Chapter 81: we won
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Utilizing the eight gates technique, Fugaku fearlessly fought his way through the puppet troops, decimating their numbers to just two hundred.
He left a distinct trail for his Uchiha clansmen to follow to finish off the remaining puppet troops. Although he could use an A-rank jutsu to dispose of them easily, it'd pose a risk to his allies.
Running was not an option; even with the aid of the eight gates technique, it was too slow. He wondered if he could learn to fly, but he dismissed the idea as he kept fighting.
He used his wits and strength to hold off the puppet troops from attacking the Konoha camp. Though he tried to lure them away, Kazuki was commanding them, and he was adamant about attacking the Konoha camp.
Kazuki couldn't shake him off or defeat him. If he were to order some ninja to hold him, they would be defeated in mere seconds.
The same fate would follow for the next Suna squad, leaving them with no choice but to dismiss even faster. He can't afford to show his back to the enemy, as that would only hasten their defeat.
He considered his options when a deafening noise came from the front line.
A colossal snake emerged, with a long-haired man standing on it who had arrived to join the battle.
The snake devoured everyone in its path, causing screams and panic amongst the sand ninja, leaving no grass in its wake.
Everyone stopped their fight for a moment, looking in the same direction, including Fugaku, who was contemplating.
"Orochimaru? Is he here?"
At that moment, Kazuki felt desperate; he knew this war was lost when Fugaku joined the battle, let alone him with Orochimaru.
He fired a signal flare and ordered a retreat. The puppeteer troops and sand ninja started withdrawing from the battlefield, knowing there was no point in fighting anymore.
Their surprise attack had failed miserably, as they did not have anyone who could face off against Fugaku and Orochimaru in the Suna camp.
The remaining two hundred puppeteers retreated, followed by the three hundred sand ninja.
Initially, there were around five hundred sand ninjas who launched an attack on the Konoha camp, but now, with only three hundred left, they recognized that there was no point in continuing to fight a losing battle.
The surprise attack had failed without someone who could hold back the Uchiha clan head, and unfortunately, they were not prepared for Orochimaru's sudden appearance on the battlefield.
They had no information about his movements as he relentlessly pursued them.
However, Fugaku, the Uchiha clan head, successfully held off the Suna puppet troops and managed to achieve his objective of defending the Konoha camp.
As the Suna camp retreated, Fugaku's fellow Uchiha clan members caught up with him.
"Clan head, are you okay?"
Other Uchiha clan men squads also joined them, relieved to see the enemy's withdrawal.
Their task was to intercept the puppeteer that slipped by Fugaku, and it was meant for only clansmen who had sharigan.
"Asahi, are you out of your mind?" One of them laughed and tried to make fun of him.
"You're fine; how can clan head get hurt?"
"Hey, I was just making sure." Asahi said, scratching his head sheepishly.
"I'm fine; let's go. Let's see how many we lost." Fugaku.
He knew that some of his clanmen had fallen, but he hoped that the number was not too high.
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On the side of the Konoha camp, his shadow clone informed him that there were only around 200 Suna Shinobi left.
They were now outnumbered by more than three hundred Konoha ninjas, including the Uchiha and Ino-Shika-Cho clans. Without the support of their puppet force, the Sand Shinobi had little chance of winning against such a formidable force.
He made a decision to train and increase his speed on the battlefield. contemplating, he remembered how Minato had repelled a thousand Iwa ninja single-handedly.
It was no secret that a large part of the credit for this remarkable achievement should be attributed to Minato's mastery of the Flying Thunder God technique.
He had used his seals to fill the entire battlefield with kunai, guaranteeing his victory. Fugaku believed that obtaining the Flying Thunder God technique would undoubtedly make him even faster than Minato himself.
"clan head....."
Someone called out to Fugaku as he tried to catch up with them. He turned around and saw Kaito, whom he had once again forgotten about.
"Where were you just now?" Asahi asked curiously, wondering where Kaito had been during the task.
The group had been intercepting puppet ninjas and hadn't seen Kaito, only remembering that he had been stalled by a boy. The others began to look at Kaito suspiciously, wondering if he had wasted half a day fighting.
"That little boy is no less than Jonin, so it took me some time to deal with him."
Kaito spoke confidently, as if he could read their thoughts. However, they didn't believe him, knowing that with his Sharingan, he could easily defeat a jonin in a one-on-one battle.
Kaito didn't elaborate further, not wanting to admit that he had been delayed by Baki. He didn't consider it something to be proud of on the battlefield.
After the battle was over, under the leadership of Fugaku, the members of the Uchiha clan walked towards the camp with laughter, relieved that the mission was a success.
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And the suna camp side.
The Sand Shinobi's were silent as they stood in the desert of the Land of Winds. Not a single word was uttered among them, still in shock from their failed surprise attack.
The loss of Kagawa and nearly half of their forces—about three hundred men—weighed heavily on their minds.
The Uchiha clan leader and his squad, reinforced by shadow clones, had decimated the Sand Shinobi force.
One hundred ninja fell to Fugaku's shadow clone on the right wing flank, while sixty puppeteers met their demise on the left wing. The remaining forty Sand Ninja were hunted down by Fugaku himself.
To make matters worse, Orochimaru joined the battle, only to summon a gigantic snake that devoured an additional forty Sand Ninja within minutes.
The rest were killed by Ino-Shik-cho and Uchiha clan men when they attacked Konoha camp.
Ultimately, the battle was a crushing defeat for the Suna and a glorious victory for Konoha.