The Uchiha Clan's Sun

"Thank you for the reminder, Jin-jun. There's another big battle coming up, so you should take a good rest now!"

Orochimaru's mind seemed to have been opened up, and inspiration flowed freely. Before long, many ideas popped into his head. He didn't have time to chat with Itachi Uchiha anymore. After sending Itachi away, he took out paper and pen to record his inspiration.

Itachi Uchiha didn't disturb Orochimaru. He simply watched the Konoha ninjas resting nearby, pondering how many more lives this war would claim...

Time passed by, and soon the night was over, and the sky began to lighten!

"Report! The ninjas from the Three Villages Alliance are making a move! They are heading towards Kikyo Mountain Fortress!"

A scout ninja broke the silence and approached Orochimaru to report.

Orochimaru's gaze sharpened. He put away the paper and pen he had been writing on all night, stood up, and said, "Tell everyone to prepare for battle! Don't rush, and be careful to conceal yourselves!"

Orochimaru understood that his army was a surprise force, and the most important thing was to strike unexpectedly!

Therefore, their most important task at this moment is to hide their presence; everything else must take a backseat!

Soon, the two thousand Konoha soldiers in the mountain valley also began to move, heading towards the location of Kikyo Mountain Fortress!

When they arrived near the Kikyo Mountain Fortress, the Yamamura Allied Forces were locked in a fierce battle with the Konoha garrison!

"Report! Squad Leader Nara has sent a message that he will lure away the reserves of the Mimura Allied Forces, allowing us to seize the opportunity to strike!"

A communications ninja rushed to Orochimaru's side and handed him the message he had received.

Orochimaru nodded and said, "Have everyone prepare. Send a thousand men to Mounts Two and Three to cooperate with the garrison on the mountains and quickly wipe out the remaining enemy! The remaining thousand men will come with me to Mount One!"

Among the four hilltops, the three-village allied forces were showing signs of defeat on the second and third hilltops due to the presence of Uchiha Jin and Uchiha Obito. The two sides on the first hilltop were still deadlocked, while the three-village allied forces had gained the upper hand on the fourth hilltop because it was where the elite ninjas of the three-village allied forces were concentrated!

Orochimaru understood a principle: help the superior, not the inferior. Only by ending the battles on the first to third hilltops as soon as possible could Konoha's superior forces be freed up to do more things!

Chapter 221 They're both tailed beasts, so why is there such a huge difference!

"Magnetic Escape·Gold Placer Cube!"

Rasa floated in mid-air, his feet resting on gold dust. He raised his hand and gathered the gold dust into a huge cube, which he then slammed down on Kushina below!

Kushina Uzumaki had already entered a half-tailed beast form. With a flick of her six tails, she whipped a charging puppet to pieces. Then, her arm instantly extended, and she clenched her fist to slam into the sand cube that was crashing down!

With a loud 'boom', the huge sand-gold cube was blasted back by Kushina Uzumaki's attack. Seizing the opportunity, Kushina Uzumaki turned her head and opened her mouth to fire several small Tailed Beast Balls in the direction of Rasa!

"Magnetic Release: Void Sand Barrier!"

Luo Sha's expression was solemn. He raised his hand and waved it, and a large amount of gold dust surged out, forming a thick sand wall in front of him. He then quickly stepped on the gold dust and retreated.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom..."

Huge explosions rang out one after another, and Rasa's sand wall was blasted into a rain of sand by the Tailed Beast Ball!

Fortunately, Luo Sha retreated in time and was not affected by the explosion!

Luo Sha's expression was very unpleasant, and he had long lost the confidence and high spirits he had at the beginning.

Rasa originally thought that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki should be stronger than Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast, from their Sunagakure village, but probably not by much!

But after fighting Kushina Uzumaki, Rasa realized he was wrong, and terribly wrong!

The Nine-Tailed Fox of Konoha Village is not just slightly stronger than the One-Tailed Shukaku; they are worlds apart!

