Yellow sand filled the air. The endless desert made Manda restless and furious.
"Roar! Die!" Manda twisted its body, fiercely swinging its tail at the sand wall Rasa had erected in front of it.
"Boom!" The sand wall cracked instantly from the impact, but Manda's tail didn't slow down, hurtling straight toward Rasa floating midair.
"Boom!" Its tail was blocked by a mass of sand. Rasa showed a trace of contempt. Though this Boss Summon was massive in size, to him—a Kage-level ninja—it was merely slightly annoying.
"You've angered Lord Manda, Rasa!" Manda naturally saw Rasa's smirk hidden behind the sand. Its eyes turned crimson red in an instant.
After all, Manda was one of the elder generation who had roamed the Shinobi World for so long! It would never allow anyone to challenge its authority!
With a deafening hiss, Manda lunged straight forward, mouth slightly open, gaze icy cold.
"Hmph!" Rasa remained expressionless. This environment was far too advantageous for him. With a wave of his hand, chakra flowed, and the sand beneath began to condense.
"Swish!" Manda reached before Rasa in an instant. Its fangs revealed, venom already brewing in its mouth.
"Boom!" A massive fist made entirely of compacted sand smashed into Manda's head, slamming it directly into the ground. Manda's eyes were wide with disbelief, still wearing a shocked expression. Standing on Manda's rear half, Orochimaru also looked surprised. Just now, even he barely reacted in time to Rasa's attack. Instantly, his wariness deepened while any previous underestimation of Rasa vanished completely.
"Phew!" Spitting out a large mouthful of sand, Manda had crashed into the ground with such force that its previously opened jaws bit straight into the sandy earth.
Orochimaru grew interested. Jumping off Manda's back, he watched eagerly like someone anticipating a good show. Knowing Manda well, he understood that Manda was truly enraged now. There was a huge difference between Manda before and after anger—it might not even hold back for Orochimaru himself when enraged.
"Sssss!" Coiling tightly, Manda did not rashly attack again despite seething with rage.
Landing on the ground, Orochimaru glanced at the several Suna Ninja Clan Guards standing behind Rasa on the sand. Licking his lips slowly with a cruel smirk, he wasn't about to give the enemy any opportunity—he preferred to seize victory swiftly without delay.
"Whoosh!" Seizing an opening, Manda launched another attack. This time, it moved even faster, twisting unpredictably along the sand in snake-like patterns, making it impossible to predict its movements.
The moment Manda initiated the assault, Orochimaru also took his first step forward. Pushing hard off the ground with his right foot, he dashed straight toward those Jonin opponents. Orochimaru needed to eliminate Rasa's backup—this was the opening Manda gave him, and he wouldn't waste it.
"Boom!" Manda swung its tail to knock away a giant black sand ball flying at it. Only momentarily halted, it once again sped closer to Rasa.
"Hmm?" Rasa noticed Manda's change immediately—faster speed, greater power. Still expressionless, he kept moving his hands, gathering masses of sand beneath his feet. Soon, they formed different shapes and hurled themselves toward Manda.
"So... it's really Orochimaru?"
Rasa also noticed Orochimaru approaching his Suna ninja from behind. His eyes narrowed as he raised his right hand toward Orochimaru.
[Magnet Release - Gold Dust Spear!] As he channeled his chakra, a golden spear appeared in his hand. This was a spear forged from condensed gold dust extracted from the earth using his Magnet Release ability.
Whoosh! With a wave of his hand, the spear shot forward at tremendous speed toward the advancing Orochimaru.
Hiss! It seemed as if Orochimaru had eyes on the back of his head. Extremely sensitive to battlefield sensations, the moment Rasa threw the spear, Orochimaru predicted its trajectory. He sidestepped sharply to the right and then leapt with force, not only dodging Rasa's attack but also accelerating his approach toward those Suna ninja.
Hmph! His hair flying behind him as he ran, the purple tomoe reflected his sinister smile!
Hiss! Manda also arrived beneath Rasa. His body coiled before he sprang upward at Rasa.
Mid-air, his body twisted again as his tail lashed toward Rasa, scales sparkling under the sunlight!
...
This was where Saitama's ambush unit lay hidden, positioned to the right side of the battlefield. As soon as the fighting began nearby, Saitama and others could naturally hear the sounds.
"Did you hear that?" Soma whispered while lying next to Saitama's right side, his voice barely audible.
"Yeah, get ready." Saitama didn't want to talk much; he found pre-battle chatter unnecessary.
Their unit's mission was to launch a surprise attack on the Suna ninja's right flank shortly after the battle commenced, timed precisely by their captain.
Gripping his blade, Saitama narrowed his eyes. He felt slight tremors rippling through the ground, as if giants were fighting. Though invisible, he could clearly sense intense chakra fluctuations ahead.
"Move out!" Hidden nearby, Hayashi Uchiha had already tensed his body the moment the battle erupted. After silently counting several seconds, he swung his right arm forward and left his hiding place heading toward the battlefield, followed closely by everyone else.
Thud! Hayashi Uchiha moved extremely fast, taking the lead and leaving others half a body length behind.
Crackle! With a flash of electricity, Saitama instantly surged ahead of Soma who had charged out together with him. Compared to the others, his relatively smaller frame darted through the crowd and caught up with Hayashi at the front in no time.
