At the same time, although Kusagakure's casualties were equally tragic, they had achieved an enormous victory, one could even say it was a triumph!
In the initial stage, the casualty ratio between Kusagakure and Konoha even approached 5:1.
But in the later stage, after Mugen threw all his main forces onto the battlefield, this ratio was immediately forced down to nearly 2:1.
Just as mentioned before, on the battlefield, the more ruthless the leader, the greater the achievement.
Mugen cruelly treated those two hundred people as decoys, using their lives to exhaust Konoha ninjas' energy, and only at the very end did he push all his troops into the fray, achieving an unimaginable victory for ordinary people!
Moreover, past war experiences had deceived Konoha.
Kusagakure had brought a large number of siege weapons, and Konoha naturally had corresponding defensive weapons. However, their numbers were not few compared to the impoverished Kusagakure.
However, those weapons were all deployed in the main strongholds at the rear.
Because the mid-sized strongholds in the front were actually used to exhaust the enemy's siege weapons. Once a stronghold was defended, they would immediately abandon it, then conduct a phased withdrawal at other strongholds, followed by a new round of offensive and defensive battles.
This entire process could last for several months, interspersed with small unit skirmishes. Then, when the enemy pushed to the front strongholds, all of them would be abandoned.
By then, their siege weapons would be nearly exhausted. Conversely, at the main strongholds, they could rely on abundant defensive weapons to block the enemy to the death.
This was like how the two ninja villages' attacks were blocked by the Kikyō Pass in the past!
This was the usual practice of ninjas, because no one would use ninjas like Orochimaru did!
In this battle, even if they inflicted hundreds of casualties on Konoha, what about Kusagakure? Their losses would be even greater!
And once Kusagakure thus fell into weakness, the surrounding villages would begin to stir. Kusagakure would even face the crisis of village destruction!
So no one would do this, and no one dared to do this!
Except...
Orochimaru.
Kusagakure camp.
Konoha's heavy casualties were mainly due to Kusagakure's mercilessness. Konoha could not carry away its injured during retreat, which is why such a terrifying number of casualties occurred.
On Kusagakure's side, they could carry the injured back for treatment when sweeping the battlefield.
So, among these thousands of casualties, Mugen could actually pick up quite a few people whose injuries were not too severe.
Therefore, the true number of deaths between them and Konoha was actually closer!
In the medical camp, hundreds of ninjas lay on beds. The air was filled with the smell of blood, but no one dared to resist Orochimaru's cruel rule, because on the large banner outside, more than thirty pale heads were hanging!
Mugen and Kaoru slowly walked in. Everyone looked at them with eyes full of fear and hatred, but they dared not meet their gaze.
A reign of terror was destined not to last long, but...
Anyway, he didn't need it to last long.
Slowly, the two walked to a wounded ninja. He was a chuunin in his late thirties. A large cut had been opened in his abdomen. Although it had been bandaged, he was still continuously bleeding.
This was no longer an injury that medical ninjutsu could treat. What awaited him was only painful death.
A group of shadows cast on his body. The chuunin opened his eyes in pain. In his previous life, he had also suffered equally severe injuries, but at that time, Kaoru's mother was still alive. She was used by Kusagakure as a mobile blood pack. The life force in her body was completely devoured, ultimately causing her to die tragically.
Mugen looked at Kaoru. He hesitated for a moment, then his eyes immediately emitted a greedy light. He struggled to reach out to Kaoru, like a demon from hell!
"Bite me!
Bite me!!!
I want to live!
I definitely want to live!!!"
Mugen stared coldly at the chuunin, then with a backhand slap, he knocked the chuunin's head aside, revealing his neck. Immediately, he pulled out a syringe and injected all the green liquid inside into his body.
The chuunin was sent spinning by Mugen's slap, then felt a sharp pain in his neck, followed by a surge of hot liquid entering his body!
The injected liquid was like boiling magma flowing through his blood vessels. Very quickly, his entire body convulsed. His hands clenched like chicken feet, and a painful roar burst from his throat!
Everyone around looked over in horror. They thought Orochimaru was cruelly torturing those injured!
But they were wrong. Orochimaru didn't want to torture them; he just wanted to kill them.
Very quickly, a large number of black curse marks began to appear on that chuunin's body! His vitality began to emerge within him. The magma-like substance in his blood vessels no longer brought him pain; instead, it made him so comfortable that he almost cried out!
Those black curse marks began to form into strip-like patterns on his body. Immediately afterwards, smoke began to emerge from the wounds on his body, healing completely in an extremely short time!
A seriously wounded person on the verge of death was instantly healed!
This was the powerful life force that Orochimaru's Curse Mark of the Beast brought him!