Back in Sunagakure, Rasa had fought against the out-of-control One-Tailed Shukaku many times, and each time he managed to suppress it with a deluge of gold dust.

However, when he fought against Kushina Uzumaki, Rasa was horrified to find that his prized gold dust was like paper in front of Kushina Uzumaki, completely unable to withstand her attacks, at most only hindering her offensive!

Moreover, Kushina Uzumaki's speed was beyond imagination; Rasa's gold dust simply couldn't keep up with her speed!

If it weren't for Elder Chiyo's assistance, Rasa's attacks wouldn't have been able to hit Kushina Uzumaki even once!

Add to that Kushina Uzumaki's visible self-healing speed, and Rasa even thought he was dealing with a replica of the Raikage!

Even more outrageous is that Kushina Uzumaki is not a perfect Jinchūriki yet, and can only use a small portion of the Nine-Tails' power. Can you believe that?

Even a small fraction of the Nine-Tails' power is stronger than the One-Tailed Shukaku. Rasa couldn't even imagine how strong the Nine-Tails in its complete form really is!

They are all tailed beasts, and the one-tailed Shukaku, the four-tailed and five-tailed beasts of Iwagakure, the three-tailed and six-tailed beasts of Kirigakure, the two-tailed and eight-tailed beasts of Kumogakure, and the seven-tailed beast of Takigakure are all similar. So why is Konoha's nine-tailed beast so different?

Rasa no longer dared to hope that he and Elder Chiyo could suppress Kushina Uzumaki and attract Minato Namikaze. It would be good enough if the two of them could withstand Kushina Uzumaki's attack alone!

If Minato Namikaze were added to the mix, Rasa felt he would definitely die a horrible death!

Thinking this, Luo Sha glanced discreetly at the battlefield on the other side of the three-village alliance.

Although there were 3,000 people against 500 from Konoha, under Minato Namikaze's pinpoint sniping, any slight advantage that appeared in the Three Villages Alliance's camp was quickly suppressed by Minato Namikaze. A large number of elite ninjas died at Minato Namikaze's hands before they could even react!

Under such circumstances, not only did the three thousand men fight the five hundred men to a standstill, but the latter even showed signs of being defeated!

Having witnessed this scene, Luo Sha realized that their three-village allied forces' surprise attack plan had failed, and they had to withdraw from the battlefield as soon as possible to reorganize their offensive!

Otherwise, it's hard to say whether the three-village allied forces will have a chance to withdraw from the battlefield once the two thousand reinforcements from Konoha arrive!

"Puppet Technique: Three Treasures Absorption and Collapse!"

Taking advantage of the moment when Kushina attacked Rasa, Elder Chiyo's three puppets formed a triangular formation on the side, activating the mechanisms 'Buddha,' 'Dharma,' and 'Monk,' creating a tornado-like hurricane that unleashed a powerful suction force pulling Kushina towards her!

Kushina Uzumaki was caught off guard and stumbled as she was pulled towards the three puppets!

But Kushina Uzumaki reacted quickly, and a black and red arm swiftly reached out and penetrated deep into the ground, instantly stabilizing her body!

However, precisely because of this, Kushina Uzumaki's figure stiffened for a moment under the influence of the two forces!

"Seal - Lion's Roar!"

A glint flashed in Elder Chiyo's eyes. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed a palm-sized puppet beast head toward Kushina Uzumaki. At the same time, she formed a hand seal, activating the puppet beast head's restriction and transforming it into the size of a person. The puppet beast head opened its mouth full of fangs and bit at Kushina Uzumaki!

Lion's Roar is a sealing technique that can completely seal the chakra within the target's body. If it hits, it might turn the tide of the war!

Elder Chiyo was also quite surprised by Kushina Uzumaki's strength. Putting aside some of the Nine-Tails' abilities, her base stats, enhanced by the Nine-Tails' chakra, made her a completely stronger version of Tsunade, a natural counter to a puppeteer like her!

