On the third day of Anya's recovery, Tsunade and her medical squad arrived at the battlefield. After reorganizing the forces, nearly all of Konoha's squads were refreshed and deployed to the combat zones.
Anya's ANBU squad had also completed their rest period and set out again. A new wave of battle had begun.
The battlefield between Konoha and Iwagakure echoed with thunderous explosions, furious roars, and violent clashes without pause. Day after day, brutal conflicts erupted repeatedly, drenching the land in blood over and over.
Due to events during the Second Great Ninja War, both of Iwagakure's tailed beast jinchūriki had defected. After Anya and Minato severely wounded the Tsuchikage, morale within Iwagakure plummeted. Despite the Tsuchikage's repeated attempts to rally his troops, the defeatist atmosphere could not be hidden. Meanwhile, under Tsunade's command, Konoha surged forward like an unstoppable tide. With the completion of healthcare reforms, each squad now included a medical ninja, greatly increasing their ability to sustain warfare. Their attacks grew fiercer than ever, pushing Iwagakure back continuously.
Inside the temporary stronghold, the bandages covering Anya's body had already been removed as Tsunade focused on completing his treatment.
Needless to say, Tsunade's medical skills were unmatched. A body that would normally take about two weeks to heal was already fully recovered in just seven days.
Tsunade clearly sensed it too. She stopped treating him and smirked coldly. "Well then, you dared challenge the Tsuchikage right after entering the battlefield. Looks like I truly underestimated you all along."
Her sarcasm was obvious, just short of calling him reckless outright.
Once dressed, Anya smiled wryly. "You probably heard from Katsuyu—it was that old man who ambushed me first. I had no choice but to fight. Besides, with Minato's Flying Thunder God technique, escaping wasn't hard."
Tsunade didn't respond directly, simply replying indifferently, "Minato has already gone to the Kumogakure front—you won't find it so easy to escape next time."
Anya asked curiously, "He left? Is the situation intensifying over there?"
"That's not all," Tsunade said, frowning. "A long time ago, Kumogakure started plotting to steal the Uzumaki Sealing Technique. Recently, we received information from a mole indicating they're stirring up trouble again. As soon as Minato found out, he rushed over immediately."
"Little Pepper?" Anya caught on. "Is Kumogakure planning to capture the Nine-Tails?"
"Looks like it," Tsunade nodded. "They definitely have moles inside the village. Over the years, they've learned a lot about Kushina Uzumaki's whereabouts and habits. But now that Minato is there, things should go smoothly."
Since the end of the Second Great Ninja War, Minato had practically become the brightest star in the village. Everyone admired both his strength and personality—they made him seem totally dependable. Anya shared this sentiment.
After shaking out his limbs, Anya said, "Looks like I'm fully recovered. Starting tomorrow, I'll join the fight."
Tsunade shook her head. "No, you still need three more days of observation. Most of your injuries were internal. If they act up again during battle, it could easily cause lasting damage."
"I..."
Anya was cut off before she could finish a single word: "That's settled then. I'll be the overall commander-in-chief, and on the battlefield, you'll all have to follow my orders."
Without waiting for Anya to counterargue, Tsunade strode out.
With Konoha currently in an advantageous position, she planned to press forward with this momentum and end the war as soon as possible.
Anya sighed quietly, unable to say much. After all, Tsunade had her best interests at heart. Still, hadn't these past few battles gone just a bit too smoothly? The Iwagakure forces seemed completely incapable of resistance. That wasn't right.
Based on her conversation with Hanzo during the Second Great Ninja War, Iwagakure should still have hidden strengths. Had Iwagakure perhaps already suffered serious damage during the Second Battle?
After several days of skirmishing between both sides to test each other's strength, Tsunade led Konoha's forces in a fierce assault on Iwagakure. Konoha's forces surged forward into Iwagakure's heartland, approaching the village itself. Konoha's offensive was aggressive and ruthless, preparing to launch their final assault when...
Thick fog rolled over the battlefield. Initially, it was mistaken for a natural occurrence. Though Konoha remained cautious, they didn't take it too seriously and continued attacking toward their original target.
However, the first day of attacks cost Konoha a heavy number of ninja lives. Tsunade, commanding from the rear, noticed something was off and immediately halted the attack, plunging both sides into a standoff.
After using Byakugan scouts from the Hyuga Clan to investigate the fog, Tsunade finally identified their opponent—the Hidden Mist had intervened. Obviously, Iwagakure had secretly formed an alliance with Kiri at some unknown point. The earlier battles had been deliberate feints to play dead, luring Konoha into a false sense of security.
Furious upon discovering the truth, Tsunade personally led a vanguard team composed of Hyuga Clan members and elite ninja, resulting in fierce fighting. This time, Konoha achieved excellent results, steadily pushing forward until they stood practically at Iwagakure's gates.
Then came the sudden appearance of two Tailed Beast Balls, which shattered the battlefield balance.
It was the Three-Tails and Six-Tails—their tailed beasts had been deployed. Nobody knew what it cost the Tsuchikage—but Kiri had actually brought their ultimate weapons here.
The power of the tailed beasts—the living weapons of the hidden villages—is extremely formidable. Just in terms of the volume of chakra alone, it surpasses even a Kage-level ninja. On the battlefield, they moved like living weapons, unleashing large-scale ninjutsu attacks without restraint on Konoha ninja. Each strike claimed many Konoha lives, snapping already tense nerves entirely and sending morale plummeting.
Realizing the situation had turned irreparable, Tsunade bitterly cursed her luck before gritting her teeth and retreating.
As Konoha ninja fell back, they encountered ambushes from unknown forces—an unidentifiable duo of ninja possessing Kage-level strength launched surprise attacks that inflicted massive losses. Even Tsunade herself was wounded before being forced to retreat completely.
No longer hiding, the Iwa-Mist coalition revealed their sharp fangs and descended en masse upon Konoha's forces. Tremendous energy erupted across the terrain, reshaping the landscape into cliffs, ravines, and river networks littered with corpses—a scene of extraordinary carnage unfolded.
After this decisive battle, Konoha's previously accumulated advantages were completely erased, leaving their future outlook increasingly bleak.
"Haha..."
Back on the battlefield, Tsuchikage had regained much of his strength and laughed wildly at Tsunade midair, glaring at her with unrestrained killing intent.
Back then, Minato and Anya were just a hassle at first. But now that Tsunade and her medical squad had joined the fight, he'd begun feeling real fear toward Konoha. With just his own village alone, there was absolutely no way to defeat Konoha. That's why during his recovery period, he'd constantly been seeking allies. In fact, he hadn't expected that Kiri, usually indifferent to outside matters, would actually agree to an alliance. And another unknown group with two figures as powerful as Kages? That was nothing short of divine luck. He must kill Tsunade in this battle; otherwise, Konoha's strength would be beyond comprehension.
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