Chapter 594: Locating Turtle Island
Although the three of them reached a consensus, Shizuka Minamoto-chan suddenly asked, "Do you think the Hokage really appeared by coincidence?"
Aono Shinichi-kun was startled. "You mean... he intervened again?"
The three exchanged glances. They all felt this was the most likely explanation. Otherwise, why would Kakashi, who was in Konoha, suddenly appear at such a critical moment?
After a moment of silence, Aono Shinichi-kun said, "We still have to deploy the troops. But let's report this incident and our guess to Ishiro-sensei!"
Rion-chan laughed. "That's right! Let Ishiro-sensei have the headache!"
Subsequently, the three dispatched a large number of ninja into the Land of Fire to deliver orders to the Iwa squads tasked with harassing and killing Konoha ninja.
Half a day after Neji-kun's battle ended, squad after squad of Iwa ninja crossed the boundary between the northern and southern halves of the Land of Fire, entering the south.
Although the Iwa ninja operated in scattered squads, their total numbers were vast—no less than the total number of ninja remaining in Konoha.
Facing Iwa ninja who were superior in numbers, far stronger individually, and rich in combat experience, the fate of the Konoha genin—who had graduated early and lacked life-or-death combat experience—was predictable.
Konoha Village
After bringing Sasuke and Naruto-kun back, Kakashi stayed at the Konoha Hospital, waiting for the results of their treatment.
Half a day passed. Before the medical ninja finished their work, reports of ninja squads being attacked in the southern Land of Fire began to flood in.
When the first report arrived, Kakashi didn't pay much attention.
But when reports of Konoha ninja deaths came in like snowflakes in a blizzard, Kakashi knew the situation was bad.
He immediately convened an emergency high-level meeting to discuss the matter.
Genma Shiranui spoke immediately. "Lord Hokage, Iwa is trying to pull the rug out from under us. If the ninja scattered on missions in the southern Land of Fire suffer heavy casualties, the village is finished."
"We've already allowed eight-year-old children to graduate early. We can't afford any more losses. We must recall them immediately."
Mori Sarutobi agreed. "Yes, we must cut our losses. Send elite ninja to escort these children back. They are the future of the village."
Kakashi sighed. "I know. But the number of troops the village can send out right now is too limited."
"And there is no one suitable to lead this."
"You don't know this yet, but Sasuke and Naruto-kun were defeated. The two of them teamed up and lost to Neji Hyūga."
"What?!" Genma and the other advisors were shocked.
Anko asked, "Lord Hokage, Neji Hyūga defeated two Kage-level combatants by himself?"
Kakashi sighed again. "It's worse than that. According to Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto-kun both erupted with power far beyond their previous limits at the last moment."
"But they were still taken down by Neji Hyūga in just a few moves."
"If I hadn't felt a sudden palpitation and gone to check, they wouldn't have made it back alive."
"They are both still undergoing treatment in the hospital."
The room was stunned into silence by this intelligence.
After a while, Genma asked, "Lord Hokage, does this mean Neji Hyūga's strength is likely not inferior to yours or the Tsuchikage's?"
Kakashi said somewhat gloomily, "Yes. In a one-on-one fight, I'm not sure I could beat Neji Hyūga."
He paused, then added, "There's one more thing. When I was rescuing them, Sōkai Uchiha, who had been hiding in the shadows, also appeared."
"The strength he displayed in that instant was terrifying. I saw that his eyes may have evolved from the Mangekyō Sharingan to the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."
Anko froze. "Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan? What is that?"
Genma looked equally confused.
Only Mori Sarutobi's expression turned grave. He had seen similar descriptions in the Sarutobi clan's records.
As the highest-ranking Sarutobi in Konoha now, he held the clan's secret documents.
He said, "I've seen a description in the clan records. Madara Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan pattern changed back in the day."
"Could that be the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Kakashi nodded and explained the defects of the Mangekyō Sharingan and the power of the Eternal Mangekyō to the group.
The successive blows left everyone reeling.
After a while, Genma said with difficulty, "In that case, we have to worry about more than just those children. We have to worry about whether Neji and the others will attack the village directly!"
Hearing Genma's words, Kakashi also fell silent.
Genma was right. Even without Ishiro, the strength displayed by Neji-kun, Sōkai, and the others surpassed Konoha's current capability.
Sasuke and Naruto-kun were heavily injured. Even if Konoha counted the reanimated Mito Uzumaki and the White Fang, they might not be able to stop an attack.
And Ishiro, the biggest headache in the shinobi world, hadn't even shown his face yet. Even if Kakashi asked others for help now, no one would come.
