Hiding in the sand, splitting into many places, starting with Arkham

Fengshang Qianlan had to take action because the situation had reached a point where he had no choice.

A massive purple serpent roared as it smashed through the eastern defense line of the Suna encampment.

Standing atop the snake was a slender figure with fair skin, long flowing hair, and purple eyeshadow.

Orochimaru!

Among the Sannin of Konoha, Orochimaru was the most notorious.

Although the current Sannin were not yet at their peak, as they would be years later, after earning the title of Sannin, they had already approached their prime. Each of them was a genuine Kage-level powerhouse.

Behind him were Konoha ninja, armed with swords, kunai, and well-equipped.

"Soyama, Tetsuya, hold them back with your puppets! Sata, support us with your ninjutsu! Kurokawa, let's go!"

To hold back Orochimaru, Suna had mobilized almost all of its remaining high-level combat power.

However, there were not many who qualified to fight against a powerhouse like Orochimaru.

Among the Suna shinobi dispatched to the Land of Rain, there were only about twenty Jonin, and only a few could be considered elites among them.

Sunagami Soyama and Misashita Tetsuya were respectively the vice-captain of the first puppet squad and the captain of the second puppet squad. Together with Sata, Kurokawa, and Fengshang Qianlan, a total of five elite Jonin, they could barely hold Orochimaru at bay with the support of the ninja army.

As for winning, there was basically no chance.

Shimizu and the other two were on guard, watching the battle with trepidation.

Fengshang Qianlan and the Jonin named Misashita Tetsuya were surprisingly strong, noticeably stronger than the other three Jonin, and they were bearing the brunt of the pressure.

If Shimizu were to evaluate, he would consider the two of them to be, if not as good as Hatake Kakashi when he first appeared in the original story, then not much inferior to Sarutobi Asuma.

Being able to exchange a few blows with a Kage-level expert already made them top-tier ninja in the shinobi world.

Unfortunately, not long after the fight began, the Jonin named Kurokawa was injured.

Manda was also rampaging through the Suna formation, as if in an uninhabited land.

Orochimaru was unhurried, simply using snake-based ninjutsu to suppress Fengshang Qianlan and the others.

In his opinion, victory was only a matter of time.

"Captain Qianlan and the others, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold on for much longer."

Shimizu clenched his fists, his palms sweating.

He never expected that he would encounter such a dangerous moment after just arriving on the battlefield and being assigned to the safest reserve unit.

If the encampment were breached, he didn't know if Chiyo could protect the main force of Suna and allow them to retreat.

If not, then the Suna forces would be scattered.

He needed to find a way to escape and save his life now!

Just as Shimizu was considering the situation, a sudden change occurred in the distant sky.

Two clouds were moving towards them.

Two very different clouds, one was a brownish-red sand, and the other was golden.

"That is…"

A ninja looked at the distant clouds.

"That's Magnet Release! A different Magnet Release from the Second and Third Kazekage! Someone in the village has mastered Magnet Release again!"

A young woman with short, light-golden hair, said to her lover beside her.

She looked seventeen or eighteen years old, entering the most beautiful stage of a woman's life.

"Yes, the Sannin of Konoha, will be the stepping stones for me, Rasa, to make a name for myself!"

The young man with brownish-red hair appeared very arrogant.

"Let's go help first, Jonin Kurokawa and the others are about to collapse."

Karura smiled slightly and raised her hand.

"Sand Waterfall Funeral!"

Streams of sand gathered and turned into a waterfall, pressing down on Manda.

"You're right."

Rasa also raised his arm.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Great Burial!"

Golden sand accompanied the regular sand, swirling towards Orochimaru and Manda.

"Magnet Release?"

Orochimaru forced Fengshang Qianlan back with the snakes that flew out of his sleeves and frowned.

He knew the power of the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release.

Although the scale of the two people's gold dust and sand was far less grand than the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand, their combined efforts were enough to pose a certain threat to him.

In addition to several elite Jonin with considerable strength, even Orochimaru believed that his chances of winning were not great at the moment.

"Manda: Serpent's Defense!"

Dense swarms of snakes spewed out of Orochimaru's sleeves and gaping mouth, blocking the gold dust and sand.

In a hurry, Orochimaru glanced at the other directions of the battlefield.

Chiyo and Hanzo were still deadlocked.

The average combat power of the Amegakure ninja was lower than that of Suna, and the number of Konoha ninja who came to support was slightly insufficient.

This battle would probably not yield much more results, and it would be meaningless to continue fighting, so it was better to retreat and plan slowly later.

"Retreat."

Orochimaru gave the order and used the snake swarm to cover the retreat of the Konoha ninja.

On the other side of the battlefield.

Hanzo also noticed the movements on Orochimaru's side and his heart sank.

"Ibuse."

As soon as Hanzo spoke, the salamander Ibuse under his feet immediately understood and spewed out another thick purple poisonous mist.

At this time, the main role of this poisonous mist was not to kill the enemy, but to act as a smoke screen to cover the retreat of the Amegakure ninja.

"Phew…"

Seeing Orochimaru and Hanzo retreat, Shimizu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, there were strong reinforcements.

During the battle, the three Chunin, Shimizu, Yekura, and Maki, couldn't intervene, but after the battle ended, the three became busy.

Assisting in cleaning up the battlefield, counting the losses, and collecting discarded ninja tools, after a round of counting, it was already evening.

"Thank you both so much today. If it weren't for you two, this old woman might not have been able to hold back Orochimaru and Hanzo. Come, although it's not sake, I still have to offer you both a cup."

In the tent, Chiyo raised her cup to Rasa and Karura.

A few simple side dishes were placed on the table in the middle.

"Elder Chiyo is too polite."

"Thank you, Elder Chiyo."

Rasa and Karura also raised their cups and clinked them with Chiyo.

"This is my and Ebizo's newly accepted disciple, Shimizu."

Chiyo pointed to Shimizu, who was sitting beside her.

"Senior Rasa, Sister Karura."

Shimizu smiled and raised his cup to the two of them.

The cup contained fruit juice.

No alcohol, no extravagance, and no lust are the three prohibitions for ninja. Although many ninja do not abide by them at all times, during important missions and wars, in order to prevent the enemy from stealing information from these aspects, the three prohibitions for ninja must be observed.

"Hello, little brother Shimizu."

Karura said with a smile.

Rasa also nodded slightly and clinked cups with Shimizu.

He was arrogant, but not stupid.