Inside an underground base within the Mountain Tombyard, an elderly man gazed at an intelligence report in his hands before finally sighing and murmuring, "Who'd have thought a fallen clan could still produce a genius?"
The voice that had previously appeared inside the Mizukage's office spoke—it was White Zetsu. "I happened to witness it while gathering battlefield intel. Never imagined the Uchiha still held such terrifying power within them."
The old man with snow-white hair looked momentarily nostalgic. "That black Susanoo? Indeed, I've never seen anything like it."
White Zetsu, hidden beneath leaves, continued, "But it seems none of Konoha's ninja even know he's part of the Uchiha Clan. Later, I dug deeper into his background. After graduating from the Ninja Academy, he became the student of Konoha's White Fang. He grew up on his own without ever interacting with his clan."
"This is normal," the old man said, admiration flickering in his eyes. "Great men don't follow the herd. True tigers always walk alone. How great could someone raised in that rotten clan truly become?"
At that moment, the black half spoke. "Then shall we choose him?"
"Absolutely not," the old man lowered the report, sighing. "Had he been born several years earlier, he definitely would have become my valuable assistant. Even Hashirama Senju might have found him troublesome. Unfortunately, judging from the report, he would never willingly become my pawn."
"The one I want has already been chosen," he continued, pulling a photograph from another report. The image clearly showed Obito Uchiha wearing his goggles, his face brimming with youthful smiles.
Looking at the photo, the old man muttered, "Only a truly kind person can unleash greater hatred after experiencing the pain of losing loved ones. Only then can one truly see the world's reality and become my voice after death."
Undoubtedly, this old man was none other than Madara Uchiha, long vanished from the Ninja World. There was only one and a half people in the entire Ninja World whom he respected. The first was Hashirama Senju, and the 'half' was Tobirama Senju—after all, the killer of his younger brother. Ever since Hashirama's death, he'd completely retreated into seclusion to complete his great ambition.
Right now, his plan was only missing one final piece. A photo of Obito Uchiha now hung on the base wall, his smiling face particularly glaring.
Within Konoha's temporary stronghold, numerous Konoha ninja were beginning their return journey. Particularly those severely injured requiring treatment, and a portion of the ninja were cleaning up the battlefield, desperately trying to recover missing ninja, though ultimately in vain.
Anya gathered his Anbu Squad, happy to see all members present. Before arriving here, he'd never imagined this war would be this brutal, its scale far exceeding even the Second Battle.
Looking back, it made sense now—the Second Battle had been initiated by Sanshouo Hanzo's area, so the Five Great Countries had essentially been dragged into war unwillingly.
This time around, it was completely different. Other smaller countries had barely any opportunity to intervene. It had become a direct, all-out clash among the Five Great Countries. The war's scale had naturally jumped a tier.
Anya addressed the four of them, "Take a rest and head back to the village with the main squad. There shouldn't be any major battles for a while."
This battle had benefited none of the sides involved, only deepening the hatred among them. All parties had suffered heavy losses and needed time to recover before the next war began. Anya had a feeling the next one would come even more fiercely.
After dismissing her squad members, Tsunade suddenly appeared from nowhere and stiffly said, "Follow me."
Anya found this strange but still followed along.
Inside a tent, Tsunade pointed at a bed and said, "Lie down."
"Why?" Anya became even more puzzled.
Tsunade expressionlessly stated, "Don't forget I'm a medic. I can easily tell your physical condition."
Anya rubbed his forehead, realizing Tsunade had noticed his weakness. Obediently lying down, he smiled sheepishly, "Then thank you, sis."
With green chakra glowing from her palms, Tsunade pressed her hands against Anya's chest and muttered unhappily, "Why does your team have two kids? How young—they shouldn't be on such a dangerous battlefield."
Anya calmly replied, "That's what chaos brings. We don't have a choice."
"Alright," Tsunade's tone softened slightly as she asked, "So what do you think about their performance this time?"
"Acceptable. Not dying was already the best part."
After reuniting with his full squad, Anya reflected carefully. Inoichi performed by the book—just as expected. Shisui Uchiha gave the strongest performance, but unfortunately, there were significant ideological differences between him and himself; they might drift apart in the future. As for Yugao and Haku, their performance was... disappointing. However, both managed to survive without repeating the tragedies of the Second Battle, which brought Anya considerable comfort.
After listening, Tsunade suddenly asked, "So, how would you rate how I led this time?"
"Uh..." Internally flinching, Anya evasively replied, "It was okay, I guess."
A flicker of anger crossed her face before she quietly reached into her robe and pulled out a vial of red liquid, gently placing it beside the bed. She spoke slowly, "This is something I upgraded after improving the poison I took during this mission. Since I still haven't found a test subject yet, you're welcome to keep running from me if you want."
A cold dread crept up Anya's spine—he knew nothing good would come from being called here. Whatever he said, it would've been the wrong answer.
Thinking carefully, Anya decided on a more diplomatic response, "The reason Konoha lost this battle wasn't entirely due to your command—lack of intelligence reports was also a contributing factor."
Tsunade pressed on, "If you'd been in charge, what would you have done differently?"
Anya had already considered this scenario. Since Tsunade had asked directly, he decided honesty was best, "After discovering that Iwagakure and Kirigakure formed an alliance, my opinion remains: our top strategy should've been a feint attack to gather intelligence on enemy numbers and strength. A middle-level strategy would involve retreating, preserving our forces while switching from offense to defense. The worst possible option would've been launching an outright general assault."
"So," Tsunade's voice betrayed neither happiness nor anger, "you're saying ordering a general assault was a stupid move."
Well, perhaps it wasn't foolish after all. Konoha had already reached the enemy's stronghold, victory practically within reach. Not everyone could resist such temptation. But once a full-scale attack was decided, you had to be ready to go down fighting. It was unreasonable to retreat after already suffering heavy losses. If Anya had been in command, she would've bet everything without hesitation, fighting until the last soldier. Even if her entire force were wiped out, she'd still destroy the enemy headquarters, leaving them too shaken to wage war for a long time.
Tsunade just wasn't built to make decisions that ruthless, and of course, Anya couldn't possibly speak openly against her.
Seeing Anya fall silent, Tsunade stopped her medical ninjutsu and said, "Sit up and see how well your body has recovered."
Anya rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles, then flashed a grin, ready to praise, "Truly worthy of being..."
"Smack!"
Before Anya could finish speaking, an unexpected slap from Tsunade left her completely stunned.
She heard Tsunade snap furiously, "I don't need you sacrificing yourself to save me!"
Anya's heart suddenly flared with irritation. What, saving you is wrong now?
For a moment, she was on the verge of blurting out a string of curses.
But then, a warm body suddenly threw itself into her arms, and a passionate, intense kiss melted away Anya's rising anger like snow on a mountain.
Was this some kind of 'slap followed by a sweet treat' deal? Well, this treat… tasted damn sweet.
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