Rin furrowed her brows. With a flash of Gutsuei Shunpo, she slipped free from Pakura's bloody grasp and reappeared a hundred meters away.
Left behind, Pakura weakly stretched her hand toward Rin, clawing at the empty air a few times before her eyes lost their light and her body collapsed lifelessly onto the scorched earth.
"Shhhk." Rin's figure flickered back beside her. She crouched down and carefully checked Pakura's breathing, discovering to her surprise that the other woman still clung stubbornly to a shred of life—whether from sheer rage or choking despair, Rin could not tell. Either way, Rin pressed her palm against Pakura's chest, infusing her with a surge of vitality to stabilize her ravaged organs. Only once the woman's pulse steadied did Rin sling her unconscious form onto her back and carry her toward the Konoha encampment.
Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, Orochimaru had already summoned Manda. After promising the giant serpent a hundred human sacrifices as sustenance, Manda rampaged across the battlefield like a war machine, trampling and devouring Suna-nin again and again, leaving countless casualties in his wake.
Realizing the tide had turned beyond saving, Chiyo bit down hard, flinging out a vial of poison that burst into a rolling mist. As Tsunade hurriedly moved to neutralize the toxins, Chiyo gritted her teeth and barked out an order:
"Retreat! All units, withdraw immediately!"
Like a receding tide, the Suna shinobi pulled back. The shinobi of Konoha, blocked by the poisonous fog, could only watch as their foes slipped away.
The victory on the Suna front was only the beginning of Konoha's full-scale counteroffensive. Very soon, reports of triumph from other battlefields poured back into the village one after another:
On the Kumo front, Namikaze Minato, with his godlike speed granted by the Flying Thunder God Technique, cut down supply lines and intercepted reinforcement squads again and again. At one point, he even charged into the enemy camp alone, delivering a devastating blow to the famed A–B combination. Kumogakure shinobi, stricken with fear, dubbed him the "Yellow Flash." At the mere sight of him, they abandoned combat and fled.
On the Iwa front, Jiraiya had summoned the great toads of Mount Myōboku, fighting side by side with Konoha's forces to repel multiple waves of Iwa's assaults. Iwa's demolition squads, which had once dominated the battlefield, found themselves utterly powerless before the overwhelming size and strength of Gamabunta. In the end, Iwa had no choice but to retreat.
The Kirigakure front remained shrouded in mystery, yet the Uchiha clan wielded the power of their Sharingan genjutsu to rout Kirigakure's feared assassination squads time and again, breaking their deadly formations.
With Konoha's victories blooming on every front, the smaller nations trembled. Villages like Kusagakure and Takigakure, which had been lurking and watching for a chance to profit, quickly pulled back their ambitions, no longer daring to make reckless moves.
Even Hanzō, who had grown arrogant after Konoha's initial setbacks, had been humbled in battle and now dared not show himself. Konoha's Anbu continued sweeping through Amegakure's territory, searching for the remnants of Akatsuki; Hanzō, though seething with suppressed rage, did not dare voice a single complaint.
"Konoha… it is still Konoha after all," a jōnin of Kusagakure muttered under his breath, "Even when facing the combined might of all four great nations, they remain unshaken, undefeated."
Kusa's village head directly issued an order:
"Cease all operations against Konoha for now. We will observe in silence."
Back within Konohagakure, news of victory swept through the village like wildfire. Villagers poured into the streets, cheering and celebrating, sharing the joy of triumph at the front lines.
In front of the Hokage building, Sarutobi Hiruzen announced to the entire village:
"Konoha's shinobi, through their courage and wisdom, have defended the honor of our village!"
Yet behind the cheers, the higher-ups did not allow themselves to relax.
From the shadows, Danzō spoke coldly: "Victory is but temporary. We must seize this chance to completely cripple the other villages' power."
Hiruzen shook his head.
"No. This war has dragged on for far too long. Now is the time to pursue peace talks and restore stability to the shinobi world."
Danzō only snorted and fell silent, but the restless ambition flickering in his eyes had not lessened in the slightest.
