The thick, newly formed desert effectively split the entire battlefield in two.
On one side of the shifting sands, Chisuke stood proudly at the forefront, with numerous cheering Sunagakure ninjas rallying behind his display of absolute power.
On the other side, outside the desert's reach, the surviving Konoha Ninjas coalesced in a tight, defensive formation behind Nara Shikaku.
Currently, the Konoha side was at a severe, undeniable disadvantage in both numbers and morale.
Damn it! Shikaku thought, wiping sweat and blood from his brow. After paying such a horrific price and losing both Inoichi and Choza, we still haven't killed their Jinchuriki! Lord Orochimaru, where the hell are you?!
Even Shikaku had consumed a dangerously large amount of chakra in the battle against Shukaku, and his overall combat power was significantly reduced.
The opponent standing across from him, however, was clearly a perfect Jinchuriki who could effortlessly borrow the Tailed Beast's limitless chakra to fight. The boy seemed to only grow more energetic and lethal as the battle progressed.
However, Shikaku knew he could not order a retreat now! If they broke formation, the Sand would run them down and slaughter them all.
He had to stand and fight!
Shikaku took a few measured steps forward, locked eyes with Chisuke, and spoke in a solemn, commanding voice.
"Commander of the Konoha Vanguard, Nara Shikaku!"
Seeing that the famous Leaf tactician was well-proportioned and slightly taller than himself, Chisuke subtly straightened his back, wanting to appear a bit more imposing, and offered a cocky response.
"Hidden Sand Village's most handsome shinobi, Tasaka Chisuke!"
"Shadow Gathering Technique: Black Net!"
Shikaku didn't waste another second chatting. His hands formed seals in a blur as he suddenly launched his final, desperate trap.
From beneath the very desert Chisuke had just created, countless thin, black shadows pierced upward. They shot into the sky and wove together flawlessly, creating a massive, inescapable inverted black dome that completely covered both Chisuke and Shikaku, isolating them from their armies.
Even more terrifyingly, hundreds of explosive tags were dangling from the shadow threads directly above Chisuke's head.
The tags had already been ignited. The faint, deadly hiss of burning paper illuminated Chisuke's suddenly pale face.
"Ah, I see," Chisuke muttered, genuinely impressed. "No wonder you took those slow steps toward me to introduce yourself. I thought you were just intimidated by my handsome face and wanted a closer look, but it turns out you were just luring me into the exact center of a suicide trap."
Shikaku's face was a mask of absolute determination. He maintained the hand seals with a vice-like grip, not showing the slightest carelessness.
"Shadows are everywhere inside this dome," Shikaku stated coldly. "This is my absolute domain. You have zero chance to escape the blast radius!"
Chisuke looked down and indeed saw thick, black streaks of shadow already tightly entwining his legs, torso, and arms. He was completely immobilized, unable to move a muscle or form a single hand seal. He had lost all physical defensive capabilities in the span of a second.
These Konoha Ninjas really are more troublesome the longer they fight, Chisuke thought with a sigh. Fortunately, I don't need hand seals. I have a cheat code.
Shukaku! Save me!
Rumble... rumble... BOOM!
The hundreds of explosive tags detonated in a synchronized, apocalyptic chain reaction. Blinding firelight and concussive shockwaves quickly swept through the entire enclosed space. The tightly woven shadow dome perfectly contained the blast, maximizing the lethal pressure of the explosions to an extreme degree.
A split-second before the shockwave would have vaporized him, Shikaku used his shadows to yank himself outside the Black Net, collapsing onto his knees with a wave of severe exhaustion.
"It's over," Shikaku gasped, coughing. "This time, the Jinchuriki must be dead."
Shikaku was absolutely certain that Chisuke hadn't been able to form a single seal to summon sand defenses, making it theoretically impossible to survive.
As it turned out, reality is a haughty, cruel goddess who rarely lets you get what you want in war.
Before the Konoha Ninjas could even begin to cheer, the massive Black Net violently shattered from the inside out. A pillar of roaring flames soared into the sky.
