The moment Chiyo turned, she knew she had fallen for that hateful guy's trick.
"You damn brat, you..."
Before Chiyo could vent her anger, Uchiha Fugaku, who had received Orochimaru's instructions and was waiting for an opportunity, instantly unleashed the full power of his three- tomoe Sharingan. A powerful Yin release surged into Chiyo's furious eyes.
"Genjutsu: Shackle!"
Chiyo's body stiffened, her eyes glazed over.
Orochimaru's eyes flashed with killing intent. The Kusanagi sword from his right sleeve instantly crossed the distance between them, appearing at Chiyo's chest.
"Pfft!"
Chiyo's body shuddered as the Kusanagi sword pierced straight through her chest and back.
Despite his successful strike, Orochimaru frowned.
Not because of anything else, but the two puppets entangled with Tsunade were still flexibly dodging and weaving around her, showing no signs of losing control.
"As expected of an elder whose strength has allowed them to survive this long. Elder Chiyo's power truly impresses this junior!"
Orochimaru exclaimed, slowly withdrawing the Kusanagi sword from Chiyo's chest. As the blade left her body, Chiyo's form seemed to lose its support and crumbled into a pile of sand.
"Heh heh!"
"I forgot to tell you brats, when I usually play with my grandkids, my favorite trick is to pretend to be dead."
Chiyo emerged from behind the three long-tongued puppets, a forced smile on her face as she looked at Orochimaru.
"You little brat have some brains, actually knowing how to use my son's safety to interfere with my judgment."
"However..."
"If you want to play mind games with this old woman, you still need a few more years of training!"
Chiyo taunted Orochimaru with an air of superiority, then patted the three long-tongued puppets.
"But you were right about one thing!"
"My unfilial son is indeed no match for the Leaf's White Fang..."
"There's no other way! This old woman only has one son, and if anything were to happen to him, I wouldn't have the face to see his father in the afterlife."
"Therefore..."
"This old woman will just have to deal with you few first, and then take care of that Leaf's White Fang."
Chiyo's fingers flew, and her chakra flowed through the threads into the three long-tongued puppets.
"White Secret Technique: Three Treasures Sealing Fissure!"
The three puppets, Bu, Fa, and Seng, simultaneously raised their arms and formed the tiger seal. A powerful suction force instantly enveloped Orochimaru and the other two.
"The old woman is decisive!"
Orochimaru flashed forward, standing in front of Uchiha Fugaku. He plunged the Kusanagi sword into the sand behind him, resisting the suction. Tsunade was even more direct; she punched away the grappling hook thrown by the horse-faced puppet and stamped her right foot down, standing her ground unshakably.
"You few are not bad either, to be able to resist the power of the Three Treasures Sealing Fissure. You've earned my respect once more."
Chiyo chuckled with confidence. She continued to pour chakra into the three puppets, and the suction force on the trio immediately grew even stronger.
"Summoning Jutsu - Manda!"
Orochimaru slashed his left hand across the Kusanagi sword. Using the blood, he gripped the hilt with his right hand, crossing his fingers to form the summoning hand signs at high speed.
"Boom!"
A large cloud of smoke dispersed, and Manda's massive purple body instantly appeared before Orochimaru, blocking the suction that enveloped the three of them.
"Finally, a chance for my subordinates to fight..."
Before Manda could even ask, it felt its body sliding uncontrollably towards that old woman. A fierce glint appeared in Manda's huge vertical pupils, and it roared angrily at Chiyo.
"Damn human crone, trying to seal Lord Manda with a sealing jutsu!"
"Die!"
Manda roared and, disregarding its forward momentum, slammed its massive tail towards Chiyo and the three puppets.
Chiyo truly hadn't expected Orochimaru to have a summoning beast even larger than Tsunade's slug. Seeing Manda's tail crashing down, she couldn't help but feel a prickle of fear.
