Southern Front, Konoha Camp.
Jiraiya stood not far from the medical camp, watching the steady stream of people going in and out of the tents.
There were medical-nin, nurses, and even more wounded shinobi.
The fighting over the past two days had been far too intense. He really hadn't paid attention to the situation here. Mainly because when Taiichi was managing the medical camp, he never had to worry about it.
Ever since Taiichi left, the southern camp hadn't seen any large-scale battles, so the medical camp had been able to manage at the time.
But once the intensity of fighting here decreased, many of the camp's best fighters were transferred to other battlefields. The medical camp was no exception.
That was what had created the current situation.
Jiraiya had stood outside the camp for an hour. He had also called over the current person in charge of the medical camp to ask about the situation and received exactly that conclusion.
Even working at full capacity twenty-four hours a day, they still couldn't keep up with the rising number of wounded. That was the current state of the medical camp.
Jiraiya now missed the days when Taiichi was here more than ever. Back then, he never had to worry about this kind of problem.
Thinking of Taiichi, Jiraiya immediately turned and headed toward the main command tent.
"Shikaku! Shikaku!" He lifted the tent flap and called out before even seeing anyone.
"My lord, you're back. Did something happen again?" Shikaku quickly stood up and went to meet Jiraiya, who had rushed inside.
"Do you know about the medical camp? We don't have enough medical-nin. Their treatment speed can't keep up with the rate of new wounded."
Shikaku was also stunned when he heard this. Like Jiraiya, he had either been out fighting or buried in the main command tent for the past two days.
He had only heard about the medical camp in passing during reports. He hadn't actually gone to check on it himself.
Judging by Jiraiya's expression, the situation there had to be very bad.
Jiraiya could already tell the answer from Shikaku's face. He didn't waste time and gave the order directly.
"Immediately report to the village and request medical-nin reinforcements.
At the same time, send someone to Tsunade's camp. Tell Taiichi to come here as soon as possible. He has Flying Thunder God, so he'll get here faster. Have him help us deal with this urgent situation first."
"This…" Shikaku hesitated. "Jiraiya-sama, transferring personnel across regions like this… isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"Bullshit. We're already in a critical situation. Who cares about that? Just do it. I, Jiraiya, will take full responsibility for everything."
"Understood, my lord." This time, Shikaku didn't hesitate. Jiraiya's sense of responsibility filled him with fighting spirit as well.
Soon, two messenger shinobi left the camp one after the other. One was rushing to Tsunade's camp to ask Taiichi for help, while the other was heading back to the village to seek reinforcements.
The place where Tsunade's forces were stationed wasn't actually that far from Jiraiya's. The original choice of location had been made with the intention of supporting each other.
The messenger who had come looking for Taiichi traveled without rest. It only took him one day to reach the eastern front camp.
After stating his identity and purpose, he followed a guide into the main command tent under the surprised gazes of the surrounding shinobi.
The first thing he did upon seeing Tsunade was hand over Jiraiya's letter.
Seeing that Tsunade was opening the letter, the anxious messenger spoke up directly to explain why he had come.
"Tsunade-sama, after multiple transfers by the village, the southern front is extremely short on personnel—especially in the medical camp. Right now, it can't keep up with the treatment needs of the front lines at all.
Jiraiya-sama sent me here specifically to ask Taiichi to come help and ease the shortage of medical personnel—"
The messenger spoke urgently, but he didn't notice that Tsunade's hands paused slightly when she heard his words.
It was only for a moment. Tsunade continued opening the letter and quickly read through the entire thing.
The general meaning was the same as what the messenger had said, only the letter was more detailed.
Tsunade slowly folded the letter again. When she looked at the messenger, her gaze was full of sympathy.
Even someone with slow reactions could tell something was wrong now.
The messenger looked at the strange expressions everyone in the tent was giving him and started to feel uneasy.
"Tsunade-sama, why are you looking at me like that? Is Taiichi-sama unable to leave for some reason?"
The messenger forced a smile and even made a small joke to try to ease the atmosphere.
But after hearing his joke, everyone's gazes toward him became even stranger.
Tsunade let out a long sigh. "You came too late. Taiichi was recalled by the village a few days ago. Even if I wanted to help, I don't have anyone I can send you."
"How is that possible?" The messenger was stunned. He knew very well that the village wouldn't be able to send reinforcements anytime soon. What Jiraiya really wanted was Taiichi.
