Uchiha Chapter 75: Disposal of the Dead
Battlefield — Konoha Outpost
"Gōenji, well done."
The moment Minato Namikaze saw Gōenji, he gave him a thumbs-up and flashed a bright smile.
The Battle of Mount Kikyo had gone relatively smoothly largely because Gōenji had single-handedly held the Third Tsuchikage at bay for an entire month. This had allowed Konoha to deploy more forces without having to worry about a sudden attack from the Tsuchikage.
It had also diverted Ōnoki's attention, preventing him from concentrating all his efforts on battlefield command. As a result, Iwagakure's tactical deployment during the Battle of Mount Kikyo had suffered from several minor flaws, making things considerably easier for Konoha's forces.
Someone capable of achieving all that was certainly worthy of praise.
Behind Minato stood Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi, and Nohara Rin. All three stared at Gōenji with expressions of disbelief.
That guy had actually held off the Tsuchikage alone for an entire month!
It was something they could never have imagined—not when the opponent was the Tsuchikage!
Seeing them, Gōenji smiled at Minato.
"Long time no see, Minato-senpai. And Obito, Kakashi, Rin."
"Oh? You know each other?" Minato asked curiously.
"Of course we do," Obito muttered. "He's one of the Uchiha Clan's prides, one of the Uchiha's Twin Stars, and the foremost shinobi capable of standing against the Tsuchikage. He's amazing."
Damn it.
Obito had originally thought he'd made quite a significant contribution to the war. But after learning that Gōenji had already reached this level, his expression became extremely unpleasant.
He bit his lip as he remembered something Gōenji had said to him before.
Could it really be true?
Do I really have to sacrifice my comrades to obtain the power of the Sharingan?
"That's incredible," Rin said from the side.
Gōenji laughed heartily.
"It's nothing, nothing. The Tsuchikage's back isn't what it used to be. Otherwise, there's no way I could have kept him occupied for so long. If it were you, Minato-senpai, you'd probably have taken him down long ago."
With the battle finally coming to an end, Gōenji's mood improved considerably.
The past month of fighting and stalling against Ōnoki had left him mentally and physically exhausted. The pressure had been enormous.
After all, his opponent was one of the old foxes of the shinobi world—the only living user of a Kekkei Tōta—and he had a powerful jōnin like Akatsuchi fighting alongside him.
Simply surviving against such an opponent for so long was a testament to Gōenji's talent.
Naturally, he had absolutely no intention of hiding how highly he thought of himself.
Minato looked slightly embarrassed by the praise.
"Shouldn't you return to Konoha and rest for a while? After a month like this, the pressure must have been enormous."
Kakashi stood beside him, carefully studying Gōenji.
This guy's talent is actually this overwhelming?
Kakashi had never noticed it before.
He had never imagined that Gōenji would one day become powerful enough to fight the Tsuchikage, let alone hold him off for an entire month.
When he'd first heard the news, he'd found it almost impossible to believe.
Someone from his own generation had already grown strong enough to contend with a Kage.
As for the claim that the Tsuchikage's back was injured, Kakashi didn't believe it for a second.
Only an idiot would believe something that convenient.
Moreover, wherever the Tsuchikage appeared, there were bound to be numerous Iwagakure shinobi secretly protecting him.
The battle couldn't possibly have been as simple as it sounded.
Its difficulty was undoubtedly greater than many of the individual battles fought during the Battle of Mount Kikyo.
After all, he had been fighting the Tsuchikage.
"Not yet," Gōenji replied. "I'll hold this position for a few more days. Once things settle down, I'll go back and rest."
He glanced around.
A large number of reinforcements had already arrived and were currently treating the wounded scattered across the battlefield.
Under these circumstances, Gōenji had become one of the battlefield's pillars.
If he left now, who knew how many people would lose their nerve?
The war had caused countless casualties, and Konoha had suffered enormous losses.
In terms of mid-level combat strength, the forces Konoha currently had scattered across its various battlefronts were completely inferior to Iwagakure's.
As a result, the shinobi stationed here were under tremendous pressure.
Over the past few days, Gōenji had personally witnessed too many shinobi breaking down under that pressure.
Some had taken their own lives.
Others had deserted and fled the Land of Fire.
He had been too busy keeping Ōnoki occupied to intervene, but he had seen every one of those incidents.
If he left now, the pressure on Konoha would only become even greater.
Even with Minato and his team returning to the front lines, the number of available shinobi would increase dramatically.
And the image of Gōenji confronting the Tsuchikage for an entire month had already been deeply etched into the minds of everyone on the battlefield.
Minato nodded, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
He had clearly considered this possibility himself.
He was very satisfied with Gōenji's decision.
Within the Uchiha Clan, there were people besides Obito who possessed exceptional talent. Unlike many other Uchiha, Gōenji wasn't troublesome.
Minato had already recognized Gōenji's potential when he had fought alongside A and Killer B.
Now, however, it seemed he had still underestimated this Uchiha.
A genius.
Even Minato wasn't certain he could have held Ōnoki off for that long.
Of course, he had complete confidence in his own abilities.
But compared with what Gōenji had already accomplished, even Minato had to admit there was some uncertainty.
The group then began mobilizing reinforcements and treating the wounded.
There was another task that had to be dealt with as well.
The corpses scattered across the battlefield.
Teams responsible for handling the dead, intelligence divisions, interrogation units, and other departments immediately began working on the aftermath.
One shouldn't assume that corpses became useless simply because their owners were dead.
Quite the opposite.
They had an enormous number of uses.
Otherwise, Konoha wouldn't have established so many specialized departments.
The corpse-processing team was a division under the medical department, responsible for handling both Konoha's dead and the bodies of enemy shinobi.
Processing their own corpses prevented enemies from discovering the secrets behind their medicines and ninjutsu or extracting residual memories from their brains.
Enemy corpses were even more valuable.
Through mind-reading techniques, methods for analyzing traces left behind by the dead, and various forms of scientific research, Konoha could extract information about enemy medicines, ninjutsu, and other secrets from their remains.
It was no different from how shinobi had always operated.
Many ninjutsu techniques had been obtained by studying or stealing them from corpses—including famous techniques originating from other villages, such as Kusagakure's secret arts.
By combining the information obtained from enemy corpses with traces left behind on the battlefield, Konoha could also analyze the tactics employed by other hidden villages.
That information could then be used to strengthen Konoha itself.
Such material even became part of the curriculum at the Ninja Academy.
Whenever Gōenji witnessed these systems in operation, he couldn't help but marvel at how comprehensive Konoha's organizational structure was.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he suspected that even fans of the Naruto series might not have realized just how much went on behind the scenes.
Konoha might appear ordinary on the surface, but its internal operations were extraordinarily complex.
Sometimes, the smallest details could determine the outcome of an entire battle.
This wasn't merely part of Konoha's internal traditions.
It was also one of the reasons Konoha could consistently gain an advantage in the hidden villages' struggle for information and knowledge.
"Lord Gōenji, Minato-senpai has summoned you to attend the elders' council meeting."
After some time, a shinobi approached Gōenji and spoke respectfully.
When his gaze landed on Gōenji, a flicker of astonishment appeared in his eyes.
At such a young age, Gōenji already possessed Kage-level strength and had managed to contend with that cunning old man, the Tsuchikage, for an entire month.
It was truly astonishing.
"Understood. I'll head there now."
Gōenji nodded and slowly made his way toward the location of the elders' council meeting.