"It looks like things are wrapping up here. Let's go."
Haseo watched as the balance of victory swung back in Konoha's favor once again. After a while, he noticed that Sunagakure, seeing no hope of success, had begun withdrawing from the battlefield. Thus, he spoke these words.
Then Haseo started walking away from the battlefield.
"?"
Kohei Sarutobi looked confused. "Lord Haseo, weren't we sent here to stabilize the situation on the Western Front? Why are we leaving without even participating in the battle?"
"There's no need for us anymore. The Sannin did well; this trip turned out to be somewhat unnecessary," Haseo replied.
The "Sannin" being capable enough to handle this war on their own... frankly speaking, the phrase "standing on their own" made Haseo—who could barely be considered an elder who had watched them grow—feel both relieved and wistful at the same time.
He had gone through so much trouble rushing all the way here, only to find out he wasn't even needed in the end. One could only say the Sannin were no longer fledglings. Alright, but that thought was kind of absurd—they're all thirty years old now, grizzled warhorses—so what exactly were they still fledglings about? Could people stop being overly sentimental?
As for Orochimaru, his combat abilities had always been secondary in Haseo's eyes. What continually impressed him instead was Orochimaru's relentless research spirit.
Considering how much control Orochimaru currently exerted over Nine-Tails, it was likely that he was using the power of First Hokage's cells. Otherwise, there was no way the Nine-Tails could have been this "obedient."
The [Multiple Tailed Beast Ball] attack Orochimaru just used—if estimated by the burst and dissipated chakra amount—wasn't actually much more powerful than a traditional single [Tailed Beast Ball]. However, this method of dispersed usage indeed had greater destructive potential… to put it bluntly, it was like comparing conventional nuclear bombs with miniaturized tactical nukes. The latter had sufficient power and were far more flexible in deployment.
Orochimaru really was something else.
When had he completed the transformation of his main body into the Yamata no Orochi form?
Previously, Haseo hadn't noticed this. And was this transformation still a prerequisite for Living Corpse Reincarnation?
Orochimaru seemed to have changed on the surface, yet at his core, something had remained unchanged.
"This look still creeps me out. It's way too close to a [Frankenstein-like monstrosity]." Haseo muttered softly.
Orochimaru's current form caused serious SAN drain with just one glance—objectively speaking, absolutely unacceptable from an aesthetic perspective. To be honest, no heroic-looking character should ever appear like that.
"Lord Haseo?" Kohei Sarutobi hadn't quite caught what Haseo was muttering.
"Nothing. I meant we're pressed for time. Turn northward now. Now that the Sannin have shown their capabilities, there's truly no reason for me to stay here... Unless Orochimaru or Jiraiya gets killed, I won't come back to this place again."
Kohei Sarutobi glanced at Haseo, once again confirming that this Lord was quite petty... They're all Sannin, so why bring up only Orochimaru and Jiraiya?
The person he cared about the most—was he so protective of them that he couldn't even bear imagining them in extreme danger?
But it must be said, Haseo had already come a long way. Who would've thought this guy would pass by his home and not even stop by.
...
Although Konoha's Western Front had just gone through a major battle, after Haseo and the other left, fighting calmed down before midnight. However, the battle on the Northern Front lasted the entire night.
No, more precisely, since the day the Third Hokage died, the conflict between Konoha and Kumo had never truly stopped.
From maintaining a standoff, to suddenly attacking, then entering a heated phase—the transition was incredibly fast. The rhythm of ninja warfare had always been abrupt like this.
People often repeated sayings like "the sky won't fall; someone taller will always hold it up" to mentally distance themselves from reality. But it must be said, after the death of the Third Hokage, the "tall man" holding up the Northern Front had become Sakumo Hatake. Sakumo, once merely known as the "noble enforcer" who only handled swordplay, was now actually doing command-level work.
Luckily, ninja warfare didn't require particularly refined tactical abilities from commanding officers. To be precise, anyone capable of cutting enemies down could become a commander. So surprisingly, Sakumo did quite well—commanders like Haseo, who favored innovative tactics, remained rare exceptions.
Besides Sakumo Hatake, the main pillar keeping things stable, under these worst-case circumstances, every single Konoha ninja on the Northern Front had suddenly been given critical responsibilities—including some unlucky newcomers who had barely arrived at the front line.
And when faced with unimaginable dangers and pressure, certain extraordinary ninjas would always emerge—they matured rapidly and quickly stood out.
At a small battlefield along the northern border of the Land of Fire,
A Konoha squad was surrounded and attacked by twice as many Kumo shinobi. It seemed they wouldn't last much longer.
Yet during the continuous enemy assaults, they failed to notice a special heavy-duty kunai embedded in the tree they had passed moments ago. When this kunai shifted behind them, the space subtly warped without anyone noticing.
Then... everything ended.
A figure abruptly appeared and vanished just as quickly. Immediately afterward, the enemies fell one by one. Not only did the attackers fail to catch a glimpse of their assailant, even Konoha's own comrades saw nothing but a fleeting blur.
Still, the Konoha ninja clearly understood what had just happened, because recently rumors had been spreading within Konoha about this young ninja.
Minato Namikaze is his name. [Flying Thunder God], the legendary technique of the Second Hokage—that's his calling card.
There's a very good reason why Minato's name has spread so quickly across the battlefield—because currently, he's the only one who can cover the entire battlefield. Even Sakumo Hatake cannot achieve that.
Ninjas are unpredictable and shadowy by nature, usually more dangerous in packs during large-scale battles—but Minato Namikaze was different. He was most lethal in solitude.
When Minato began to shine on the battlefield and gained recognition from both enemy and ally alike, Kushina and Kakashi—newcomers to the battlefield who had just suffered serious reversals—were still slacking off.
Kakashi's age meant one couldn't expect much from him in actual combat effectiveness. As for Kushina, first, she wasn't allowed to use Nine-Tails' power to prevent her identity from being exposed; secondly, she was strictly forbidden from using [Senken Zesshou], lest she risk killing herself. Thus, there was no way she could rival Minato in terms of brilliance.
As night passed and dawn approached, Kumo launched another large-scale offensive.
At this time, Konoha's forces had already become weary, so precisely in this moment, Kumo's attacks must never stop. They needed to overwhelm Konoha in one breath and absolutely could not allow them time to recover.
Just when Kumo launched a sudden assault, Kakashi and Kushina found themselves positioned deep within the battlefield and were imminently threatened with encirclement.
However, just at that moment, the ground beneath their feet suddenly swelled upward. A thick and towering wall, as if stretching endlessly from afar, instantly spread outward in all directions. In a flash, it stretched across the land, completely dividing north from south.
Immediately afterward, a series of shrill whistles erupted from Kumo's frontlines. These uniquely rhythmic sounds first spread across the front ranks, then rapidly transmitted backward toward the camps within the shortest possible time.
Thus, this large-scale attack, before even reaching Konoha's frontlines, swiftly collapsed and withdrew.
The entire attack plan collapsed all of a sudden.
It was as if someone had spotted a highly threatening figure appear on the battlefield, forcing all of Kumo to switch into a cautious and vigilant mode…
For now, retreating ensured a complete withdrawal with minimal losses.
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