The garrison of Rakuyō City—fewer than thirty men—looked like drifting duckweed before the overwhelming Sand army, tossed helplessly in a violent storm.
Yet strangely enough, since the battle began, Konoha hadn't suffered any major casualties.
Against such a massive disparity in numbers, the defenders should have collapsed instantly.
The reason they hadn't… was Minato.
Before the battle started, he had placed a Flying Thunder God mark on every Konoha ninja present.
Whenever danger struck, Minato could instantly appear beside them using the Flying Thunder God technique and pull them back from the brink.
Of course, he couldn't save everyone.
But he could save as many comrades as possible.
The problem was that the Flying Thunder God was an extremely advanced technique—one that consumed enormous amounts of chakra.
Even someone with Minato's vast reserves couldn't sustain that level of expenditure forever.
And finally—
After rescuing another Konoha ninja from certain death, Minato suddenly felt his chakra flow falter.
For a brief moment, it stuttered.
His body was warning him.
His chakra was nearly exhausted.
Up until now, the entire battle had been sustained by his ability to appear anywhere on the battlefield in an instant—striking and rescuing at impossible speed.
But the moment Minato's relentless high-speed assault slowed…
The Sand shinobi seized the opportunity.
Not far away, dozens of Sand ninja quickly gathered and unleashed the same technique together.
Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!
A single Vacuum Serial Wave could produce dozens of rotating wind blades capable of shredding enemies apart. But what if thirty ninja cast it at the same time?
The moment the technique formed—
More than a thousand pale green wind blades roared across the battlefield, slicing toward every Konoha ninja present.
For an instant, it felt as though the whisper of death had descended upon the battlefield.
It's over…
That was the thought in everyone's mind.
Some closed their eyes in unwilling acceptance.
Others tried desperately to resist, preparing for one final, futile struggle.
Then suddenly—
At the center of the battlefield, a massive surge of blue water erupted from the ground.
A towering wall of water rose in an instant, swallowing the thousand incoming wind blades whole.
The timing was perfect.
Precise.
Effortless.
The Sand's attack was completely neutralized.
Everyone froze in stunned silence.
"Looks like we made it just in time."
The one who spoke was Maruboshi Kosuke, now standing at the rear of the battlefield.
One by one, more Konoha ninja emerged to stand by his side. Within moments, a group of nearly a hundred had gathered. Looking toward the distant forest, one could see a vast number of shadows flickering among the trees.
Just how many reinforcements had arrived? Had the main Konoha army finally made it?
At that moment, every Konoha ninja wore a smile of relief at having survived the impossible.
"HAHAHA!! Minato, we're not dying today!" Yoshimaru burst into laughter, his booming voice echoing across the battlefield.
In stark contrast, the Sand shinobi stared in disbelief, as if they had just seen a ghost.
"Attack!"
Kosuke raised his hand and gave the order.
At once, over a hundred Konoha ninja surged forward like three raging torrents, crashing toward the Sand army's center and both flanks.
Faced with such aggressive and decisive counterattack, the Sand forces immediately faltered. According to their original plan, Rakuyō City was supposed to be completely isolated.
Even Jiraiya's reinforcements should have been intercepted and destroyed by the various Sand forces positioned across the region.
So where had this army come from?
A thousand Konoha ninja—maybe even more.
How could such a massive force appear without the Sand receiving even a hint of intelligence?
And as the battle continued, the Sand commander realized something even worse.
Konoha's reinforcements were already moving to flank them from both sides.
He could see shadows darting through the forest on the edges of the battlefield.
If they didn't retreat now—
Once they were fully surrounded…
there would be no escape at all.
"Retreat!" The Sand commander made the decisive call.
The Sand army immediately began an orderly withdrawal. Realizing the enemy intended to flee, Kosuke Maruboshi gave the follow-up order: "Pursue them!"
In an act of "all bark and no bite," the Konoha forces gave chase. After leaving behind a few corpses, the Sand army "luckily" managed to escape the danger zone. This only made the Sand commander more confident in the correctness of his decisive choice to retreat.
Minutes later, the Sand had fully withdrawn. The Konoha ninja ceased their pursuit, bringing the battle to a close.
"Senior Kosuke, why aren't we pursuing?" Yoshimaru asked in confusion. "We finally gained the advantage—shouldn't we press it?"
"Haha, how can we pursue? We only have five battalions of ninja," Kosuke admitted truthfully.
"What? Then what about—"
Yoshimaru pointed toward the large number of figures moving through the forest.
"Those on both flanks add up to only about forty people," Kosuke replied calmly. "The rest were all clones."
"…That's a bold plan."
If they had put too much pressure on the Sand army, it might have provoked a fierce counterattack.
But if the pressure had been too weak, the Sand forces might have decided to stay and continue fighting.
Either outcome could have turned disastrous.
Maruboshi Kosuke truly lived up to his reputation as a man who had once inherited the teachings of the Second Hokage.
Only someone like him could successfully carry out such a daring strategy.
Suddenly, a teenage voice rang out from the distant forest.
"Hahaha! Sensei, we're here to save you!"
It was Obito.
Beside him were Rin and Kakashi.
"So it's you three," Minato said, a rare warm smile appearing on his face.
More and more figures soon emerged from the forest on both sides.
To everyone's surprise, most of them were newly promoted chunin—or even genin—barely more than kids.
Kosuke continued explaining.
"If the plan had failed, those of us who revealed ourselves would have been the first targets. The Sand wouldn't have spared us."
"But at least these children would have had a chance to slip away in the chaos."
He glanced at the young shinobi standing nearby.
"After all… they are Konoha's future."
"As long as they live and continue to grow, the Will of Fire will be passed down from generation to generation."
Kosuke's words weighed heavily on everyone present.
It suddenly became clear that this rescue mission had never been as simple as it seemed.
The people who came here had wagered their lives on it.
"Why did Konoha send so few reinforcements?" Minato asked. "Did something happen?"
"Originally, Jiraiya was supposed to lead the main force here," Kosuke replied. "But they encountered another Sand army halfway and couldn't disengage. These five battalions are the most he could spare."
"Coincidence?" Minato asked quietly. "Or something else?"
Kosuke frowned thoughtfully.
"It does feel too coincidental. And the enemy numbers there are alarming—even Jiraiya considers them troublesome."
He sighed.
"So regardless of whether this rescue mission succeeds or not… we'll have to abandon Rakuyō City."
"Has the situation really become that bad?" Yoshimaru muttered.
The joy from their recent victory had already been washed away.
How had mighty Konoha—once so dominant—been pushed this far by a single village like Sunagakure?
Which side was supposed to be the military superpower here?
Across the vast southwestern region of the Land of Fire, the Sand had already become the de facto rulers of the land.
Everywhere, they hunted down and drove away Konoha's shinobi.