Within the vast mountain range, smoke spiraled into the sky above the battlefield, echoing the howl of a wolf—evidence of the brutal battle that had taken place here not long ago.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures approached calmly—one taller than the other. As they neared, it became clear: it was none other than Minato and Tsunade.
At Tsunade's insistence, Nawaki was carried on her back.
When they arrived, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Sakumo stepped forward to meet them.
"Where is Chiyo?" Tsunade scanned the corpses scattered across the ground. Her delicate brows furrowed in anger, her voice sharp with fury.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru exchanged glances. Jiraiya let out a bitter smile. "She got away."
Tsunade's beautiful face darkened slightly, though she had more or less anticipated this outcome. Then her eyes settled on Sakumo—his body marred with wounds.
Standing beside her, Minato offered a gentle smile. "Tsunade-sama," he said, "why don't you leave Nawaki Sempai to me? I've regained some of my strength."
After purging the poison from Nawaki's body, Tsunade turned her attention to healing Minato as well.
Minato had also suffered severe chakra depletion, but otherwise, she was unharmed.
Tsunade nodded and handed Nawaki over to Minato, who supported him by the arm and gently slung him over his shoulder.
Then Tsunade walked up to Sakumo. Her hands glowed with chakra as she placed them over his wounds.
Sakumo made no move to stop her—he knew she was healing him.
"This time, we're fortunate you created the Reconnaissance Squad," Tsunade remarked. "Without it, our situation could have been disastrous." When Sakumo first proposed forming the squad, she had thought it unnecessary.
But now, Hatake Sakumo's decision had saved not only the Konoha Reinforcement Squad but also the entire Konoha frontline forces stationed in the Land of Rain.
Without these supplies, their progress in the Land of Rain would have become extremely difficult.
Yet Sakumo simply smiled and shook his head. "It was just my duty. Is Nawaki's poison completely removed now?"
Tsunade gave a slight nod.
"Have the casualties been counted yet?" She turned to Jiraiya and Orochimaru, asking gravely.
Jiraiya nodded and proceeded to report the full extent of personnel and material losses incurred this time.
Half of the Reinforcement Squad had perished, and their leader, Chiyoha Sarutobi, had fallen during the ambush.
The loss of supplies was not too severe—most of the materials had already been sealed into scrolls, so even if the transporters died, the scrolls mostly remained intact.
As she listened, Tsunade's pale hand tightened into a fist, faint veins rising beneath her skin.
"We need to report this intelligence leak to the Third Hokage immediately," she said angrily. Clearly, the Sand Ninja Unit had somehow pinpointed an exact location for ambush—one that even Konoha itself hadn't disclosed beforehand.
If not for Hatake Sakumo's scouting team happening upon this area by chance, they might still be unaware that the Reinforcement Squad had been completely wiped out.
The other three exchanged heavy glances and solemnly nodded their agreement.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and said, "However, this time, Sunagakure has lost nearly three hundred elite ninja. Given their strength, they've suffered a heavy blow. With Chiyo's retreat, they can hardly maintain their position on the battlefield in the Land of Rain anymore."
During the Second Great Ninja War, the three major ninja nations fought in the Land of Rain. Konoha had faced two major setbacks at the beginning but still managed to cripple the military strength of the other two great ninja villages.
The Iwa Ninja Unit was completely annihilated, the Sand Ninja Unit had suffered heavy losses, and even Chiyo, a revered elder figure in the ninja world, had withdrawn in defeat.
At this point, there wasn't any force left within the Land of Rain that could rival the Konoha forces.
It didn't mean the Second Great Ninja War would end here.
One could say the real war had just begun after this campaign.
"This counts as one hell of a win for us," Jiraiya said with a faint smile. Seeing how the battle had unfolded, he finally exhaled with relief. "Everyone has worked hard for so long. It's time we properly regroup… and report all the contributions made by our ninjas during these two battles back to the village."
"During this fight against the Suna ninja, Sakumo's brother definitely deserves the greatest credit," Jiraiya added, patting Sakumo Hatake's shoulder with a grin.
Tsunade and Orochimaru clearly didn't object much either. However, when Sakumo Hatake heard this, he shook his head.
"I certainly wouldn't dare claim such honor as the biggest contributor. Without everyone's understanding and support, I couldn't possibly have formed this reconnaissance squad," Sakumo waved off the praise. Then shifting his gaze toward a slender figure beside him, he continued, "If we're talking about achievements in this battle, the one who truly deserves the most credit is Minato."
All three were taken aback.
Even Minato himself looked surprised.
Sakumo gave a bitter smile and said, "Even I couldn't match up to Chiyo from Sunagakure. If Jiraiya and Orochimaru hadn't arrived just in time, I probably would've already perished under her blade."
"And that giant summoning beast which allowed you two to arrive promptly—was probably this young man's doing, right?" He gestured toward Minato standing beside him. Both Jiraiya and Orochimaru nodded in agreement.
"Furthermore, he saved Nawaki, the grandson of the First Hokage, and earlier seemed to have killed several enemy Jonin. There's no doubt—he's the greatest contributor in this battle," Sakumo added.
"Hehe, speaking like this, it's not wrong actually," Orochimaru chuckled. Although Nawaki was only a provisional Chunin, he held a special status due to being one of the few descendants of the First Hokage.
Jiraiya gave a warm nod—after all, he was Minato's mentor. And since Minato had saved Nawaki's life, Tsunade had no objections either.
Seeing the four nodding approvingly, Minato hastily waved his hands and said, "Masters, I really don't deserve such credit. With my abilities, I'm neither capable of defeating Chiyo of Sunagakure nor removing the poison from Nawaki Sempai. I merely did something small and within my ability."
"But if it hadn't been for your idea, Jiraiya and others wouldn't have arrived in time to save Sakumo Hatake—and I more importantly wouldn't have had enough time to remove Nawaki's poison either."
Tsunade stepped forward and gave Minato a firm pat on the shoulder, her eyes glowing with admiration.
"That idiot Jiraiya's apprentice has turned out to be this outstanding. It's almost enviable," Tsunade remarked with a smile.
Behind her, Jiraiya—for once—didn't let Tsunade's teasing get to him. Instead, he burst into loud laughter.
No teacher could possibly feel anything but joy and pride upon seeing their disciple shine like this.
Minato was just about to speak again when Sakumo Hatake held up a hand to stop him.
No matter what, although Minato's strength was far from being the strongest among the Konoha forces present, his wisdom had indeed saved the entire battle situation.
He was undeniably the greatest hero of this war!
Yet none of them could have known that during a previous war against the Iwa Ninja, the one who had saved all of Konoha with a blazing surge of power was also this young man standing before them.
Although Minato at this time did not yet possess the extraordinary power he would later gain as the Yellow Flash of Konoha, he could still exert decisive influence on the battlefield!
...
...(to be continued.)
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