Chapter 467: Mutually Assured Destruction
The fat figure was Shinya Matsutani's ninken, the cat Kohana.
Shinya's skills had improved so quickly, especially when fighting in Sage Mode, that the level of combat was too high for Kohana to participate.
So when Shinya and Might Guy were fighting, she had been hiding on the sidelines. It was only when Shinya was in mortal danger that she charged out.
Luckily, Kohana was fast enough. If she had been even a moment later, Shinya would have been killed.
After colliding with Guy, Kohana was sent flying. Shinya, grazed by Guy's slightly deflected attack, was critically injured on the spot.
And Might Guy, after that one strike, also collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
Of the man, the man, and the cat, the least injured was Kohana. The reason was that she was so fat that her blubber had absorbed much of the damage.
Kohana quickly rushed to Shinya's side. She didn't have time to deliver a finishing blow to Guy. She hoisted Shinya onto her back and turned to run.
She could sense other ninja approaching.
The newcomers were from Konoha. Kakashi had sensed Guy opening the Seventh Gate and had immediately called over some Konoha ninja for backup.
The three Konoha ninja were shocked to see Guy on the ground and rushed to his side. One of them, a medical-nin, examined him and said, "Lord Guy is suffering from the backlash of the forbidden jutsu. He needs immediate treatment."
The squad leader said, "Take Lord Guy. We're returning to the village immediately."
"Yes, sir." The remaining ninja lifted Guy onto his back, and with the medic attending to him, the four of them quickly vanished.
On Kohana's soft back, Shinya finally caught his breath. He said, "Kohana, leave a signal. We're not going back to Kirigakure. We're going home, immediately."
"Meow," Kohana acknowledged. She left a mark on a tree, then, carrying Shinya, sped away from Kirigakure.
By the time the main armies sent people to check on the duel, the battlefield was a wreck, but there was nothing left.
The fight between Shinya and Guy was over, and the battle between Kakashi and Mangetsu Hōzuki was also coming to an end.
In the end, Kakashi proved to be the more skilled of the two. Mangetsu was severely injured, while Kakashi only suffered an arm injury from the Longsword Nuibari.
If it had been a one-on-one duel, Mangetsu would have already been dead. But this was a battlefield. When the duel between the commanders ended, the troops from both sides tacitly gathered around them.
Looking at the opposing forces, Mangetsu grinned.
In the duel, he had lost. But in the group battle, Kiri had the advantage.
2,000 Kiri ninja had faced 1,500 from Konoha. Now, there were only 700 Konoha ninja left on the field, but Kiri still had 1,200. Both sides had lost 800 men, but many of Kiri's were wounded and had been sent back to the village for treatment.
This casualty ratio was a good trade for Kirigakure. Overall, Kiri had won this front.
Kakashi sensed the movements on the other fronts and sighed. "Signal the retreat."
They had fought to this point, and no reinforcements had arrived from the other two fronts. This could only mean that all three of their backup plans had been countered.
Was this all because of Iwa? A bitter taste filled Kakashi's mouth. He remembered the man in Iwagakure who had guided his thinking. The depth of that man's schemes still woke him from his sleep.
Kakashi was retreating. Not far away, Ryosuke saw this, also sighed, disengaged from Mei Terumī, and signaled for a ceasefire.
Mei hesitated, looked around, and agreed.
A moment ago, they had been locked in a battle to the death. But after their commanders declared a truce, they immediately stopped fighting, cautiously returning to their own lines.
Ryosuke went to Ebizō's side. "Elder Ebizō, how are you?"
Ebizō was breathing heavily. "A pity. If you'd given me just a little more time, these old bones could have taken those two Iwa youngsters down with me."
"A pity, a pity."
Ryosuke understood what he meant. Ebizō was in a terrible state. After returning to Sunagakure, it was likely he wouldn't have much longer to live. It was a regret that he couldn't take two of Iwa's geniuses with him before he died.
"Signal the retreat," Ryosuke said to a subordinate.
Soon, the signal was seen on the final front, where the Fourth Raikage was.
The furious Raikage let out a roar and sent Kisame flying with a punch. But Kisame quickly got back up. The blow had mostly hit Samehada, and his injuries weren't severe, though he was exhausted from the long fight.
But Kiri had still suffered heavy losses on this front.
Although the panda Himeki Suda had summoned had blocked the giant turtle, the panda was not familiar with Kiri and couldn't coordinate with them. The turtle and the Kumo ninja, however, worked together seamlessly. In fact, the panda wasn't even familiar with its own summoner, Himeki; she had no idea what its abilities were.
As a result, the Kumo army had held the upper hand, and the casualty gap had been widening. Kiri, which had started with 500 more ninja than Kumo, now had fewer.
Victory was within his grasp, but the Fourth Raikage let out another roar of frustration and reluctantly chose to retreat. If Konoha and Suna had been willing to hold the line, he would have continued fighting, even at the cost of more ninja. If they could destroy Kirigakure, then even if the other two main fronts (the Land of Wind and the sea battle) were lost, the war could be considered a draw.
But with Konoha and Suna retreating, Kumo could not possibly win alone.
