Counting from the initial invasion of the Land of Lightning, the massive battle between the Hidden Stone and the Hidden Cloud lasted a total of fifteen days.
A brutal fifteen days.
The war ended with the Cloud utilizing their geographical advantage to fight to the bitter end, ultimately forcing the Stone to retreat from the Land of Lightning.
In terms of casualties, both sides suffered heavily. The Stone lost over half their combat forces, while the Cloud's pyrrhic victory cost them 990 of their own for every 1000 enemies killed.
This outcome undoubtedly made the two warring factions weep, but it made the remaining three Great Ninja Villages bloom with joy.
Konoha was especially thrilled.
Not only were they thrilled, but they also felt a deep sense of accomplishment.
Because throughout this massive war, Konoha had personally demonstrated the true meaning of being a... shit-stirrer.
This ending was largely brought about by Konoha's blind meddling.
Following the end of the battle, Konoha's subsequent overall strategy was not to launch a massive offensive against the Cloud or the Stone to force them out of the war entirely.
The situation was actually the exact opposite.
Because the Hokage worried that attacking now would trigger the phenomenon of "an army burning with righteous indignation is bound to win." If Konoha attacked the Cloud now, the enemy would undoubtedly fight with their backs to the wall. They would shrink their defensive lines, pull the battlefield back into the Land of Lightning, and then... choose death before dishonor.
Therefore, Konoha had no intention of sacrificing a massive amount of lives. A war of attrition was now far more advantageous for the Land of Fire.
After all, while peace was the objective, preserving the lives of their ninjas was the core priority.
As long as they could maintain their current combat strength, Konoha would secure the ultimate victory in the future.
Thus, not only did Konoha refrain from attacking their weakened enemies, but while maintaining a balanced front, they began rotating ninjas who hadn't left the battlefield for a long time back to the village for rest and recuperation in batches.
As a result, a large number of ninjas returned to Konoha, and the war entered a relatively peaceful stalemate phase—this was likely the final calm before the storm. The next time fighting broke out, it would probably be the final, decisive battle for all nations involved.
...
Konoha
A classified underground facility, a certain room in the Intelligence Division.
This was a restricted area completely inaccessible to civilians and ordinary ninjas, generally used for handling things that couldn't see the light of day.
You could easily tell how optimistic Konoha's prospects currently were just by looking at the roster of personnel returning from the front lines.
For example, the man standing right here—Orochimaru, one of the frontline commanders, had actually returned to the village. As for his reasoning, it was probably because he heard Konoha had acquired some excellent research material.
Namely, the guy currently lying on the dissection table.
"Hehe..." His signature hoarse chuckle echoed occasionally.
"Hago..." Pausing slightly, Orochimaru finally said the full name. "Apologies, your name always makes me draw certain associations, Hagoromo."
Orochimaru-sama was poking fun at his name again!
But Hagoromo had absolutely no idea how to respond. He couldn't exactly say, "I'm so sorry for being named Hagoromo," could he?
Inside this room, it was currently just the three of them—Orochimaru, Hagoromo, and the Third Raikage. Two living, one dead.
Unsurprisingly, the plan to hack into the Raikage's brain to extract intelligence had failed. Even with the combined efforts of the Yamanaka clan and Kushina, a master of Uzumaki sealing jutsu, they couldn't break the seals inside his mind.
This wasn't particularly strange. After all, even the most nimble hands can only untie a slipknot; a dead knot is a dead knot, and it simply cannot be undone.
Left with no other choice, in order to squeeze out the Raikage's final remaining value, Konoha's research shifted from mental intelligence extraction to physical exploration.
And as Konoha's premier Lightning Style expert, Hagoromo was naturally summoned by Orochimaru during the research process... Although Hagoromo seriously suspected Orochimaru didn't call him here to assist, but rather to study him as research material as well.
"So, Hagoromo, what do you think the first step should be when researching a ninja's corpse?"
"...Slicing it up?" Hagoromo answered with a hint of hesitation.
You couldn't blame him for his shallow knowledge. Human corpses had never appeared in any of his research subjects across two lifetimes.
"Slicing? Why would you think that?"