He hadn't expected that the most likely source of support would now be unavailable.
The messenger looked dejected, but he quickly pulled himself together. He bowed to Tsunade and said his goodbyes. "In that case, I need to report back as soon as possible so Jiraiya-sama can make preparations in advance."
Tsunade nodded inwardly at the messenger's reaction. Being able to recover from a blow so quickly showed he had good character.
After a moment of thought, she made up her mind. She called out to the messenger, who had already turned to leave.
"Since Jiraiya sent you here to ask for help, I can't just do nothing. I happen to have a group of medical-nin here. I'll have my disciple lead them and go with you to Jiraiya's camp. Consider it my support."
Tsunade was, of course, referring to the group of Mist medical-nin that Taiichi had trained. They weren't part of Konoha's official forces, so there was no need to worry about the negative effects of cross-front transfers. They were also prisoners, so Tsunade had full authority over what happened to them.
She planned to have Shizune take them to Jiraiya's camp—partly to provide support, and partly to give Shizune some experience.
"R-really?" The messenger was so excited he could barely speak properly. Taiichi wasn't coming, but at least he was bringing back some support. That would at least ease the urgent situation to some degree.
"Alright. You look like you haven't rested in a long time. Go get some rest first. I'll start organizing people right away."
While Tsunade was preparing personnel to help Jiraiya, on the southern front, Jiraiya and Shikaku were still anxiously waiting for Taiichi's support.
According to their estimates, Taiichi should have already arrived by now. But three hours had already passed since the expected time, and there was still no sign of him. They were starting to feel uncertain.
"Jiraiya-sama, could it be that Taiichi happened to be out on a mission?"
Shikaku was also at a loss. At this point, he was just trying to find something to say to ease the tension.
He had gone to the medical camp earlier as well. As the fighting continued, the number of wounded who couldn't receive treatment was growing.
Many of the injured could only lie on simple stretchers outside the medical tents, waiting for treatment.
Many minor wounds were turning into serious ones. Limbs that could have been saved were now at risk of amputation.
"Jiraiya-sama, if Taiichi can't make it in time… what do you plan to do next?"
Jiraiya's face was expressionless. He glanced at Shikaku, then went back to the work in front of him.
"Shikaku… war always requires sacrifices. From the beginning of this war until now, we've been winning at the smallest possible cost. That's something to be happy about, but it's not the norm.
What we're about to face is normal warfare. Death will become routine. Only a very small number of people will be lucky enough to be saved by medical-nin."
Jiraiya's tone was heavy, as if he had returned to the meat-grinder battlefields of the Second Great Ninja War. Back then, Konoha didn't have such an excellent medical system. Tsunade's medical skills were strong, but she still couldn't compare to Taiichi's current abilities.
The main command tent fell silent again. Shikaku understood. Jiraiya had already decided not to count on Taiichi's help. He was starting to plan for the worst-case scenario.
The fighting on the front lines continued. On the tangled battle lines, battles were happening constantly. Shinobi were being wounded and even killed.
Taiichi still hadn't arrived. Jiraiya and Shikaku couldn't say they weren't disappointed.
With Taiichi present—even if he didn't participate in the front-line fighting—the camp's combat effectiveness would increase by at least thirty percent. That was the power of a top-tier medical-nin.
Unfortunately, reality was that cruel.
The next day, Sand's attacks became even more ferocious. They seemed tireless, launching wave after wave of offensives against the Konoha shinobi.
Rasa himself even took the field, controlling vast amounts of gold sand and launching large-scale attacks on the Konoha forces.
In the desert—Sand's home territory—and with Magnet Release giving him every advantage, every time Rasa appeared, his presence was no less threatening than a Tailed Beast.
More importantly, unlike a Tailed Beast, Rasa knew how to coordinate and understood exactly what Sand needed.
So every time Rasa appeared, he focused on inflicting the maximum number of casualties on Konoha.
Facing Rasa, the only person on the southern front who could match him right now was Jiraiya.
But even in this environment, Jiraiya's fighting style couldn't completely stop Rasa from attacking the Konoha shinobi.
After several battles, Konoha's losses hadn't decreased. Instead, they had only grown worse.
By the end of the day, both sides had stopped the large-scale fighting and returned to small-team skirmishes. Jiraiya returned to camp with the rest of the troops, looking just as battered as everyone else.
