บท 104: Chapter 104
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[Starting as a Class 5 Mutant]
"Dammit!"
Rasa was so angry that he almost smashed the table with his fist. Despite having superior ninja forces, they couldn't capture Kikyo Castle.
This fortress was the last line of defense for the Fire Country and Konoha. If taken, the Sand Village could advance directly toward Konoha.
Unfortunately, their repeated assaults were thwarted by Jiraiya and Minato.
Whenever Rasa confronted Jiraiya, Minato would exploit the opportunity to decimate the weaker Sand ninja with his Flying Thunder God Technique.
This tactic significantly widened their advantage in the battle.
Their only means to potentially turn the tide in favor of the Sand Village was to deploy a Tailed Beast.
However, the current Jinchuriki of the One-Tail was too old. Transforming him into the Tailed Beast form would significantly shorten his lifespan, and the village had yet to choose a successor.
"Chiyo-sama, in our next assault, please keep Jiraiya occupied. I'll handle that bastard Minato," Rasa instructed Elder Chiyo, who was among the few in the Sand Village capable of contending with a Sannin like Jiraiya.
Although her expertise in poison and medical ninjutsu was vital to the Sand Village, the desperate situation necessitated her involvement in the front lines.
"Kazekage, Jiraiya won't let you go after Minato. Besides, Konoha's elite ninja are formidable. They will still manage to breakthrough and target our other ninja," Chiyo pointed out.
Initially, deploying Yashamaru to the battlefield seemed beneficial, but Rasa, using the excuse of guarding against potential threats from the Hidden Mist, kept Yashamaru in the village; whether this truly aimed to counter the Mist was unclear to Chiyo, but she felt it was inappropriate to sideline such a powerful ninja.
"We must deploy the Tailed Beast. It's the only way to capture Kikyo Castle," Chiyo reluctantly suggested, acknowledging the exceptional capabilities of the enemy's medical ninja, suspecting Tsunade's presence in Kikyo Castle.
Otherwise, the Sand's newly developed poisons wouldn't have been countered so effectively right before the war.
"The use of the Tailed Beast, huh?" Rasa hesitated, aware that deploying the Tailed Beast without capturing Kikyo Castle would lead to even greater losses, as the Jinchuriki might have to withdraw from battle due to his diminished lifespan.
In such a case, they'd have to relocate the Jinchuriki or wait years to capture the One-Tail again.
"I'll do my best to maintain his physical condition. The medical team will focus on ensuring his wellbeing, aiming to sustain him until after the war when we can transfer the Tailed Beast," Chiyo sighed, thinking the situation wouldn't be so dire if the Third Kazekage were still in charge.
Thinking of the Third Kazekage reminded Chiyo of her grandson, Sasori, whose defection remained a mystery to her.
Had Sasori not defected, the Sand Village would undoubtedly have a significant advantage in the war against Konoha.
After much contemplation and considering the increasing number of wounded, Rasa made a decisive call, "Deploy the Tailed Beast. Tell Bunpuku, the battle begins the day after tomorrow."
Konoha's medical capabilities were superior; their lightly wounded could return to battle after just a couple of days. In contrast, the Sand lacked medical ninja and herbs, leaving many of their injured out of action for weeks.
The disparity was evident.
"Let Bunpuku target Kikyo Castle with the Tailed Beast Bomb, breaking through Konoha's defenses, then we'll eliminate their medical ninja and see what they can do!"
Rasa clenched his fists, thankful that the Sand had been pillaging metal resources from the River Country, significantly easing their burdens.
The Daimyo of the River Country now meekly submitted to the Sand, fearing assassination like his father.
Previously, resource allocations were negotiated, but now everything belonged to the Sand.
With this thought, Rasa felt slightly better, though lamenting that the current looting of mined metals was only a temporary solution.
