After confirming that the main force of the Sunagakure had indeed gathered outside the village as the intelligence indicated and adopted a heavily guarded defensive posture, he also believed the intelligence obtained from the Kumogakure.
As expected, the intelligence System of a major Ninja village is truly wonderful.
To be honest, Hanzou felt a bit envious.
He was now somewhat aware of Hidden Sand's weakness.
Their bravado at this moment was mostly just a fierce-looking yet weak struggle.
What he wanted was to use the most ferocious and cruel blows to completely shatter Hidden Sand's fragile defensive outer shell.
"Attack."
Hanzou's voice came through his mask, low and clear, carrying an unquestionable murderous intent.
At his command, the long-prepared Amegakure elite quickly deployed from their marching formation like a poisoned blade drawn from its sheath, dividing into several groups and fiercely charging toward the dune defense lines and faintly visible trap lights on the outskirts of the Sunagakure.
The battle instantly reached a white-hot intensity!
"For Hidden Sand! Counterattack!"
The Third Kazekage's voice spread across the front lines via Chakra.
Although the Hidden Sand Ninja harbored fear toward the demigod in their hearts, their determination to protect their homeland overwhelmed their fear.
Relying on pre-arranged traps and geographical advantages, they fought desperately to intercept.
For a moment, the explosions of Kunai, Shuriken, and Explosive Tags, the howling of Wind Style and Sand Release, the collision sounds between the Barriers created by Earth Style and Amegakure's Water Style...
intertwined at the edge of the Desert into a cruel symphony of death.
Almost simultaneously as the Amegakure army launched its charge, Hanzou's figure vanished like a ghost, and the next moment, he directly appeared above the core dune where the Third Kazekage was located.
"Water Style: Water Blade Slash!"
The giant scythe carried a piercing screech that tore through the air, laden with thick water-attribute Chakra, and cleaved down directly from above.
"Magnet Release: Sand Iron Drizzle!"
The Third Kazekage had been well prepared; the pitch-black iron sand suspended around his body instantly transformed into countless fine needles, surging upward like a black rainstorm to meet Hanzou's slash.
At the same time, the sandy ground beneath his feet surged, forming a sturdy iron sand platform to provide a foothold.
"Clang—Ch-ch-ch!"
The scythe collided with the iron sand rainstorm, producing a harsh metallic friction and impact sound.
Although a large swath of the iron sand was cut apart, it successfully weakened the scythe's power and slightly hindered it.
Seizing the opportunity, the Third Kazekage retreated rapidly backward and formed hand seals.
"Magnet Release: Giant Iron Sand Needle!"
A massive iron sand spear condensed and formed, piercing toward Hanzou with a whistle.
Hanzou snorted coldly, neither dodging nor evading, and formed hand seals with both hands.
"Water Style: Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
A thick water wall materialized out of thin air; the giant iron sand needle pierced into the water wall, its speed plummeted sharply, and it was ultimately deflected by the current.
Meanwhile, Hanzou's other hand swung the scythe once more, chains rattling as the scythe bypassed the water wall like a venomous snake, slicing toward the Third Kazekage's flank at an eerie angle.
"Lord Kazekage, watch out!"
Granny Chiyo's sharp shout rang out. She had not directly participated in the encirclement of Hanzou, but instead sat back to command the overall situation and looked for opportunities to support.
At this moment, she manipulated a few Puppets from Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets, cutting into the battlefield like lightning.
One of the Puppets held a giant shield, precisely blocking the path of the scythe.
"Bang!"
The heavy impact caused the Puppet's giant shield to vibrate violently, but it successfully bought a split second of time for the Third Kazekage.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Barrier!"
The Third Kazekage immediately changed his move, and more iron sand surged from the ground, forming a continuously rotating defensive Barrier around him and Chiyo's Puppets, possessing strong magnetic force and cutting power.
Hanzou's gaze narrowed; the defense and interference capabilities of the iron sand were indeed tricky.
His figure moved again, activating the Body Flicker Technique, attempting to bypass the iron sand Barrier and directly attack the caster's main body or Chiyo, whose defense was relatively weak.
"Not so fast! Concealed Brain Sand Manipulation!"
Chiyo's ten fingers danced with Chakra strings. One Puppet opened its mouth to spew out a large amount of toxic sand infused with Chakra, interfering with Hanzou's vision and perception, while another Puppet swung a giant blade to follow up with an attack.
The Third Kazekage also cooperated with his full strength, turning the iron sand into countless tentacles or spikes to harass and restrict Hanzou's movements from all angles.
