Chapter 33: Victory Aftermath, Village Reactions, and Uchiha Internal Pressure
Manda had clearly enjoyed itself this time. It slithered over to Orochimaru and said: "Orochimaru! Call me more often for fun like this in the future!"
With that, it turned into smoke and vanished.
The Konoha ninjas, realizing pursuit was no longer possible, withdrew to their formation. Their gazes turned toward Orochimaru ahead, eyes shining with admiration and excitement.
All the Konoha ninjas gathered around Orochimaru and shouted in unison: "Lord Orochimaru banzai!" The cheers roared like thunder, echoing across the battlefield for a long time.
Soon the cheers turned into unified slogans: "Konoha banzai!" "Third Hokage-sama banzai!" Every shout was filled with love and pride for the village.
Orochimaru merely raised the corner of his mouth slightly.
...
In Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi received news of the front-line victory shortly after the battle ended. Although exact casualty and kill counts were not yet available, rough estimates showed a combat loss ratio of 3:1 in Konoha's favor.
Especially notable was how Kirikabe Ichimonji had directly breached Hagane Ritsuo's Hardening Technique, inflicting short-term unhealable external wounds.
While Hagane Ritsuo's overconfidence in his defense played a part, there was no denying that Kirikabe Ichimonji had contributed significantly to Orochimaru's victory.
As far as Hiruzen knew, Kirikabe Ichimonji—this ninja blade or rather vassal weapon—was not the limit of Naraku's forging capabilities. Without question, the two blades Naraku was currently forging—One-Cut Killer [Muramasa] and March of the Dead [Yatsufusa]—would possess even more terrifying effects.
Hiruzen grew increasingly expectant toward the "Teigu" Naraku had mentioned!
The more he recognized Naraku's importance, the more Hiruzen recalled Danzō's earlier warnings.
Hiruzen sighed: "Naraku... how good it would be if you weren't an Uchiha!"
If Naraku had heard this, he would only think: You're dreaming! You want everything at once? Who do you think you are—T0?
Hiruzen, however, could not abandon Naraku. He could only rub his temples with a slight headache.
On the other side, back in Iwa, Hagane Ritsuo briefly gave instructions after returning before fainting from excessive blood loss.
Some skeptical Iwa medical ninjas tried using medical ninjutsu to heal Hagane Ritsuo's external wounds—only to discover the technique had no effect whatsoever.
They could only resort to physical means: stitching the wounds shut and forcibly sealing them with waterproof materials while continuously transfusing blood.
This was the first time they had seen such a bizarre injury.
After receiving his subordinates' report, Ōnoki learned the rough details of the battle. Only less than twenty percent of the Iwa force had returned. Even accounting for stragglers, it was unlikely to exceed thirty percent.
For a localized battle, losing seventy percent was brutally cruel. While Iwa could afford to lose two hundred ninjas, Kamizuki's death still pained Ōnoki.
Although Iwa had many ninjas, the proportion with potential to become elite jōnin was relatively low. In Ōnoki's eyes, Kamizuki had normal potential to reach elite jōnin level.
As for the ninja blade Kirikabe Ichimonji that Hagane Ritsuo mentioned—capable of inflicting unhealable wounds—Ōnoki was baffled. Konoha's only famous ninja blade was the Thunder God Sword.
It was impossible for Konoha to have kept such a powerful weapon hidden all this time.
Ōnoki could only hope this was a lucky find for Konoha. If Konoha produced a forging master capable of creating weapons rivaling the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist—and then formed their own "Konoha Seven"—it would pose a massive threat to other villages.
"Someone! Investigate whether Konoha has a new forging master or the origin of this Kirikabe Ichimonji ninja blade!" After giving the order, Ōnoki stared out the window, lost in thought.
At the Sunagakure position, Chiyo—now only just turning forty—still showed traces of her youthful beauty.
The Land of Rain was currently a three-way chaotic battlefield between Wind, Fire, and Earth. Even though Sunagakure had not participated in the previous fighting, they had closely followed the recent major clash between Konoha and Iwa.
"Ōnoki took a small hit this time! But what's going on with Konoha? Weren't they only slightly ahead before? How did they suddenly become so strong?" Chiyo expressed some confusion.
She then ordered her subordinates to investigate the details of the battle.
At this point, the entire ninja world was in a state of impending great war. Both major and minor nations were paying close attention to this localized conflict and sending out inquiries.
Back in Konoha, unable to reach any conclusion, Hiruzen decided to announce the victory to ordinary civilians and civilian ninjas.
He felt the village needed this victorious news to boost morale among both civilians and ninjas—the signs of a larger war were already emerging.
Konoha's ordinary ninjas learned of the great victory. Those with slightly better information channels also heard that Naraku's forged Kirikabe Ichimonji had played a significant role in this localized battle.
"Naraku! Your Kirikabe Ichimonji is starting to make a small name for itself in battle. My Water Dragon Blade can't fall behind!" Hatake Sakumo thought while polishing his treasured blade.
Meanwhile, the great clans backed by the Hokage learned even more: Naraku had recently forged two even more powerful ninja blades—and was preparing to test them within Konoha to find suitable wielders!
At the Sarutobi clan grounds.
The Sarutobi clan's great elder spoke to the clan's elite members below: "Uchiha Naraku is about to forge two even stronger ninja blades. Our Sarutobi clan has a relatively early opportunity to test compatibility with those blades. You must seize this chance!"
Naraku, still forging in his workshop, had no idea that people were already eyeing his blades before they were even finished. However, with his growing fame, his forging reputation was rising rapidly.
At the Uchiha compound, Uchiha Chikara—though without direct Hokage backing—learned of the front-line news thanks to the Uchiha clan's unique position.
Seeing Orochimaru achieve a great victory using a blade forged by their clansman Naraku, Chikara felt extremely conflicted.
Even more importantly—the arrangement for Naraku's two newly forged ninja blades!
He could no longer tolerate letting more powerful blades fall easily into outsider hands. Though he was not a hawk faction member, he still valued the clan's interests highly!
He prepared to seek out Uchiha Min again to discuss whether Naraku could prioritize letting Uchiha clan members test compatibility with the ninja blades first.
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