"Bastard!"
Rasa angrily slammed his fist on the table, almost breaking it. Although they had more ninja forces than the opposite side, they still couldn't take Kikyo Castle.
This was the last line of defense for the Land of Fire and Konoha; if they could conquer it, then the Hidden Sand Village could launch a direct attack on Konoha Village.
Unfortunately, two consecutive attacks had been thwarted by those two bastards Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato.
Whenever he engaged with Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato would seize the opportunity to use the Flying Thunder God Jutsu to eliminate the weaker ninjas of the Hidden Sand Village. This bastard frequently uses this tactic to expand the advantage.
Right now, their only way to expand the Hidden Sand Village's victories might be by using the Tailed Beast.
However, the One-tailed Jinchuriki was too old; if they let Bunboku undergo Tailed Beast Transformation, it would greatly shorten his lifespan, and the village had yet to choose a suitable replacement Jinchuriki.
"Elder Chiyo, during the next attack, do your best to hold off Jiraiya; that bastard Namikaze Minato will be my responsibility."
Rasa said to Elder Chiyo. In the Hidden Sand Village, there weren't many ninjas who could handle Jiraiya, a Sannin; Elder Chiyo was one of them.
Although her poison-making and medical ninjutsu were greatly needed by the Hidden Sand Village, given the current situation, only Elder Chiyo could step up.
"Fourth Kazekage, Jiraiya would never let you get to Namikaze Minato, and the elite ninjas of Konoha are not weak either. When the time comes, they'll still be able to break through and find other Sand Ninjas..."
While it was initially good to have Pakura deployed to the battlefield, Rasa used the excuse of guarding against the Hidden Mist to keep Pakura waiting for orders in the village. Chiyo wasn't sure if guarding against the Hidden Mist was truly necessary, but keeping such a strong ninja in the village doing nothing was quite inappropriate.
"Use the Tailed Beast; only then can we capture Kikyo Castle in one stroke."
Elder Chiyo said helplessly. The opponent's medical ninjas were also outstanding. She suspected Tsunade was in Kikyo Castle, otherwise, three new poisons researched by the Sand Ninjas were all neutralized in a short time.
In the last Ninja World War, the poisons of the Sand Ninja Village were most expertly broken down by Tsunade.
"To use the Tailed Beast?"
Rasa was a bit hesitant. Once the Tailed Beast was deployed, if they couldn't take Kikyo Castle, they'd suffer greater losses because the Jinchuriki might have to retire from the battlefield due to lifespan issues.
Moreover, they'd have to transfer the Jinchuriki, or wait two or three years to capture the One-tailed again.
"I'll do my utmost to help Bunboku condition his body. The medical team will now fully ensure Bunboku's physical well-being, striving to maintain him until the post-war Tailed Beast transfer."
Elder Chiyo sighed, saying that if the Third Generation Kazekage were still around, the battle situation of the Sand Ninja Village wouldn't be so tense.
Thinking of the Third Generation Kazekage, Elder Chiyo was reminded of her grandson, Sasori.
She didn't know why Sasori defected, but if he hadn't, the Sand Ninja Village would certainly have an advantage in the war against Konoha right now.
Rasa pondered for a long time, finally making his decision as he thought about the ever-increasing wounded on his side, saying, "Deploy the Tailed Beast. Inform Bunboku to enter the battlefield the day after tomorrow."
Konoha's medical standards were very high; their lightly injured ninjas could return to the battlefield after resting for two or three days. In contrast, the Sand Ninja lacked medical ninjas and herbs, and many wounded needed ten days to half a month to recover.
The difference was apparent at once.
Directly use the Tailed Beast Ball on Kikyo Castle to smash through Konoha's ninja defense lines, then kill off their medical ninjas—let's see what they can do then!
Rasa thought, clenching his fist. Thankfully, the Sand Ninja rear had been persistently pillaging metal resources from the Land of Rivers during this time, greatly alleviating the pressure on the Hidden Sand Village.
The Land of Rivers Daimyo now trembles whenever he sees the Sand Ninjas, fearing that he might be killed by the Hidden Sand Village just like his father.
Before there were share allocations, now all shares belonged to the Hidden Sand Village.
Thinking of this, Rasa felt slightly better, yet sadly they could only rob the currently extracted metal mine for a short time. Although they made those miners work overtime, it was still too little.
If they could occupy it for a long time, then the Puppet Masters of the Sand Ninja Village would never lack metal for crafting puppets; but they must first capture Kikyo Castle and then force Konoha to sign a defeat treaty.
Kikyo Castle.
Even in the deep of night, the medical team continued treating the wounded.
Earlier today, another conflict occurred outside Kikyo Castle, involving over a hundred participants, and by nighttime, over twenty wounded were sent in. Even if each medical ninja treated one wounded, there weren't enough to go around; they had to perform surgeries in order of severity.
After treating the severely injured soldiers, Uzumaki Minami grabbed a bottle of isolated toxins and headed outside.
"Hey, young lady, heal me, please."
Jiraiya called out upon seeing Uzumaki Minami passing by, having been injured by sand gold in today's fight against Rasa, losing quite a bit of blood.
Uzumaki Minami frowned upon being called, but she checked Jiraiya's wound according to the medical ninja protocol. Seeing it wasn't that serious, she beckoned another person, saying, "Mami-senpai, please help with applying medicine and dressing Jiraiya-sama's wound."
"Hey, aren't you going to use medical ninjutsu?"
"No need!"
With that, Uzumaki Minami rushed off, soon replaced by another medical ninja who came to dress Jiraiya's wound.
"Jiraiya-sama, the medical team is under great pressure right now; for injuries that aren't severe, they use this treatment method. Otherwise, if a critically wounded ninja arrives and the medical ninjas have exhausted their chakra, it would be extremely dangerous."