For a time, the Third Kazekage and Granny Chiyo, the two mainstays of Hidden Sand, worked together in tacit understanding, pushing everything they had learned in their lives to the limit, barely dragging Hanzou into a protracted melee.
The attack, defense, and interference of the iron sand, combined with Chiyo's eerie Puppet attacks and poisonous containment, indeed prevented Hanzou from quickly gaining an overwhelming advantage as he did against The Legendary Sannin of Konoha.
However, Hanzou was, after all, Hanzou.
His combat experience, Ninjutsu attainments, especially his elusive Body Flicker Technique and unpredictable poisonous arts, always caused the Third Kazekage and Chiyo to feel a suffocating pressure.
They were forced to adopt a defensive stance, barely maintaining themselves amidst thrilling offensives and defensives; new scars were constantly added to the iron sand and Puppets, and their Chakra consumption was even more severe.
Falling behind was an undeniable fact.
Although the Amegakure Ninja were fierce and brave, carrying the momentum of a fresh victory, they had made a long-distance raid, venturing deep into an unfamiliar Desert environment to fight.
Meanwhile, the Hidden Sand Ninja were defending their homeland, relying on meticulously arranged traps and familiar Desert terrain to display extraordinary combat effectiveness.
The Sand Release Ninja were like fish in water in the Desert, creating quicksand, sandstorms, and sand Shuriken, which, combined with poisoned traps and Explosive Tag arrays, caused massive trouble and casualties for the charging Amegakure forces.
More importantly, Hidden Sand was fighting with their backs to the wall at this moment, and their morale was high.
Furthermore, after the Amegakure Ninja learned that they had already surrendered to Konoha and Iwagakure, asking them to fight to the death with the tenacious Hidden Sand in an unfamiliar Desert just to save face caused their morale to subtly decline in the first place.
With this waxing and waning, Hidden Sand actually gradually gained the upper hand in battles at the level of ordinary Ninja.
Amegakure's offensive was checked, and casualties began to increase noticeably.
Although Hanzou was in the midst of fierce fighting, he observed all directions and listened to all sides.
He keenly perceived the predicament of his subordinates and the gradually increasing casualty figures.
Every single Amegakure Ninja was a precious seed for the village's difficult recovery after the war.
Mainly, the Hidden Rain Village was simply too poor. Unlike the Five Great Ninja Villages, any of which could easily pull out thousands of Ninja, and this was even the poorest among them, the Sunagakure; if it were Hidden Stone Village, the Kumogakure, or even Konoha, that would be unimaginable.
He glanced at the Third Kazekage and Chiyo, who were still struggling to support themselves but had resolute gazes.
Wanting to completely rout these two in a short time, even if he could do it, he would likely have to pay a considerable price, and there was clearly still defensive power within Hidden Sand.
By then, with his own state damaged and his troops suffering heavy casualties, even if he could temporarily force Hidden Sand to retreat, it would be meaningless and might instead allow the watching Konoha or Iwagakure to spot flaws.
After a swift scythe sweep forced back the combined attack of the iron sand and Puppets, Hanzou leaped backward leveraging the force, temporarily disengaging from the battle circle.
He stood on a higher patch of gravel, his gaze sweeping coldly across the entire battlefield.
Hidden Sand's resistance was more tenacious than he had anticipated, their geographical advantage was obvious, and his subordinate troops were already showing signs of decline.
Continuing to fight, even if he could win, would be a pyrrhic victory, losing more than it was worth.
"Hmph."
Hanzou snorted coldly; the voice through his mask carried a trace of reluctance, but even more of rational ruthlessness.
He suddenly raised his hand and let out a sharp whistle.
Hearing the signal, the Amegakure forces currently struggling in bitter battle felt as if granted amnesty, and immediately began to orderly break contact and pull back.
Amegakure's retreat order was issued decisively and executed quite swiftly.
Although these Amegakure Ninja, tempered by the flames of war, felt reluctant, their discipline was extremely strong. Under the command of their respective squad leaders, they quickly shook off the entanglement of the Hidden Sand Ninja and retreated toward the predetermined gathering point in the rear like a receding tide.
The Third Kazekage and Granny Chiyo did not order a pursuit. Their purpose was originally to force Hanzou to retreat and preserve the village, rather than to annihilate the enemy army.
Just as most of the Amegakure Ninja had withdrawn a certain distance, Hidden Sand's encirclement appeared somewhat loose due to the enemy's active retreat, and some Hidden Sand Ninja even began to relax slightly while clearing the nearby battlefield or checking on companions' injuries...
Hanzou, who had retreated to a relatively rear position and seemed about to leave with the main army, suddenly paused his figure.
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Advance chapter available on pãtrêon Got1808