Chapter 90: Epilogue
By the time they returned to Konoha, the farcical invasion battle had already entered its final stages.
Orochimaru's Reanimation Jutsu had been broken by the combined efforts of the Third Hokage and Tsunade. Two Kage-level powerhouses were, in the end, stronger than one. Orochimaru had been forced into an emergency retreat, which in turn had led to a major rout of the Sound and Sand ninja.
The remaining enemies were still putting up a desperate resistance, but it no longer affected the overall situation.
Haku was not yet an official Konoha ninja but had stayed by Sakura's mother's side at Sakura's request, repelling several waves of enemies and protecting many civilians.
Konoha had suffered heavy casualties, but most were civilian casualties and material losses. Due to the heightened alert and Tsunade's presence, the injured were able to receive timely treatment, and the situation of the Konoha ninja was much better than the devastating losses in the original story.
A huge gap had been torn in Konoha's high walls by the Sound ninja. When Sakura's group entered Konoha through the breach, they were met head-on by a wave of Sound ninja rushing towards them. Sakura was startled and, raising her hand, took out the foremost few with a Wind Blade Raging Stream. Then, just as she was preparing to use her ultrapure water shield, she found that the opponents had no will to fight. Seeing her instantly kill several of their comrades, the remaining Sound ninja, like a stream meeting a reef, all changed direction and swept past the group without looking back, scrambling to rush out of the breach and flee for their lives. As for their defeated comrades, they didn't even spare them a glance.
The group of youths, who had just been facing a great enemy, looked at each other in dismay.
Exchanging a look, Sakura shook her head, indicating that if the enemy had fled, they had fled. There was no need to pursue them; Shikamaru was still unconscious.
Then they encountered several more waves of enemies, either fleeing or putting up a desperate resistance behind barriers. Haruno Sakura's group helped out where they could with a few ninjutsu, and simply bypassed the troublesome ones. A little ashamed, they had only done a small bit of work.
Rushing back to the Chunin Exams arena, Sakura was stunned to find that it had been temporarily converted into a command post and a treatment center for the wounded. The traces of battle on the viewing stands had been hastily cleaned up, clearing out patches of open space. In the corners, traces of the battle still remained: marks of ninjutsu burns and impacts, broken kunai, tattered uniforms stained with blood, and so on. Ninja came and went in a hurry, the flow of people chaotic. Wounded men, covered in blood, were either carried on backs or on stretchers and sent here to receive treatment from Tsunade and other medical ninja. The Konoha leadership and a group of elite Jonin who had just finished fighting were gathered in a small circle, their faces solemn, constantly discussing something. Anbu and Chunin rushed back and forth, endlessly reporting the situation and relaying orders.
Sakura's group walked into the venue. Kakashi, who was giving an order to an Anbu member, looked up as if by telepathy. His eyes met Sakura's. He nodded slightly, waved the Anbu away, and walked straight over.
First, they sent Shikamaru for treatment.
"You've all worked hard!" Kakashi patted Sakura's shoulder and said, forcing a smile despite the weariness on his face.
The fine cuts all over his body, his slightly hunched figure—this was the second time since meeting Zabuza that Sakura had seen Kakashi in such a sorry state.
"Sensei, where is Lord Hokage?" Sakura was a little surprised to see that the Third was not among the crowd. Tsunade was by the Hokage's side the whole time. Was even she not able to save him? Could Orochimaru have taken down one of them even while being double-teamed? Could the so-called inertia of the plot really exist?
Kakashi let out an inaudible sigh and tilted his head slightly, his tired eyes gesturing for them to look to the other side.
The Third Hokage was lying quietly on a medical bed.
"Seriously injured and in a coma, still not out of danger. And..."
Sakura looked intently and immediately understood what Kakashi had left unsaid.
A light breeze blew past, and the Third Hokage's right sleeve fluttered gently in the air.
Below the sleeve, there was nothing but emptiness.
"It was snake venom..." Kakashi stood up straight, raised his head, and looked at the pale sky as he spoke.
"He did it himself, but the toxin still spread."
Sakura's mouth opened slightly, as if she had sucked in a cold breath but couldn't exhale, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't get any words out.
The mood of the group instantly became heavy. A suffocating feeling pressed down on everyone's hearts.
It was as if nothing had been said, yet as if everything had been said.
A long time passed.
Kakashi took a deep breath, and then exhaled heavily.
He lowered his head and patted Naruto and Sasuke's shoulders. "Those of you who are injured, go get treatment first. That's all for today. After you're treated, go home and rest. Be careful of the areas where fighting is still going on. Don't be reckless and try to help. Just leave it to the Anbu to handle. Tomorrow, same time, same place, to deal with the aftermath of this incident. Hinata, after you're treated, remember to meet up with Kurenai. She's waiting for you."
"That's all. Dismissed!"
On the evening of the day the Chunin Exams invasion ended, on the walls of Konoha.
"I thought you no longer had any feelings for this place... It seems you still long for this village."
A tall man wearing a conical hat overlooked Konoha and said to the thin young man beside him.