Konoha seemed to have suddenly fallen into a crisis of survival.
After a moment, the older Mori Sarutobi asked, "But... if Iwa has such an advantage, why are they only sending people to the south to target the children?"
Everyone paused. That's right. The Konoha high command is worried about annihilation, but why isn't Iwa showing any signs of a total offensive?
Wouldn't it be better to capture Konoha in one fell swoop?
Reminded by Mori, Kakashi also found it strange.
And he felt a vague sense of déjà vu.
Thinking for a moment, Kakashi remembered. Konoha had faced a crisis before, where Iwa could have chosen to cripple Konoha or another great village.
In the end, Iwa abandoned the easier target, Konoha, and attacked the other house.
At that time, only Shikaku Nara, the strategic genius, had made an accurate judgment beforehand.
Combining the two events, Kakashi felt something was wrong.
However, wrack his brain as he might, he could never guess that a literal Sage was standing behind Konoha.
But the situation was critical. Kakashi summoned his resolve as Hokage. "Send people to escort the ninja on missions back to the village."
"Let Lady Mito handle this."
Genma and the other two exchanged glances. They knew Kakashi was gambling. He was betting that Iwa would not launch a massive attack on Konoha.
Genma nodded and quickly left the village to arrange the matters.
After everyone left, Kakashi sat alone in the Hokage's office. The determination in his eyes faded, replaced by worry.
If he lost the bet and Neji-kun's group attacked Konoha directly, without Mito Uzumaki and the ninja defending the village, Konoha couldn't hold.
He stared blankly for a while, then turned his head toward the hospital.
"Naruto-kun might be able to try communicating with the Nine-Tails."
In this life, Konoha and Kumo had been staunch allies, so Konoha knew how Kumo cultivated perfect Jinchūriki.
According to Hinata, Naruto-kun had managed to control the Six-Tails state for a short time.
That was remarkable. He was ready to attempt gaining the Nine-Tails' power.
"Sasuke's pupil power should be almost exhausted."
Over the past two years, Kakashi had developed a plan for transplanting the Mangekyō Sharingan.
It was time to operate on Sasuke!
As it turned out, Kakashi won the bet. Neji-kun and Sōkai did not attack Konoha Village.
Iwa continued to harass and kill Konoha's future in the southern Land of Fire.
Although Kakashi's order wasn't immediate, it wasn't too late. The Konoha ninja had some time to retreat.
However, there were too many squads scattered everywhere.
By the time all Konoha squads returned to the village, two days had passed.
In those two days, Konoha lost at least two thousand ninja.
Now, apart from a very few who felt they couldn't make it back and went into hiding, all Konoha ninja had returned to the village.
This included the hundreds of Kumo refugees Konoha had taken in.
Aono Shinichi-kun received the news and quit while he was ahead, withdrawing most of the Iwa ninja and leaving only a few elites to roam the Land of Fire.
In the Hokage's office, Kakashi didn't call a high-level meeting. instead, he summoned Shikaku Nara.
After Shikaku arrived, Kakashi was silent for a few seconds before voicing his doubts.
"Shikaku, Iwa clearly had the chance to breach the village directly. Why didn't they take it?"
"I remember a similar situation before, where you made an accurate judgment."
"I feel like... in Iwa's eyes, Konoha is special!"
"They seized the opportunity to destroy Suna and Kumo without hesitation, yet they have never sent a large army to attack Konoha!"
"I want to hear your thoughts."
Shikaku took the detailed intelligence report, read it carefully, and then said, "Lord Hokage."
"First, I agree with your view. Iwa seems to have never included attacking Konoha in their plans."
"Even when they damage our village, they only do so through the hands of others."
"I suspect Iwa is wary of us."
"And this strategy only appeared after Ishiro took power. Perhaps he is afraid of something."
Kakashi looked down in thought. "But I can't think of anything in the village worth his fear."
"Over the years, Iwa has had multiple chances to attack us. And in those years, we've gone through many changes."
"I can't find a common thread that would make Iwa consistently worried."
Shikaku said, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
"Perhaps Iwa really does fear us... we just don't know where our leverage lies."
Neither Shikaku nor Kakashi lacked intelligence, but no matter how they analyzed it, they couldn't find the answer.
They denied all their own guesses.
Because unlike Orochimaru, they didn't know the stories of the Sage of Six Paths.
Orochimaru also had a key clue: Itachi Uchiha's bizarre performance.
But Shikaku and Kakashi didn't think of that, and since they didn't know about the Sage, they couldn't guess the result.
