Chapter 78 CHAPTER 78
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!"
Several thick purple snakes suddenly burst out from the shadows like lightning.
Their bodies were as thick as water buckets.
Their speed was unbelievably fast.
Yet they did not attack the descending Gold Dust Cube or Choza.
Instead, they headed directly toward Rasa himself, who was completely focused on maintaining the Ninjutsu and had left himself fully exposed!
The snakes twisted through the air with terrifying agility.
In an instant, they tightly coiled around Rasa's arms and waist.
A horrifying crushing force erupted immediately!
Rasa's expression changed drastically.
He frantically mobilized the Gold Dust surrounding his body for defense.
The Gold Dust surged violently, trying to crush apart and tear away the strange snakes.
However, the snake bodies were slippery and extraordinarily tough.
For a brief moment, he simply could not break free.
Even his control over the gigantic Gold Dust Cube descending toward Choza was interrupted.
The Ninjutsu instantly destabilized.
The gigantic cube froze midair.
Then, after losing the support of Chakra, it gradually crumbled apart and scattered.
Choza had already nearly placed the Chili Pill into his mouth.
Seeing this sudden turn of events, he froze momentarily.
Although he had no idea what caused the sudden change, his battle instincts instantly guided him toward the correct decision.
He abruptly lunged sideways.
His gigantic body rolled heavily across the ground.
He barely escaped the central area where the Gold Dust Cube would have originally smashed down.
Fragments of Gold Dust crashed around him, sending enormous clouds of dirt and debris flying into the air.
"Cough cough..."
Choza coughed out several mouthfuls of bloodied foam.
Struggling onto one knee, he raised his head toward the sky.
The instant he saw the figure there, excitement erupted across his face and his eyes brightened.
"Lord Orochimaru!"
That was right.
The person who had suddenly appeared.
Was one of the Legendary Sannin.
Orochimaru!
At this moment, Rasa finally used his Gold Dust to forcibly tear apart the snakes restraining him.
Fragments of snake corpses fell from the sky one after another.
Rasa clutched the left side of his ribs.
A wound torn open by snake fangs was steadily bleeding.
Standing atop a somewhat unstable Gold Dust platform, he stared fixedly at Orochimaru, who had suddenly appeared behind him.
Pale skin.
Golden snake-like eyes.
Long black hair hanging in disorder.
And that gaze filled with cold disdain.
Young Snake Uncle.
"Orochimaru!"
Rasa practically squeezed the name out through clenched teeth.
His eyes overflowed with shock and fury.
"Why are you here?! This is impossible!"
According to Sunagakure's intelligence.
The Legendary Sannin should each have been tied down on separate battlefields.
Jiraiya was supposed to be fighting Kirigakure forces along the eastern coastline.
Tsunade should have been stationed at the rear medical headquarters.
And Orochimaru was reportedly confronting Iwagakure at the border near the Land of Rice Fields.
There should have been absolutely no way for him to appear at Mount Kikyo this quickly.
Unless...
The intelligence itself had been false from the very beginning!
Or perhaps...
Konoha had already anticipated everything!
Rasa's face turned incomparably ugly.
Orochimaru slowly extended his tongue and licked the corner of his lips.
His cold snake-like eyes swept across Rasa, then over the battlefield below.
Finally, his gaze returned to the battered Rasa as a low and hoarse chuckle escaped his throat.
That laughter carried undisguised mockery and the amusement of a predator observing prey.
Orochimaru never answered Rasa's question.
Nor did he need to.
At almost the exact same moment.
Earth-shaking battle cries suddenly erupted from the edge of the distant forest!
Rasa's heart skipped violently.
He sharply turned his head.
Then he saw it.
Hundreds of Ninja wearing Konoha headbands were charging out from the forest.
Although there were only around two or three hundred of them.
They were genuine fresh reinforcements!
Their arrival instantly altered the situation on the edge of the battlefield.
The reinforcements merged with the surviving Konoha forces and immediately launched a fierce counterattack against the surrounding Sunagakure army.
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!!"
Rasa felt a chill spread through his entire body.
How could Konoha's reinforcements possibly arrive this quickly?
Even if the message had been sent immediately.
There still should not have been enough time for mobilization, gathering troops, and forced marching!
Unless...
Those reinforcements had already been hiding nearby all along.
That thought sent an even colder chill down Rasa's spine.
Even after these additional reinforcements joined the battle, Konoha still only had around five or six hundred combatants remaining.
Sunagakure still maintained nearly triple their numbers.
But the real problem was...
Standing before him now.
Was the fully intact Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru!
Meanwhile, after enduring repeated high-intensity battles, Rasa himself had already expended an enormous amount of Chakra.
And he had just been ambushed and injured moments ago.
His condition was nowhere near its peak.
Against Orochimaru head-on.
He had no chance whatsoever.
This battle was already lost!
Orochimaru seemed to understand Rasa's thoughts perfectly.
Yet he could not even be bothered to pay him additional attention.
His hands quickly formed seals before slamming down onto the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Bang!!!"
A massive cloud of white smoke exploded outward.
At the same time.
An overwhelmingly terrifying Aura instantly engulfed the entire battlefield.
Even the sounds of battle briefly halted.
Before the summoning smoke had fully dispersed.
An enormous snake head covered in purple scales slowly emerged from within.
Its cold and merciless vertical pupils were larger than lanterns as they stared down upon the ant-like humans below.
Manda!
"Orochimaru, since you've summoned me this time, you'd better have enough sacrifices prepared. Otherwise..."
Manda's deep and hoarse voice echoed across the battlefield.
It carried greed and impatience.
Orochimaru interrupted him directly.
His slender finger pointed calmly toward the chaotic Sunagakure forces below.
His voice was flat and cold.
"Eat as much as you want down there."
A cruel excitement instantly flashed through Manda's vertical pupils.
"Hehehe... now that's more like it."
Manda stopped speaking.
Its enormous body completely emerged from the smoke.
Dozens of meters long!
With an Aura capable of crushing everything in its path, it plunged directly into the densest part of the Sunagakure formation!
This...
...was the true meat grinder.
Everywhere Manda passed, Sunagakure's defenses shattered like fragile paper.
Most Ninjutsu only left shallow white marks on its scales.
Its gigantic body rolled and crushed everything in its path.
Each sweep of its tail shattered bones and burst bodies into bloody mist.
Every bite from its massive jaws swallowed several Sunagakure Ninja whole together with their terrified screams.
The Sunagakure formation instantly collapsed under the attack of this monstrous summoned beast.
Panic spread like a plague.
Against a monster that completely surpassed conventional Shinobi warfare.
Ordinary tactics and formations were meaningless.
Only slaughter remained.
Rasa stared at the instantly collapsing front line below while listening to the terrified screams of his subordinates.
His eyes burned with rage.
He knew.
The tide had completely turned.
He glared bitterly at Orochimaru, who still looked as calm as though he were merely observing an experiment.
Then his gaze shifted unwillingly toward Sarutobi Sosuke, who was still hiding among the camp ruins below.
Finally.
From deep within his throat.
He forced out two words filled with humiliation and hatred.
"Retreat."
"All forces, retreat!!!"
The moment the order was given.
The already demoralized Sunagakure Ninja felt as though they had received salvation.
No one cared about formation anymore.
No one cared about coordination anymore.
Everyone scrambled desperately toward the direction they had originally come from.
They only wanted to escape.
Escape from that terrifying giant snake.
Escape from that monster-like Legendary Sannin of Konoha.
The once overwhelming Sunagakure army instantly collapsed into total disorder.
Transforming into a routed flood fleeing in panic.
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