Front Lines.
Orochimaru plunged the Kusanagi Sword into A's body.
Puchi!
With an expression of utter disbelief on his face, A's body dissolved into lightning and vanished.
Orochimaru watched as an octopus tail nearby twitched a few times before also dissolving away. He extended his long snake-like tongue to lick his lips, his eyes gleaming with a strange light.
"Orochimaru-sama, the Main Camp has been sending distress signals for a while now. The A and Bee brothers here were both Clones; I'm afraid..." Shinku Yuhi's face was solemn, his tone extremely anxious.
The A-Bee brothers and Nii Yugito were all missing; they must have bypassed them to launch a sneak attack on the Main Camp.
With the strength currently at the Main Camp, they wouldn't be able to withstand those few at all.
If Kurenai were to encounter them, her life would be in grave danger.
However, as a subordinate, he couldn't overstep his bounds and demand that Orochimaru, the commander-in-chief, return to provide reinforcements.
But some people didn't need to worry about such things.
Sarutobi Asuma spoke up directly: "Orochimaru-sama, the urgent priority is to quickly return to reinforce the Main Camp. Otherwise, with their strength, they won't be able to hold out against the A-Bee brothers and the two Jinchuriki."
"That's right! Orochimaru-sama!" The surrounding Jonin from the Hyuga, Yamanaka, Gekko, and other families all chimed in in agreement.
The juniors and students of their clans were all at the Main Camp.
If they didn't return to reinforce them quickly, these carefully nurtured talents would all be slaughtered.
"What you all say is true!" Orochimaru looked at the retreating Kumogakure forces ahead, the light in his eyes growing more intense. "Pass down my orders: reclaim the lost territory with all our strength, then return to the Main Camp for rescue as soon as possible!"
"This..." Everyone's hearts skipped a beat, their eyes widening.
Even if they returned now, they might not make it in time. If they waited until after reclaiming the territory, their nephews and sons' bodies would likely have been picked clean by crows.
"Orochimaru-sama..." Seeing that Orochimaru was unwilling to give up the victory before them, Sarutobi Asuma said with a hesitant tone, "Before we set out, I heard that Asuma left the reinforcements and headed to the Main Camp first. By now, he has likely arrived..."
"So Asuma is there too..."
Orochimaru's tone remained unhurried, his voice trailing off with a long drawl. "If Asuma is there, we'll have to speed up our reclamation of the territory. Otherwise, Sensei might be saddened."
"You..." Sarutobi Asuma's voice faltered, wondering if something was wrong with his ears.
He felt he had made himself clear enough, yet Orochimaru remained completely unmoved.
The Hokage's son's life is in danger, and the future talents of so many clans are all in the rear, yet you're still obsessed with this damned reclamation of territory.
"Orochimaru!" He took a step forward, his voice no longer holding a shred of respect as he addressed him by name. "Do you even know what you're saying? For the sake of some hollow military merit, you're going to sacrifice the future of over a dozen Konoha clans and watch the Hokage-sama's own son die with your own eyes?"
Sarutobi Asuma stopped speaking in riddles and laid out the stakes directly.
Behind him, the Jonin from the Hyuga, Yamanaka, and other clans also grew restless, their angry gazes focusing on Orochimaru.
The tension in the air was thicker than the gunpowder smoke on the Battlefield.
Faced with their questioning, Orochimaru did not get angry.
He turned around, his golden vertical pupils calmly scanning everyone before finally landing on Sarutobi Asuma's face.
He extended his long tongue, slowly licking the lightning residue off the blade of the Kusanagi Sword, the action carrying a sense of morbid satisfaction.
"War is not child's play."
"As the commander-in-chief, my sole responsibility is to obtain the greatest results for the Village. Any emotional interference is a desecration of war itself."
"Your so-called concerns are nothing more than private feelings interfering with the battle." His voice was raspy and level, completely unwavering.
These words left everyone speechless.
They couldn't refute his logic, yet they couldn't accept the reality.
Seeing that none of the Ninja under his command responded and remained standing still, Orochimaru's patience seemed to have reached its limit.
A massive amount of Chakra radiated from him, making the air thick and heavy, making it hard for people to breathe.
His gaze swept over the crowd as he asked in a low voice, "On the Battlefield, what is the punishment for disobeying the commander's orders according to military law?"
Under his aggressive gaze, the crowd lowered their heads one after another.
Seeing this, Orochimaru issued his final command: "All units, hear my order!"
"Launch a general offensive on the remnants of Kumogakure immediately and reclaim all lost territory! Those who disobey will be treated as deserters!"
The word "deserter" weighed heavily on everyone's hearts like two mountains.
That was a crime no Ninja could bear.
Under the dual pressure of Battlefield military law and the charge of desertion, the last of their impulses were forcibly suppressed.
They understood that if they defied orders now, there would be only one outcome.
Sarutobi Asuma's clenched fist slowly relaxed. He took a deep look at Orochimaru, his gaze no longer filled with anger, but only a cold resolve.
"We will carry out the orders, Orochimaru-sama."
His voice was calm, yet everyone present could hear the weight behind it.
"However, every decision you have made today, we will report to Hokage-sama after the war, word for word, in its entirety!"
After speaking, he didn't look at Orochimaru again. He was the first to turn around, leading the Ninja of the Sarutobi Clan behind him to charge toward the collapsing Kumogakure forces ahead.
The Jonin of the other clans also followed, launching the attack with hearts full of resentment and worry... In the forest.
Aokawa and Killer Bee were locked in a fierce battle, with the sound of explosions echoing through the forest from time to time.
Killer Bee, however, was becoming increasingly frustrated as the fight went on.
He had never encountered such a disgusting enemy.
When they pulled apart, the enemy would immediately unleash a barrage of explosions.
When he finally managed to find an opening and rush in front of him, the enemy would pull out a swordsmanship no inferior to his own to block all his attacks.
Then the enemy would pull away again and start a new round of bombardment.
If not for the support of the Eight-Tails, he would have died eight hundred times over.
For a moment, even with his optimistic personality, he was driven to irritation and rage by this disgusting fighting style.
Just then, Killer Bee suddenly noticed that the form of the Spirit Bow held by Aokawa in the distance was changing.
The originally blue and white bow was now covered in flames, emitting a light even more heart-stopping than before.
"Fire Release: Hundred Consecutive Explosive Flame Arrows!"
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Dozens of burning Chakra Arrows trailed long tails of fire, covering the large area where Killer Bee was like a rain of fire.
Killer Bee's eyes widened. "Arrows even denser than before."
He had nowhere to hide. His Seven-Sword Style danced wildly, turning into an airtight net of blades that struck down every flame arrow shot at him.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—!
Incessant explosions rang out around him, and the flames and shockwaves completely swallowed him.
He was like a small boat in a raging sea, constantly buffeted by the aftershocks of the explosions, the Tailed Beast Chakra Mode on his body depleting at a visible rate.
"If you have the guts, come down and fight in close quarters! Do you only know how to hide in the distance and fire cold arrows? You idiot!" Killer Bee roared in the gaps between explosions, trying to provoke his opponent with words.
He was answered by another, even denser wave of arrow rain.
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