The Hidden Leaf ninja reacted very quickly.
Upon receiving Nara Shikafū's command, all the ninja immediately gathered.
Although their expressions were tense, there was not much panic.
They had already set up numerous traps near the camp to deal with various situations.
To try and charge their camp was simply wishful thinking!
However, just as they were standing by, fully prepared and waiting for the Cloud ninja to fall into their trap, a jet-black chakra orb streaked across the distant horizon, leaving a brilliant trail.
To the horrified gazes of the Hidden Leaf ninja, the chakra orb exploded with a roar above the camp.
The high temperature and shockwave produced by the explosion instantly reduced the Hidden Leaf camp to ruins.
Immediately after, a second chakra orb followed.
It plowed a wide, deep trench across the ground, and then exploded violently again within the Hidden Leaf camp.
"It's a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
"Damn it, the Hidden Cloud Village has deployed a perfect Jinchūriki."
"Everyone, don't gather together; spread out a certain distance."
Two Tailed Beast Bombs directly shattered the Hidden Leaf ninja's formation; the originally disciplined ninja now became like headless flies.
Even with Nara Shikafū desperately giving commands, it was already futile.
What was even more terrifying was that the Hidden Cloud Village ninja had already charged in en masse, following the trench plowed by the Tailed Beast Bombs.
The traps the Hidden Leaf ninja had set up in advance had long since been completely destroyed by the Tailed Beast Bombs' attacks.
What kind of dirty trick is this?!
"Hahahahaha... Charge with me! Today, let these Hidden Leaf ninja see how powerful we are."
"Look at these fools running around; they're probably stunned by the Tailed Beast Bombs."
"Today, let's help our Uchiha brothers teach these arrogant guys a good lesson."
"Thanks, brother, but our Uchiha clan ninja prefer to handle things ourselves. We've been wanting to deal with them for a long time. Today, they'll learn why the Sharingan is so red!"
"..."
In the distance, Uchiha Ketsuyasu and the Third Raikage stood side by side, silently observing the battlefield ahead.
Under the leadership of A, Killer B, and Uchiha Fugaku, the Hidden Leaf ninja couldn't even put up a decent resistance.
Defeat was only a matter of time.
The Third Raikage looked at Uchiha Ketsuyasu and couldn't help but say, "Are these really Hidden Leaf ninja? They seem so vulnerable."
"But... Ketsuyasu, you don't seem as happy as I imagined."
Uchiha Ketsuyasu said indifferently, "I don't like to celebrate prematurely. An advantage in one battle doesn't mean anything."
Hearing this, the Third Raikage nodded.
He felt even more fortunate about his decision back then.
It could be said that the smooth progress of today's battle was entirely due to Uchiha Ketsuyasu's efforts.
Uchiha Ketsuyasu had scouted all the Hidden Leaf outposts without being detected, which allowed them to eliminate all those Hidden Leaf outposts in an instant.
It was also Uchiha Ketsuyasu who found the location of the Hidden Leaf camp and proposed the idea of using Tailed Beast Bombs to destroy the traps, which enabled them to engage the Hidden Leaf ninja in close combat smoothly.
From every aspect, there were no flaws.
If such a person became an enemy, he would probably have headaches and sleepless nights, wouldn't he?
Fortunately, this time, the Hidden Leaf had actively delivered such a powerful individual into his hands.
— — — —
— — — —
In the command center dug deep underground, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Hatake Sakumo, and others meticulously studied the map under the incandescent lights, their faces devoid of any smiles.
The war had been going on for a month, and the Hidden Leaf Village had suffered heavy losses.
Even with Orochimaru and the others personally coming to the front lines to support, it only delayed the Hidden Cloud Village's offensive.
The reason was simple.
The Hidden Cloud Village's fighting style was simply too underhanded.
No matter how well they concealed themselves, the enemy could always accurately locate their command post, then launch a Tailed Beast Bomb at it, and then another Tailed Beast Bomb at the ninja gathering points.
Immediately after, they would mindlessly charge in... Even battle-hardened individuals like Orochimaru and the others had no solution to this.
They couldn't possibly scatter their ninja, could they?
That would probably be no different from sending them to their deaths.
In the silence, Orochimaru's voice was hoarse and chilling. He looked at everyone and said, "The war with the Hidden Cloud Village has dragged on for too long. Continuing like this is not a solution. The Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Stone Village have already shown signs of massing troops at the border."
"We must end the battle with the Hidden Cloud Village before they launch their offensive."
Hearing this, Jiraiya nodded: "I agree. As long as we can tie up the Hidden Cloud Village's high-level combatants like A, Killer B, and Uchiha Fugaku, our ninja will absolutely not lose to them."
He had originally planned to travel the ninja world with Minato Namikaze, while continuously trying to master the Nine-Tails' power.
However, the war between the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Leaf Village forced him to temporarily put his plans on hold.
Minato Namikaze, standing by, felt a little guilty and softly said, "If I could also control the Nine-Tails' power, we wouldn't be so passive."
Not only could he not help on the battlefield now, but he also had to carefully hide to avoid being discovered by Uchiha Ketsuyasu... This made Minato Namikaze feel very frustrated.
Seeing this, Jiraiya comforted him, "Minato, you are very talented; you just need some time to grow."
"Don't worry, we will definitely defeat the Hidden Cloud Village!"
Orochimaru spoke again: "Alright, no more irrelevant chatter. I'm assigning combat missions now."
"I will deal with Uchiha Fugaku. Jiraiya, you will hold back Killer B. Sakumo-senpai, you will be responsible for that guy named A."
After Orochimaru finished speaking, Hatake Sakumo said with some hesitation, "Orochimaru, although Uchiha Ketsuyasu hasn't made a move yet, his strength must be taken into account."
"I fought him before; that guy's strength is definitely not beneath mine."
Hearing this, Orochimaru licked his lips with his tongue and said, "Ever since learning about Uchiha Ketsuyasu's Mangekyō Sharingan, Lord Hokage and I have been poring over records."
"According to the material left by the Senju clan, it seems Uchiha Madara went blind for a period after awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Later, Uchiha Izuna was severely wounded by the Second Hokage, and Uchiha Madara regained his sight only after transplanting his younger brother's eyes."
"Although not entirely certain, using the Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities is very likely to be accompanied by the risk of blindness."
"I think this is also why Uchiha Ketsuyasu rarely makes a move."
After listening to Orochimaru's explanation, Hatake Sakumo was still somewhat worried: "But we can't gamble..."
"We must gamble!" Orochimaru interrupted Hatake Sakumo, saying coldly, "We don't have that many high-level combatants. To win, we must use such a method."
Having said that, Orochimaru's gaze swept over everyone: "If you're afraid of Uchiha Ketsuyasu making a move, then kill your opponent as quickly as possible."
"This is the only method I can think of."