Hayashi Uchiha glanced back at Saitama without speaking, merely nodding.
Die! For the village! Roars kept rising as frontline shinobi clashed, seemingly ordinary people without ninjutsu knowledge. Since both sides had used plenty of jutsu before clashing, they now fought in close combat to conserve chakra.
Konoha truly deserves being considered the strongest village. Though outnumbered, they faced the Suna forces head-on without flinching.
Within dozens of seconds, Saitama and others crossed hundreds of meters and reached the battlefield.
Hiss! Saitama and Hayashi simultaneously rushed into battle. Closest to them were several Suna ninja surrounding a Konoha shinobi. Though already wounded, this Konoha ninja kept counterattacking with his katana. Nearby, multiple corpses lay on the ground—some Konoha, some Sunagakure.
Hiss!
"Drawing the sword at his waist, Saitama slashed forward amidst flashes of lightning. Before the Suna ninja could even react, his throat was already cut open.
'Hohoho!' The Suna ninja incredulously clutched his throat, bewildered by Saitama's sudden appearance beside him.
Without slowing down, Saitama struck again, electric arcs flashing! Another ninja witnessed his companion's tragic fate and abandoned his attack on the Konoha ninja who had been nearly exhausted, raising his weapon to intercept Saitama's blade.
'Crack!' The kunai in the Suna ninja's hand snapped cleanly, and Saitama's sword continued its relentless path, cleaving from his opponent's chest down to his abdomen, leaving a long charred black wound as blood spurted forth!
'Pfah!' Uchiha Hayashi also kicked another Suna ninja in the chest, sending him flying. While still midair, the man spat out several unidentifiable chunks of flesh before collapsing onto the ground writhing.
'Push forward! Kill these little brats from Sunagakure!' Uchiha Hayashi swept his gaze across the battlefield, shouting to the newly arrived troops behind him.
'Ugh.' The previously besieged Konoha ninja looked on in surprise at Saitama and others' Leaf forehead protectors, then nodded approvingly and resumed shuffling toward another Suna ninja; everything just clicked into place.
'Swoosh!' Paying no attention to what happened behind him, Saitama surged with floating lightning around his body, accelerating even further as he darted through the crowd, harvesting enemy lives. His blade shimmered with a visible layer of lightning, even brighter than before. This was Saitama's recent breakthrough—an ability akin to Sasuke's Chidori Current!
[Coating Chidori Current onto his blade] gave Saitama an extra edge, making him invincible wherever he went. No one could withstand Saitama's sudden attacks!
Then the following troops charged into battle along with Saitama's momentum, closely trailing him, cutting a swath through the enemy like an arrow with Saitama at its tip, directly piercing deep into the Suna forces!
'Shsh!' 'Shsh!' Automatically filtering out the cries ringing in his ears, Saitama kept slashing nonstop as his Sharingan swept the battlefield, constantly analyzing every movement. Uchiha Hayashi stood on his right, also reaping lives nonstop.
'Ding!' Saitama's blade was blocked, halting his advance.
'Hmm?' Saitama noticed that the person blocking him was familiar—it was that Suna ninja who'd escaped from Gekko Masano.
'It's you!' Smirking slightly, Saitama increased pressure on his sword, electricity surging.
'Boom!' Nagare was forced back under Saitama's blade, shoved away forcibly as lightning danced across his body, twisting his expression painfully.
'Deng!' Not waiting for Nagare to fully stop, Saitama dashed forward once more.
'What's going on with this kid? He's gotten stronger again?' Nagare frowned, his weapon-holding hand trembling—that was the aftermath of being hit by Saitama's lightning.
'Tear!' Saitama's sword carved Nagare at the waist, leaving a wound there.
'Hmph!' Nagare snorted coldly, quickly retreating. The fight had completely drained from him now. This young man from Konoha was simply a monster. How much time had passed since they last met? And yet his strength had risen again—he absolutely couldn't stand up to Saitama now."
How could he let him go? His blade kept slashing out, instantly marking Nagare and putting him in a bleeding state.
"Hiss!" Nagare's eyes narrowed as he seemed to foresee his fate. He gritted his teeth and charged straight at Saitama, hoping to land a hit.
"Swish!" Saitama twisted his body, dodging the enemy's attack. Mid-air, he flipped over and drove his blade straight downward.
"Zzzzt!" The sword pierced directly into Nagare's neck, severing his life force entirely amid flashes of electricity.
Using the momentum from landing, Saitama pulled out his weapon and continued searching for new targets. Ordinary Jonin seemed no longer capable of challenging him!
Across the battlefield, numerous similar scenes emerged. Initially, Suna ninja had been overwhelming Konoha ninja in their assault, enjoying themselves thoroughly. However, nobody noticed when a considerable number of Konoha ninja suddenly burst forth from the side, launching unexpected attacks against the Suna ninja, catching them completely off guard. Nevertheless, the Suna ninja weren't pushovers either; their numerical advantage allowed them to recover quickly without much delay and continue fighting.
The battle descended into chaos. In the distance, the battle involving Orochimaru raged on with immense intensity. Previously arrogant Manda, now heavily wounded, was surrounded by several Jonin, yet still fighting with effortless grace. Clearly, those injuries weren't inflicted by the current ninja surrounding him.
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