"So, have you finished analyzing the poison types?"
Rengoku did not rush to deal with Rasa immediately. Instead, he turned and questioned Yamanaka Inoichi.
As one of the core figures in Konoha Village's intelligence department, Yamanaka Inoichi possessed extremely efficient communication methods that could quickly send information to every corner of Konoha Village.
Because of this, all important intelligence related to this incident continuously gathered with him, where he organized and analyzed it in a unified manner.
Hearing Lord Rengoku's question, Yamanaka Inoichi quickly replied, "After continuous effort, we have already successfully analyzed the poison's composition and properties."
"We prepared a large amount of basic antidotes in advance. Now that we've figured out the poison's properties, making specialized antidotes will be very fast."
Hearing the good news, Rengoku relaxed slightly, but then immediately asked, "What about the casualties?"
Yamanaka Inoichi paused briefly before reporting in an orderly manner, "Our inner city basically did not suffer much damage."
"But the civilians and merchants in the outer city suffered heavy losses. According to preliminary statistics, more than three thousand people have died. Around twenty thousand people are currently poisoned."
Rengoku could not help but slightly raise his brows.
Because in his memory, Konoha Village could only mobilize around twenty thousand ninja in total.
Back during the Fourth Great Ninja War in the original timeline, Konoha Village had even been forced to send genin who could only throw shuriken onto the battlefield just to gather those twenty thousand ninja.
Seeing the change in Rengoku's expression, Yamanaka Inoichi immediately understood.
He knew very well that Rengoku must not have stepped into the ninja world during those previous five years, so he did not understand how much Konoha Village had grown in recent years.
"Lord Rengoku, you may not know this. Because of Konoha Village's advanced limb regeneration technology, outstanding medical standards, and Sasori's incredible machinery techniques, Konoha's outer city is four times larger than the inner city, and the total population living there is over twenty times that of the inner city."
"Although more than three thousand people unfortunately died in this attack, compared to such a massive population base, it actually isn't that many."
Hearing this, Rengoku was somewhat shocked. He really had not expected the outer city to have so many people.
He subconsciously raised a hand and lightly rubbed his chin before asking, "Then among those residents, there should be both local merchants and people from other villages, right?"
Yamanaka Inoichi thought for a moment after hearing that, then nodded in response, "That's right, Lord Rengoku. Although most of their surface identities are merchants and things like that, a considerable number of them are probably spies sent by other villages."
At that moment, Rengoku's eyes shifted slightly, as if he had already come up with an idea.
Right after that, he placed one hand on Yamanaka Inoichi's shoulder and used the Yamanaka clan's unique ability to instantly establish contact with Gaara's squad far away on the battlefield.
———
At this moment, Gaara, who was fighting Rasa, along with Kimimaro and Haku, who were closely watching from the edge of the battlefield, suddenly heard Rengoku's familiar voice in their minds at the same time.
Rengoku gave the order, ["Kimimaro, from now on, fully assist Gaara and put even more pressure on Rasa. Force him into tailed beast transformation."]
Then he turned to Haku and shouted, ["Haku, remove the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals immediately. Stop trapping Rasa."]
After hearing Rengoku's words, Haku's gaze sharpened and his hands quickly formed seals.
The large number of ice mirrors floating in the air and shining with cold light suddenly began melting away as if exposed to high heat.
This sudden change immediately excited Rasa, who had been trapped inside.
He thought Haku had already exhausted his chakra and could no longer maintain such a large-scale ninjutsu.
After all, supporting a technique with such a huge range required an enormous amount of chakra.
Thinking of this, Rasa began planning his retreat. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he controlled his gold dust while battling Gaara and at the same time desperately flew toward the outside of the encirclement.
Even that terrifying lightning attack earlier had been blocked by Konoha's formation. If he did not escape now, then once Minato freed up his hands, he probably would never get another chance to leave.
Gaara, however, showed no panic at all, because he had also heard Rengoku's instructions.
Although Rasa, as the previous Kazekage, indeed possessed considerable strength, for a ninja who mainly relied on ninjutsu like him, what he feared most was an assassin-type taijutsu ninja with overwhelming speed like Kimimaro.
Kimimaro, who had been quietly gathering strength on the side the entire time, had previously focused on absorbing the surrounding natural energy.
The moment he received Rengoku's order, he immediately pulled off his shirt without hesitation.
In an instant, countless seal markings rapidly spread across his entire body like a tide.
It was Sage Mode.
Tap! Tap!
Two light sounds rang out.
Kimimaro suddenly pushed off the ground with force, and his whole body shot into the air like an arrow released from a bow, charging straight toward Rasa in the sky.
Although Kimimaro himself could not fly, he had companions helping him from the side.
He rapidly rose into the high sky like a rocket. When he reached the highest point, he immediately stomped downward without hesitation.
In that instant, a snow-white flash appeared as Haku created a huge transparent ice mirror beneath his feet out of thin air.
Using the reaction force, Kimimaro leapt upward again, and another ice mirror appeared beneath his feet at exactly the right moment.
Repeating this again and again, he moved through the sky like a swift bird.
In barely the blink of an eye, his figure flashed rapidly through the air, and Kimimaro had already closed in on Rasa at extreme speed.
The moment he locked onto Rasa, an intense sense of danger suddenly surged through Rasa's mind.
He did not dare delay for even a moment. He hurriedly waved both arms, controlling the surrounding gold dust to gather like a tide. In the blink of an eye, it wrapped around him into a completely sealed golden sphere.
Not only that, countless sharp gold dust spikes shot out from the sphere, roaring toward Kimimaro from every direction.
But while facing the fierce incoming attack, Kimimaro, who was still in midair, displayed extraordinary skill and reaction speed.
His body flashed, and he cleanly completed a perfect backflip.
At the same time, both his hands suddenly swung forward, and the finger bones on all ten fingers instantly turned into powerful "bullets" that shot forward at high speed.
This was Kimimaro's unique Shikotsumyaku secret technique, Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets.