Chapter 466: Riori Uzumaki, Famous Throughout the Shinobi World
On the other side of the sea, the Iwa army was counting its spoils of war.
Ikura first went to check on Han and Rōshi. Seeing they were both fine—though Rōshi looked like he hadn't had enough of a fight—Ikura nodded, his worries eased.
Soon, the casualty report came in.
"Ikura, we suffered about five hundred casualties in this battle. We killed or captured over three thousand two hundred Kumo ninja." The actual field commander for this battle was Saka.
Ikura nodded. "Senior Saka, that's incredible. In a conventional army battle, this is an unprecedented victory."
Saka shook his head. "Kumo underestimated us. They were still looking at Iwagakure through a twenty-year-old lens."
"They don't know that over the years, our village's five-element ninjutsu has become no weaker than Konoha's."
"If they had fought us the way they fight Konoha, we wouldn't have won so easily. In fact, in a 5,000 vs. 5,000 fight, they wouldn't have even dared to engage us."
Ikura nodded. "This is all the result of Ishiro's efforts. For the past few years, he has used every trick in the book—cheating, swindling, kidnapping—all to make up for the village's shortcomings in various fields."
Saka nodded. He felt that Ikura's choice of words ("cheating, swindling, kidnapping") was very apt.
Ikura said, "Senior Saka, let's pull the army back to the village. Our numbers at home are low; I'm a bit worried."
Saka nodded. "Alright. I'll arrange the coastal patrols first. You inform the village of the battle's outcome."
"Okay," Ikura agreed.
No one had expected the clash between Kumo and Iwa to end so quickly. Kumo, who had been the loudest before the war, had suffered the most miserable defeat.
However, not every front was favorable to Iwa.
While Ikura and Saka were still on their way back to Iwagakure, the Konoha army attacking the Land of Waterfalls found the Iwa forces hidden in the mountains.
Iwa was well-hidden, but against Konoha, with its Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans, hiding was the same as not hiding at all.
In order to tie down Iwa and create an opportunity for Kumo to crush them, Konoha held nothing back.
The 2,000-strong Konoha army attacked the 1,500 Iwa ninja with reckless abandon.
In the end, only a little over 200 Iwa ninja managed to escape.
In the center of the devastated battlefield, the seven hundred-odd surviving Konoha ninja gathered to discuss their next move.
"That little Uzumaki clan girl who uses Multiple Shadow Clones—is she dead?" the leader of the Konoha forces, Hyuga Shunsuke, asked.
The other Konoha officers shook their heads. "Lord Hyuga Shunsuke, not on my side."
"I didn't encounter her either."
"I checked the bodies. I didn't see any with red hair."
"Damn it! Pursue her! Even if you have to chase her all the way to Iwagakure, kill her! She's so troublesome at such a young age. If she's allowed to grow up, she'll be a huge threat to our village!" Hyuga Shunsuke ordered.
2,000 Konoha ninja had surrounded 1,500 Iwa ninja, yet they had suffered nearly the same number of casualties. This was a disgrace for Konoha, and for the commander Hyuga Shunsuke, it was a stain on his name that could never be washed away.
A command failure of this magnitude could even affect the Hyuga clan's standing in the village. As a branch family member, he could even be executed by the main family for this.
And the one responsible for all this was Riori Uzumaki.
As it turned out, when the battle broke out, Shiden's squad was part of the force in Takigakure. Shiden herself was the temporary commander of this Iwa army.
Under normal circumstances, with a clear numerical advantage, the Konoha forces shouldn't have suffered such heavy losses.
However, Riori Uzumaki's unreasonable tactic of using rows upon rows of Great Fireballs was a real eye-opener for the Konoha ninja.
Because of Riori, Konoha suffered at least five hundred additional casualties.
No wonder Hyuga Shunsuke was so furious and insistent on taking Riori's life.
"Full advance! After her! Aburame Torihide, her group must have a way to block the Byakugan. I'll be counting on you for the tracking," Hyuga Shunsuke said to an Aburame ninja.
This admission meant that Hyuga Shunsuke was conceding his reconnaissance superiority to the Aburame clan. If word of this got back to the Hyuga, he would be scorned by all his clansmen. A Hyuga admitting another clan was better at tracking? How could such a person still live without committing suicide?
But just as he gave the order, a new directive from Konoha arrived.
"Lord Hyuga Shunsuke, orders from the village! Kumo has been defeated! The entire army is to retreat!" the intelligence ninja relayed.
"Damn it!" Shunsuke raged. "Are the Kumo ninja all useless?! Five thousand troops, gone just like that!"
The other ninja were also in disbelief. One of his subordinates asked, "Lord Shunsuke, could the intelligence be wrong? Could it be a trick from Iwa?"
Shunsuke hesitated. Disobeying a direct order was impossible. A Hyuga branch family member would never even have such a thought.
Shunsuke thought for a moment. "Contact the village again and reconfirm the intel. Also, report the situation with the Uzumaki girl and ask if we should continue the pursuit."
Soon, they re-established contact.
To their disappointment, the village's orders were now even more urgent and severe.
"Retreat immediately. That Uzumaki girl is likely the Tsuchikage's disciple. Iwa has already won the war. Do not deliberately provoke the Tsuchikage."
After reading the order, Hyuga Shunsuke, his heart like dead ash, said, "Relay the order. Abandon the pursuit. Full retreat. Take the wounded and return to the village immediately."
This order likely meant he would never have a chance to wash away his shame. He wouldn't just be barred from commanding again; he might not even escape punishment.
