"The Four-tailed and Five-tailed Jinchuriki are dead?"
A was shocked upon hearing this news and slapped the discussion table in front of him until it shattered. He quickly asked, "What about my brother, Bee?"
"I don't know, he might have encountered trouble too..."
Before Kitsuchi finished speaking, a Hidden Cloud Ninja ran in to report, "Lord A, we found Lord Bee, but he is severely injured and unconscious. The medical unit is already treating him with all their might."
"Killer Bee has been found? Then what about Roshi and Han?"
Upon hearing this, Kitsuchi hurriedly asked. At that time, he had only seen the Four-tailed and Five-tailed being sliced in half, and then the Chakra reactions of Roshi and Han disappeared, after which Orochimaru headed over.
Since Killer Bee isn't dead, could Roshi and Han also not be dead?
The Hidden Cloud Ninja shook his head and said, "We don't know. We have only found Lord Bee so far, but the two Jonin from your village..."
"Immediately go look, and dispatch twice as many Ninja Squads. Search the entire ten kilometers around their battlefield!"
A ordered, and then Dodai beside him spoke up to reassure him, "There's no need to worry, my lord. Perhaps we will have news soon. Once Killer Bee wakes up, we can ask him..."
Kitsuchi nodded, but his face remained grim, as he had a foreboding feeling.
Meanwhile, the Hidden Cloud Ninja began tallying casualties and exchanging intelligence reports. They also had significant losses this time, with the death toll at five hundred seventy-three, over three hundred killed by that suddenly attacking purple ray.
Moreover, A and Dodai learned from Kitsuchi that the purple ray was the doing of the Konoha Lightning Fang, which made them resent Uchiha Yoichi even more.
Kitsuchi also shared many intelligence reports about the Konoha Lightning Fang, such as the ferocious and wrath-filled beast on Uchiha Yoichi's body.
Just like the Tailed Beasts within the Jinchuriki, that monster didn't belong to any of the Nine Great Tailed Beasts they knew, and they had never had any impression of that creature before.
The only assumption was that Uchiha Yoichi found an unfamiliar beast within the Ninja World and sealed it within himself like a Tailed Beast, gaining its power.
It was also known that the move that broke the Third Generation Raikage's arm was the beast's ability.
Besides this, the severe and minor injuries among the Hidden Cloud Ninja amounted to nearly a hundred, and although they suffered losses, it wasn't as bad as Konoha's.
The Hidden Rock Ninja suffered hardly any losses. Their dozen or so people just kept continuously casting Ninjutsu, then restored Chakra with Soldier Pills, continuing to cast Ninjutsu; once the Konoha Ninja's frontline was torn open, the Hidden Cloud would be responsible for a surprise attack.
Before Kitsuchi came over, he went to inquire, learning that only their Chakra was heavily depleted, and it would be fine after resting for two days.
In comparison, Konoha's damages were absolutely more severe; just the corpses of Konoha Ninja collected by the Hidden Cloud amounted to over six hundred, and they occupied a camp where Konoha White Fang was heavily injured by A and several other Hidden Cloud Jonin together.
Now, A faced the dilemma of whether to continue the attack; if they did, they had the chance to completely annihilate these Konoha Ninja, but according to Kitsuchi, Konoha Lightning Fang seemed unharmed.
This news was like a sudden gaping gorge in front that made A hesitant to attack.
If Konoha Lightning Fang wasn't hurt and still had Chakra, would they now have to face the terrifying monster Kitsuchi described?
"Let's wait a bit longer. Once Killer Bee wakes up, we need more intelligence reports."
A decided, "Before that, Dodai, let our people retaliate."
"Understood."
Dodai, upon hearing this, went to make arrangements.
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Very soon, Konoha Village received transmissions from Orochimaru, returning almost simultaneously with another ninja.
Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura to listen to Orochimaru's report together, but upon hearing the news of Konoha's defeat, nearly fainted.
Yet the good news was that he didn't completely black out!
More than twelve hundred ninjas, with only a little over three hundred still able to fight, including Hatake Sakumo being heavily injured while covering the retreat of Ninja Corps. This battle's losses were arguably the worst in Konoha's history.
The most crucial point was that they had no intelligence on the Hidden Rock's elite heading to the Land of Hot Water whatsoever; if they had known even a little beforehand, the damage wouldn't have been so devastating.
Nonetheless, there was good news: Orochimaru's transmitted intelligence indicated that the Four-tailed and Five-tailed Jinchuriki from Hidden Rock Village were dead, and the Eight-tailed Jinchuriki was heavily injured.
In the upcoming battle, Hidden Rock would be directly deprived of two of their greatest forces on the battlefield; the threat of a Jinchuriki on the battlefield far surpassed that of a Kage from any village.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a pang of regret after hearing all the detailed battlefield reports. If only he had withdrawn two hundred ninjas from the Land of Hot Water, perhaps the situation could have been slightly better.
At least it might decrease the casualties, preventing Orochimaru from failing to hold even the second camp, with continuous retreat being a risk.
"Hiruzen, what should we do now?"
Mitokado Homura asked, "The village doesn't have many ninjas left, but to stabilize the situation on Orochimaru's side, at least one Ninja Corps needs to be dispatched..."
"The Third Generation Raikage hasn't appeared all along; I suspect he's in the Land of Grass battlefield..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke grimly, pondering why could Hidden Rock assist Hidden Cloud, but Hidden Cloud couldn't support Hidden Rock?