"No. For this place... I have no attachment at all," his voice sounded like a murmur, a bit hoarse, as if a very taciturn person was struggling to move his vocal cords. There was not a trace of fluctuation in his tone.
Facing his ravaged hometown, he was completely unmoved. He just reached up and pressed down on his hat, his tone as indifferent as ever.
His face was hidden behind a high-collared windbreaker, revealing only a pair of soul-stirring eyes.
That pair of crimson eyes was looking coldly at Konoha, the three tomoe in his eyeballs slowly rotating, his gaze stern and sharp.
"Is that so..." the tall man said noncommittally, but changed the subject to Konoha. "It seems the village has not been mortally wounded. After a period of time, it will prosper again..."
The red-eyed young man had no intention of responding. The tall man glanced at him and continued to speak to himself, "It seems our mission will be a failure. Konoha's warning system will soon be restored, and we won't be able to find a chance to strike. What's more, two of the Sannin are still in Konoha..."
These words were finally not meaningless nonsense. The thin young man finally reacted.
"Let's go..."
A faint sentence. His talkative companion, as if receiving an order, closely followed the thin young man and disappeared from the high walls of Konoha.
The wind continued to blow, completely erasing the last trace of the two's presence.
Konoha Year 60, August 6th, the Konoha Crush plan began and ended hastily on the same afternoon.
Konoha casualties: 307 dead, including 37 ninja (1 Jonin, 11 Chunin, 25 Genin) and 271 civilians. The vast majority of the remaining injured recovered after receiving treatment.
Sand casualties: 211 dead, including 3 Jonin, 47 Chunin, 153 Genin, and 8 civilians. Note: Most of the deaths were due to injuries not receiving timely treatment.
Sound casualties: 436 dead. Ranks could not be determined due to a lack of intelligence.
Number of missing persons/deaths of unknown identity from all parties: Several.
The above is the casualty list for the Chunin Exams invasion incident.
By the time Sakura saw this thin list, it was already the next morning.
She narrowed her eyes, a little surprised to find that the number of civilian deaths was an order of magnitude higher than that of ninja.
But come to think of it, it made sense. On the surface, the ninja on the front lines of the battle were the most dangerous, and the civilians in the rear were very safe. But in reality, firstly, apart from certain specific defense bases, it was hard to say that any place was in the "rear." In this sudden invasion, the difference between the "front line" and the "rear" was merely where the invaders thought had value to attack and where did not. Secondly, the combat power of ninja and civilians was too far apart. Most Konoha civilians were killed directly when they encountered an invading ninja. On the contrary, Konoha ninja generally acted in squads and had considerable combat power. When they encountered a strong enemy, they could still hold out until reinforcements arrived.
This casualty data also proved the correctness of Sakura's decision to become a ninja when she had just transmigrated. At that time, she had thought about being an ordinary civilian in this life, far away from the life-threatening ninja lifestyle. It was only later that she discovered that in this world of ninja, being a civilian was actually more dangerous than being a ninja, and only then did she walk her current path.
"It's been compiled so quickly? Is the data real?" She raised her delicate eyebrows and waved the thin piece of paper in her hand.
"Of course it's real," Shikamaru, with dark circles under his eyes, said impatiently, snatching back the report that Sakura had forcefully taken to look at. "We worked all night!"
He let out a big yawn and muttered a stream of complaints, like "my pervert dad dragged an injured person to work all night," "all the dirty and tiring work is pushed to the Genin, Genin have no rights," and "I'm going to sleep for three days and three nights when I get back."
Sakura smiled, patted Shikamaru, and let out a fake sigh, then walked away with a smug smile on her face.
Her smugness didn't last long—only until Kakashi announced their mission for the day.
"The situation is special today. We won't be carrying out missions as a squad. Everyone has their own mission," Kakashi said, holding up a few mission briefs he had just gotten from the mission assignment office and handing them out one by one.
He didn't get lost on the road of life today, huh.
"A patrol mission... requires ninja with combat power, carrying necessary ninja tools... there might be combat..." Sasuke said, nodding as he read, indicating he had no objection to the mission. "What about you guys?"
"Let me see... hmm...? Repair and reconstruct houses? In charge of B-block's Upper Ninth Courtyard? Requires a ninja proficient in the Clone Jutsu?" Naruto's face looked a little off. "Wait! Chotto matte! Wait a minute! I have combat power too! I'm a ninja, not a plasterer, not a construction worker! I don't want to do this!"
Sasuke and Sakura tried hard to hold back their laughter. "Because you're proficient in the Shadow Clone Jutsu! Many hands make light work. The efficiency is high when a thousand shadow clones work together. Naruto, you're really suited to be a construction worker! Good luck, Naruto!"
"Don't just laugh at me! Sakura, what about you!" Naruto said agitatedly.
"Hmph, a ninja with even higher combat power like me should be assigned a more dangerous and more important mission, right? Like chasing down the remaining enemies outside the village? Swish~ Watch my Water Style annihilate all the enemies~"
Sakura opened her own mission sheet—
"Repair and reconstruct houses, in charge of C-block's Isuzu Courtyard, Toyoe Courtyard..."
Eeeeeeeh—?!
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