One of his subordinates said unwillingly, "Lord Shunsuke, we defeated Iwa's Takigakure branch. Their base must be empty. Now is the perfect time to destroy it!"
Shunsuke shook his head. "It's useless. We've already lost. If we destroy their base now, the reconstruction costs will just be billed to Konoha after the war."
"Retreat," Shunsuke said, his voice weak.
The other Konoha ninja were also dejected. What a battle. They had won, but the process was frustrating, and the aftermath was even more so.
No one argued further. They followed Hyuga Shunsuke and began their retreat to Konoha.
At the border of the Land of Earth and the Land of Waterfalls, two hundred Iwa ninja were fleeing. Almost every one of them was injured.
Shiden, carrying Riori Uzumaki on her back, felt a lingering fear.
Thank goodness they had brought this girl, Riori. And thank goodness she had taught her how to use her shadow clones in an orderly fashion during the Kumo siege. Otherwise, it was hard to say if even these two hundred could have escaped.
After crossing into the Land of Earth, a sensory ninja reported, "Captain Shiden, the Konoha forces are not in pursuit."
Shiden nodded and shouted, "Everyone, stop and rest for a while."
"Yes, sir," came the sparse replies.
Shiden gently lowered Riori from her back.
Immediately, someone asked, "Captain Shiden, how is Riori?"
"Yeah, is Lady Riori okay?"
Everyone understood Riori's importance in this battle. Some of the chunin and genin were even calling the young girl "Lady Riori."
Shiden motioned for quiet. "Don't worry. Riori is just completely exhausted."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Riori had truly fought with her life on the line. Her tactics had been simple: either rows upon rows of Great Fireballs, or shadow clone bombs. But this time, she had truly pushed her chakra to its absolute limit.
Still, Shiden was in a relatively good mood. Although Iwa had lost over a thousand ninja, for veterans used to life and death, it wasn't that hard to accept. On the contrary, there was good news: after this battle, Riori Uzumaki was now a Quasi-Jonin. And with her chakra reserves, it wouldn't take long for her to become a true Jonin.
As the troops began to rest, Shiden called over the last remaining intelligence ninja. "Contact the village. Report our situation and ask about the other fronts. Also, ask if the village has any further orders for us."
"Yes, Captain Shiden." The ninja wrote up a report, had Shiden sign off on it, then summoned a shark to carry the message back to Iwagakure.
Soon, Iwagakure's reply arrived.
Shiden read it quickly, her face lighting up with joy. She immediately announced to the troops, "News from the village! The great battle with Kumo is over! We won! We only suffered five hundred casualties and killed over three thousand Kumo ninja!"
"The village says: thank you for tying down the Konoha ninja."
Hearing this, the two hundred survivors erupted in cheers. "That's great! We won! Our sacrifices weren't in vain!"
After a while, the cheering roused Riori Uzumaki, who groggily woke up. The crowd gradually quieted down.
Riori looked around sleepily at Shiden and the others staring at her, then uttered her first words upon waking: "Captain Shiden... I'm so hungry."
Everyone stared for a second, then burst into hearty laughter.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
On the Third Unit's battlefield, Sixth Gate Guy charged wildly, forcing Shinya Matsutani into a steady retreat.
But this retreat was tactical; it didn't mean Shinya was losing. It just meant their personal battlefield was moving farther and farther from the main army.
Shinya was a ninjutsu-type ninja. He knew many jutsu and knew how strong Guy was. From the very beginning, he never forgot to use disruptive ninjutsu. Sometimes he used Earth Release to create obstacles, other times he used wide-range Water Release to push Guy back and create distance. Occasionally, he used Fire Release to obscure Guy's vision, then used the basic Clone Technique to buy himself a moment to reposition.
But Shinya wasn't just stalling; he had his pride. He was also counter-attacking. It was just that even his B-rank Sage Arts had little effect on Guy. As for A-rank Sage Arts, they consumed too much chakra and took too long to cast. In a fight like this, he couldn't use them.
Finally, feeling he couldn't finish Shinya with the power of the Sixth Gate, Might Guy opened the Seventh.
When Shinya's Sage Mode senses felt Guy's chakra fluctuate even more violently, he knew the real test had come.
His hands flew through seals: "Sage Art: Water Release: Raging Waves! Sage Art: Earth Release: Earth and Stone Flow! Sage Art: Lightning Release: Thunder Vine!"
Truly Ishiro's disciple. Multi-elemental, with a vast arsenal of jutsu, Shinya's tactics were a direct inheritance from his master.
Almost simultaneously, Guy's chakra peaked. He roared, "Eight Inner Gates! Seventh Gate of Shock! OPEN!"
The blue steam of his vaporized sweat enveloped Guy's entire body. He didn't dodge. He charged straight into Shinya's three-element combination Sage Art.
Seeing this, Shinya gritted his teeth, trying to control his jutsu to narrow their scope, concentrating them on Guy's path to increase their resistance.
But the power of the Seventh Gate still exceeded his expectations.
The combination of three B-rank Sage Arts had S-rank power, but it still couldn't completely stop Guy.
Guy pushed through the force of the combination jutsu, continuously closing the distance between them.
Finally, he broke through.
Damn it, not enough time! Shinya tried to cast another Water Release jutsu to push Guy away, but it was too late. He had just started the seals when Guy was already in front of him.
Just as Shinya was about to despair, a fat figure suddenly charged in from the side, knocking Might Guy slightly off course.
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