The retreating Konoha ninja forces, at Anaya's suggestion, abandoned their previous temporary stronghold, pulling back repeatedly until completely withdrawing from the border area.
After settling in, Fugaku and Anaya were resting together in a room.
Anaya spoke first. "Didn't expect you to agree with my plan so easily."
"How strong is the Raikage? Does he have any weaknesses?" Fugaku's face was heavy, his spirit low. Prolonged battles had drained his body greatly.
"Strong." Anaya recalled the recent fight and added, "Very strong. In close combat, he can completely suppress me. Long-range attacks are useless against him. As for weaknesses… sigh."
Hearing such high praise of the Raikage from Anaya, Fugaku frowned. "If both taijutsu and ninjutsu are ineffective against him, what about genjutsu?"
The Uchiha clan specialized in illusions. In direct confrontations, often just one illusion technique could give them the upper hand.
Anaya shook her head. "His body has reached the Instinct state of battle; even if caught in an illusion, he might still automatically counterattack by sensing danger and hostility. It won't work."
The White Fang had once achieved this, and now the Raikage was the second one Anaya had encountered—too difficult to deal with. A close-range ninja facing off against a heavily armored warrior with high attack and defense gets completely countered. You land your combo, don't kill him, and then you're finished. After this battle, using the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique to trap him like before won't realistically be possible again.
"So you're saying we're out of options," Fugaku said disappointedly, his voice edged with despair.
Actually, it wasn't entirely hopeless. If Anaya was willing to risk her life, she could activate Susanoo and go head-to-head with the Raikage—nobody could say who would fall first. But that was impossible. Anaya wouldn't go that far for Konoha. However, there might be other ways…
Anaya thought for a moment before speaking. "His ninjutsu demands extreme physical stamina. Every injury he takes must be offset by exhausting his body. So, I suspect he can't sustain prolonged battles. If we can wear him down, we stand a chance of taking him out."
Fugaku grew anxious. "So you mean sacrificing lives to fill the gap?"
There were plenty of Uchiha warriors here, and there's no way Fugaku would ever go along with that. Anaya understood this well and calmly analyzed, "If we don't want to sacrifice lives, then we should adopt scorched-earth tactics, retreat strategically, disperse our forces, set up trenches step by step, lay traps every three steps, fully transition into a defensive posture, and let them take the initiative."
Looking at Anaya, who remained incredibly calm and clear-headed, the frantic Fugaku suddenly felt as though doused with cold water, instantly overcome with shame. He realized she was light-years ahead of him in battlefield strategy — she'd already mapped out every possible escape route. This was the White Fang's disciple. No doubt about it — both master and student were forged for war, unbreakable blades cutting through chaos.
After a long pause, Fugaku nodded. "For now, we have no choice but to proceed this way."
The grinding deadlock pulled both sides into a brutal war of attrition. When Kumo's main forces advanced, Konoha ninjas would vanish without a trace. They'd occasionally strike at Kumo's supply lines, making it hard to concentrate on attacks. Once their main force withdrew, Konoha reappeared for surprise strikes. This back-and-forth went on and on—Kumo not only failed to gain an advantage but instead suffered heavy harassment. Later, they too became smarter, reducing large-scale collective operations and dispersing their forces just like Konoha. Both sides tacitly agreed to switch to direct small-unit confrontations. The battlefield seemingly grew calmer, yet the underground struggle became even more intense. Daily casualties continued rising. Both sides gritted their teeth, eyes bloodshot, each waiting to see who would collapse first.
During these battles, Anya's Anbu squad performed exceptionally brilliantly, their achievements far surpassing other squads. Shisui Uchiha's reputation shone brightly within his clan, earning him the title of genius. Anya initially accompanied them for a while to ensure safety, but eventually felt completely confident letting them operate independently.
At one point, Anya encountered Raikage again. After exchanging several blows, Anya decisively chose to retreat—the outcome remained unchanged: they simply couldn't win. However, Raikage was temporarily unable to break through Anya's Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, forcing him to abandon pursuit. Infuriated, Raikage stomped his foot angrily, hurling various curses and insults.
Anya simply smirked, unfazed, and strolled off.
During this period, Anya also activated the Supreme Blade slaughter training on the battlefield, achieving satisfying results. His Sword Manipulation Art had finally matured enough for real combat. Many Kumo ninjas met their deaths without even catching sight of Anya. Compared to Phantom Sword Art, this killing method was even more eerie and mysterious.
You could say he was taking down enemies from a mile away.
However, the division technique hadn't been fully integrated yet. Once his soul could split infinitely, attaching itself to every single blade simultaneously, the resulting scene would be beyond imagination.
After an entire day of carnage, while resting briefly at the stronghold, suddenly something materialized midair before Anya's eyes.
Anya abruptly opened his eyes wide, focusing carefully—it was a sealed box. This seal looked familiar; he recognized it immediately as Sasori's work. Right, previously when Minato needed to execute a mission, he had asked Sasori to accompany him. Could there have been some discovery?
After breaking the seal, two scrolls lay inside. One of them was a letter from Sasori. Retrieving and opening it, Anya was shocked, his eyes gleaming with astonishment.
Within the ruins of Lolan actually existed the Ryumyaku Chakra Control—the legendary lifeline of the land, rumored to contain chakra far more powerful than any other place upon earth. Mishandling it could potentially destroy the entire world.
Once Sasori learned of the Ryumyaku's power while hiding in the shadows, he immediately began plotting its seizure—even if that meant violating Anya's explicit order forbidding interference. In the end, after completing their mission, Konoha ninjas chose not to take the Ryumyaku but instead sealed it. So Sasori didn't show himself but waited quietly until Konoha left. During that time, he continuously studied ancient books trying to decipher how to break the Ryumyaku's seal, with significant help from Mabui. Through long-term joint research, once the seal was finally removed, Sasori successfully obtained the Ryumyaku's power.
However, this power was too immense and required an excessively long time to assimilate. Therefore, Sasori injected a portion of the Ryumyaku energy into the puppet of the Third Kazekage. The puppet of the Third Kazekage, having absorbed the Ryumyaku energy, gradually regained a lifelike form, its chakra surpassing even what it possessed in life. Combined with the Kekkei Genkai Magnet Release, it became incredibly strong.
After securing his own gains, Sasori naturally didn't forget Big Brother Kurotsuchi. He directly sent the puppet of the Third Kazekage over using Mabui's Heavenly Transfer Technique. According to Sasori, once he fully mastered the Ryumyaku energy, this puppet would no longer be useful.
After reading through the message, Anya ignited flames in her hands and burned it to ashes. According to Sasori's message, there was a great deal of information, filled with mockery toward Konoha ninjas. This wasn't surprising since his parents had died at the hands of Konoha ninjas. It was fortunate that Minato had no intention of claiming the Ryumyaku. Otherwise, if Sasori were to face him directly, the Flying Thunder God Technique would pose a deadly threat—it was notoriously effective against puppet masters.
All things considered, the outcome was favorable. Judging from Sasori's tone at the end, he should become extremely strong after emerging from seclusion; just how strong he'd become, though, was beyond even Anya's guess.
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