Standing unharmed within the inferno, the massive, towering figure of Shukaku reappeared.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You didn't actually think there were any physical restrictions on my Tailed Beast Transformation, did you?"
Chisuke stood casually atop Shukaku's head, looking down at the horrified Konoha Ninjas. This feeling of looking down on all living things really is truly wonderful, Chisuke thought. No wonder Uchiha Madara was so addicted to dropping meteors on people.
Seeing that Chisuke was perfectly fine, the Sand Ninjas erupted into fanatical cheers.
"Thank goodness!" the Sand ninja from earlier wept. "If I had successfully cursed him to death, the Kazekage would have executed my entire family!"
"How is this statistically possible?!" a Konoha Chunin screamed in despair. "Unlimited Tailed Beast Transformations? No hand seals required? No berserk side effects?! It's completely impossible!"
Even in Konoha—the village that possessed the legendary, world-class Sealing Jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan—a Jinchuriki always paid a massive, often lethal physical price to tap into the Nine-Tails' power during combat.
The reason Tailed Beasts were considered unstable strategic weapons was partly because they were apocalyptic in power, but mostly because the conditions for safely using them were too harsh. In war, Tailed Beasts usually caused indiscriminate damage, potentially harming the user's own army more than the enemy.
It was precisely because of this traditional understanding of Jinchuriki limitations that Nara Shikaku was left in absolute, paralyzed shock seeing Chisuke achieve a flawless, instantaneous transformation without doing anything.
"This Great Lord is back! Again!" Shukaku shouted arrogantly, slamming its paws into the dirt. "Where's that fat human with the stupid butterfly wings?! Get the hell out here and face me!"
Nara Shikaku made the only tactical choice he had left. He decisively ordered: "Full retreat! Scatter and fall back!"
The Konoha Ninjas broke formation and retreated like a receding tide. However, Chisuke naturally wasn't going to allow them to escape so easily.
"Wipe them out!" Chisuke ordered.
Shukaku opened its massive mouth, chakra rapidly gathering. "Tailed Beast Ball!"
"Oh, no!"
Seeing the pitch-black sphere of destruction rapidly forming, Shikaku gritted his teeth, knowing he didn't have the chakra left to run. He could only stand his ground and wait for death.
"Summoning Technique: Triple Rashomon!"
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Three colossal, demonic iron gates slammed down from the sky, violently embedding themselves into the earth directly in the path of the Tailed Beast Ball.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Tailed Beast Ball struck the first gate, instantly obliterating it. It pushed through the smoke, shattering the second gate with a deafening screech of tearing metal. Finally, its kinetic energy depleted, the sphere detonated violently against the third Rashomon, completely destroying it in a massive fireball that shielded the retreating Leaf shinobi.
By the time the violent explosion subsided and the thick smoke cleared, Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen, and the surviving Konoha Ninjas had already vanished deep into the forest.
"Hmph. Let's chase them down!" Chisuke ordered, pointing forward.
"Stop here."
Just as Shukaku was about to lumber forward, Chisuke heard Pakura's commanding voice from the ground behind him.
Chisuke hopped down from the beast, dissolving the transformation. He turned and saw Pakura walking toward him with a shockingly grim expression. Her clothes were torn, she had numerous bleeding injuries across her body, and most alarmingly, her right hand had turned a sickly, necrotic purple—she was clearly severely poisoned.
It was obvious that her assassination attempt against the legendary Sannin had not gone well.
Looking at Pakura's wretched state and knowing her fiery, prideful temper, Chisuke wisely swallowed the boastful words he had been about to say. He immediately plastered a highly flattering, innocent smile on his face.
"Hehehe, Pakura-sensei! You're here!" Chisuke said brightly. "It's a good thing you ordered us to stop! Honestly, I was just starting to feel a little tired from all that fighting anyway. We'll be merciful and spare their wretched lives for today."
He didn't ask a single question about the duel between Pakura and Orochimaru. If he asked something he shouldn't, her pride would be shattered, and she'd likely take it out on him. Instead, he smoothly provided a perfectly suitable excuse for why the great Sand Vanguard wasn't pursuing the fleeing enemy.
