Ryu didn't notice a thing before Chizuru suddenly pushed him away, followed by her pained cry. He quickly turned his head, only to witness an unbelievable sight: a white-haired man had appeared beside Chizuru, his short blade already piercing her side.
"Chizuru—you, you're Hatake Sakumo!" Ryu's voice trembled with a mix of worry and resentment as he spoke to the white-haired man.
The white-haired man was indeed Hatake Sakumo. His sudden strike pierced Chizuru's side, and Lightning Release quickly coursed through her, causing her to cry out in agony and collapse. Before Ryu could even check on Chizuru, Hatake Sakumo had already charged forward, raising his hand and unleashing a barrage of lightning threads as fine as needles.
Ryu instinctively had his puppet block in front of him. However, those needle-like lightning threads entered the puppet's joints and then exploded like bombs. The intense lightning instantly severed some of the puppet's joints and rendered some of its mechanisms ineffective.
Hatake Sakumo had long developed his own combat methods against puppet masters, understanding the weaknesses and limitations of puppets intimately. It was precisely for this reason that a Lightning Release ninja could thrive and move freely among the Wind Release-wielding ninjas of Sunagakure.
During the joint Chunin Exam, Hatake Sakumo had already defeated his opponent. Even after nearly twenty years, the power gap between them still existed. In the Land of Grass campaign, Ryu had almost never won against Hatake Sakumo. The only time he almost killed Hatake Sakumo was due to a group ambush and gaseous poison.
Ryu no longer had time to worry about his wife; he couldn't even protect himself now. A battle with Hatake Sakumo should have been fought at a distance, but now he was engaged in close combat. For a puppet master whose fighting style relied heavily on puppets, this was undoubtedly a significant disadvantage.
Of course, Ryu wasn't completely without any close-quarters combat ability; he also had a considerable mastery of Wind Release. However, countless examples from the past had proven that even those proficient in Wind Release gained no advantage against Hatake Sakumo. The difference in their overall power completely overshadowed any elemental advantage.
—Damn it, why is this guy suddenly here!
Ryu had taken this dangerous opponent very seriously. He had previously scouted for intelligence and confirmed that Hatake Sakumo was a considerable distance away. Even if Konoha ninjas noticed the existence of the surprise attack force and promptly dispatched reinforcements, as Ryu had said earlier, they would surely be intercepted by Chiyo and others. They couldn't possibly arrive so quickly.
Don't let the intensity of the previous battle fool you; it had only lasted about ten minutes. Ninja battles are inherently fast-paced, especially without defensive positions—the slug that could have served as a position had also been quickly separated. With resistance, ninjas shouldn't have been able to reach here, unless they had some means of rapid movement, but what could that be?
Ryu's thoughts stopped there, his attention entirely focused on Hatake Sakumo's movements. Hatake Sakumo, like a white-furred wolf, fiercely pounced on his prey. Ryu was almost constantly retreating, while Chizuru, who had been stabbed in the side, was left behind, unattended.
Chizuru immediately gathered wind-attribute chakra. Of course, she couldn't directly create a blade-like Wind Release, as that would directly damage her meridians. Instead, a gentler wind-attribute chakra rubbed against the invading lightning-attribute chakra, and although her body was still somewhat numb, Chizuru at least wasn't completely paralyzed.
Even so, Chizuru was severely wounded by the previous attack. Her side was already a densely packed area of internal organs. For a veteran like Hatake Sakumo not to have instantly killed her could be considered a show of mercy. In fact, Hatake Sakumo had indeed shown mercy.
Chizuru clutched the wound on her side, performing some emergency treatment. Seeing Ryu being forced back by Hatake Sakumo, she murmured, "Damn it, I need to think of something quickly—"
"Sorry, this has nothing to do with you anymore. Seriously injured people should go and rest properly." At that moment, a girl's voice rang out. Chizuru turned her head, and what she saw were a pair of blood-red eyes, with a black dot in the pupil, surrounded by two 'tomoe'-shaped patterns.