The two had only been fighting for about ten minutes when six of her White Secret Technique: Chikamatsu Ten Puppet Masters were destroyed by Uzumaki Kushina. If the fight continued, she would definitely lose!

No wonder Konoha Village kept Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, under tight control, even when they were besieged by multiple villages during the previous Shinobi World Wars!

It is no exaggeration to say that the power of other tailed beasts is completely insignificant in front of the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki definitely has the ability to decide the outcome of a war!

However, it was precisely because of this that Elder Chiyo secretly made up her mind that if she had the chance, she must kill Kushina Uzumaki in this war!

Kushina Uzumaki already possesses such strength; if given time, she were to become a perfect Jinchūriki, what a formidable force that would be!

For the future of Sunagakure, Elder Chiyo is prepared to trade her life for his!

"King Kong Blockade!"

Several golden chains shot out from Kushina's back, swirling around and whipping away the head of the attacking puppet beast, before circling around Rasa, who was about to attack in the air!

With a soft 'crack', Elder Chiyo, whose attention was mostly focused on what was in front of her, narrowed her eyes. She quickly looked down at her feet and bent her knees slightly, preparing to jump away!

But before Elder Chiyo could make any further moves, a large black and red hand burst forth from the ground, grabbing Elder Chiyo with tremendous force and smashing her towards the three puppets of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha forming a triangular formation!

With a deafening roar, a huge crater was smashed into the spot where the three puppets of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha were located, and various puppet parts flew everywhere, stirring up clouds of dust!

Chapter 222 Empty cicada!

"Elder Chiyo!!! Magnet Release: Gold Sand World Technique!"

When Rasa saw this scene from the air, he was furious. He didn't care about conserving his chakra anymore and manipulated a large amount of gold dust to create countless sharp sand spears like bamboo shoots within a radius of tens of meters around him, launching an indiscriminate attack!

Rasa knew that his single-target attacks would have difficulty hitting Kushina Uzumaki, who had a speed advantage, so he simply used sheer numbers to block all of Kushina Uzumaki's evasive options!

This approach did indeed have a good effect. Under such a dense attack, Kushina Uzumaki had no choice but to give up her attack and dodge!

"Don't panic, I'm fine!"

Suddenly, Elder Chiyo appeared among a pile of broken puppets a dozen meters away, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, panting slightly and looking quite disheveled.

Although Elder Chiyo managed to dodge Kushina Uzumaki's grab and subsequent attacks by using her experience to her advantage, Kushina's attack was still too sudden. Elder Chiyo still suffered the impact of her palm striking her body, and her internal organs were greatly shaken!

Seeing this, Luo Sha breathed a slight sigh of relief, finally able to relax.

Elder Chiyo is different from other elders of Konoha like Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado; she is the true pillar of Sunagakure!

Elder Chiyo was a leading figure in Sunagakure in many fields, including medicine and puppetry. Her status and power in Sunagakure were no less than those of the Konoha F4 in Konoha. However, unlike the Konoha F4, Elder Chiyo and her brother Ebizo did not vie for power in Sunagakure. They basically handed over all the power to Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage!

Therefore, for Rasa, Elder Chiyo was the greatest help in developing Sunagakure, and naturally he did not want Elder Chiyo to sacrifice herself!

"Rasa, things are hopeless, it's time to retreat!" Elder Chiyo had also noticed the battle between the three-village coalition and the Konoha garrison, and said with a solemn expression, "You immediately organize the main force to retreat, I will cover the rear!"

Retreat is not something that can be done at will; the Konoha garrison will not let them leave so easily to go back and regroup for the offensive.

Someone has to stay behind to hold off Konoha's pursuit!

Those who remained were likely to meet a grim fate!

Elder Chiyo is planning to sacrifice herself to cover the safe retreat of Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage!

Rasa's eyes flickered slightly. While controlling the sand gold to restrict Kushina's movements, he said, "Elder Chiyo, there's no need for that. We can leave a thousand men to cover our retreat!"

Rasa didn't want to give up on Elder Chiyo just like that!