Pakura glanced at the grinning Chisuke, a faint hint of deep appreciation flashing in her tired eyes. At least this kid is incredibly tactful when it counts.
Without another word, Pakura walked past him, heading directly to the medical tents to have the deadly snake venom purged from her system.
After seeing Pakura off safely, Chisuke reached out and snagged a Sand ninja who had been part of her elite escort. He leaned in, asking in a sneaky whisper.
"Hey. How badly did she lose? Was the gap this small... or this big?"
While speaking, Chisuke held up his hands, first gesturing a tiny gap of one centimeter, then widening it to a full meter.
Hearing the highly treasonous question, the Sand ninja nervously checked over his shoulder. Seeing no sign of Pakura, he answered in a very low voice.
"About this big."
The ninja mimicked Chisuke, gesturing a distance of roughly ten centimeters with his hands.
Not that huge of a gap, then, Chisuke thought, feeling reassured.
It honestly didn't matter if Pakura couldn't outright defeat a monster like Orochimaru, as long as she possessed the strength to stall him. That way, Chisuke could continue to safely run wild and reap the glory on the main battlefield without a Sannin breathing down his neck.
Following Pakura's orders, the Sand Ninjas established heavy fortifications across Kizaki Field to rest and reorganize. The continuous, high-intensity fighting over the past few days, culminating in the battle against the Leaf Vanguard, had resulted in significant casualties, and the survivors were exhausted.
Pakura continuously sent hawks back to Sunagakure, reporting their successful push and requesting that the Kazekage's main army arrive as soon as possible to solidify their gains.
Miles away, the battered Konoha Ninjas retreated to a highly defensible forest line. They dug in, establishing a desperate defensive perimeter while Shikaku fired off urgent requests for reinforcements from the capital.
That night, safe within the dreamscape, Chisuke recounted the entire massive battle to his friends, heavily emphasizing the moments where he looked incredibly cool.
Kyosuke, who was stuck doing paperwork in Konoha, curled his lip and spoke with obvious sourness. "So let me get this straight. After a whole day of epic warfare... you didn't actually do any of the physical fighting yourself, did you? Aren't you basically just a lazy parasite attached to the Ichibi?"
Hearing the blatant mockery, Chisuke remained utterly triumphant.
"Tsk, tsk. Standing on the head of a giant monster, raining down apocalyptic destruction on the enemy army while keeping my boots perfectly clean? It felt absolutely amazing, Kyosuke. Don't be jealous."
Kiichiro chimed in, shaking his head. "Chisuke, as a businessman, I have to point out a flaw in your branding. With such a highly visible, theatrical opportunity, you really should have prepared some cooler one-liners."
Ooka Shin nodded in agreement. "He's right. How about using Madara's classic line? 'Do you also wish to dance?' That is objectively the greatest line ever spoken."
Kyosuke stopped being sour and enthusiastically joined the discussion. "You guys need to broaden your cultural thinking. Don't just steal lines from people in the Naruto world. The Heaven Abandoner's dialogue from that old puppet show back home is truly domineering!"
Kyosuke stood up, perfectly mimicking the arrogant, god-like indifference of the character, and recited the famous line: "The human realm has become filthy once again!"
Mishu, the actual seasoned killer of the group, simply shook his head at the nerds. "All style and no substance. Listen to me: as long as you slaughter enough people to completely shatter an army's courage, you can say literally anything and it will sound terrifying."
After chatting and relaxing for a while, Chisuke grew serious and turned to Kyosuke.
"If there's any major troop movement from Konoha, you need to warn me early. This time, not knowing in advance that Orochimaru was leading the vanguard made us somewhat passive. Pakura almost died."
Kyosuke nodded, indicating he understood.
"Orochimaru's mobilization this time was on a very short notice, plus it was a forced march, which is why it was kept off the civilian radar for so long," Kyosuke explained. "Besides, I'm only recently a Chunin. I can't access high-level strategic intelligence. Once I officially become a Jonin, I'll be able to access the real war room files."
Chisuke slapped his forehead with his right hand and sighed speechlessly. "Bro, by the time you rank up to Jonin through the normal bureaucracy, this war will already be over!"