Even as the joy of victory lingered, Rin was summoned alone by Tsunade into the medical tent.
"Brat, it's all thanks to you this time."
For once, Tsunade wore a gentle smile. She pulled out a scroll from her robes and tossed it to Rin.
"This contains my medical ninjutsu research and insights. Consider it a gift of gratitude."
Catching the scroll, Rin blinked in mild surprise. "I only did what was expected of me."
But Tsunade suddenly leaned closer, lowering her voice.
"No, I mean this."
She tapped her own amber eyes—eyes that were not her natural color. Those were the colored contact lenses specially crafted by Kenichi at Rin's request — lenses that altered the appearance of blood, changing its color to green in Tsunade's vision.
"If not for these lenses, my hemophobia…" Tsunade's voice trembled slightly. "I might never have been able to step onto the battlefield again."
Rin shook her head.
"They were made by my father. I only suggested the idea."
"Then thank him for me."
Tsunade patted Rin on the shoulder, a complex emotion flickering in her gaze.
"You and your father… you've helped me more than you realize."
A shinobi — and not just any shinobi, but one famed across the entire world — suffering from hemophobia. At one point, Tsunade herself had believed she would never again be able to fight as a ninja. She had even contemplated wasting away in a gambling den until nothing was left, then simply retiring.
Just then, urgent footsteps echoed outside the tent.
"Rin! There's an emergency mission for you!"
Orochimaru's voice rang out as he lifted the flap of the tent, holding a scroll in hand.
"Intelligence has just arrived. The remnants of Akatsuki may be hiding along the border of Amegakure. Sensei wants you to head out with Yahiko immediately. Find Akatsuki—no matter what!"
Rin blinked, startled. "Yahiko is allowed to leave Konoha?"
Until now, constant assassination attempts had targeted Yahiko, with enemy shinobi even infiltrating Konoha itself. Because of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen dared not let Yahiko leave the village, forcing him to remain in Konoha, anxiously waiting for Anbu to return with Nagato and Konan.
Yet, no news had come. Unable to bear the wait, Yahiko had once again petitioned the Hokage for permission to search for Nagato and Konan personally. After much deliberation, Hiruzen finally relented. Considering Rin's unmatched mobility, he wrote a letter assigning her to meet Yahiko in a town within the Land of Fire.
Rin frowned deeply, silently cursing Hiruzen's recklessness.
If Yahiko's safety could not even be guaranteed within Konoha, how much more dangerous would it be outside? If Yahiko were to die before she reached him, then all her efforts in saving him previously would be for nothing.
Not daring to delay, Rin quickly gathered her belongings and set off toward the rendezvous point.
Meanwhile, deep underground in Amegakure, Uchiha Madara was in a rage.
"I told you to kill Yahiko! So many days have passed, and you've achieved nothing! Sometimes I doubt if you are truly my will incarnate! Useless trash!"
Black Zetsu's voice dripped with grievance. "It's not my fault! To avoid exposing ourselves, I could only manipulate Danzō into sending assassins. But who could've known he was so incompetent—failing again and again to kill a single man inside his own village?"
He added quickly, "But I've received news: The Third Hokage is sending Yahiko out to look for Nagato and Konan. This is perfect. We can use information about Nagato to lure Yahiko over — then kill him. And this time, it won't even be a frame-up against Konoha, since the ones taking action are already Konoha's very own 'Root.'"
In truth, Zetsu had secretly approached Danzō under Hanzō's name, using the Rinnegan as bait to entice him into eliminating Yahiko. Believing he was acting for Konoha's sake, Danzō had agreed without hesitation.
During Yahiko's half-month of recovery in Konoha's hospital, Danzō had already arranged three separate assassination attempts — all of which had ended in failure.
Because Sarutobi Hiruzen, fully aware of Yahiko's importance, had personally assigned the Hyūga clan to guard him in rotating shifts. Under the Byakugan, no assassin could escape detection, no matter how skilled.
The constant stream of assassins appearing within Konoha had only deepened Hiruzen's suspicions toward his own village, and thus led to the decision of sending Yahiko out this time.
***