—Oh no, this is... The first unit Konoha Ninja Village dispatched to the Land of Rivers was the one led by Uchiha Kagami, which included members of the Uchiha clan. Chizuru was, of course, no stranger to this famous bloodline limit in the ninja world. However, even though she realized it, it was already too late.
Chizuru suddenly felt a dizzy spell, her consciousness seemingly dragged into those blood-red eyes, falling towards the black hole in the depths of the pupil.
Her eyes lost their luster, and her body swayed to the side, completely losing consciousness. The pain in her body and the cold brought by the rain also seemed to recede.
"Phew, if she hadn't been seriously injured, it might not have been so easy." Mizuki, who appeared beside Chizuru, massaged the acupoints around her eyes to relieve the soreness.
The genjutsu ability of the Sharingan usually only appears at the stage of three 'tomoe' in its fully activated state. However, because her father possessed talent in genjutsu, Mizuki, as his daughter, also had a genjutsu-type Sharingan, and even now, she could still use genjutsu.
"It's okay, if it doesn't work, I'll be here to help," Yamanaka Risa said, standing beside Mizuki.
"However, this time it should count as catching a big fish. She's the daughter-in-law of Chiyo of Sunagakure, and that red-haired guy is Chiyo's son. Their status in Sunagakure is not low," Mizuki said.
"Indeed, there won't be such a good opportunity again," Yamanaka Risa nodded and said.
At this moment, a group of Konoha ninjas appeared on the battlefield, joining the existing Konoha ninjas to attack the Sunagakure ninjas. The addition of new forces immediately tipped the scales of battle to one side, and among them, Asuna's performance was exceptionally striking.
The moment she entered battle, Asuna entered Sage Mode. With her abilities enhanced across the board, she was like a streak of white light sweeping across the battlefield. Unlike Hatake Sakumo's cold light, hers was a dazzling light that made it impossible to track her movements.
"It's the Flash… the Flash…" Some Sunagakure ninjas couldn't help but exclaim. This was the title given by the Sunagakure ninjas to Asuna during the Land of Grass campaign, who, along with Hatake Sakumo, carved a bloody path. It held the same status as Hatake Sakumo's current title, "White Fang."
Why did Hatake Sakumo and others appear here? The reason was that Tsunade, at the start of the battle, used Katsuyu to transmit intelligence to the outside world. She believed that if Asuna's squad received the intelligence, Asuna might use Katsuyu to learn the specific situation. And just as she predicted, Asuna, knowing that the medical camp was exposed, immediately summoned Katsuyu, demanding to know the situation firsthand.
When she learned that Tsunade was leading some high-ranking medical ninjas to support the battle, Asuna realized this was an opportunity to quickly reach the battlefield. By using summoning jutsu for transfer, some forces could be deployed to the battlefield, but it required a considerable amount of chakra, and the summoned beast also needed to be able to carry the forces to be transferred.
However, Katsuyu's body is soft and can wrap people inside to transfer them. Asuna's own chakra was also sufficiently abundant, so she brought Hatake Sakumo and some elite squads here via summoning transfer. This was also Tsunade's way of preventing the opponent from stubbornly refusing to retreat.
This involved an element of gamble. If Asuna and her team encountered a battle, they might not be able to get firsthand information through Katsuyu—although they could use Reverse Summoning to call Asuna over, doing so during a battle might affect her companions, and Reverse Summoning wouldn't allow her to bring others along.
Now it seems that both Asuna and Tsunade trusted each other deeply, which led to the current situation. The ones in danger now were not Tsunade and her group, but the Sunagakure surprise attack force. With the addition of Asuna and her team, the Sunagakure force was on the verge of annihilation.
With the help of others, Ryu finally managed to escape Hatake Sakumo's pursuit. He pulled far away, blood staining the corner of his lips. He hadn't expected that a moment of impulsiveness would lead to such a predicament, with even his wife in danger. At this moment, he instinctively looked towards Chizuru.
And with that glance, Ryu saw Chizuru being enveloped by Katsuyu's body. This sight made his heart sink, and the cold brought by the rain seemed to chill him more than his body.
