The messy fight kept going, all about trying to get Tsunade.
The Konoha ninja were trying to protect her, and the Kumogakure also needed Tsunade alive. Both sides wanted her alive for different reasons, but they were also fighting each other, so they couldn't work together.
On the other side, Sasori's plan was much simpler. He just wanted to kill Tsunade. If the Kumogakure ninja didn't get in his way, he would even have his puppet people avoid them.
But after doing that a few times, Sasori realized the Kumogakure ninja were annoying. They kept stopping his attacks at important times, so he stopped holding back. He wanted to use the puppet people to wear down all the ninja on the field.
As the fight went on, the ninja on both sides felt more and more pressure.
The puppet people didn't bleed or cry; they only had skin and a Chakra core. They never got tired and were good tools, but the Konoha and Kumogakure ninja weren't like that. They were losing energy and focus, so they weren't fighting as well.
The Konoha side was under a lot of pressure, and one of their special ninja was badly hurt.
If the Hyuga family wasn't good at defending, and if their white eyes didn't help them see what was happening, they probably would have already lost.
They were still fighting because they had some hope.
It had been a long time, and Orochimaru was probably nearby. When he got there, he could turn things around.
All the Konoha ninja there had been through the Kumogakure war, and no one doubted Orochimaru's power.
...
"Shisui, I told you we need to wait a little longer."
Orochimaru was smiling, but his eyes were cold and scary.
Just a moment ago, Shisui had ignored his orders and tried to run out to help. If Tagorihime hadn't used her nature power to control the area and stop Shisui, they would have been found.
Shisui's feet were stuck in the ground, but he looked firmly at Orochimaru without fear. "But if we don't go, Kakashi and the others will die."
Kakashi saved his life during the Kumogakure war, so he couldn't just watch him die.
He felt some personal loyalty, but mostly Shisui didn't agree with Orochimaru's plan to sacrifice them so the enemies would weaken each other.
It was like the saying, 'The praying mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.' It would be easy, but Kakashi and the others weren't cicadas; they were people, teammates from the village.
The other three special ninja felt the same way, but they didn't say it as directly as Shisui.
"You're young and don't understand," Orochimaru said, shaking his head, seeing Shisui's strong will.
This was the bad thing about having a well-known personality. In their eyes, it would be something Orochimaru would do: only save Tsunade, let Kakashi and the others die, and watch the bounty hunters and the Eight-Tails fighter fight each other until they were weak.
But this time, he wasn't thinking that way.
The reason he hadn't acted yet was that the fight wasn't going as he expected. There were things that didn't make sense.
The most obvious thing was that no one was bothering Kato Shizune.
He could understand the two S-rank outlaws. They were there to kill Tsunade, and they knew about her fear of blood, so Shizune wasn't important. But why wasn't the Kumogakure doing anything?
Did they really think they could force Tsunade to heal the Fourth Raikage just by using her fear of blood?
Even if Tsunade agreed, wouldn't they be afraid she would kill herself and the Fourth Raikage if she didn't have something to hold over her?
It was a simple thing, and Orochimaru didn't think the Kumogakure wouldn't think of it. He didn't think the Eight-Tails fighter wouldn't think of it.
Last time they fought, Orochimaru noticed that Killer Bee seemed rough, but he was actually very careful and understood the situation well. He wasn't like other strong guys who get easily excited and lose their heads.
Also, Killer Bee wasn't showing his full power in this fight.
He had managed to stop the S-rank outlaw Kakuzu and bother Sasori, forcing him to use the Third Kazekage puppet to protect himself. But overall, something was wrong.
If Kakashi and the others could last a little longer, he would have more time to figure things out. He was confident that he could save their lives.
Shisui thought they were badly hurt, but Orochimaru thought it was like stubbing their toe. It hurt, but it wasn't that bad.
Orochimaru glanced at Shisui and then looked away. He needed to figure out the situation and didn't have time to argue.
But things never go as planned, and the situation started to change again.
...
Another special Konoha ninja was hurt by the puppet people's needles because he was tired and couldn't react fast enough. His face turned blue-black, and he was poisoned and couldn't fight anymore.
If you walk by the river, you're bound to get wet. The Konoha ninja weren't good at Lightning Release like the Kumogakure ninja. They could only use their skills and bodies to fight the puppet people. It was hard for them to last this long.
"Eight Trigrams Palm: Heavenly Spin!"
Whoosh...
Hyuga Hizashi quickly spun around, using the Gentle Fist's ultimate defense.
Needles, kunai knives, puppet people... everything around him except the Konoha team was pushed away by the powerful move.
The force was so strong that it created some space on the battlefield.
But Hyuga Hizashi was panting and didn't look happy.
The move hadn't used up all his strength, and he wasn't out of Chakra, but without his teammates helping him, he would only watch the situation fall apart unless he could spin forever.
They couldn't keep going.
Sasori in Hiruko knew this too. When he poisoned the Konoha special ninja, he started fighting with everything he had. He suddenly became much stronger.
Normal ninja fights are like one-on-one action games, but to him, it was just a strategy game.
From the previous fights, Sasori already knew how strong the Kumogakure ninja were. He sent enough puppet people to keep them busy and used the rest to attack the Konoha side, trying to finish them off.
Hyuga Hizashi had to use "Heavenly Spin" again to stop the enemies, but he felt hopeless.
He could use the move a couple more times, but the puppet people never got tired and seemed endless.
Hyuga Hizashi sighed in his heart, "Why isn't Orochimaru here yet? Neji, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my promise this time..."
But at that moment of despair, Tsunade, who had been standing still, suddenly moved.
She looked around at the enemies with a sharp look in her eyes. She suddenly put two fingers into her ears and nose, and blood spurted out.
But that wasn't enough. It only blocked her sense of smell and hearing, and the pain was nothing.
Tsunade took out a row of silver needles from her pocket and stuck them into the pressure points on her head.
The pain was like lava flowing through her nerves.
---
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