"Jiraiya-sama, we can't keep fighting like this. Why don't we pull back to the Land of Rivers?"
One of the staff officers had been shaken by Sand's momentum today. If they kept losing people like this, their forces would be completely wiped out.
Jiraiya glanced at him and sighed helplessly. He didn't say anything. He simply returned to his seat and closed his eyes to rest. After fighting all day, he was truly exhausted.
Shikaku, seeing this, stepped in to explain. "The village's orders are to force Sand to surrender. Since we've already come this far, there's no turning back. Right now, we and Sand are like two bulls locked in a pushing contest. The first one to take a step back is admitting defeat."
Everyone understood the logic. The staff officer was just holding on to a sliver of hope.
Just as the atmosphere in the tent grew heavy with silence, a report filled with surprise reached their ears.
"Jiraiya-sama, I'm back."
Jiraiya, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked toward the tent entrance.
Standing there was the messenger who had gone to ask for Taiichi's help. Behind him were Shizune and twenty-two medical-nin who had come with him.
Taiichi wasn't there. But the people who had come should be the medical-nin Tsunade had sent to help.
Jiraiya only needed one look to make a preliminary judgment. He hadn't been counting on Taiichi anyway. Having this extra surprise was enough to slightly ease their urgent situation.
Sure enough, after a brief explanation, Jiraiya and the others understood what had happened.
All they could say was that things were unpredictable. Who could have guessed that the village would recall Taiichi at a time like this? For the shinobi on the front lines, it was like cutting off one of their own arms. It made no sense.
Only Jiraiya could somewhat guess Hiruzen's thinking. It was nothing more than the usual suppression and balancing games.
"Shizune, and you, Mizuki jonin—there's no time for welcome banquets or anything like that. New wounded are dying or losing limbs in the medical camp every moment. Please go help as soon as possible."
Even though Jiraiya's words were clearly just giving Tsunade face, Shizune still felt honored. But she also knew what was important. After thanking Jiraiya for his kindness, she immediately led the twenty-two medical-nin, guided by the messenger, toward the medical camp.
It was only when she actually saw the medical camp on the southern front that Shizune understood just how dangerous the situation had become.
There wasn't nearly enough space inside the tents for all the wounded. A large number of injured shinobi had only received basic bandaging before being placed outside in the open air.
Above them was only a simple tarp to block the cool evening breeze.
This was the first time Shizune had witnessed such a brutal scene. The cries of the wounded filled the air.
Some of the injured lay on stretchers clutching their severed limbs, staring blankly as if they had completely lost the will to live.
Some had wounds that had already festered and turned pus-filled, yet the medical-nin only walked past them quickly.
There were simply too many critically injured waiting for treatment.
Shizune had been on the eastern front ever since she started going to the battlefield. Under Taiichi's watch, even though there weren't many medical-nin, everything had been orderly and well-managed.
She had never imagined that a medical camp could look like a living hell.
Someone gently tugged on her arm. Shizune turned in a daze and saw Mizuki's expression—one that said she had seen this kind of thing many times before.
"Shizune-sama, let's hurry and help."
Mizuki spoke softly. Compared to what she had seen in Mist, this was still relatively good. In Mist, the heavily wounded who were difficult or not worth treating were often finished off with a single blade—"to spare them further suffering."
With the addition of twenty-three fresh helpers, the medical camp finally got a bit of breathing room. But everyone knew this was only treating the symptoms, not the root cause.
Without powerful shinobi support or more troops to reinforce them, this place would remain a battlefield meat grinder. The number of wounded would only keep growing.
At the same time, Jiraiya's request for help had also reached Hiruzen's hands.
After quickly reading through the battle report, Hiruzen's brows were deeply furrowed. He truly hadn't expected Sand to react like this—so decisive, so ruthless.
He handed the letter to Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. The two of them immediately leaned in together and quickly read through its contents.
"This is going to be difficult. According to what Jiraiya wrote, he basically can't beat Sand."
"Not only can he not win—he'd already be performing exceptionally well just to hold his ground without losing. That's the desert. Sand's home territory."
The two of them sang the same tune, but the meaning was the same: they didn't believe Jiraiya could win this battle.
"What if… we send Taiichi to help?" Koharu suggested quietly, though her eyes stayed fixed on Hiruzen.
"No!"