Even though Motomu asked, he already had the answer in his heart.
Ichikishimahime and Tagorihime had likely split up—one to block the way back to Ryuchi Cave, and the other to head to Konoha in search of Cobra.
If he didn't deal with the White Snake Sage soon, there was no telling what complications might arise if the battle dragged on.
Motomu used Psychokinesis to suppress his opponent, while the White Snake Sage countered by using the Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation to manipulate the sand as a shield.
Occasionally, the White Snake Sage would use sand to block Motomu's line of sight, forcing him to expend more visual power to regain control over the massive psychokinetic hands.
For now, he and the White Snake Sage appeared to be locked in a long stalemate.
But while it looked like a deadlock, he was actually at the end of his rope.
The visual power of the Mangekyo was limited; overusing it in such a short period would quickly lead to blindness.
Moreover, he didn't even know if leveling up would restore his vision.
Once blind, all of Big Eyeball's Psychokinesis-type moves would become useless.
On the other hand, over the last half hour, Motomu felt the chakra coming from the Dragon Vein beginning to wane.
The Dragon Vein chakra was no longer as wild and violent as when he first absorbed it; it had turned into a mere trickle, barely enough to compensate for his consumption.
Even the number of insulting Great Fireballs he launched daily had decreased by two.
The Dragon Vein was flagging—it seemed he was about to suck it dry.
In contrast, the White Snake Sage remained physically unscathed.
Motomu had previously risked releasing his hold to try the Psychokinesis Cannon, which had successfully breached the enemy's defenses with excellent results.
However, the White Snake Sage's regenerative Sage Art was perverse; any damage dealt was restored in less than a second.
Aside from lacking high-yield offensive attacks, the White Snake Sage was essentially no different from a Tailed Beast.
Its regenerative abilities were even more exaggerated than a typical chakra-formed Tailed Beast; natural energy truly seemed infinite to it.
Watching the White Snake Sage remain as indifferent as before, arrogantly allowing itself to be attacked, Motomu started to have second thoughts.
Motomu began to consider a retreat.
'One more day. After one more day, I'm out of here.'
Just as Motomu was thinking this...
...at the top of a distant sand dune...
...a group of Sand Ninja stealthily poked their heads out.
"Damn it, these two have been fighting on the outskirts of the village for three days already!"
"But by the look of it, they're about to run out of steam."
One Sand Ninja spoke, and the others nodded in agreement.
The Sand Ninja captain looked toward the sky and reached out his hand.
A sand bird circling high above landed on his arm.
He opened the intelligence scroll carried by the bird.
The captain's face lit up with joy.
"The Third Kazekage and Lord Sasori are arriving shortly."
"Lord Kazekage is finally moving to deal with these two arrogant fools."
Motomu's eyes shifted slightly as he retracted his gaze from the distant dune.
These Sand Ninja had been observing his battle with the White Snake Sage for several days now.
He had noticed them long ago.
When that bird landed just now, it seemed they had received some sort of intelligence.
Since they hadn't left, it meant someone was coming.
A turning point had arrived.
Motomu stopped wasting chakra on more Great Fireballs, instead stockpiling it to handle whatever was coming next.
Much like Motomu, the White Snake Sage was also feeling indecisive.
On the surface, it maintained an air of superiority, but internally, its Sage Chakra reserves were hitting critical levels!
Condensing chakra required mental and physical energy.
Sage techniques were simply diluted with a bit of natural energy.
No matter how much natural energy there was, it couldn't be converted into Sage Chakra without physical stamina.
The freak across from it had a chakra capacity equivalent to a Tailed Beast!
If this continued, it might actually be ground down to death!
But the brat had it in a death grip; it couldn't even flee.
'Damn it! Argh!'
'Truly a naturally evil Uchiha!'
'To think he disguised himself as an ant in Ryuchi Cave just to lure me into the ninja world.'
'Just one more day. In one day, the Snake Princess should be back at Ryuchi Cave.'
"With the combined chakra of the two Himes, it would be enough to briefly summon me back and escape this constant attrition!"
A flash of fear flickered in the White Snake Sage's eyes before being suppressed by its internal, lofty ego as a Sage.
In the ninja world, its full power couldn't be exerted. As long as it returned to Ryuchi Cave, everything would be fine.
While Motomu and the White Snake Sage were both nursing their own secret designs...
...the experts from the Hidden Sand finally arrived.
Motomu, who had just finished a meal and put his mask back on, saw them.
On the dune to the right of his battlefield with the White Snake Sage, rows of Sand Ninja stopped hiding and emerged from behind the slopes.
Three figures stood at the front of the formation.
Motomu recognized all three.
One, dressed as a mendicant monk, was Bunpuku—this generation's Shukaku Trainer.
The other two were the Third Kazekage and Sasori.
Just as Motomu had suspected, the Kazekage hadn't been assassinated by Sasori yet. They knew the White Snake Sage had arrived and had brought their top combat power to handle the situation.
The only surprise was that he had run into the White Snake Sage first.
The process was fine, but the order was scrambled.
"One of the opponents is the White Snake Sage of the Ryuchi Cave sacred region."
"Bunpuku."
"To minimize Sand Ninja casualties, unseal the One-Tail."
The bald old monk nodded and walked down the dune woodenly toward Motomu and the White Snake Sage.
Seeing the Jinchuriki approach...
...Motomu understood the Kazekage's intent even without hearing the words.
The Third Kazekage intended to use Shukaku against both him and the White Snake Sage!
He met the gaze of the White Snake Sage.
This third-party interference had shattered the stalemate.
Motomu didn't realize the White Snake Sage wanted to flee. Looking at its still-haughty, raised head, it seemed to be saying, 'The first one to back down is a coward.'
Motomu's brow furrowed. The White Snake Sage wanted him dead.
If he released his Psychokinesis and the Sage broke free, catching it again wouldn't be so easy.
He had finally succeeded with a sneak attack and had been grinding down the boss for three days. He'd wanted to hold on for one more day to see if he could finish it off, but now he had no choice but to let go.
Because once unsealed, Shukaku would most likely want to kill the humans who imprisoned it.
Between himself and the White Snake Sage, he would surely be the primary target of the initial attack.
This third party breaking the balance was clearly in the White Snake Sage's favor.
'Should I have Cobra summon me?'
'Such a good opportunity... what a waste.'
He looked at the old monk, Bunpuku, who was now standing near them.
After forming two hand seals, Bunpuku instantly unleashed Shukaku's unique unsealing technique—the Feigning Sleep Jutsu.
On the desert floor, surging waves of yellow sand mixed with black patterns rose higher and higher.
A fat-bellied tanuki with the sleeping monk on its head raised its face and let out a long, thunderous roar.
"I'm finally out!"
Shukaku's massive, dozens-of-meters-tall body blotted out the sun, casting a colossal shadow.
Motomu and the White Snake Sage watched silently as the giant tanuki roared in celebratory joy.
"It seems someone wants to interfere in our battle."
The White Snake Sage's raspy voice reached Motomu's ears, cutting through the sandstorm kicked up by Shukaku.
"Let go first. Once we deal with this thing, we'll resume."
"Heh, you think I'm that stupid?"
Motomu sneered as he continued.
"If I let go and you run away, then what?"
"I'm still interested in seeing how much longer your Sage Chakra lasts."
There was a moment of silence.
Then the White Snake Sage spoke again.
"Don't push your luck."
"There's an old saying: 'When two sides fight, the third party reaps the rewards.'"
"Let go, brat. Let's deal with these fishermen first."
[ Author's Note : If you're loving the story, a power_stone, review or comment means the world!
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