If they could control the mines longer, puppeteers in the Sand Village would never lack materials for creating puppets. However, their immediate goal was to capture Kikyo Castle and force Konoha into a peace treaty.
Kikyo Castle.
Even at night, the medical team was busy treating the wounded.
Another skirmish outside Kikyo Castle resulted in over twenty casualties among the hundreds involved. Due to the sheer number of injured and the medical ninja's limited numbers, treatments had to be prioritized by the severity of injuries.
After attending to the critically wounded, Mina, holding a bottle of extracted poison, headed out.
"Hey, little girl, give me some treatment," Jiraiya called out to Mina as she passed by. He had sustained a flesh wound from Rasa's Sand Gold during their encounter, losing a good amount of blood.
Mina stopped at his request, frowned, but adhered to the medical ninja's creed and inspected his wound. Finding it not too severe, she signaled another ninja, "Asami-senpai, please dress Lord Jiraiya's wound."
"Aren't you going to use medical ninjutsu?"
"No need!"
Afterward, Mina hurriedly left, and another medical ninja came to Jiraiya's aid to apply medicine and bandage the wound.
"Lord Jiraiya, the medical team is under tremendous pressure. For injuries that aren't severe, we're resorting to this treatment method. If a critically injured ninja arrives and the medical ninja have depleted their chakra, it would be dangerous."
"I see, sorry about that. I wasn't aware."
"No problem. But just now, Mina-senpai was on her way to produce an antidote. She discovered a new poison used by the Sand, and she's rushing to prepare countermeasures for the frontline ninja, hence her hurry."
"Is that so? Impressive."
Jiraiya remembered Mina, who had studied under Tsunade and belonged to the Uzumaki clan.
What stood out to him was her riding a bear to Kikyo Castle, leaving a strong impression with its speed and stamina comparable to a ninja's, understanding human speech, and even having its meals delivered!
Jiraiya's injury was actually minor, and he could endure the pain without it affecting his combat ability. Moreover, the medical team was indeed overstretched.
After depleting a certain level of chakra, it's a medical ninja's rule to conserve chakra for potential emergencies.
Before leaving, Jiraiya suddenly asked, "Is she the best you have here?"
Asami was taken aback, then nodded, "Yes, currently there's no one in the medical team more skilled than Mina-senpai. Her speed in treating injuries is several times faster than others."
"I see."
Jiraiya nodded and left the medical camp to discuss the Sand's recent actions with others.
Their sudden attack was swiftly repelled, but Jiraiya and the rest sensed a scheme behind the Sand's actions, yet without sufficient intelligence, they couldn't pinpoint the Sand's intentions.
"Lord Jiraiya, you've arrived."
Shikaku greeted Jiraiya upon his return, sharing their speculation, "The Sand may launch another assault soon, possibly targeting our medical team this time. They attacked our patrol units today; the next strike could happen any moment."
"Should we dispatch scouts?"
Jiraiya pondered, then recalling what he heard in the medical camp, he suggested, "The Sand has developed a new poison, and our medical team is already working on an antidote. Let's wait for the antidote before sending out scouts."
"A new poison... No wonder some ninja, despite having antidotes, still perished today."
Shikaku frowned, concerned about the danger to scouts without antidotes, as even minor scratches could prove fatal, leaving no chance for treatment.
"In that case..."
Jiraiya was about to speak when a deafening explosion sounded outside.
Boom!
The shockwave caused Jiraiya and others to stagger; the explosion seemed to originate from Kikyo Castle itself!
Stabilizing themselves, Jiraiya, Minato, and Shikaku immediately left the building to stand on the rooftop.
Looking into the distance under the moonlight, they saw a gigantic creature.
"Ha ha ha ha, die, humans, all of you, die!"
"Wind Style: Vacuum Bomb!"
Following Shukaku's maniacal laughter, the massive sand hand patted its round belly, then swiftly spat out several chakra-filled wind orbs towards Kikyo Castle's walls.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each wind orb possessed the destructive power typically seen only in elite ninja, but now, Shukaku easily unleashed them, quickly demolishing the walls of Kikyo Castle.
