Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the golden figure rapidly disappear from his field of vision, his expression unchanged.
In his view, even if Sunagakure possessed a perfect jinchūriki, they were still no match for the people on his side.
Counting the Third Kazekage, Chiyo, and the One-Tail jinchūriki, the enemy had only three real top-tier fighters. A direct exchange was entirely feasible.
He would take on the One-Tail jinchūriki.
kaoru would handle Chiyo.
Orochimaru would face the Third Kazekage.
And that still left Kyūsei.
Moreover, Kyūsei had already proven his strength in Kirigakure.
At the same time, Kyūsei shot forward like a streak of light toward Sunagakure's so-called "One-Line Sky."
One-Line Sky was like the gate of Sunagakure itself, naturally guarded by shinobi.
Kyūsei had no intention of hiding his presence.
So what if they noticed him?
Could they stop him?
"Who goes there?!"
"Stop!"
The Sand shinobi positioned on both sides of the One-Line Sky canyon had clearly discovered Kyūsei. They tried to intercept him, throwing kunai in rapid succession.
But even the thrown kunai couldn't keep up with Kyūsei's speed.
He didn't even bother dodging, charging straight into One-Line Sky!
There were Sand shinobi inside the canyon as well, but at Kyūsei's extreme speed, all they felt was a flash of golden light pass by. They didn't even have time to react.
However, the moment he entered Sunagakure, Kyūsei sensed that something was wrong.
When fighting, Kyūsei habitually kept Kagura Mind's Eye active the entire time, to prevent being caught off guard.
Yet within his perception now, there were only four chakra signatures in the entire village that could be considered strong.
One belonged to the One-Tail.
One felt aged and heavy—clearly an elderly person. That had to be Chiyo.
The remaining two were brimming with vitality and vigor, completely unlike the chakra one would expect from the middle-aged Third Kazekage.
If the Third Kazekage wasn't in Sunagakure, then where was he?
But with the bow already drawn, there was no turning back. Seeing the One-Line Sky defenders chasing after him from behind, Kyūsei raised a single finger.
Terrifying chakra gathered at his fingertip.
The next instant, a searing beam—white at the core with red-tinged edges—shot out, piercing straight through all the Sand shinobi who, due to the narrow canyon, could only advance in a single line!
This was another application of the Tailed Beast Bomb: compressing chakra into a single point, firing it directly, and continuously feeding chakra into it to produce a laser-like effect.
In the original records, both the Eight-Tails during the fight against Sasuke's Taka squad and Naruto in his Nine-Tails rampage against Pain had used similar techniques.
As the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, Kyūsei could naturally do the same.
"Y-you… Nine-Tails…"
The lead shinobi had clearly read Kyūsei's intel. Even with unwillingness in his eyes, he could only fall.
Kyūsei glanced at the towering One-Line Sky ahead of him and narrowed his eyes.
A palm-sized miniature Tailed Beast Bomb was aimed directly at the canyon.
On what should have been a peaceful morning like any other, a deafening explosion jolted countless Sand shinobi awake from their sleep.
They hurried out of their warm beds, staring toward the source of the sound.
Their pride and greatest natural defense—One-Line Sky—
Had collapsed.
How was that possible?!
It even looked as if the destruction had originated from within, causing the entire formation to cave in!
In an instant, countless Sand shinobi hurriedly dressed and rushed toward One-Line Sky.
Kyūsei naturally sensed enemy shinobi rapidly converging on his position.
Yet he merely pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai from his chest pouch and began channeling chakra into it.
In less than a second, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and kaoru appeared in front of him.
Seeing the three already in battle formation, Kyūsei felt it necessary to say something.
"Old man, there's a problem."
Kyūsei spoke as he looked at Hiruzen, who was already gripping a massive iron staff.
"What problem?"
Hiruzen glanced at the Sand shinobi spreading toward them, roughly estimating the numbers. There were three thousand Sand shinobi in the Land of Rivers, and about four thousand left in Sunagakure itself.
"Within my perception, the Third Kazekage is not in Sunagakure."
Kyūsei's words made Hiruzen freeze, his expression instantly darkening.
If the Third Kazekage wasn't in Sunagakure, then where could he be?
Recently, Hiruzen had personally gone to the Grass Country battlefield and the Land of Rivers battlefield.
Before setting out, he had also received reports from the Frost Country front, where Sakumo Hatake was engaged.
The answer was practically obvious.
The only battlefield with no news at all—the Land of Rain.
Danzo Shimura had yet to send back a single report.
At this point, nearly every nation in the shinobi world with any real strength had joined the war. Only Takigakure, which had remained a background presence, and Kusagakure, which Kyūsei had already wiped off the map, had not participated.
Even the severely weakened Land of Water had sent five hundred shinobi to support Konoha.
Though concern rose in Hiruzen's heart, he no longer had the luxury of thinking further.
An elderly woman with gray-white hair had already appeared before them.
It was none other than Chiyo, elder of Sunagakure.
Chiyo's expression darkened as she looked at the four of them.
The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The Nine-Tails jinchūriki Uzumaki Kyūsei.
One of the Three Legendary Ninja, Orochimaru.
The Golden Flash, Namikaze kaoru .
Every single one of them was a top-tier fighter.
And among them, the Nine-Tails jinchūriki alone had nearly crippled Kirigakure—one of the direct causes of this war.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen, what do you think you're doing?!"
Chiyo felt a deep sense of pressure. Hiruzen hadn't personally stepped onto a battlefield in years.
For him to lead a team in a direct strike on Sunagakure, there was no way this would end lightly.
She was already prepared to fight to the death.
"What am I doing?"
Hiruzen let out a cold laugh.
"Isn't that a stupid question?"
Even if the Third Kazekage wasn't in Sunagakure, that no longer mattered.
Once the bow was drawn, there was no turning back. Sunagakure's fighting strength had to be crushed.
If the Third Kazekage truly was in the Land of Rain, then all they could do was hope Danzo Shimura proved reliable.
"You were the ones who started this war—attempting to invade the Land of Fire and fabricating baseless excuses."
"And you still have the nerve to ask me what I'm doing?"
Hiruzen's small frame now seemed towering as he rapidly formed seals, facing the thousands of shinobi before him.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
Yet Chiyo didn't even attempt to dodge the incoming earth dragon. She didn't so much as move a finger.
Multiple earthen barriers rose instantly, blocking the attack.
This was Sunagakure. If she had to personally deal with everything, what were all these shinobi for?
A faint smile appeared on Chiyo's lips, as if she were about to speak—
But in the very next instant, that smile vanished.
A golden arrow pierced straight through the earthen barriers, already rushing toward her face.
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