Whether it was a tactical feint or a deliberate diversion, Tsunade's strategy was incredibly simple. She just needed to divide the Sand ninja's attention and redirect their assault.
She couldn't let the entire Sand army swarm Kushina. Even if Kushina no longer had to suppress the Tailed Beast, surviving that kind of concentrated attack unscathed was impossible.
Tsunade didn't actually expect to steal Shukaku right out of their hands.
While killing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki offered massive strategic benefits to the Sand, losing Shukaku was a catastrophic outcome they absolutely could not afford.
Killing the Nine-Tails vessel would weaken Konoha. But losing Shukaku meant losing the Sand's ultimate national deterrent. The enemy commanders clearly knew which one weighed heavier on the scales.
"Sister, Konoha's Sealing Squad is moving up!" Ebizo suddenly appeared behind Chiyo. The Sand had instantly seen through Konoha's intentions.
The Konoha ninja were seeing red. They completely abandoned their defensive lines around the headquarters and non-combatants, pivoting entirely to capture Shukaku.
Tailed Beasts were the crucial counterweights maintaining the balance of power between the hidden villages. In war or peace, no village could survive the fallout of losing one.
Looking at the top-tier combatants, the Sand had Shukaku (who was previously uncontrollable and now incapacitated), Elder Chiyo, and her brother Ebizo.
Konoha had Tsunade and Kushina.
This matchup was technically unbalanced. With Tsunade holding off Chiyo and Kushina dealing with Shukaku, Ebizo should have been completely free to ravage the battlefield.
But he wasn't. As previously mentioned, Shukaku was incredibly difficult to control. Ebizo's sole mission was to monitor, manage, and—if necessary—swiftly recover the Tailed Beast.
That kept him plenty busy. The Kazekage wasn't completely brainless. If he dared drop Shukaku onto the battlefield, he needed a guaranteed failsafe to get it back.
That failsafe was Ebizo. Shukaku was his only responsibility. He didn't have to care about anything else on the battlefield.
Right now, Kushina was Konoha's VIP, and Shukaku was the Sand's VIP.
Kushina could still fight. Shukaku had been reduced to a pile of loose sand.
The Sand ninja charged suicidally at Kushina, while Konoha's Sealing Squad blitzed toward Shukaku. That was exactly why Ebizo had warned Chiyo.
"I'll handle Tsunade. Ebizo, recover Shukaku immediately!" Chiyo ordered decisively.
"Once you have it, fall back and return to the village! Ignore everything else. Protect Shukaku at all costs!"
Beating Konoha's Sealing Squad to the punch was their absolute highest priority. Ebizo didn't waste a single word. He nodded and rapidly led a squad straight toward Shukaku's remains.
Moving at a speed that completely belied his old age, Ebizo reached Shukaku and slammed both hands onto the ground.
Summoning Jutsu!
A massive sand tea kettle materialized beside him. He immediately began barking orders, directing his subordinates to fend off Konoha's Sealing Squad while he quickly laid out a sealing formula.
Their plan was simple: reseal Shukaku into the kettle and evacuate immediately. This was perhaps the only upside to Shukaku being completely incapacitated—recovering it met with zero resistance from the beast itself.
Twelve Sand ninja surrounded Shukaku's remains. Once the formula was set, they wove hand signs in perfect unison.
Shukaku's scattered, sandy body flowed like liquid water, pouring rapidly into Ebizo's giant kettle.
Ebizo slammed the lid shut and slapped a specialized paper seal over it. He formed one final hand sign, and the paper talisman melted seamlessly into the kettle, disappearing from sight.
Ebizo's withered body hoisted the massive kettle onto his back, and he immediately bolted from the battlefield!
Before leaving, he cast one final glance back at his sister, who was still locked in a fierce deathmatch with Tsunade.
Regardless of the outcome, the offensive opportunity the Sand had sacrificed so much to create was officially a failure.
Truthfully, dropping an uncontrollable nuke like Shukaku onto a frontal battlefield had never been a brilliant tactical choice.
Ebizo's movements naturally couldn't escape Konoha's eyes. As he fled, dozens of Konoha ninja gave chase. Stealing Shukaku would deal an unrecoverable blow to the Sand.
However, pulling that off was practically impossible. Ignoring the elite guards traveling with him, Ebizo alone was more than capable of wiping out the pursuit squad.
Meanwhile, back with Kamishiro and Kushina.
Now that Shukaku was safely away, the Sand ninja had absolutely nothing left to hold them back. Their assault could only be described as pure, unadulterated madness.
"Kushina-sensei, Shukaku is gone," Kamishiro said, casually dispatching another enemy who got too close.
"Yeah. That's exactly why these guys are completely off the leash now. They're all swarming us."
The Nine-Tails chakra cloak around Kushina had now manifested six distinct tails. This was the absolute limit of her conscious control; pushing it any further would be incredibly dangerous.
"I think it's time we slip away," Kamishiro suggested.
With Shukaku gone, there was no strategic reason for Kushina to stay. For her own safety, she needed to evacuate immediately.
It wasn't that Kamishiro and Kushina had lost their fighting strength. They could definitely hold out for a while longer.
But doing so was utterly pointless. The Sand ninja were an endless tide; kill one batch, and an even larger one would take its place.
Furthermore, Kushina's presence was actively handcuffing the Konoha defenders.
Kamishiro wanted to retreat to guarantee her safety and to let the Konoha ninja fight without having to constantly protect a VIP.
"Slip away? Easy for you to say, but how exactly do we pull that off?" Kushina asked helplessly, eyeing the dense enemy encirclement.
In the eyes of the Sand, her dark red chakra cloak was a much bigger, much more hated target than Kamishiro's blinding lightning!
In this world, there truly were ninja capable of fighting 1 against 50 and instantly wiping out the opposition. But that wasn't Kamishiro, and it wasn't Kushina.
There even existed a ninja capable of fighting 1 against 10,000 in an long stretched brawl. But there was no ninja who could fight 1 against 10,000 and actually win.
In fact, that absolute legend who fought the 10,000 men was beaten relentlessly for three days before dying a deeply tragic death...
That man was undoubtedly the most tragic hero of the Third Great Ninja War. He could easily top the list of the "Top Ten Middle-Aged Ninja Who Moved the Ninja World to Tears."
But combat styles were fundamentally different. In a ridiculously imbalanced fight like this, no matter how strong Kamishiro and Kushina were, they couldn't replicate that feat.
They could try to outlast the Sand, but neither of them felt good about how that would ultimately end.
Unless, of course, Kushina completely lost control and went berserk...