When Kumo's signal flare also rose into the sky, the armies on all three fronts retreated simultaneously. The battle in the Land of Water was over.
Watching the Suna army slowly retreat, Takuhiro Uchiyama collapsed onto the ground, panting.
Akio Wada, next to him, was in slightly better shape. He leaned on his longsword and slowly sat down, his chest heaving. He looked toward the Third Unit's position, where the first flare had gone up. "Takuhiro... do you think... it was Senior Shinya's... front... that finished their fight first?"
After a long moment, Takuhiro replied, "Probably. There was an incredibly violent chakra eruption from that direction before the signal."
"I remember Teacher Ishiro saying that such a chaotic, violent chakra fluctuation is the sign of Konoha's forbidden jutsu, the Eight Inner Gates."
"The Eight Inner Gates?" Akio thought for a moment. "I remember you said that was the ultimate technique of the Konoha Genin who single-handedly turned the Seven Ninja Swordsmen into a joke?"
"Yes," Takuhiro replied. "That must have been Konoha's trump card. The one who fought that ninja must have been Senior Shinya."
"I wonder if Senior Shinya managed to hold on against an attack like that."
Akio said, "Senior Shinya was using Sage Art, right? Senjutsu is amazing, to be able to fight a powerhouse of that level."
He called over an Iwa Anbu. "Go to the Third Unit's position and check on our casualties."
"Yes, sir." The Anbu departed.
Akio called another Anbu squad leader. "Take some men, go to the First Unit, and bring Himeki back."
"Yes, sir." The squad leader took his men to find Himeki Suda.
After a while, all the Iwa ninja had gathered. Takuhiro saw that Shinya was not among those who returned from the Third Unit's front, and his heart sank.
He quickly asked, "Where is Senior Shinya?"
An Anbu member replied, "Lord Shinya fought a great battle with Konoha's Might Guy. When we arrived after the fight, both of them were gone. Near the battlefield, we found a signal left by Lord Shinya's ninken. He should be on his way back to the village."
Takuhiro sighed in relief and looked at Himeki Suda and her ninken, Fūka.
"Himeki, are your injuries bad?" Takuhiro asked with concern.
Himeki's injuries were severe. Because her summon had neutralized Kumo's trump card, she had been targeted. The Anbu squad protecting her had been wiped out. Both she and Fūka were badly wounded.
Himeki shook her head wearily. "The medics looked at us. Fūka and I will live."
Takuhiro nodded, then turned to Akio. "Akio, Senior Shinya isn't here. You're in command. What are our next steps?"
Akio nodded. "First, let's tally the casualties from all three fronts."
He looked around. "On our front, Senior Shinya must be injured; otherwise, he wouldn't have had Kohana leave the signal. Himeki and Fūka are also injured, and half of the others were killed in action."
"On the second front, Kiri was at a disadvantage. Kiri lost 700, while Suna only lost 400, though Suna's puppet masters lost a lot of puppets. Mei Terumī and Ryosuke were uninjured."
An Anbu from the third front reported, "On our side, both Konoha and Kiri lost 800 people, but about a hundred of Kiri's were wounded who were sent back for treatment. Mangetsu Hōzuki is severely injured, and Kakashi Hatake has minor injuries."
Finally, the Anbu who had gone to retrieve Himeki reported, "On the Mizukage's front against the Raikage, Kumo lost about 400, while Kiri lost over 1,000. The Mizukage was also wounded. It doesn't look serious, but he's exhausted."
Akio Wada nodded, then turned to an intelligence ninja. "Alright. Report the situation to the village and request further orders."
"Yes, sir."
Soon, the reply from the village arrived.
Akio read it and said, "The village orders us to stabilize the wounded and then return immediately."
"We'll rest here for half a day, then head back."
"Yes, sir!" the survivors replied in unison.
As the battle in the Land of Water concluded, an uninvited guest arrived in Kirigakure.
Obito Uchiha's familiarity with Kiri was no less than his familiarity with his own base. He didn't go to the heavily guarded Mizukage Tower; there was nothing he needed there. The jutsu scrolls inside weren't as complete as the ones he already possessed.
Obito went directly to all the bloodline clan compounds. He took every single child of a suitable age.
With the Kiri army fighting externally and its three Kage-level fighters absent, Obito paid no mind to the ninja left guarding the village. He basically killed wherever he went. The adults and teenagers of these bloodline clans were all slaughtered by him.
By the time the alarm was raised, Obito had nearly wiped out all of Kiri's bloodline clans. The elites of these clans had already perished in the Fourth Mizukage's self-destruction. This time, with many more sent to the front lines, the old, weak, and sick who remained were shown no mercy by Obito.
He took all the young children and killed everyone else.
Against the murderers of Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha showed absolutely no mercy.
But Obito himself didn't know that perhaps there was another reason he was being so ruthless: to vent the frustration and humiliation he had suffered in Iwagakure.
His Kamui had been restricted in Iwagakure, but in Kiri, no one could locate him, no one could limit him. This invisibly amplified Obito's twisted, distorted heart.
As he slaughtered the bloodline clans of Kirigakure, he even felt a perverse, unnatural sense of excitement.
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