without a shred of mutual respect.
Every shinobi wore a ferocious, twisted expression, gripping their lethal weapons and charging fearlessly into the fray with only one singular purpose: to slaughter the enemy.
To kill, and kill, and kill!
Chisuke was at the very tip of the Sand spear. Looking at the Konoha Ninja rapidly closing the distance, he threw his head back and laughed loudly.
"Hahaha! Ichibi, it's your lucky day! Time to go completely wild!"
The earth violently erupted. The massive, towering form of the One-Tails, Shukaku, materialized directly in the center of the battlefield.
With a single, devastating sweep of its spiked tail, Shukaku violently launched dozens of screaming Konoha Ninja high into the air, completely shattering the Leaf's front line before the battle had even truly begun.
"BWAHAHAHA!" Shukaku roared triumphantly, its voice triggering minor earthquakes. "The Great Lord Shukaku has arrived! Weep in despair, you pathetic little bugs!"
Chisuke, standing securely atop Shukaku's head, crossed his arms and offered a quick reminder.
"Hey, stupid cat. The enemies this time are Konoha's main army. They aren't border guards. You'd better be careful and don't get yourself defeated, or I'll never let you hear the end of it."
The hyper-excited Shukaku completely ignored Chisuke's warning.
Seeing the beast completely ignore him, Chisuke simply shrugged and stopped trying to advise it. Being so incredibly arrogant... just wait until you suffer a painful setback.
Seeing the unstoppable ferocity of Shukaku, the Sand Ninjas cheered enthusiastically, their morale reaching a fever pitch.
"Glory to the Sand! We will absolutely win this time!"
The shinobi on the Konoha side, however, were entirely unequipped to resist the physical might of a Tailed Beast. They were instantly routed, forced to continuously retreat to avoid being crushed into paste by the monster's rampaging limbs.
The situation was rapidly deteriorating, but Orochimaru simply stood at the rear of the army, refusing to rashly enter the fray. His cold, serpentine eyes reflected Shukaku's titanic, destructive figure.
He was waiting. He was waiting for the Sand Ninja's full tactical combat power to reveal itself on the battlefield, waiting to confirm there were no hidden ambushes or secondary threats.
As for the hundreds of Konoha Ninja currently being slaughtered by the beast? They were merely acceptable chess pieces in his hand—pure consumables. As long as they died exposing the enemy's capabilities, Orochimaru didn't care about the casualty numbers in the slightest.
Cold, calculating, and utterly heartless. This was Orochimaru's style of command.
"Lord Orochimaru! Let us take the field!"
Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and Yamanaka Inoichi—having seen the vanguard on the brink of total collapse—immediately stepped forward and requested to engage the beast.
The power of the standard infantry pawns was limited; it was time to commit the heavy artillery pieces to the board.
Orochimaru stared at the roaring Tailed Beast. He remained silent for two long seconds before offering a single, sharp nod.
Konoha's Elite Jonin, the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho Formation, struck!
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
What's going on? Chisuke thought, surveying the carnage. Why hasn't the enemy commander stepped up yet? Are they just going to let us slaughter them?
Chisuke stood with his arms crossed, happily watching Shukaku squash dozens of Konoha Ninja and chase the rest into a total rout, when he suddenly felt a violent wave of vertigo wash over him.
"You are already under my absolute control," a magnetic, incredibly serious voice echoed directly inside Chisuke's mind. "Don't even think about continuing this rampage."
Eh? Has the Ino-Shika-Cho trio arrived already? Chisuke realized instantly.
A Mind Transfer Jutsu, huh? Hehehe... truly foolishly cute.
Inside his own mental landscape, Chisuke stood calmly before the towering form of Shukaku, an amused, wicked smile on his face.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. It seems a brave little bug has wandered into our home, Shukaku. This is our very first guest. You must entertain him well."
"BWAHAHAHA! Come out, little bug!" Shukaku boomed, its yellow eyes narrowing. "This Great Lord will show you proper hospitality!"
Shukaku extended its massive right hand. Intricate, glowing Sealing Jutsu formulas rapidly crawled across its sandy arm. The beast grabbed at the empty void in front of it, directly ripping a young, glowing spiritual projection out of the darkness.
Long blonde hair, a standard green flak jacket, and a serious expression. Crucially, the man had a very handsome face—though, in Chisuke's entirely biased opinion, his looks were still slightly inferior to his own.
It was Ino Yamanaka's father, Yamanaka Inoichi!
Chisuke smiled mischievously at the horrified intruder.
"Didn't you read the intelligence files, Inoichi?" Chisuke taunted. "Shukaku is an absolute master of advanced Sealing Jutsu. It's incredibly easy for your fragile spiritual energy to enter this mindscape... but leaving will be completely impossible."
"Damn it!" Inoichi struggled furiously in the beast's grip. "I didn't expect you to be a Perfect Jinchuriki who has completely enslaved the Ichibi!!"
Finding that his spiritual form couldn't break free from the beast's chakra, Inoichi desperately tried to use psychological warfare to drive a wedge between the Tailed Beast and the boy. As long as the relationship between a Tailed Beast and its Jinchuriki was hostile, their combat synergy would be greatly reduced.
Shukaku simply snorted with absolute disdain. Its massive fingers began to exert immense pressure, slowly, agonizingly squeezing Inoichi's spiritual projection.
"Cunning human rat, do you take this Great Lord for a fool?!" Shukaku roared. "Taste the true flavor of agony!"
Inside the mental space, Inoichi's horrific screams echoed continuously.
Out on the physical battlefield, Chisuke and Shukaku suddenly froze mid-rampage. Both the beast and the boy seemed to have fallen entirely asleep, their heads lowered and their eyes firmly closed.
Nara Shikaku saw the opening. He turned to the massive Akimichi Choza beside him. "Inoichi's jutsu was a complete success! He's immobilized them! It's our turn to strike!"
Choza swallowed a highly concentrated calorie pill. He looked up at the Ichibi's mountain-like body and offered a grim, determined nod. "Got it!"
Nara Shikaku quickly formed a complex hand seal. "Shadow Imitation Technique!"
The shadow beneath Shikaku's feet shot across the battlefield like a striking viper. It moved rapidly across the blood-soaked grass, connecting directly to the massive shadow cast by the Tailed Beast. Once connected, it violently branched out into over a hundred thick, black tendrils that tightly bound Shukaku's massive limbs to the earth.
"Partial Multi-Size Technique!"
Akimichi Choza shouted, burning his massive calorie reserves to fuel the jutsu. His right arm rapidly expanded, transforming into a titanic, fleshy pillar roughly the same size as Shukaku's entire body.
He raised his colossal fist high into the sky, creating a vacuum of rushing wind, and brought it smashing down with apocalyptic force directly toward the top of Shukaku's head.
The true target of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation was not the immortal Ichibi itself.
Their target was the squishy, vulnerable human standing on its head: Chisuke!