Shikaku left, somewhat regretful that he couldn't demonstrate his value to Kakashi, meaning he couldn't return to the decision-making circle.
Kakashi processed a few documents, then went to the hospital.
Upon entering the ward, the first thing he saw was Sasuke, lying on the bed with his eyes open, looking lifeless.
Sasuke's injuries were lighter than Naruto-kun's, and he had long since healed physically. But after this injury, he hadn't stubbornly gotten up to train.
He just lay there, stiffly.
Kakashi quickly guessed what Sasuke was thinking. He must have been crushed by Neji-kun, and coupled with the overuse of pupil power causing his vision to decline, he felt he had no hope of ever defeating Neji-kun in this life.
Kakashi then looked at Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun's external injuries were mostly healed, but the internal injuries Neji-kun caused hadn't fully recovered.
He was lying on the bed restlessly, groaning and muttering something.
Kakashi spoke to Sasuke first. "Sasuke, get ready. I'll arrange for someone to perform surgery on you later."
Sasuke didn't react.
Kakashi continued, "After the surgery is successful, you will obtain power many times greater than what you have now."
Hearing this, Sasuke's body shook, and he looked sharply at Kakashi.
However, his vision was truly so bad he was almost blind; he couldn't see anything.
So he forced his three-tomoe Sharingan open.
Seeing this, Kakashi didn't wait for him to ask. He explained directly, "Your brother gave his Mangekyō Sharingan to me."
"As long as we fuse his eyes with yours, you can awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, which will never lose its light and has inexhaustible pupil power!"
"The pupil power of the Eternal Mangekyō is several times that of the ordinary Mangekyō. With these eyes, you can challenge Neji again."
Sasuke's eyes lit up. At this moment, he didn't care that the eyes were Itachi's.
He just wanted to get power quickly and trample Neji beneath his feet.
Beside him, Naruto-kun stopped groaning. He shouted, "Kakashi-sensei, you're biased!"
"I want surgery too! I want to become strong too!"
Kakashi turned his face toward Naruto-kun and spoke slowly, with a complicated tone. "I will also arrange for you to go to a secret place. There, you might be able to truly obtain the Nine-Tails' power."
Naruto-kun stopped shouting. What is the Nine-Tails' true power?
With his limited intellect, he didn't understand.
Kakashi didn't explain. He turned and left the ward.
Looking at the darkening sky, Kakashi didn't return to the office but went home.
When he arrived, he saw Hinata practicing the Gentle Fist in the courtyard.
Kakashi glanced at her and was about to leave, but the next moment, his gaze sharpened, and he looked again.
Hinata's aura was very different from when she returned from the front lines two days ago.
"Quasi-Kage level?" Kakashi felt complicated emotions. For the first time, he felt like he might be getting old.
Sasuke, Naruto-kun, and Hinata all had Kage-level combat power, but that was due to their unique circumstances.
Either special eyes with special dōjutsu, or a Tailed Beast cheat code.
But none of them had truly reached the Quasi-Kage level in base capability.
Now, Hinata had entered this realm first. A twelve-year-old Quasi-Kage?!
A true genius! How on earth did Hiashi raise his daughter? Such a genius had been raised into a weak, submissive waste before!
At this moment, Kakashi suddenly felt that Hiashi's death was a good thing! If he hadn't died, Konoha would have lost a genius.
After training for a while, Hinata stopped and turned to look at Kakashi.
Kakashi was startled and instinctively wanted to step back, but he forced himself to hold his ground.
Those eyes... seem to have gotten stronger again!
Just then, a little girl ran out of the house. "Nee-san, time to eat! Oh, Lord Hokage, you're back too? I only made enough for two."
It was Hanabi Hyūga. While Hinata trained, she had been cooking inside.
Since Kakashi had been busy these past few days and hadn't come home, Hanabi hadn't made a portion for him.
"It's fine, I've eaten," Kakashi said.
Watching Hanabi pull Hinata into the house after an "Oh," Kakashi stood in the yard for a while before turning back to the Hokage office.
The talent of his three disciples exceeded his imagination. If their strength increased significantly this time, there was still hope for Konoha's future!
He couldn't slack off either. There were many things to deal with.
Although recalling all the ninja was necessary, it wasn't a long-term solution. Konoha ninja couldn't stay in the village forever.
Konoha couldn't stop accepting missions for long; mission rewards were one of the village's most important income sources. No village could exist without it.
More importantly, over time, Konoha's prestige would vanish, and there would be no need for Konoha to exist.
He had to think of a countermeasure as soon as possible.