Honestly, since the development of the Three Treasures Sealing Fissure secret technique, Chiyo had never encountered a summoning beast as large as Manda.
As for whether the Three Treasures Sealing Fissure could seal Manda, only the gods knew!
Her mind raced. Chiyo immediately summoned all seven of her remaining movable puppets to her side. Besides the three maintaining the Three Treasures Sealing Fissure, the remaining four puppets were all under her control as they moved to intercept Manda's tail.
Chiyo's demands were not high. If these four puppets combined could at least sever or repel Manda's tail, inflicting enough damage on the summoning beast, her plan would be considered successful.
After all, the prerequisite for a summoning beast to exist in the ninja world was not only sufficient chakra but also the absence of fatal damage. Otherwise, these intelligent beasts would naturally return to their clans.
Chiyo's calculations were precise, but she never imagined that the tail Manda used for its attack was its strongest part.
The Kusanagi sword - Ame-no-Murakumo, was still stored inside it by Orochimaru!
"Clang... Crackle..."
Giant blades, grappling hooks, and puppet arm blades, weapons that were usually considered indestructible, struck Manda's attacking tail, instantly turning it into a bloody mess.
It was only someone as powerful as Chiyo, a veteran ninja, who could achieve this. Anyone else would have had trouble even breaking Manda's scale-enhanced hide.
Manda roared in pain, its muscles tensing in ferocity. Its already powerful tail instantly blurred into a streak of light, heavily slamming the four puppets into the sand.
"Bang bang..."
"Crash!"
Severely damaged, the four puppets were instantly shattered into countless fragments by this immense force. Before Chiyo could even lament the damage to the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets, Manda's giant tail descended upon her.
"How is this possible?"
Chiyo only had time for a shocked cry before her body, along with the three puppets, was smashed into the ground by Manda's tail.
"Rumble!"
The ground shook violently, debris and sand rained down, and the entire battlefield was momentarily stunned by the earth-shattering sound.
The suction dissipated, and the desert winds of the Land of Wind once again filled the battlefield.
"Manda, well done!"
Orochimaru nodded with satisfaction at Manda.
Although Chiyo's thoughts had not yet vanished from his dark perception, judging by the chakra fluctuations emanating from underground, her condition was likely not good.
As for the remaining three puppets...
If one were to search the sand pit beneath Manda's tail, some parts might still be salvageable.
While Orochimaru and Manda were performing their dramatic display of master-and-servant affection, Takuma and his wife, who were fighting Sakumo Hatake in the distance, witnessed their mother being instantly submerged underground by a summoning beast from the Leaf. Their eyes turned red.
"Mother!"
Takuma let out a heart-wrenching cry, glaring furiously at Orochimaru, the other two, and that damn giant summoning snake. Gritting his teeth, he let out a beast-like growl.
"You forced me into this!"
Controlling the remaining three red-clothed puppets to engage Sakumo Hatake, Takuma took out a warm sealing scroll from his embrace and tore it open.
"Seal Release!"
"Damn Leaf ninja, accompany Mother to hell!"
A terrifying purple salamander poison mist immediately spread outwards with the unrolling scroll. Sakumo Hatake's face paled in shock, and he instantly retreated in the direction of the Leaf.
"How could it be on him?"
"We were wrong!"
"Orochimaru and I were both wrong!"
Sakumo Hatake's face was anxious as he shouted at the Leaf ninja, who were stunned by the previous explosion.
"Leaf ninja, hold your breath and immediately retreat from the battlefield!"
Takuma gave a wry smile, ignoring the Sand ninja who had not fully retreated under his wife's command. He quickly formed the hand seals for Wind Release.
"Too late!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Instantly, a gale swept with purple clouds, wildly spreading across the entire battlefield. The terrifying salamander poison began to indiscriminately attack every living creature it encountered. Readers also asked:
The mist of poison passed through, and cries of agony filled the air, with corpses littering the ground.