"Boom!"
As if an earthquake had struck, the battlefield suddenly shook violently.
Tatsumi, who hadn't managed to steady himself, had his Chidori—originally aimed at Rasa's heart—deflected, striking the opponent's arm instead.
Then, wave after wave of tremors continued, as if signaling the end of the world.
When Tatsumi looked at Rasa again, Rasa had already broken free from the genjutsu due to the pain and moved away.
"Ah..." Rasa looked rather miserable. His left hand clutched his right arm, which had been severed by the Chidori, and he wore a pained expression. Sand rapidly reformed into armor, trying to temporarily stop the bleeding.
"You knew about my Sand Eye?" Rasa's expression was grim, his anger boiling over.
Only a few people knew about his Sand Eye. That was why he had tried to deceive Tatsumi, claiming that he could sense movements through sand. In reality, it was all because of the Sand Eye watching from above.
But he hadn't expected Tatsumi to see through his deception and exploit it by casting a genjutsu directly into the sky. The Sand Eye was connected to Rasa's vision, so he was instantly caught in the illusion, resulting in the loss of his right hand.
For a ninja, deception was the key to survival. Never trust an enemy's words—that was a fundamental rule.
Rasa coughed up blood, his face pale and contorted with pain. Very few people knew about the Sand Eye. Could there be a Konoha spy among them? Otherwise, how else could Tatsumi possess such detailed intelligence?
But aside from the Third Kazekage, only high-ranking officials like Chiyo knew about it. Could they be Konoha spies? Rasa was disturbed by his own thoughts.
If Tatsumi knew what Rasa was imagining, he would have smirked, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Young man, you're overthinking it. Someone named AB told me about it."
But Tatsumi wasn't thinking about that right now. His focus was on eliminating this menace once and for all.
However, the ground shook again—this time, even stronger. Would it never end? Tatsumi couldn't help but wonder if Rasa was some kind of earth mage.
Just then, a Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet shot toward Tatsumi from a distance. He dodged it effortlessly.
But it wasn't over. In an instant, countless Drilling Air Bullets rained down like meteorites.
"..."
You're ruthless, Great Magister Rasa, Tatsumi cursed inwardly.
The injured Rasa no longer had the strength to continue the fight. Staying here would mean certain death. Taking advantage of Tatsumi's momentary distraction, he used a sand body flicker to escape.
"I'll be back..."
Leaving behind those ominous words, Rasa fled miserably from the battlefield.
........
The only thing that could produce Wind Release attacks of this scale was undoubtedly Shukaku, the One-Tail.
After dodging the relentless wind jutsu, Tatsumi turned his gaze toward the distant battlefield.
Sure enough, in the middle of the desolate, dust-covered battlefield, Shukaku's massive form loomed menacingly.
"Tatsumi, what's going on?" Mikoto and Nawaki rushed to his side.
"We're in trouble."
"Trouble? Could it be..." Nawaki followed Tatsumi's gaze, his eyes widening.
"That's right. Sunagakure has unleashed their tailed beast."
"But... on a battlefield like this, a tailed beast doesn't distinguish between friend and foe," Nawaki frowned.
"Exactly. But haven't you noticed? Almost all the forces blocking us on the outskirts of the battlefield are Suna ninjas. And within the battlefield itself, we've rarely encountered them."
Tatsumi continued, "At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but now I understand. The Sand ninjas are planning to let the One-Tail go berserk. A tailed beast attacks indiscriminately—they want it to wipe out Konoha, Iwagakure, and Amegakure forces alike!"
Sunagakure had become desperate for victory. In war, morality meant nothing; only results mattered.
At a critical moment, even their own forces could be sacrificed for the sake of triumph.
If no one could stop the One-Tail, Sunagakure might emerge as the ultimate winner of this battle.
.........
"Ahahaha, I'm finally free again! Those Sunagakure brats!"
Summoned by the Fake Sleep Technique, Shukaku was ecstatic. It had been ages since it last moved freely.
The golden sands, the scorching sun, the open air, the thought of all those sexy tanuki—it made Shukaku nostalgic.
"Huh? What's this swamp doing here?" Shukaku muttered as it suddenly began sinking.
Having just unleashed a large-scale Drilling Air Bullet, the massive beast found itself trapped in a swamp.
This large-scale terrain-changing ninjutsu had obviously been created by Konoha's forces—intended to limit Shukaku's movements.
But they were being naive.
The moment Shukaku realized it was sinking, it patted its belly.
A torrent of sand erupted from its mouth, flooding the battlefield and completely engulfing the swamp.
Shukaku cackled triumphantly before diving into its self-made sea of sand, rolling around like an oversized child playing in mud.
"Huh? So many little bugs!" It squinted at the battlefield, finally noticing the numerous ninja surrounding it.
Then, with a casual swipe of its claw, it created a vacuum of destruction spanning dozens of meters.
"Hehehe, you can scream all you want, but no tanuki will come to save you!" Shukaku cackled menacingly.
"....."
Having dealt with the Four-Tails before, Tatsumi already had a poor impression of tailed beasts.
Now, thanks to Shukaku, that impression had only worsened.
Tatsumi was seriously considering grabbing the Sage of Six Paths by the collar and asking, "Can't you manage your pets properly?"
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