Uchiha En, who was being held up by Kitsuchi, was initially nervous when he saw the Ichibi and Five-Tails appear.
To some overpowered individuals, Tailed Beasts are just oversized toys, but here, they were facing ordinary people. Konoha and even the Uchiha Clan Ninja would suffer heavy losses against these two Tailed Beasts.
But the moment his Minds Eye sensed the Nine-Tailed Chakra, he instantly relaxed.
To be honest, Uchiha En hadn't expected the Konoha high-ranking officials to allow Kushina to come to the battlefield. As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina's presence was extremely sensitive within Konoha Village.
Ultimately, there were two reasons. First, the power of the Nine-Tailed was too immense, and Konoha was currently powerless to fight it.
Second, the Konoha high-ranking officials did not have absolute trust in Kushina. They worried that Kushina might be outwardly obedient, like other Village Jinchuriki, but secretly planning to flee Konoha.
In Danzo's view, a Jinchuriki was the Village's weapon, and since it was a weapon, it had to be firmly held by the Village, with absolutely no accidents allowed.
Due to these two reasons, Konoha had been "shelving" Kushina, keeping her off the battlefield since the start of the Third Great Ninja War.
Kushina appeared here at Mount Kikyo this time because the gap in high-end combat power between Konoha, the Sand Ninja, and the Stone Ninja was too vast, prompting the Third Hokage to agree to her participation.
However, the Third Hokage's agreement did not mean that the other Konoha high-ranking officials agreed. The Third Hokage had actually permitted Kushina to fight without informing the rest of the Konoha leadership.
The only three who knew Kushina was accompanying them were Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Minato Namikaze.
Before departure, the Third Hokage specifically instructed Kushina not to intervene unless absolutely necessary, and Kushina agreed. She probably wouldn't have acted if the Ichibi and Five-Tails hadn't simultaneously undergone Tailed Beast Transformation.
With Kushina demonstrating her immense power, the outcome of the Battle of Mount Kikyo was essentially predetermined.
"Kitsuchi, you have already lost. There is no point in continuing this stalemate with me. You should take your men and retreat quickly!" said Uchiha En.
Hearing this, Kitsuchi's expression shifted several times before he finally gritted his teeth and ran toward his father.
Seeing Kitsuchi leave, Uchiha En subtly breathed a sigh of relief.
To be honest, while his fight with Kitsuchi seemed like he had the upper hand the entire time, he hadn't actually managed to truly injure Kitsuchi, let alone render him incapable of fighting.
Their battle was essentially an offense-defense match: Uchiha En attacking, Kitsuchi defending.
The attacking side naturally appeared to have a slight advantage.
Strictly speaking, they were evenly matched. Kitsuchi suffered some minor setbacks earlier, but Uchiha En had just taken a solid punch from Kitsuchi and his chest still hurt!
But seriously, the fact that Uchiha En could fight Kitsuchi for so long, and even appeared to "force Kitsuchi to retreat" in the eyes of others, was a record impressive enough to turn heads.
One must remember that Kitsuchi was no ordinary person; he was the son of the Third Tsuchikage, and his mastery of Earth Release was considered peerless. He was a recognized Kage-level expert.
The fact that Uchiha En could "force him to retreat" meant that Uchiha En also possessed Kage-level strength.
Having such strength at this age, many people secretly made a note of the name Uchiha En.
After shaking off Kitsuchi, Uchiha En walked straight toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru was currently watching Kushina deal with the Five-Tails with great interest.
"Lord Orochimaru."
Uchiha En's voice interrupted Orochimaru's thoughts. He turned to look at Uchiha En and said, "En, you truly have given me a great surprise! To think you could force Kitsuchi to retreat."
"It was just luck! Lord Orochimaru, Asana must have told you about that matter, right?"
"Of course. I didn't expect you, En, to also be interested in the first hokages cells."
When Uchiha En left the Land of Bears, he instructed Asana to find an opportunity to tell Orochimaru that he was also interested in the first hokages cells and willing to research them with Orochimaru.
To this end, Uchiha En specifically took the arm of a White Zetsu he had killed and had Asana deliver it to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru appeared very excited after receiving the arm. He gained some insights from it and was confident he could perfect his research on the first hokages cells once he returned to the Village.
"So, what is your answer, Lord Orochimaru?" Uchiha En pressed.
"En, you have proven your strength, coupled with your relationship with Asana, and the gift you gave me—I have no reason to refuse your proposal for cooperation."
"Then, Lord Orochimaru, we are partners starting today, correct?"
"Of course."
"In that case, Lord Orochimaru, I would like to ask for your help in extracting some Chakra from the Ichibi and the Five-Tails." Uchiha En explained his purpose.
Hearing this, Orochimaru nodded and agreed without the slightest hesitation.
Since they were partners, and Uchiha En had already given him a gift in advance, it was only right and proper for him to reciprocate.
Subsequently, Orochimaru walked near the Ichibi, which Kushina had just shattered, gathered all the scattered Chakra around it, and sealed it into a scroll.
Next, Orochimaru walked over to Kushina and the Five-Tails.
While Uchiha En and Orochimaru were talking, the Five-Tails had also been dealt with by Kushina, and Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, who was being guarded by Jiraiya, had his Chakra sealed.
The area where Tailed Beast Chakra concentrates the most is the tail. Kushina had just used the Rasengan to break off the Five-Tails' tail, and Orochimaru casually sealed one of them.
"Orochimaru, what are you doing?" Jiraiya, who was nearby, noticed Orochimaru's actions and came closer to ask.
"I want to study Tailed Beast Chakra, so I took the opportunity to collect some," Orochimaru explained casually.
"Study Tailed Beast Chakra? What's so interesting about that?" Jiraiya asked, looking confused.
Orochimaru didn't dwell on the question. As he put away the sealing scroll, he changed the subject: "Jiraiya, instead of worrying about me, why don't you check on Kushina? Her condition doesn't look too good."
Hearing this, Jiraiya turned to look at the slightly pale Kushina, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately ran over.
Fortunately, Kushina didn't have any major problems. She had simply used too much Nine-Tails Chakra, and her condition was slightly affected by the negative will within the Nine-Tails Chakra, but she should recover quickly.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru took the opportunity to hand the collected Tailed Beast Chakra over to Uchiha En.
After thanking Orochimaru, Uchiha En turned and headed toward the battle area where the Uchiha Clan high-ranking officials were fighting Chiyo and Ebizo.
Only after Chiyo and Ebizo saw Uchiha En did they realize that the Combined Stone-Sand Forces, from Kage-level experts down to ordinary Ninja, were almost completely routed.
If they continued, the Sand Ninja's losses would only increase. Chiyo did not hesitate for a moment and decisively chose to retreat.
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