"Uh, slice first, then apply electric shocks to observe the reactions. Or the other way around. Isn't that the standard procedure?"
Obviously, Hagoromo had just deadpanned the procedure for a middle school biology experiment.
Though his test subjects had only been frogs... But humans, frogs, salted fish—fundamentally, there wasn't much difference, right?
Hagoromo hadn't yet realized that he needed to keep the fact that he had dissected frogs a strict secret. He absolutely could not let Jiraiya hear about it.
"No need to slice... Next, try directly applying Lightning Style to this corpse."
Before Uncle Snake had his fill of messing with it, he definitely wouldn't bear to cut the Raikage into pieces.
Hagoromo took a breath. Without saying another word, he followed Orochimaru's instructions.
Lightning sparked to life on his hand, and he pressed it directly onto the Raikage's body.
Then, before Orochimaru could draw a conclusion, Hagoromo himself noticed something different.
"How is it?" Orochimaru noticed the shift in Hagoromo's expression.
Hagoromo thought for a moment, then said, "Normally, releasing Lightning Style directly like this should have a corrosive and paralyzing effect on any individual other than the caster. But the Raikage's corpse..."
He paused slightly. "The cells are being revitalized. Just like mine."
He was quite astonished by this phenomenon. why would his offensive-type Lightning Style revitalize dead cells?
This wasn't medical-grade Lightning Style stimulation.
"Fascinating... Try increasing the intensity of the Lightning Style," Orochimaru said.
Hagoromo began to gradually dial up the intensity.
"More."
"More."
Until Hagoromo's palm was practically releasing a Chidori. Then, the part of the Raikage's body covered by Hagoromo's hand actually displayed a phenomenon remarkably similar to the Lightning Style Chakra Mode!
This... Hagoromo almost suspected the guy was still alive.
"The more powerful the Lightning Style, the heavier the burden on a ninja's body. Whether due to innate talent or rigorous training, the Raikage's physique is clearly different from a normal person's. Its adaptability to Lightning Style is exceptionally strong."
"It even possesses a certain degree of muscle memory. The reason it's presenting this specific form is probably because he was in this exact state right before he died, correct?"
Orochimaru circling the corpse of a burly man, occasionally sighing in awe, explaining things, and looking puzzled... it honestly looked incredibly creepy.
Even if he were to take a bite out of the Raikage right now just to taste how salty he was, Hagoromo wouldn't be surprised.
Now that was the true attitude of a scientist!
Raikage-sama, being dead is even more painful than being alive, isn't it? Have you realized this yet?
Hagoromo observed a one-second moment of silence for him.
"Can the Lightning Style be increased any further?"
Hearing Orochimaru's words and looking at his expression, Hagoromo finally understood. While observing the Raikage's reactions, the man was also probing to see just how strong of a Lightning Style Hagoromo could output!
So, to avoid drawing any more of Uncle Snake's attention, Hagoromo decisively shook his head. Any higher, and it wouldn't be Lightning Style anymore; it would just be electrical discharge.
Orochimaru didn't press the issue, even though he had already seen Hagoromo's strongest Lightning Style mode.
"Hagoromo, what do you think is the most important thing for a ninja?"
"Chakra, comprehension, learning ability, tactical awareness, and so on... but if I had to pick the most important thing, it would be the jutsu they've mastered and can utilize."
Although he had no idea why Orochimaru was suddenly asking this, Hagoromo gave his honest opinion.
Actually, he had another, more universally applicable answer: for all people, the most important thing was a functioning brain.
"Hehehehe..." Seeming quite satisfied with this answer, Uncle Snake chuckled again.
"Yes, the answer is jutsu. However, there is a paradox within that..."
"That is, the power of a jutsu is directly proportional to its risks and dangers. A powerful jutsu inevitably comes with a heavy burden... So here is the question. Leaving the signless casting aside for a moment, your cells are clearly only at the level of an ordinary ninja. Why are you immune to such powerful Lightning Style?"
The amount of information packed into Uncle Snake's words was quite substantial. For instance... his phrasing clearly indicated that he had already conducted research on a certain someone.
Hagoromo was instantly terrified to tears by Uncle Snake.
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