"Captain, let's retreat quickly! If we retreat now, we might still be able to rendezvous with other units, but if we stay, we'll definitely be wiped out!" someone shouted.
To be fair, Ryu didn't want to abandon his wife. Although Chizuru had been stabbed by Hatake Sakumo, she was likely in grave danger. However, the enemy's action of taking Chizuru into that summoned beast made him somewhat uneasy. Perhaps there was a glimmer of hope—or perhaps it was just his personal wishful thinking.
But no matter what, Ryu couldn't rescue Chizuru now. He seemed to have only one choice. Although his heart was in a fierce struggle, on the surface, he immediately made a decision—retreat!
The Sunagakure ninja forces regrouped to resist the Konoha ninja forces' pursuit, then quickly retreated. Seeing the enemy retreat, Hatake Sakumo, although he wanted to pursue, considered the situation behind him and decided not to chase. It would be troublesome if there were more Sunagakure ninja forces behind them.
"Thank you, Asuna." Tsunade dispelled the Summoning Jutsu, then smiled at Asuna. Due to the massive chakra consumption, her physical strength was severely depleted.
"It's also because Sister Tsunade was here," Asuna said. "Luckily, Sister Tsunade held on until now, allowing us to arrive here."
"But isn't it a bit reckless for a medical ninja to be on the front lines?" Mizuki said from the side.
"If it weren't for me, the others wouldn't have been able to hold them off at all," Tsunade waved her hand. "Honestly, the current situation is rather lucky. If the enemy were any stronger, I might not have been able to hold out, or if you received the intel later, we would have suffered heavy losses."
"I didn't expect the intelligence to be leaked. This was something we didn't anticipate. Sunagakure's previous actions were all to deceive us," Hatake Sakumo walked over and said, "But in terms of results, the medical camp was saved, and the enemy's objective was not achieved."
"Speaking of which, I'm very curious why the intelligence was leaked," Tsunade mentioned the new poisons used by Sunagakure. "One might be a coincidence, but two makes one a bit suspicious, though it's not impossible."
"Are you suspecting someone leaked information?" Hatake Sakumo looked at Tsunade with a grave expression. "This is a very serious accusation, do you understand, Tsunade?"
If someone leaked information, whether it was an outsider or an insider, it would be a very serious matter. The former would be manageable, but the latter would require extreme caution. An inside spy is much harder to defend against than an outsider, and furthermore, information of this level cannot be leaked casually.
If there was an insider among the high-ranking ninjas, then the village's high command would have to take it seriously, otherwise, it would affect the entire war. If it weren't for Tsunade's quick thinking and a bit of luck this time, Konoha's medical system would have suffered an unprecedented impact. Once medical support falters, the casualty rate of front-line ninjas would drastically increase.
Konoha's ability to fight on multiple fronts and its advantage on the battlefield is largely due to the medical camp's existence, which reduces casualties and restores fighting strength. This is an advantage unique to Konoha and a guarantee for prolonged warfare.
"I'm a bit worried now if other intelligence has been leaked. Other battlefields might also run into problems. In any case, we need to be more careful in this operation. Sunagakure might be more dangerous than we imagined," Tsunade said.
"I understand." Hatake Sakumo nodded. "However, for now, we still need to block Sunagakure's attack. As for the intelligence leak, we'll investigate it after this is over."
"Alright." Tsunade nodded and called over the other high-ranking medical ninjas. Just as she had promised earlier, not a single medical ninja was lost. Although some combat personnel died, they also saved many. This was their limit, after all, as the enemy was too sudden, and their own forces were insufficient.
Tsunade led the high-ranking medical ninjas to first treat the wounded, then, under the protection of Hatake Sakumo and others, began to head towards the medical camp. Now, the medical camp needed to readjust its protective measures. They were lucky to escape this time, but they couldn't be so careless again. Next, they would lead everyone to rendezvous with Konoha ninja units from other areas and re-establish their defenses.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Kagami and others, who were also in danger due to leaked intelligence, managed to eliminate all the ambushers despite the enemy's mistaken information. However, Uchiha Kagami wouldn't have anticipated that an even more troublesome battle awaited him next.