Compared to Elder Chiyo, he would rather sacrifice human lives!

Besides, most of the surprise attack force of the three villages was composed of Iwagakure ninjas, and Rasa didn't care at all about using their lives to cover the retreat!

Elder Chiyo's eyes flickered upon hearing this. The reason she stayed behind was twofold: firstly, to cover their retreat, and secondly, to see if there was still a chance to drag Kushina Uzumaki down with her.

However, most of her puppets have been destroyed, so the chances of her dragging Kushina down with her are slim...

Elder Chiyo pondered for a moment and then remained silent, which was considered an acceptance of Rasa's decision.

"Magnetic Escape. Golden Sand Waves!"

Seeing this, Rasa raised his hand and manipulated a large amount of gold dust to surge towards Kushina Uzumaki like waves, forcing her to retreat and create distance.

"All personnel, listen up! Raid force one, two, six, seven, twelfth, and so on..."

"boom!!!"

After forcing Kushina Uzumaki to retreat, Rasa spoke loudly, preparing to decide on the retreat and select someone to cover the rear, when a huge roar came from afar, interrupting his words.

Luo Sha turned his head and saw that a huge purple python had appeared on Dinghao Mountain, which they had come from, and had even crushed a small part of the mountain!

"It's Manda, Orochimaru's summoning beast from the Legendary Sannin of Konoha! How could Orochimaru be there!"

Elder Chiyo couldn't help but gasp in shock at the sight, her heart trembling violently!

According to the intelligence obtained by the three-village allied forces, Orochimaru had led two thousand Konoha troops to support the border of the Land of Hot Water and the southern coastline of the Land of Fire!

Now that Orochimaru has appeared here, what about his two thousand Konoha soldiers?

Upon realizing this possibility, Elder Chiyo's face immediately turned extremely grim!

"Rasa, this is a trap! We're surrounded! Fire a signal flare and tell the village ninjas to break out immediately!"

Without any hesitation, Elder Chiyo shouted at Rasa.

Rasa's expression was also very unpleasant. He reached into his ninja tool pouch, took out a signal flare, and fired it into the sky.

A specially made 'firework' exploded in the sky, and the dark smoke was very conspicuous even in daylight, making it clearly visible to people within a radius of several kilometers.

Shortly after Sunagakure fired its retreat signal flare, Iwagakure and Kumogakure also launched their own retreat signal flares and exploded!

It wasn't that Iwagakure and Kumogakure reacted slower than Sunagakure; it was just that while Iwagakure and Kumogakure were surprised to discover Orochimaru, they didn't immediately think of retreating.

After all, the forces were 10,000 to 6,000. If the fighting continued, even if Konoha won, it would be a Pyrrhic victory. They weren't entirely without a chance to turn the tide!

So they are still hesitating about whether to make one last desperate attempt!

Before they could even think about it, Sunagakure had already made its choice!

Sunagakure is not as large and powerful as Iwagakure and Kumogakure, and cannot afford such a huge loss!

Once Sunagakure retreats, even if Iwagakure and Kumogakure don't want to retreat, they have no choice but to!

Without the help of Sunagakure, it would be much easier for Konoha to swallow them up, and this war was destined to be hopeless!

However, the ninjas of the three villages who were engaged in fierce fighting were suddenly thrown into disarray when they saw the signal flare for retreat, resulting in many casualties!

"Magnetic Release: Quicksand Waterfall!"

Rasa clasped his hands together, unleashing his chakra without reservation. Countless sand-like particles surged from the ground in various parts of the battlefield, dividing it and creating opportunities for the allied ninjas of the three villages to retreat!

Just then, a whooshing sound rang out as a kunai shot from afar and arrived in front of Rasa in the blink of an eye!

Rasa's pupils contracted, and he subconsciously turned his head to dodge. Although he avoided a fatal blow, the sharp edge of the kunai still left a bloody mark on his cheek!

The next moment, Rasa, who had seen the full appearance of the kunai, couldn't help but widen his eyes!