Yakumo naturally noticed the last look Menma gave before returning to Naruto's body, and she hurriedly averted her gaze with a guilty conscience.
Inside her inner world, Ido curled her lips: "What is there to be afraid of!"
Yakumo was annoyed: "It's all because of the trouble you caused! Naruto's Heart Demon fought you and knows of your existence. Now that he reconciled with Naruto, he must have guessed our situation."
Ido looked indifferent: "So what?"
Possessing the 'Koryugan' again, Ido was full of confidence. Even if the worst-case scenario occurred and they needed to defect, she believed no one in the entire Hidden Leaf could stop her and Yakumo who mastered the 'Red Dragon'.
The Ninja World was vast; except for the Leader, she feared no one!
Yakumo, full of worries, sighed: "We can only take it one step at a time now!"
Because of becoming the Hokage's disciple, her clan rose again because of her. Thinking of the smiles and pride on the faces of her parents and clansmen, she really didn't want to destroy all this.
But she also knew clearly.
Everything she had was bestowed by the Leader, whether it was the 'Koryugan' in her eye sockets at this moment or the Hashira cells in her body. So when the time came to make a choice, she would firmly choose the person who appeared in her life and ignited hope for her on that night when she had nowhere to turn for help and was in despair!
Having made the choice in her heart, Yakumo calmed down instead, and her gaze towards Naruto no longer dodged.
Ido laughed: "That's right! You just care too much about other people's opinions. We are so strong, we should make others worry about our opinions!"
Yakumo said: "Like 'B'?"
"Yes!" Pausing, Ido said: "Yakumo, we should reflect properly on why the Lord gave the important task to 'B' and 'C' but not to us! Codename doesn't equal ranking, we can't admit defeat!"
Yakumo's gaze focused, a strange color blooming in the 'Koryugan'.
After confirming that Naruto regained control of his body, the Hidden Leaf crowd rested briefly on the spot, then immediately went to meet up with the ninja army led by Kurotsuchi and Darui pursuing Yakushi Kabuto.
Just now when Yakushi Kabuto appeared and fought Hiruko and Ranmaru, they realized that Kurotsuchi and Darui's team must have failed, but they were unsure of the losses.
A long time later, the Hidden Leaf crowd finally met up with the Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud allied forces resting on the spot.
After learning about their losses, the Hidden Leaf crowd clicked their tongues endlessly.
Kurotsuchi was still in a coma, Darui and Ameyuri Ringo were wrapped up like mummies, and Chino also suffered some vitality damage.
Jiraiya frowned: "Didn't expect Yakushi Kabuto to be so tricky!"
This time, the allied forces of the Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud numbered close to seventy or eighty people, including new generation geniuses like Kurotsuchi, Darui, Ameyuri Ringo, as well as Ryuzetsu and Chino from the Hidden Grass Village. Yet they were defeated by Yakushi Kabuto alone and almost completely wiped out.
This battle record alone was enough to show that Yakushi Kabuto's strength had comprehensively surpassed the Jonin level and reached Kage level!
Kakashi sighed: "We need to be more cautious when facing Yakushi Kabuto in the future!"
Saying this, he recalled that scene from before again.
Yakushi Kabuto dared to intercept Hiruko and Ranmaru alone, but fled in panic after 'B' and 'C' appeared. The contrast in between made it difficult for him to let go for a long time.
It was just that he couldn't determine yet whether Yakushi Kabuto was wary of the sum of the four Akatsuki members: Hiruko, Ranmaru, 'B', and 'C', or wary of 'B' and 'C' who appeared later, or perhaps one of the two.
At this time, a Hidden Cloud ninja squad responsible for reconnaissance arrived at the temporary camp, bringing back a Hidden Cloud ninja who accidentally encountered an Akatsuki member and fell under genjutsu.
Sasuke stepped forward to check, saying with certainty: "It's Sharingan genjutsu! The Akatsuki member he encountered is either Uchiha Itachi or Hiruko!"
Ryuzetsu at the side asked: "But why can't he be woken up?"
The Hidden Cloud ninja who brought this ninja back said: "We tried several methods, but none could dispel the genjutsu!"
"Oh?"
Kakashi was puzzled.
This ninja who fell victim was just an ordinary Chunin of the Hidden Cloud scattered in the Land of Rice Fields responsible for reconnaissance, his strength wasn't high.
Whether it was Itachi or Hiruko, it seemed unnecessary to use high-level Sharingan genjutsu to deal with him.
Sasuke became interested at this time, stepping forward: "Let me try!"
After trying for a while, Sasuke found that the opponent's spirit seemed to be sealed by genjutsu, having no reaction to external stimuli. Even he, a Mangekyo Uchiha, couldn't wake him up.
Jiraiya said: "Let me try!"
Hearing this, Sasuke stepped aside with a dark face.
Jiraiya tried several methods successively and found that he couldn't wake up this Hidden Cloud ninja either. Realizing the matter wasn't simple, he said: "Take him back to the Hidden Leaf, let Tsunade take a look!"
After this small interlude, everyone didn't want to stay in the Land of Rice Fields any longer. So the Hidden Leaf crowd, along with Kurotsuchi, Darui, Ameyuri Ringo who needed treatment for injuries, hurriedly returned to the Hidden Leaf, while some ninjas of the Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud returned to their own villages respectively.
With the disbandment of the Ninja Village Alliance, this great battle that broke out in the territory of the Land of Rice Fields surrounding the ownership of the Nine-Tails finally came to an end.
All forces withdrew, and the Land of Rice Fields, this originally inconspicuous small country in the Ninja World, regained its peace.
Not long after, battle reports from various places gathered on the Hokage's desk.
On the Ninja Village Alliance side, due to underestimating Yakushi Kabuto's combat power, the Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud lost a large number of personnel. If not for the timely support of Ryuzetsu and Chino from the Hidden Grass Village, Kurotsuchi, Darui, and Ameyuri Ringo, these new generation geniuses, would have almost lost their lives.
On the other side, Jiraiya and Kakashi's operations were also not smooth.
Kakashi was held back for several days by Yakushi Kabuto disguised as Orochimaru. Jiraiya failed to capture Orochimaru, leading to the Yang Nine-Tails inside Naruto being taken away by Hiruko and Ranmaru of the Akatsuki organization.
Fortunately, the Fourth Hokage transferred the Yin Nine-Tails inside himself into Naruto's body, saving Naruto; otherwise, the Ninja Village Alliance would have suffered a crushing defeat this time!
After reading the series of battle reports from the Land of Rice Fields, the atmosphere in the Hokage Office was somewhat oppressive.
Utatane Koharu said: "It seems Orochimaru is beyond saving. We should no longer hold any expectations for him!"
"Correct! Because of him, we indirectly lost half of the Nine-Tails, making the situation even more unfavorable for us!"
Mitokado Homura nodded slightly, echoing Utatane Koharu.
In this series of chaotic battles in the Land of Rice Fields, Orochimaru once again declared his determination to defect from the village to the Hidden Leaf with his actions.
To this day, the Third Hokage had nothing to say and could only choose silence.