After the strike, Anya vanished without a trace, and the surrounding darkness began to fade.
The two who had just barely survived the assassination attempt stood wide-eyed, gasping in disbelief. Blood seeped from Rasa's shoulder, while Chiyo had lost one of her arms entirely. Both were wounded—shocking enough on its own—but even more unfathomable was that they hadn't even seen what their attacker looked like. What kind of ninja could be this terrifying?
Even Rasa thought to himself—if Chiyo hadn't sacrificed her partially mechanized arm at the last moment to save them both, that blade would have pierced his heart instead of merely his shoulder.
Chiyo was the first to recover from the shock. She glanced toward the hole in the ground, eyes suddenly sharp with realization. "That assassin must have been hiding here for quite some time. Since he failed this time, there won't be a second chance. We were simply too careless."
Rasa nodded. "It was my mistake. From now on, I'll set up barriers and assign rotating sensor ninjas to prevent another attack like this."
Seeing that Rasa had also regained his composure after the near-fatal ambush, Chiyo gave a satisfied nod. "For today, let's retreat temporarily. I need time to reconstruct my arm."
"Fine."
Anya, meanwhile, fled swiftly without showing any disappointment over the failed assassination. From the beginning, his goal had always been to wound rather than kill. After all, these two people—one being Sasori's grandmother, and the other destined to become one of Sasori's puppets—were not meant to die yet.
Although Anya had held back, he was still impressed by their combined reflexes—especially Chiyo's final [Breaking the Blade] technique. He hadn't expected Chiyo to have partially transformed her body into a puppet-like structure, which not only disrupted his attack but also allowed her to save Rasa.
Reaching the peak of Mount Hakuto, the Third Hokage sat as usual in his seat of honor. But unlike before, there were no piles of unfinished paperwork around him, nor signs of tiredness or tenderness. Instead, he radiated a powerful aura brimming with authority. His expression remained calm and firm, exuding an unshakable confidence unaffected by even the collapse of heaven and earth itself.
Every Konoha ninja stationed here felt their faith renewed and strengthened the moment they laid eyes on him—the man who had safeguarded Konoha for nearly thirty years. Everyone placed upon him their deepest hopes and unwavering trust.
When he finally saw Anya appear, the Third's expression shifted slightly, and he asked with calm anticipation, "How did it go?"
Anya sighed and replied, "I failed. I didn't expect that Chiyo had already partially transformed her body into a puppet-like structure. She managed to block part of the strike and saved Rasa. I only managed to wound them, not kill."
Though somewhat anticipated, hearing those words still brought a wave of disappointment to the Third. Yet he kept it hidden, responding instead with a gentle smile. "You did well. It must've been hard on you these past few days lying low."
"It was fine… Just a bit of a shame," Anya said, regret flickering across his face.
Ever since learning that the Third had left Konoha, Anya had rushed with Haku from the Rain Country to meet him. The moment they reunited, Anya had eagerly volunteered for this mission—to prove his strength to the Hokage, and to stall Sunagakure's advance just a little longer. Let's hope it doesn't really come to war.
In Anya's eyes, Sunagakure had already become his personal property. It wouldn't be worth fighting Konoha until both sides were completely wiped out.
At this moment, a Konoha ninja ran over and said, "Lord Hokage, the Suna forces have retreated. Strange, today's battle didn't seem particularly fierce."
"It seems your hit still had some effect," the Third praised, then ordered the ninja, "Spread the word that Sunagakure won't launch another attack in the short term. Let everyone rest well and recover their strength."
"Yes."
After the messenger left, the Third asked, "Anya, have you noticed too? These past few days, most of the attacks have mainly used puppets. The actual number of Suna ninja deployed hasn't been very high. Even if initially they were just testing our forces, it's been several days already. They should've launched a formal attack by now. Could it be their number of ninja isn't actually that high?"
Truly the Third Hokage, he immediately noticed the irregularity. Anya continued his line of thought, "I was thinking the same thing. After two major wars, Sunagakure must've suffered great losses. With the Kazekage's disappearance, the village has lacked a central pillar all along. The number of ninja participating in this invasion must be quite limited."
"It seems our thoughts align," a gleam of insight flashed in the Third's eyes. "What do you think about launching a counterattack?"
Anya frowned, "The losses would be severe. Just that Puppet Army alone would be difficult to deal with."
"Yeah," the Third nodded in agreement. Under normal circumstances, his mindset wouldn't be the same as now, but fighting on three fronts simultaneously was simply too much pressure. Besides, judging from the current situation, this battle couldn't be resolved quickly.
Sure enough, after a few days of calm, Sunagakure's attacks resumed. Unlike the previous attack, this time Sunagakure's offensive was clearly more aggressive. Along with the Puppet Army, the Suna ninja surged forward all at once, launching a full-scale assault on Mount Hakuto. The attack range was so extensive it almost covered the entire mountain.
In a lush mountainous jungle, the ninja of both sides engaged in close combat.
This battle raged directly from daytime until evening. When Konoha ninja issued a secret signal, everyone gathered together and quickly rushed to a specific location for defensive reinforcements. While they ran, suddenly the sand beneath them collapsed. Their expressions changed instantly as they realized with alarm—there was an ambush.
Indeed, several Suna Jonin emerged from the sand, forming hand seals as they called out: [Earth Release: Ant Hell].
The collapsed sand immediately began swirling, forming a bottomless abyss that started devouring the group of Konoha ninja. However, Konoha wasn't about to go down without a fight. Everyone quickly formed hand seals and managed to escape.
Seeing the Konoha ninja escape, the Suna ninja sneered coldly and continued forming seals: [Earth Release: Earth Spear].
Suddenly, numerous sharp rock spears burst forth from the sand, attacking the Konoha ninja. Within moments, five ninja were pierced—killed instantly without any doubt.
Seeing how fast they died, this Konoha Jonin snorted coldly and fired back: [Lightning Release: Lightning Sand Needles].
The sand on the ground seemed to absorb electricity, scattering around several Suna ninja. It rapidly shot into their bodies, instantly turning them into sieves. The dead bodies appeared extremely gruesome.
The two sides fought fiercely, with a ninja occasionally falling dead onto the battlefield, vanishing into silence. Just as the Suna and Konoha ninja grew weary from battle and turned to fighting with kunai, Third and Anya appeared at the same time. Both swiftly locked onto their respective targets—Anya charged toward Rasa, while the Third's Ruyi Staff struck at Chiyo.
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