The precision and destructive power of certain jutsus went without saying.
In short, Hagoromo had just knocked down a nation-level strategic deterrent right in front of its owners.
The sight of someone brutally overpowering a tailed beast was undeniably shocking. It made Hagoromo look absurdly powerful—but in truth, more than half of the credit belonged to Kushina.
When Shukaku had been bound by her Adamantine Sealing Chains, the tailed beast was under complete suppression by Uzumaki chakra. In that state, Shukaku was unable to move, evade, defend, attack, or regenerate.
It was nothing more than a super-sized, helpless target.
Hagoromo had taken advantage of that opening.
Otherwise, if Shukaku had fired off even a single Tailed Beast Ball, Hagoromo would have been finished on the spot.
On the battlefield between Konoha and Sunagakure, the highest combat power—Shukaku—was temporarily neutralized. Worse still, Sunagakure now faced the very real risk of losing their tailed beast altogether.
As long as the right sealing tools were available, someone like Kushina—now free to act and highly skilled in fūinjutsu—could completely seal Shukaku away.
That was why the seasoned and calculating Granny Chiyo issued two orders almost immediately:
First—retrieve Shukaku at all costs.
Second—eliminate the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
On this battlefield, she was Sunagakure's highest-ranking commander.
With Konoha's reinforcements returning in force, the balance of power between the two sides was steadily evening out. In fact, Sunagakure's momentum had already been completely suppressed, and it wouldn't be long before they fell into a disadvantage.
After all, what had just happened was an enormous morale boost for Konoha.
At this point, assassinating Tsunade and destroying the command post—the original primary objective—was no longer feasible. Chiyo made a decisive adjustment:
Primary objective: retrieve Shukaku.
Secondary objective: kill Uzumaki Kushina.
Capturing Kushina alive would have been ideal—but that was clearly unrealistic.
"You Sand shinobi really don't know how to stick to a plan, do you?" Tsunade mocked, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she faced Chiyo across dozens of puppets.
Tsunade's face was pale—not only from the ferocity of the battle, but also because she was still forcibly suppressing her hemophobia.
Suppressing it with extreme effort.
Still, at this point, she could finally breathe a little easier.
The command post—along with its combat and non-combat personnel—had inevitably suffered heavy casualties from Sunagakure's surprise assault. But with the frontline forces returning, the command structure would survive.
As long as the chain of command remained intact, Konoha's overall war strategy would not suffer catastrophic damage.
What no one had anticipated was that the key figure turning the tide would be the boy fighting beside Kushina.
In the span of a single minute, Hagoromo's impact on the battlefield could hardly be called anything less than decisive.
Tsunade was shocked by his combat power—but this was no time to question it. On a battlefield, every increase in friendly strength meant one step closer to victory.
With Shukaku temporarily out of action, the Sand shinobi began to lose their footing. Once Chiyo's orders were issued, they surged almost reflexively toward Kushina's position.
Their single-minded focus on killing the jinchūriki left their backs completely exposed.
The battlefield took on a layered structure:
Innermost circle: Hagoromo, Kushina, and a core group of Konoha shinobi
Middle circle: Sand shinobi assaulting inward
Outer circle: Konoha reinforcements freely harvesting the Sand shinobi's exposed flanks
From that moment on, the casualty exchange ratio completely reversed.
Chiyo's arms were calmly extended before her, invisible chakra threads connecting her fingertips to the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu, which stood between her and Tsunade.
She glanced first at the slowly regenerating Shukaku. Confirming that Konoha hadn't yet begun sealing operations, she turned back to Tsunade.
"Your younger generation is impressive," Chiyo said coolly. "The battlefield changes constantly. It's clear now that our original objective is no longer achievable. But eliminating the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki—its strategic value may actually exceed that of destroying this command post."
Sunagakure's original plan had been simple:
Destroy the command post → calmly retrieve Shukaku → wipe out the leaderless Konoha main force.
But the plan had gone awry. Before they could succeed, Konoha's frontline troops had already returned.
In truth, Chiyo herself had opposed deploying Shukaku in the first place.
But the Fourth Kazekage had insisted.
Faced with such an all-or-nothing decision, and in order to uphold the authority of the new Kazekage, even a senior advisor like Chiyo had been forced to agree.
Now, it was clear—
Bringing Shukaku onto the battlefield had been a mistake.
Fortunately for Sunagakure, Konoha had made a mistake of its own.
Beyond destroying the command post, an even more attainable—and far more valuable—target had appeared:
The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
That boy who had rushed in to protect her—no one knew what jutsu he'd used to scatter Shukaku, but his strength was undeniable. He reminded Chiyo of someone from the Second Shinobi World War.
Konoha's White Fang.
A threat like that could not be allowed to grow.
If possible—
He should be destroyed here, along with the jinchūriki.
"I must say," Chiyo continued coldly, "placing the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki here is both praiseworthy in its audacity—and infuriating in its stupidity."
There was no denying that Kushina had played a decisive role in this battle. Without her, Shukaku would have already laid waste to the battlefield.
But precisely because she was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, she was a target of the highest priority.
Placing her directly under the enemy's gaze—
From a strategic standpoint, it was still a grave miscalculation.
Sunagakure's assault on Konoha's command post had been meticulously planned. It had not yet failed—and it could not be allowed to fail. The cost they had paid was simply too high.
At this point, Sunagakure had only two choices:
Withdraw and preserve what strength remained.
Or—
Bet everything.
They chose the latter.
Like gamblers who had already lost half their chips but still saw a chance to win, they pushed all their remaining stakes onto the table.
"No matter what," Tsunade said firmly, "you're about to lose."
In truth, she was deeply worried about Kushina's condition. But defeating Chiyo in a short time was nearly impossible.
So instead—
She issued an order.
Just five words.
"Sealing Unit."
"Target: Shukaku."
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