However, this power would not be given to him for free. The price he would pay was the rapid consumption of his future lifespan!
But he probably wouldn't care about that.
The healed chuunin looked at his hands frantically. He felt power continuously gushing out from within him, as if no one in this world could defeat him anymore!
The corners of the chuunin's mouth lifted. The beast within the curse mark was devouring his rationality. The power he gained also made him begin to swell. He turned his head and looked at Mugen and Kaoru, then licked the blood on his lips. His eyes once again shone brightly, "You actually dared to treat me like that just now!"
The chuunin's hands, like blades, immediately clawed at Mugen's neck!
But just then.
Thud!!!
Kaoru raised his leg and directly kicked him more than ten meters away. He knocked over several injured people along the way, and there was a pile of messy things, and even his lower abdomen was pierced by a steel pipe!
But none of this seemed to affect him. The chuunin stood up, bit down on the steel pipe in his lower abdomen, and rapidly spinning fresh blood spurted out like a fountain, but he didn't seem to feel anything.
And under the beast's influence of the curse mark, the extreme pain even triggered his ferocity!
A series of angry roars erupted from the chuunin's throat. The curse mark injected into his body began to respond to his desires!
His skin began to harden and turn dark red. His double pupils became thick and strong, and his two hands transformed into the shape of two fierce claws!
His body became even more robust and broad, and tiger-like features even began to appear on his face!
In just a moment, he transformed into a tiger-like creature, and even the wound on his lower abdomen disappeared again!
Curse Mark: State III!!!
At this moment, the chuunin had already approached a bestial form. His desire to kill surged within him, and his rationality was almost gone. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha!!! You all, are you ready to face my power?! No matter who it is, everyone will tremble before my power!"
The chuunin roared loudly, then charged forward again!
At this time, the surrounding guards finally recovered their senses. They rushed forward to stop the chuunin.
But the opponent had already gone berserk at this moment. His sharp dual claws, like blades, even wounded several of the eight guards who tried to intercept him, charging right in front of Mugen!
But!
With a swish, Kaoru pulled out his large executioner's blade from behind, then flung it with his hand, directly piercing through the chuunin's body. He slammed into the tent, tearing it apart, and was sent flying outside, impaling himself on a large tree!
Even at this moment, he hadn't completely died. He was still roaring and struggling in disbelief!
Everyone in the tent instantly turned pale with horror. At this moment, Mugen, with a slight smile on his face, said to them, "See? This is the village's research achievement! The power granted to us by the Great Secret Treasure!
Is it weak?"
Even after being injected with this thing, they were no match for Orochimaru, but...
That person was just a chuunin!
Even his injuries would have prevented him from surviving today!
But he recovered completely after obtaining that power, right in front of everyone! He could even force eight ninjas back!
Mugen opened the box, only to see hundreds of glittering, cold syringes neatly arranged inside. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he said, "Do you want it? This power?"
Before his words fell, everyone present showed a thirsty gaze. They were all severely wounded and dying!
Not to mention anything else, just that surging life force alone, this so-called great secret treasure, was enough to make them give their all! How could they miss such an opportunity!
Mugen's mouth also lifted at this moment.
The biggest drawback of the curse mark was that it consumed the user's life force, but these Grass Ninjas, he imagined, wouldn't live long enough to discover this point.
...
Just as Mugen injected the already mastered Curse Mark of the Beast into the bodies of the Kusagakure ninjas.
On the other side, Sunagakure, at the same time the battle began, pushed all its forces onto the battlefield!
"Faster, faster! Don't stop moving! Follow the people in front!" Chiyo urged everyone to quickly rush through the forest.
She had painstakingly sealed all information about the village, gathering the eighty thousand ninjas of Sunagakure and hiding them near the border!
All for today!
Unlike Konoha, which bordered the Land of Wind, and the Land of Wind and Land of Fire, which were separated by the neutral Land of Rivers, Sunagakure's power could not extend here.
This also meant that after they entered the Land of Rivers, they could no longer secretly monitor Konoha!
However, as a genius strategist of the previous generation, Chiyo still came up with a solution.
That was...
Lightly armored, ultra-speed vanguard!
Skilled in long-range combat, they even left Konoha's scouting teams far behind, all to ensure Konoha would not receive accurate intelligence in the first place!
Chiyo raised her head and let out a hawk's cry in the sky. Instantly, several released falcons were torn to shreds.
The means of transmitting intelligence in the ninja world were still physical transmissions. At this moment, Konoha ninjas simply had no way to send intelligence back!
And as long as Sunagakure's army size was not leaked out, Konoha would never make preparations sufficient to deal with eighty thousand ninjas!!!
At this moment!
Sunagakure, which loved adventure, once again staked the fate of its entire village on this war!
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