Seeing the disaster before him, one Mist shinobi could not help but slap himself across the face.
"That mouth of yours! Damn your crow's mouth!"
High above, Yatagarasu was still carrying out relentless bombardment, pressing the Mist army hard without pause.
Below, Yagura ground his teeth so hard his jaw ached.
"Rasa!"
At this moment, Pakura—the true culprit behind the destruction of the dam—had already long since left that location.
The chameleon carried her in its invisible state, moving quickly toward the direction of the Sand army.
Recalling what had just happened, a gleam flashed through Pakura's eyes.
"The chameleon is powerful."
"My husband said a sensory shinobi could still detect it, but the Mist sensory shinobi stationed around the dam didn't notice its existence at all."
"They only sensed something wrong after I revealed myself."
"My husband was being conservative."
"I wonder where he found these summons."
"Yatagarasu…"
"The chameleon…"
"They're both incredibly strong."
A soldier pill entered her mouth, and at once Pakura felt energy spread out from her lower abdomen. Her stamina and chakra quickly began recovering.
Before long, the chameleon came to a stop.
Pakura blurred, and in the next moment appeared before the Sand shinobi.
"Lady Pakura!"
Countless eyes turned toward her.
Pakura swept a glance over the crowd.
"The great lake has collapsed. The Mist army is scattering in panic. This is our chance."
"Hear my command—kill!"
"Kill!"
Countless voices roared back in answer.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
The nearby Mist shinobi had already been terrified by the collapse of the great lake. Now, hearing the thunderous cries of the Sand shinobi, they grew even more shaken.
"What do we do?"
"The great lake is gone. Our advantage is gone!"
"The flood from the collapsed dam struck our camp too!"
"Damn Sunagakure!"
"Damn Rasa!"
The Mist shinobi cursed inwardly.
But this… was war.
In the past, many Sand shinobi had been in a far more desperate state than the Mist shinobi were now.
"Water Mirror Technique!"
A mirror of water appeared from nowhere, its reflective surface aimed toward the sky.
The next moment, an enormous figure manifested—
a duplicate of Yatagarasu.
And upon its back stood a duplicate of Rasa as well.
Yagura's expression changed.
Because he could feel clearly that using Water Mirror Technique this time had consumed far more chakra than it ever had before.
"So this is Rasa…"
On another side of the battlefield, Juzo Biwa took the initiative and charged toward the Sand army.
With Yagura tied down, the only one left who had any hope of contending with Pakura was himself.
Munashi Jinpachi was still back in the village.
"Hiramekarei—Release!"
A sphere of chakra exploded outward.
In an instant, over a dozen Mist shinobi lost their lives, their bodies turning into desiccated husks.
Juzo's face sank.
"Pakura! Your opponent is me!"
With that shout, he strode forward.
Pakura only cast him a calm glance.
"You are not my match."
Even before obtaining Hiramekarei, Pakura had never regarded Juzo as a real threat.
And now, with Hiramekarei in her hands, she regarded him even less.
Juzo himself understood that perfectly well.
But in front of him now, he had no choice.
All he could do was fight with everything he had and pray Konoha's reinforcements would arrive quickly.
The invisible chameleon moved quietly through the battlefield, silently hunting Mist shinobi.
Even though, under the control of Juzo and Yagura, the Mist shinobi managed to steady themselves in the shortest possible time—
the damage caused by the collapse of the great lake was still there.
The impact of the Sand army's charge was still there.
The deterrent of Rasa in the sky was still there.
Even with the Water Mirror duplicate, one problem remained.
Rasa was in the high sky.
The duplicate was in the lower sky.
Their battle took place directly above the Mist army.
If the duplicate dodged Rasa's attacks, that was one thing.
But if Rasa dodged the duplicate's attacks, those attacks merely passed harmlessly by.
Whereas when the duplicate dodged Rasa's attacks, a large portion of them continued falling downward.
Gold dust spears.
Gold dust cubes.
Under gravity, they plummeted with frightening speed.
The Sand army held an absolute advantage.
Its momentum was unstoppable.
A figure rushed quickly back to Konoha.
"Hokage-sama, this is bad!"
"What happened?"
Hiruzen looked at the Mist shinobi before him.
"Hokage-sama, Rasa has arrived at the battlefield personally and launched a sudden offensive together with the Sand army against our Mist forces. Our losses are severe. I ask that Hokage-sama send Konoha shinobi as reinforcements."
Hiruzen's brows drew together.
"Rasa personally went to the front line?"
"Is he planning to launch a full offensive against Kirigakure?"
The Mist shinobi did not answer. He only lowered his head further.
"Hokage-sama, please send support."
Hiruzen hesitated for a moment.
"Don't worry. Kirigakure and Konoha are allies. Konoha will not stand by and do nothing while its ally is attacked."
"I'll issue the order now."
Only then did delight appear on the Mist shinobi's face.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama!"
Soon, under Hiruzen's command, a Konoha force was dispatched toward the battlefield where the Mist and Sand armies were clashing.
Hiruzen's brows remained tightly knit, his expression shifting uncertainly.
"Danzo… you really know how to create trouble for me."
Under normal circumstances, Hiruzen would not have sent reinforcements so quickly. He would have first investigated the battlefield situation and made a judgment only after understanding it clearly.
But with Danzo's attempted assassination of Rasa hanging over everything, Hiruzen knew that peace talks between Konoha and Sunagakure would now be extremely difficult.
If Kirigakure was defeated, then Sunagakure would inevitably turn its eyes toward Konoha.
At that point, Konoha would be forced to face a pincer attack from both Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
No—
possibly even three sides.
With Kumogakure's temperament, there was no way they would let such an opportunity pass.
Therefore, Kirigakure could not be allowed to lose.
At least not yet.
"I truly was too lenient with you before."
In addition to the Konoha army sent as support, Namikaze Minato was also forcibly pulled away from the battlefield against Iwagakure and sent over—once again becoming Rasa's opponent.
The situation here was more urgent.
As for top-tier shinobi, Konoha had many—but not enough to cover every front.
Because of the unique nature of his techniques, Minato was often treated as though he were worth several men at once.
"Why would Rasa suddenly launch a full-scale attack on Kirigakure at a time like this?"
"And even come to the front personally?"
"Or is it because he was already out spreading newspapers, so since he was nearby, he simply decided to attack the Mist army as well?"
"If this battle goes badly, Konoha's position will become even worse."
"It's all Danzo's fault!"
At that same time, in a remote and distant place—
the Mountains' Graveyard.
An old man opened eyes that had slept for a very long time.
"How are things outside now?"