A short time before Konoha launched its attack.
At a location several kilometers away from Sunagakure, the Konoha surprise attack team stopped. Then, Orochimaru made the final tactical arrangements.
"Follow the original plan. In five minutes, you will begin your attack independently… Habara, your team will come with me. We need to act first."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."
Most of the people were temporarily left in place by Orochimaru. Then, he took Habara, Kakashi, and Tenzo and rushed towards Sunagakure first.
After silently taking out a few sentries, the four of them climbed onto the natural cliff wall that surrounded Sunagakure.
Looking out from here, they could see that Sunagakure below was brightly lit, and within those lights, there was a faint sense of anxiety… This shouldn't be the atmosphere of a heavily guarded, militarily strong great ninja village.
Simply put, after seeing this scene, many people would subconsciously ask a question full of concern and warmth:
Did someone die in this family?
"It seems the Fourth Kazekage is indeed dead. The ninjas in this village are like headless chickens," Orochimaru said after observing for a short while.
Habara thought to himself, could I possibly lie about something like this? People should have basic trust in each other.
"However, the death of the Kazekage isn't enough to completely paralyze Sunagakure's various functions. In fact, conversely, the more this is the case, the more efficiently certain departments will operate…" Orochimaru then said.
"Lord Orochimaru, I don't quite understand what you mean." Habara didn't understand the meaning of Orochimaru's words. No wonder everyone hates cryptic people, yet everyone is also a cryptic person.
"I mean that Sunagakure's sensory barrier must have already detected the abnormality here. We need to act quickly."
"…"
Then why are you still chatting here?
"Habara, send me directly into Sunagakure. Your ability can definitely do it," Orochimaru finally decided to start working.
Habara nodded, then he used the metal lump behind him to create a disc large enough for someone to stand on. After Orochimaru stood on the disc, Habara sent him into the sky above Sunagakure.
The air in the desert was very dry, with low moisture content. Therefore, on windless nights, the sky would appear exceptionally clear. At such times, whenever night came, the moon in the sky would be extraordinarily bright and clear.
"It looks like it could fall down at any moment…" A Sunagakure ninja who was admiring the moon had just had this thought when he saw something actually falling down.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A "snake rain" fell from the sky. This was truly a rare astronomical phenomenon, a miracle of nature. After Orochimaru summoned Manda, Sunagakure was plunged into complete chaos.
Then, Konoha's elite combat squad broke into Sunagakure.
In addition to that large summoned beast, Orochimaru also summoned several "small snakes" that were only ten to twenty meters long. These "small snakes" had insufficient combat power, but they were more flexible and their movements were more covert, making them more like top predators.
These "small snakes" didn't aim to strangle Sunagakure ninjas. Instead, they hid in various corners of Sunagakure, adopting a wait-and-see approach. Once a Sunagakure ninja appeared within their attack range, the "small snakes" would directly swallow these ninjas whole… A rare opportunity, Orochimaru wanted to take this chance to replenish some "experimental materials."
Looking down from Habara and his team's position, Sunagakure at this moment looked like a hot pot with too little broth, too much meat, overcooked vegetables, and too high a flame – completely abnormally "boiling." Especially Manda, its destructive power was truly astonishing. This snake just squirmed around like a maggot, and then it destroyed everything along the way.
Because of the assassination of the Kazekage, the spotlight was already big enough. So, in the current combat operation, Habara didn't intend to do anything too outrageous… Considering that they were under Orochimaru's watchful eye at this moment, this decision was undoubtedly correct.
So the three-man team didn't break into Sunagakure. They just formed a defensive formation on top of the cliff. Kakashi and Tenzo were in front, and Habara just drew his bow at the rear, honestly acting as an ADC.
If any Sunagakure ninjas noticed their presence and attacked, Habara and his team would counterattack. However, at first, some Sunagakure ninjas did come to try to eliminate them, but after the situation below became completely chaotic, no one paid attention to them anymore.
So Habara and his team were in the VIP seats, watching Sunagakure being swallowed by the flames of war little by little.
After Konoha's elite squad broke into Sunagakure, Sunagakure became even more chaotic… Without special precautions, even the "elite squad" of the Sound Village could cause chaos in Konoha. Konoha's elite ninjas couldn't possibly be inferior to the Sound ninjas… And at this time, Orochimaru had already broken into the Kazekage's office building.
Then, shortly after, Orochimaru discovered a group of Sunagakure ninjas tightly protecting something. Considering that this was the Kazekage's office building, and there were so many ninjas desperately protecting this thing, normally it must have considerable value.
Without another word, Orochimaru quickly took care of those Sunagakure ninjas. Then he came to the protected object and found that it was a uniquely shaped golden flower.
Apart from being quite valuable, it didn't seem particularly special… Orochimaru casually glanced at a Sunagakure ninja who was being controlled by his "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands." Then he asked this enemy, "What is this thing?"
The Sunagakure ninja wanted to show his tough bones. However, the snakes wrapped around him suddenly tightened, and several snake heads instantly bit his neck. A certain wet and cold feeling began to seep into his bloodstream. He then felt infinite terror, and the next moment, he couldn't help but speak, "It's… it's the Fourth Kazekage's remains. This appearance… it was done by you Konoha ninjas."
Orochimaru: "…"
It was Habara. Orochimaru understood instantly.
At this moment, even an artistic performer like Orochimaru began to wonder why there could be someone so boring and so tasteless in the world.
......
The turmoil lasted for most of the night. Although Sunagakure was stunned at first, they quickly rallied. And when they began to act collectively and engage in army warfare, Orochimaru's summoned snakes began to be taken down one by one… Either they were killed on the spot, or they were too seriously injured and automatically dispelled the summoning.
In the end, even Manda was a little sluggish. No matter how strong it was, it was still just a snake, not a Tailed Beast. So it had to take a break when it was time to take a break… Before the job was even finished, this guy ran away.
So from the second half of the night, Sunagakure regained the advantage. Konoha ninjas began to withdraw from Sunagakure one after another. By dawn, the Konoha troops, having regrouped, withdrew from the battlefield.
Although Sunagakure's personnel losses tonight were difficult to calculate, by the time the Konoha troops withdrew, Habara felt that at least sixty percent of Sunagakure's buildings had been destroyed… Undoubtedly, this was a heavy blow.
According to Habara's idea, the war should have ended at this time. However, Orochimaru was still micromanaging.
After withdrawing from Sunagakure, Orochimaru led Konoha's elite troops back to the Land of Rivers. Then, the Konoha frontline camp, which had received the signal, poured out.
Under such an incredibly sudden two-pronged attack, Konoha easily broke through Sunagakure's defense line in the Land of Rivers.
Then, after the two sides joined forces…
Orochimaru led the entire army back into the Land of Wind.
Three days later, two thousand Konoha ninjas were blocking Sunagakure's entrance.
Besieged, that's all there was to it. Sunagakure was completely stunned.
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