"Hahahahaha… a great victory! A great victory!"
"A bunch of trash dared to provoke us. That should teach them a lesson."
"Tens of thousands chased down and slaughtered by just over a thousand of us. If I were an Iwagakure ninja, I'd smash my head against a wall out of shame."
"Hmph! Once we conquer the Land of Wind, we might as well conquer the Land of Earth too."
More than a thousand facing tens of thousands and still achieving a crushing victory—such results left every Kumogakure ninja exhilarated.
Even after such a massive battle, their spirits remained high as they enthusiastically cleaned up the battlefield.
On a temporary earthen platform raised amid the battlefield, the Third Raikage, Namikaze Minato, Nagato, and the others stood overlooking the scene below.
Before long, A rushed up excitedly.
The Third Raikage immediately asked, "How are the casualty statistics?"
A replied at once, "In this battle, we annihilated nearly ten thousand of the enemy. I estimate Iwagakure won't have the will to fight us again anytime soon."
"On our side, we lost more than five hundred…"
Five hundred casualties in exchange for nearly ten thousand Iwagakure ninja. Yet none of them showed much joy.
The Third Raikage said solemnly, "Identify every one of the fallen as soon as possible. Make sure their families receive full compensation."
A nodded.
After a brief pause, he spoke again. "Father, aside from crushing the Iwa-nin this time, we also gained something significant."
"Oh?"
"Let's hear it."
Seeing everyone's curious gazes, A didn't keep them in suspense. "We captured Iwagakure's Five-Tails jinchuriki, Han, alive."
"Besides that, we also captured a ninja named Kitsuchi. He appears to be Ōnoki's son."
Hearing this, everyone showed surprise.
The Third Raikage burst into hearty laughter. "Excellent. This trip wasn't in vain after all."
Though nearly ten thousand Iwa-nin had been killed, most were genin. For a village like Iwagakure, rebuilding such numbers wasn't overly difficult.
But the Five-Tails jinchuriki and the Tsuchikage's son were a different matter.
Losing these two powerful assets would truly wound Iwagakure to the core.
After thinking for a moment, the Third Raikage said, "Until the war ends, I must personally monitor Ōnoki's movements. I can't head to the Land of Wind for reinforcements."
"Minato, you'll take responsibility for escorting the Five-Tails jinchuriki and Kitsuchi to Yuzuru."
"Yes!" Minato answered firmly.
A stepped forward and cautioned, "Be careful. Watch out for the Five-Tails going berserk."
After the recent battle, he had developed a favorable impression of the seemingly gentle man before him.
The man's speed was even slightly faster than his own.
Sensing A's goodwill, Minato smiled. "Don't worry. When I became a jinchuriki, I learned quite a few sealing techniques."
"And with Nagato here, there's even less to worry about."
Nagato wasn't one for lengthy speeches. He simply nodded confidently. "Leave it to me."
After exchanging a few more words, Minato led the surprise attack unit away.
The war between Konoha and Sunagakure was not yet over. They had to hurry and provide support.
————
Land of Wind.
On a sand dune a hundred miles from Sunagakure.
Rasa stared gloomily at the Sunagakure ninja retreating in defeat once again and clenched his fists.
"What on earth is that bastard Ōnoki thinking? Why hasn't he sent reinforcements yet?"
"Doesn't he understand that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold?"
Chiyo, standing beside him, frowned as well. "Could he have been held up by the Third Raikage?"
"I don't know."
Rasa shook his head irritably, feeling deeply frustrated.
He had believed that after years of development, Sunagakure's ninja numbers and strength were far beyond the days when they were constrained by the Land of Wind's Daimyō.
And with the battlefield set in the desert—their home ground—he had been confident they could repel the aggressive Konoha forces.
But events had unfolded far beyond his expectations.
Konoha simply had too many powerhouses.
Orochimaru, Fugaku, Hatake Sakumo, Tsunade, Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi, Hyūga Hiashi, Kushina Uzumaki…
Most crucially, there were Pakura, Karura, and… Sasori of the Red Sand!
Under the leadership of so many elites, Sunagakure's ninja collapsed at the slightest contact, utterly unable to resist.
In just over half a month, they had nearly been pushed to the village gates.
The Land of Wind was vast, but if this continued, they would soon have nowhere left to retreat.
Sensing Rasa's mood, Chiyo couldn't help but say, "If you had listened to me back then and hadn't targeted Pakura and Yashamaru, given their personalities, they likely wouldn't have turned against our village."
Rasa replied coldly, "And what about your grandson?"
"If not for him, would Konoha's ninja have been able to so easily counter the poisons and puppets we developed?"
Chiyo fell silent for a moment, then waved her hand irritably. "Now isn't the time for mutual blame. We need to think about how to withstand Konoha's next assault."
Rasa snorted. "I've already sent people to the Demon Desert. We'll mobilize the creatures there to hold them off for now."
"If Iwagakure remains silent, then we must prepare for a fight to the death."
————
Land of Wind.
Inside the Konoha camp.
Uchiha Yuzuru looked at Kitsuchi and Han, who had been escorted up by Minato, a trace of interest appearing on his face.
"Kitsuchi, we meet again."
At those words, Kitsuchi couldn't help but recall their previous encounter.
Back then, the Uchiha clan had just fled Konoha, isolated and without support.
He had come under Ōnoki's orders to negotiate, but in the end, nothing came of it.
Although he had shown sufficient goodwill at the time, he hadn't truly taken Yuzuru seriously.
Having grown up at Ōnoki's side, he had naturally believed that a mere ninja clan could at most serve as embellishment before a massive entity like a village.
Yet years later, when they met again, the other man had become the de facto ruler of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire—while he himself had fallen to the status of a prisoner.
Kitsuchi couldn't help but wonder: if back then he had been a bit more perceptive, if he hadn't flatly rejected Yuzuru and instead invited him to Iwagakure for deeper talks, would everything now be different?