"I just had a fight with the Third Kazekage, and in the end, the One-Tail still managed to escape."
Uchiha Hayashi spoke calmly as he adjusted his torn trench coat, brushing off the dried blood and dust as if the battle he had just described were nothing more than a minor scuffle.
For a moment, the entire tent fell silent.
Three pairs of eyes stared at him in shock. Among them, Taki Toru looked at him with open admiration, her gaze shining like that of an excited fangirl.
There was something naturally convincing about his calm attitude, but as the saying went, acting cool was one thing, surviving the consequences was another. In truth, what Hayashi said was not exactly wrong, but it was far from complete.
The full story was that under his interference, Orochimaru and the Third Kazekage had engaged in a life-and-death clash, and only then did the One-Tail take the opportunity to escape.
Hayashi had simply trimmed away the dangerous details and quietly took the credit for looking impressive.
"You two should continue what you were doing," he said casually. "No need to stop because of me."
Before entering the tent, he had clearly seen Taki Toru's hand pressed against Himeji's chest as she was applying medical treatment. From his point of view, there was no reason to interrupt.
Still, sitting nearby to observe as the captain should not be a problem, right?
He dragged over a small stool and sat down beside Himeji.
Himeji's usually expressionless face gained a faint blush, and she instinctively raised her hand to block Taki Toru's movement.
With Himeji refusing her, Taki Toru could only turn around and complain.
"This is all your fault, Hayashi San. You came at the worst possible time."
Hayashi blinked. "Oh, so you were using medical ninjutsu to treat her injuries. I thought you were doing something else."
Taki Tou rolled her eyes dramatically. "What, you thought I was giving her a chest massage?"
Hayashi coughed lightly and changed the topic. "How is it? Is Himeji's injury serious?"
Himeji shook her head gently. "I am fine. But your injuries, Hayashi San, look much worse."
Even from a distance, Taki Toru could clearly smell the blood on him. No matter how casually he spoke, that much blood was impossible to ignore.
She reached out and lifted his sleeve. A long gash on his arm was still bleeding slowly.
When Himeji saw this, she stood up immediately and headed toward the tent entrance.
Hayashi reached out and stopped her. "You are not going to look for a medical ninja, are you?"
Himeji nodded.
"Do not go," he said with a bitter smile. "I just came back from there. The transport unit does not have many medical ninjas to begin with, and most of them are busy saving the critically injured."
"If you go now, they will not have anyone available. This kind of injury will not kill me. I can endure it for now."
Himeji hesitated for a moment, then nodded and slowly sat back down.
Taki Toru puffed up her cheeks slightly. "You both forgot something important. I am a medical ninja too, you know."
Hayashi raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you can treat this kind of wound?"
"The Third Kazekage's Iron Sand has powerful tearing properties, and there is still some residue inside the wound. Can you remove it?"
Taki Toru fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "If I could remove that, I would not still be a Genin."
"Still, I can at least ease the pain and bandage it properly."
Hayashi nodded and lay down flat, allowing her to begin treatment.
Soft blue chakra lit up Taki Toru's hands as she activated medical ninjutsu, her expression focused and serious.
As she worked, she asked curiously, "Hayashi San, I heard that you are Tsunade-sama's disciple. With her ability, healing this kind of wound should be very easy, right?"
"Yes," Hayashi replied quietly. "But Orochimaru-sensei was seriously injured and is still in critical condition…"
As his body finally relaxed, the tension he had been holding onto disappeared all at once. After answering her question, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. His consciousness slowly faded.
Himeji quietly stood up, fetched a blanket, and gently covered him.
The tent returned to silence.
.....
This time, Hayashi slept extremely deeply. In the middle of his sleep, he even had a long, indistinct dream.
In the dream, his entire body felt warm, as if gentle hands were moving across him, and the pain in his wounds gradually faded away.
Later, his body seemed to sway slightly back and forth. The feeling was oddly comforting, like being rocked in a cradle.
After an unknown length of time, he finally woke up.
The moment he opened his eyes, intense sunlight poured in, forcing him to squint again.
He took a careful breath and caught the familiar scent of grain beneath him.
At this moment, Uchiha Hayashi was lying on a grain transport cart, and the unit had already begun moving.
"You are awake, Hayashi San?"
Himeji, who was guarding the supplies nearby, leaned toward the opening of the cart and spoke softly.
Hayashi nodded and used his right hand to push himself up.
To his surprise, the pain in his arm was almost completely gone.
Noticing the change in his expression, Himeji explained, "Tsunade-sama came personally to treat you yesterday."
Hayashi nodded in understanding. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Two days."
After speaking, Himeji somehow produced a warm bowl of porridge and handed it to him.
Hayashi thanked her and began eating. After two full days without food, his body truly needed the nourishment.
The transport unit continued forward at a rapid pace.
In fact, on the second day after the battle ended, Tsunade had ordered the unit to advance immediately without rest.
She had no other choice.
The Third Kazekage was still nearby and could strike at any time. The transport unit had already been severely weakened. If they stayed in place any longer, the risk would only grow.
The Sand Ninja surprise attack unit had almost fought to the death just to seize these supplies.
Even though Tsunade had prepared in advance, she had still been caught off guard because the mindset of both sides had been completely different.
It could be said that if Orochimaru and Hayashi had not stopped the Third Kazekage, the Leaf Village transport unit might have been completely wiped out.
In the end, although a small portion of the supplies was lost, the majority remained safely in Leaf Village hands. This outcome alone was enough for Tsunade to feel satisfied.
Another full day passed.
The transport unit finally arrived safely at the forward supply base, where the remaining supplies were formally handed over to Sakumo.
Inside the command tent, Tsunade did not rest at all. The moment she arrived, she immediately began asking about the situation.
"Over the past two days, has there been any intelligence worth special attention on the main battlefield?"
Sakumo shook his head slowly, then spoke in a serious tone. "The most important intelligence is still related to the Third Kazekage."
"Our scouts confirmed that he has already left the Land of Rivers and returned to the Land of Wind."
Orochimaru, his face still pale, added in a low, hoarse voice, "Shukaku must have escaped back to the Land of Wind as well. Otherwise, the Third Kazekage would not have withdrawn so quickly."
"Exactly," Sakumo nodded. "Aside from that, the situation on the main battlefield has remained relatively stable. The Sand Ninjas are currently staying within their base and showing no movement."
Tsunade exhaled slowly. "They have retreated on the main battlefield, but their surprise attack units are still targeting Leaf Village transport teams everywhere."
Sakumo nodded again. "That is the real problem. We cannot keep passively responding forever. We have to take the initiative."
As he spoke, he spread open the ninja map on the table and pointed at several marked routes.
"All external supplies required by the Sand Ninjas, whether obtained through plunder or trade, must pass through these routes before entering their base."
"Since there is no large-scale fighting on the main battlefield right now, we can dispatch a batch of intelligence ninjas to monitor these routes."
Tsunade considered it briefly, then nodded. "All right. Do it that way."
Only Orochimaru frowned slightly and pointed at one of the routes.
"Is that not the road connecting the Daimyo's territory to the Land of Wind? Did we not already cut off the trade between the Daimyo and the Sand Village before?"
Sakumo nodded. "That is correct."
"However, according to our spy within the Sand Village, they have sent out a new group of Jonin this time. They are determined to reopen that route at all costs."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly. "Has the village already informed the Uchiha clan about this intelligence?"
Sakumo shook his head. "Not yet."
The atmosphere in the tent turned subtly heavy once more.