After the battle, Neji-kun and the others had originally wanted to stay in the Land of Fire, but a few days later, they were suddenly recalled by Ishiro.
After returning to Iwagakure, Neji-kun, Haku, and Shion went to the Tsuchikage's office to report the battle in detail.
Kurotsuchi wanted to go too, but the ANBU didn't call her name.
In the office, Sōkai, Uchiha Izumi, and Chiga, who had returned earlier, were present.
In addition, Ōnoki, who had been on rotation in the Land of Snow, was also there.
Besides Ōnoki, there were Natsuki, Ikura, Han, and other Kage-level powerhouses.
After the three finished describing the battle, Ishiro organized his thoughts and said, "So Kakashi's Flying Thunder God can finally be used without hand seals!"
Ishiro knew how Kakashi practiced the Flying Thunder God; it definitely had to do with Kamui.
By constantly practicing Kamui, the miraculous chakra would help him train and improve his space-time ninjutsu attainments.
In contrast, Akino Atsumi, who had more talent for space-time ninjutsu, had not yet reached the point of using the Flying Thunder God without seals.
Her research direction was mainly spatial teleportation and spatial sealing.
Ishiro didn't expect her to use the Flying Thunder God to ambush enemies anyway.
Ishiro continued, "Although none of the target individuals were killed this time."
"You still completed the village's strategic plan. That is very good."
"Konoha suffered heavy losses in the subsequent squad-level battles. The reaction speed of Konoha's high command was slower than we expected, and the results were better than we anticipated."
"I called you back not to blame you, but because there is a new mission. Rest for a bit. We'll be leaving soon!"
Neji-kun and the other two looked at each other, then at the surroundings, curious. What mission required gathering so many of the village's strongmen?
Shion was the most excited. This was her first time participating in such a big event. Usually, she only read about large-scale Kage battles in textbooks or newspapers.
Ishiro glanced at Shion. "Shion, don't get excited yet. Your task this time is heavy. Hurry up and rest."
Shion's eyes lit up, even more excited!
However, although Ishiro said they would act soon, the group waited in the office for a full day and night.
It wasn't until noon the next day that Chiga, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. "Ishiro-sensei, he left!"
Ishiro nodded. "Good. Let's go. To the teleportation array first."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Ikura wasn't going; he had to stay and guard the village. He said to Ishiro, "Be careful. Don't capsize in the gutter."
Ishiro nodded slightly.
The group left the office, went to the ANBU teleportation array, and teleported directly to the Land of Lightning branch.
The former Land of Lightning had been split by Iwa. The southern part was given to the Land of Earth, where Iwa built a branch.
The northern half still belonged to the Land of Lightning, and Iwa also built a branch there.
The place Ishiro and the others arrived at was this northern branch.
Upon arrival, they didn't stop. They boarded Ishiro's porcelain platform and flew rapidly north.
Chiga didn't follow; she wasn't suitable for the upcoming battle. She just described the target location to Ishiro in detail.
Soon, the group left the mainland and arrived over the ocean.
Shion asked, "Lord Tsuchikage, where are we going?"
Ishiro said, "Kumogakure has a massive ninja turtle. When it moves on the sea, its body is as huge as an island. It's called Turtle Island (Genbu)."
"Before Kumo was destroyed, some people fled to Turtle Island. But this island moves, so it's hard to find its exact location."
"Now, Chiga has finally located it. We are going to wipe out the Kumo remnants."
Shion nodded, imagining a turtle as big as an island. How big is that?
Neji-kun asked curiously, "Ishiro-sensei, how did Chiga-senpai locate Turtle Island? Did we get blood from a Kumo ninja on the island?"
Ishiro looked at Neji-kun and explained, "Ever since our army bypassed the Land of Lightning two years ago to raid the Kiri army..."
"The other villages know we have a special way to track enemy movements."
"For the past two years, Kumo has been extremely cautious. They never seemed to let any ninja go to Turtle Island, so even if we got blood, I couldn't find it."
"This time, we found Turtle Island by monitoring Naruto Namikaze's movements."
Neji-kun was stunned. "Naruto Namikaze? Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchūriki?"
Ishiro nodded. "Naruto-kun has the Nine-Tails inside him. The best way to successfully gain the Nine-Tails' acknowledgment is to go to Turtle Island."
"There are many things on Turtle Island that can help Jinchūriki improve their strength."
Ishiro looked at Han. "Han-senpai became a Quasi-Kage and gained Kokuō's acknowledgment on Turtle Island."
Seeing Neji-kun and the others looking at him, Han smiled and nodded.
(End of Chapter)
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