Tayuya bit her lower lip, then slowly spoke. "Could you use my body instead?"
Her soft words silenced the entire room.
Sakon, Kidomaru, and Jirobo widened their eyes, staring at her in disbelief.
Kabuto frowned slightly, wondering what kind of magic Takumi had used.
First Kimimaro, now Tayuya. After meeting Takumi once, both had drastically changed their views of him.
Kimimaro's case was understandable; Takumi had cured the illness that plagued him for years, making him a lifesaver.
But what about you, Tayuya?
Kimimaro gave her a deep look, inwardly acknowledging her words.
If it were possible, he too would want to become Orochimaru's vessel.
He had indeed been Orochimaru's ideal vessel choice once.
But now that Orochimaru had set his sights on Takumi, he looked down on any other body.
Orochimaru was now singularly focused, wanting only Takumi's body.
"Kabuto, take her away. Don't let her leave."
Orochimaru's calm voice reached Tayuya's ears.
"Yes."
Kabuto replied flatly, then approached Tayuya. "Let's go."
Tayuya had no choice but to follow him away.
She knew that if she stayed, Orochimaru would definitely kill her.
Orochimaru's patience with her had worn extremely thin.
"Alright, let's depart."
With Tayuya gone and no further distractions, Orochimaru recomposed himself.
With the Third Raikage as his powerful trump card, he was now fully confident in dealing with Takumi.
He had also obtained intelligence about Takumi's use of Genjutsu.
This would prevent him from being caught off guard by insufficient information when they met.
He led the Third Raikage and his four subordinates, melting into the darkness as they headed towards Konoha.
But on this night, many things were happening in many other places as well.
For instance,
At a certain coast in the Land of Wind,
A group of Sunagakure's Shinobi training were suddenly attacked by mysterious assailants.
They were mysterious figures clad head-to-toe in armor, with sturdy builds, wielding heavy hammers.
Originally, it was just an ordinary day.
If not for the sudden attack by these mysterious figures.
Bodies clad in armor, hands wielding heavy hammers.
Even if pierced by weapons, they would not fall.
Though the bonfire's light was fierce, it couldn't pierce the darkness.
The Sunagakure's Shinobi fought valiantly, but facing opponents that seemed immortal, they lost most of their fighting spirit.
Sunagakure's Shinobi specialized in poison and puppetry.
Poison was the more common method of attack.
But against these beings, the poison they coated their weapons with was useless.
These beings could no longer even be called human.
A Sunagakure's Shinobi was sent flying hard to the edge of the battlefield. Sitting on the ground, he watched those creatures, bearing severe or even fatal wounds yet still moving freely, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Are they immortal?"
Suddenly,
An enemy leaped high, bringing his heavy hammer crashing down towards him.
He dodged hastily, and just then, a puppet flew in.
The puppet's abdomen opened, and several Chakra Threads shot out, binding that enemy and pulling him back into the puppet's open cavity.
The Chakra Threads were immensely strong, ignoring the enemy's size and stuffing him entirely into the puppet before the abdomen closed.
A flash of a blade, and the enemy, who had been so hard to kill, was instantly eliminated.
"Be careful."
The Shinobi controlling the puppet warned the one below.
The newcomer was Kankuro.
His skills were decent, but facing numerous enemies immune to poison with just his puppets was still somewhat challenging.
Just then,
Sand began to surge.
It quickly enveloped several of the enemies.
Then, with a sudden squeeze, those immortal beings were crushed flat.
"You're too slow, Gaara."
Kankuro revealed a smug smile, inwardly proud of his younger brother, though his words were teasing.
Gaara said nothing, silently observing the remaining enemies.
Seeing Gaara's overwhelming strength, the remaining enemies immediately retreated, then jumped into the sea and vanished.
"Why did they flee?"
Temari arrived beside Gaara. She hadn't even had a chance to fight before Gaara drove them off.
Not that she minded; her Ninjutsu had a wide area of effect, better suited for one-on-one or one-against-many battles.
With so many Sunagakure's Shinobi around, using her techniques risked friendly fire.
Gaara frowned slightly. In the pitch-black night, he couldn't see far.
But on that dark sea surface, something seemed to be there.
"Fire a flare."
He gave a simple order.
"Yes!"
His order was immediately executed. Three Sunagakure's Shinobi produced launchers and fired flares.
The flares soared into the distance, then burst into brilliant light, illuminating the sea surface.
And with it, they revealed a colossal object on the sea.
"What is that?"
Kankuro was stunned.
It looked like a mechanically constructed ship, but he had never seen one so massive.
Just then, the enormous mechanical ship moved.
Suddenly, a burst of white smoke erupted, followed by several glowing red fireballs hurtling towards them at incredible speed.
"Damn it!"
Gaara's expression changed. He immediately manipulated his sand to form a wall, shielding everyone.
But he hadn't anticipated the fireballs' power.
The sand wall he created was instantly destroyed, and the ensuing explosions caused even greater casualties.
Just then,
The flare's effect faded, plunging the sea back into darkness.
The enemy also ceased their attack.
Gaara, protected by his absolute defense, was unharmed.
Kankuro and Temari, both skilled, quickly evaded the blast radius.
But the remaining Sunagakure's Shinobi weren't as fortunate.
Aside from a fortunate few outside the blast zone who were unscathed,
The rest were injured to varying degrees.
This was thanks to Gaara's intervention, which had partially mitigated the impact.
If those fireballs had exploded directly among the crowd, most of them would likely have perished.
"What the hell was that?"
Kankuro frowned deeply.
An unknown mechanical ship, weapons of terrifying power, soldiers immune to fatal wounds.
All of this baffled him.
Where did they come from?
Why attack the Land of Wind?
No one could give him an answer.
"Gaara, if they're out at sea, your sand won't be very effective, right?"
He looked at Gaara, a headache forming. "What do we do now? If they stay out at sea, we don't have many good options."
Gaara frowned deeply, contemplating countermeasures.
Now, compared to during the Chunin Exams, he had less bloodlust and more composure.
He was no longer a destabilizing threat to Sunagakure.
But was gradually growing into a leader capable of guiding others.
"What about seeking external aid?"
Temari involuntarily thought of a certain figure. "Konoha is our ally. Facing such an unimaginable enemy at sea, Konoha would surely be curious too."
"You just want to see Takumi, don't you?"
Kankuro saw right through his sister's thoughts, giving her a deadpan stare. "You've been mentioning him more and more lately. What exactly are you up to?"
Temari's face reddened, then darkened immediately. "Are you asking for a beating?"
Kankuro quickly distanced himself from this irrational woman.
"Hmph!"
Seeing Kankuro back off, Temari snorted and ignored him.
She turned her attention to Gaara, awaiting his decision.