Chiyo's eyes darted left and right. Although her stance was unstable, her face showed no sign of panic.
Instead, she appeared to be analyzing Tsunade's and Orochimaru's movements and positions.
Then, her arms slightly waved. Chakra solidified into threads, floating in the air.
At Tsunade's side, the Four-bladed Chakra Blade once again transformed into two puppets. They swapped positions, linking together and rotating in unison. The puppet at the rear swung its chain.
"Clang!"
The Four-bladed Chakra Blade spun rapidly again, seemingly slicing through the air toward Tsunade.
Tsunade moved swiftly, but the blades were even faster. She leapt upward early to dodge, hoping Orochimaru's attack would land.
However, from within the Chikamatsu Collection, a large-bodied puppet surged forward. It spread its wide palm, grabbing the entwined snakes directly. With a slight squeeze, it crushed them into pieces.
Seeing this, Tsunade's beautiful eyes narrowed. Chiyo's control over the puppets had clearly reached perfection, completely unaffected by external factors.
"She's going to counterattack!"
At that moment, Orochimaru shouted, his technique countered. Among the five puppets beside Chiyo, four suddenly darted out, rushing toward Tsunade and Orochimaru.
A variety of attacks engulfed the two.
...
Within the valley, the sounds of battle rose to the sky. Ninja clashed with ninja, jutsu collided with jutsu, causing continuous rockfalls from both cliff walls. Replacing the poison mist was a thick plume of smoke rising like storm clouds over the battlefield.
"This time, Chiyo truly brought everything she had!"
Fumiro Aburame observed the battlefield. He himself was immediately surrounded and attacked by several Suna Jonin Ninja.
As the clan head, his strength was naturally at Jonin level. With the Aburame Clan's unique bug-controlling techniques, ordinary Jonin usually couldn't match him.
Combat was not the Aburame Clan's strong suit. Though not in immediate danger, he felt increasing pressure.
Because this time, Chiyo's Sand forces had swelled by hundreds since their last clash. In sheer numbers, they now exceeded Konoha's forces after reinforcements arrived.
Moreover, the puppets—previously reduced to merely dozens—had been replenished by more than half.
The theft of Desert's Sorrow had truly enraged the Third Kazekage. Though he wouldn't personally come to the battlefield, Sunagakure had obviously deployed some hidden reserves this time.
Such significant reserve forces, which Hidden Villages usually hesitated to use even in wars, were now activated.
But since Chiyo's Poison had been countered and the Aburame joined the fight, the remaining advantage of the Sand forces had vanished completely. If they wanted to avoid losing the war and being mocked across the Ninja World, this was their only option.
However, with over a hundred additional puppets, although the Hyuga and Aburame combined could suppress them, they were clearly outnumbered.
However, it wasn't too obvious. After all, with Tsunade's antidote, the Konoha ninja no longer needed to hold back. Even if it meant sustaining some injuries, they were determined to eliminate their enemies.
Clearly, after several months of frustration, everyone wanted to release it all here at once.
"Kill!"
On the battlefield, whether commanders, jonin, or chunin, all fought with their lives on the line, holding nothing back.
Yet for certain Suna ninja, the arrival of Minato—the harbinger of death—truly eased their worries.
Minato had left too strong an impression—he struck fear even into seasoned Suna jonin.
And besides Minato, the other newcomers within the Konoha forces were also fighting desperately in the carnage. These new faces in the ninja world were rapidly evolving through the trials of war.
For a ninja, war was the ultimate crucible of transformation.
One particular boy had crimson red eyes, each containing a swiftly spinning black tomoe. Combined with his rapid movements, he managed to slay an Elite Chunin within just over a dozen exchanges.
This was Yan Uchiha!
Among his peers, even the strongest one—Hiashi Hyuga—could only fight evenly against opponents of this level.
Yet even after defeating an enemy, Yan felt unsatisfied, as though a pressure in his chest had nowhere to vent.
He viewed Minato as his rival, yet even as he grew stronger, Minato surged ahead at an alarming pace.
And what made things worse was that whether from allies—commanders, jonin, even enemies—he kept hearing that name: the rival he had set for himself.
Even Suna's Chiyo could no longer overlook this young man from Konoha. And he, once a self-proclaimed prodigy among his peers, could now only seek out chunin to fight.
He needed to break through. Yan knew very well that such advancement came from life-and-death struggle.
The fact that his Sharingan had awakened was the strongest proof of all!
Thus, immediately after killing a chunin, he vanished in a flash, darting toward the heart of the battlefield.
In inter-nation warfare, there was generally an unspoken rule: kings fight kings, generals fight generals.
Ninjas of unequal strength rarely clashed directly on the battlefield.
Otherwise, the weaker would die instantly due to the gap in power.
Strong fighters on both sides naturally sought opponents of similar ability to avoid such situations.
But for Yan Uchiha, chunin opponents were no longer sufficient to stimulate his growth.
He wanted to face jonin like Minato did!
Yan's combat style differed from the typical Uchiha ninja. Seemingly influenced by Minato, his speed was incredibly fast, far surpassing ordinary ninja in mastery of the Body Flicker Technique.
And it was all because of Minato—if Yan wanted to close the gap and defeat him, he had to emulate Minato's greatest strengths.
While moving at such incredible speeds, both his ninjutsu and taijutsu had to keep up with the pace. Yet clearly, Yan's current velocity exceeded his own limits.
But he had a natural advantage that made up for this deficiency.
That was none other than the Sharingan!
Yan selected an opponent and activated [Body Flicker Technique], vanishing and reappearing behind the enemy.
"Konoha brat, you're asking for death!"
A Sand Jonin who naturally kept his guard up around Yan Uchiha intended to seize this moment to counterattack. The obsidian-colored kunai in his hand glimmered coldly as it slashed toward Yan Uchiha's temple.
His speed and reflexes were clearly above Yan Uchiha's. Once he closed the distance, that advantage would become undeniable.
To him, Yan Uchiha's move was practically suicide.
Yet in Yan Uchiha's eyes, time seemed to accelerate. The Jonin's next movements appeared before him like visions.
[The Sharingan] had the power to anticipate an opponent's next moves.
In an instant, Yan Uchiha ducked down low—the kunai skimmed just above his hairline, slicing off a few strands of black hair.
In the next breath, Yan Uchiha drove his kunai forward, straight for his opponent's vital point!
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