Even with protective barriers on the walls, they couldn't stop Shukaku's Vacuum Bombs.
"Jiraiya-sensei!"
"Go, Minato, Shikaku, the counterattack is yours to command!"
Jiraiya bellowed, having previously organized two wars with Shikaku's strategies, effectively repelling the Sand's assaults.
While Jiraiya and Minato confronted the Sand's powerhouses, preventing them from overwhelming ordinary Leaf ninja.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Both ninjas invoked their summoning jutsu, and in the next moment, two enormous toads appeared in Kikyo Castle amidst a cloud of smoke.
"Is that... a Tailed Beast? Jiraiya, why is it always such a hassle with you? This guy's strong."
Jiraiya quickly said, "Sorry, but I'm counting on you to stop him, or the Leaf ninja will suffer greatly."
Minato added, "Gamabunta, Gamaken will help you. Please!"
"It's for Minato. Jiraiya, you always bring trouble!" Gamabunta grumbled, drawing his knife, uncertain even with Gamaken's help against this foe.
"Minato, let's go!"
Before Jiraiya could finish, a mass of Sand Gold appeared on the other side of Kikyo Castle, changing his expression.
He knew Rasa wouldn't let him easily confront the One-Tail. If he assisted Gamabunta against the One-Tail, Rasa would take advantage of other Leaf ninja.
'Lord Jiraiya, Minato, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa and Chiyo are attempting a sneak attack on our camp's rear. We need you and Minato to intercept them. Here's their location!'
After receiving Inoichi's message, Jiraiya and Minato exchanged glances, then told Gamabunta, "Sorry, we have to stop the invaders. The One-Tail is up to you."
"You go, Gamaken and I can handle this monster!"
The toads, weapons drawn, leaped towards Shukaku as Jiraiya and Minato departed.
"Dammit, die!"
Shukaku, seeing the toads attack, furiously countered.
The three giants clashed under the moonlight, their every strike causing the earth to tremble, far beyond the reach of ordinary ninja.
————————————
"Mina, it sounds like it's getting closer. Should we evacuate?"
Elite ninja Asami couldn't help but ask, with the sound of battle intensifying nearby while they had many wounded; despite being Mina's senior, in this camp, Mina was the medical team leader.
"Let's move the wounded first. We'll hold out a bit longer, more may arrive. But Asami-senpai, send someone to check with the command post."
Mina glanced at the camp's gates, somewhat relieved, but knowing the wounded couldn't stay, directed their transfer to a backup camp.
Shortly after, the medical team received orders from the command post to stand by, informed that Jiraiya and Minato had intercepted the enemy.
Soon, more wounded were brought in, and Uzumaki Mina and her team commenced treatment.
As time passed, just as the medical team was busy, an explosion suddenly sounded outside.
The proximity nearly disrupted an ongoing surgery.
Mina rushed out to investigate and soon, a ninja arrived, announcing, "A large number of enemies have infiltrated. The medical team must evacuate immediately."
Before he could finish, another explosion lit up the sky a few meters away, followed by a thunderous roar.
"We've found them, the Leaf's medical ninja are here!"
Spotting the Leaf's medical team, the Sand ninja shouted, launching a signal to gather nearby forces.
"I'll cover, run!"
The messenger ninja, having delivered the warning, charged at the attacking Sand ninja with kunai in hand. But with the encircling Sand ninja closing in, escape was virtually impossible.
Thus, Mina approached Gates, pleading, "Gates, please, repel the enemy."
Rising, Gates nodded to Mina, then a savage ferocity gleamed in his bearish visage.
"Roar~!"
A thunderous roar shook every ninja to their core, and they saw, emerging, a massive black bear standing over twenty meters tall under the moonlight.
(End of Chapter)
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