Chapter 461: The Sand Village

Hatake Sakumo’s tactics were also very simple; his ninja blade would only swing at the renowned ninjas of the Sand Village.

The so-called "no one is unworthy under a great reputation"; fame and strength were always matched to a certain extent.

Capable ninjas usually appeared on the battlefield as commanders.

And as mentioned earlier, the high-level ninjas under Chiyo and Ebizo were mostly ninjas skilled in puppet techniques and Wind Release, with severely insufficient defensive capabilities.

This led to the fact that often at the beginning of a battle, as soon as the commander of the Sand Village troops appeared, they were directly beheaded by Hatake Sakumo.

Approach with Earth Release, rise up with a blade strike, death, and then retreat with Earth Release.

This set of fluid operations was performed to the fullest by Hatake Sakumo, leaving the Sand Village side with no way to break it.

It wasn't as if they could go through an entire battle without a single high-level ninja appearing.

Beheading the commander on the battlefield naturally had a huge impact on morale; that wasn't all, once the commander died, the Sand Village’s battle formation would naturally collapse directly, and then they would become a scattered mess.

Over time, a saying spread on the battlefield: Hatake Sakumo never kills the nameless under his blade.

This also led to almost every Jonin on the Sand Village side feeling insecure, their fighting spirit severely frustrated.

Under Hatake Sakumo’s assassinations, the Sand Village side remained passive throughout the war, constantly retreating.

Until now, the Sand Ninjas were already suspicious of every movement, unable to attack, and could only huddle in their camp, passively retreating and defending.

This also led to the Sand Village side being completely surrounded by Konoha in this desert, falling into an awkward situation of being unable to advance or retreat.

Even so, the Sand Village side did not escape Hatake Sakumo’s shadow.

There had been more than one case of Hatake Sakumo infiltrating the Sand Village camp and succeeding in assassinations; if this continued, the entire Sand Village would be in panic and would collapse without being attacked.

Therefore, the Sand Village’s defeat was already destined.

Chiyo scanned the gathered Sand Village Jonin with tired eyes, and upon seeing Chiyo’s gaze, everyone subconsciously and unnaturally shifted their eyes away, their faces carrying a look of fear.

Seeing this, a sense of powerlessness arose in Chiyo’s heart.

Because she knew that this was because everyone was afraid that she would send them to their deaths.

It had been three days, and Chiyo’s last hope had been shattered.

Three days ago, forced into a corner, Chiyo decided to use the final method—sending someone back to the village to ask for reinforcements.

Chiyo also realized that to resolve the disadvantage on the battlefield, it was necessary for the Third Kazekage to take action personally.

As long as the Third Kazekage, who was skilled in sand-manipulation ninjutsu, took action personally, Hatake Sakumo’s threat would be self-defeating.

With the Third Kazekage, a Kage-level powerhouse skilled in sand-manipulation ninjutsu, and a large number of sand-manipulation ninjas under his command who were skilled in defense joining the battlefield, Hatake Sakumo’s threat would immediately be self-defeating.

Chiyo naturally knew that she had been headstrong in launching the war, and for this, she did not hesitate to challenge the Kazekage’s prestige and disregard the Kazekage’s face.

And now she was shamelessly asking the Third Kazekage for reinforcements.

Such an act would undoubtedly cause her prestige to plummet, but she had no other way now; she could only pray that the Third Kazekage would consider the village’s situation and agree to take action, letting bygones be bygones.

Otherwise, she would definitely lose this battle.

Having lost her son and daughter-in-law, and with her own prestige plummeting, no matter the outcome of this battle, the siblings Chiyo and Ebizo had already suffered a crushing defeat.

So three days ago, Chiyo selected the fastest ninjas under her command and ordered them to return to the village for reinforcements.

Asking for reinforcements was the final gamble.

Because they were surrounded, the Sand Ninjas led by Chiyo had long since lost contact with the village.

And in fact, even if the Third Kazekage really considered the overall situation and agreed to send troops to rescue them, the message would have to reach the Sand Village first.

Under Konoha’s heavy encirclement, whether the ninjas Chiyo sent to deliver the message could succeed was a completely different matter.

But three days had passed, and there was still no news.

Chiyo knew that there was absolutely no hope left.

Whether the ninjas delivering the message were intercepted, or the message reached the village and the Third Kazekage refused to provide aid.

The process of why it happened didn't actually matter anymore, because the result was ultimately the same.

Chiyo’s failure had become a foregone conclusion.

Continuing to drag it out was nothing more than filling it with more lives.

"Everyone, sitting like this is not a solution; come up with a plan."

Chiyo said gloomily, her face looking as if she had aged ten years in an instant.

"This..."

The Sand Village Jonin looked at each other, thinking that Chiyo was urging them to fight again, and one by one they shrank back.

They were not afraid of the battlefield; what they feared was meaningless death, what they feared was dying without value.

The more than thirty Sand Village Jonin who died under Hatake Sakumo’s blade were enough to explain a bloody fact: going out to fight was no different from sending their heads to be taken.

"Since that’s the case, I propose peace talks with Konoha."

"Who agrees, who opposes?"

Regarding everyone’s reaction, Chiyo had long expected it, so she spoke again, her tone filled with powerlessness.

Hearing this, the Sand Village Jonin were all filled with surprise; they knew very well that Chiyo’s hatred for Konoha at this moment could be said to be higher than the sky and deeper than the sea.

They didn't expect Chiyo to take the initiative to propose peace talks; this was naturally a great thing for the other Sand Ninjas. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that victory was already impossible.

Even Ebizo, sitting beside Chiyo, showed a trace of surprise in his eyes when he heard Chiyo say this.

"Peace talks" was probably just a nice way to put it; in reality, Chiyo’s statement was no different from actively "surrendering" to Konoha.

"I agree."

A moment later, a Sand Village Jonin at the table spoke first.