Konoha.
When the report of victory from the front lines reached Konoha, the Third Hokage and all the other high-ranking officials of Konoha were overjoyed.
Most people actually never expected that it would be that boy who left the village who once again stepped in to save the nearly collapsed situation, once again leading the Konoha ninja forces to victory in the war.
"Good, very good. I knew he wouldn't ignore Konoha's crisis. I knew he still cared about Konoha in his heart."
The Third Hokage put down his smoking pipe and laughed heartily.
Actually, letting Tsunade play the emotional card and ask Ryun for help was his idea given privately, something even the two Hokage advisors didn't know.
He truly never expected Ryun would really set aside past grievances to help Konoha, and even more so never expected that his intervention would immediately bring Konoha a great victory. Even the strongest Raikage, known as the 'Tailless Tailed Beast', was severely injured.
In one year, that young man seemed to have become even stronger.
By now, Sarutobi Hiruzen's hair had already mostly turned white, and his face showed clear signs of aging.
Starting from the incident with the Cloud Ninja envoy group, he had aged particularly quickly. After he was seriously injured by Ryun and woke up, nearly half his hair turned white overnight.
During this year of war with Kumogakure, he had hardly smiled at all. This kind of hearty laughter today was the first time this year.
"Yes..."
"If only those things hadn't happened back then, how good that would have been..."
Koharu Utatane couldn't help but sigh with emotion at this point.
Fortunately, back then they didn't listen to Danzo's advice to label Uchiha Ryun as an S-class rogue ninja. Otherwise, Konoha would not only have permanently lost a top-tier combatant but might have even pushed that person to the opposite side.
As soon as Koharu Utatane mentioned the events of that year, Hiruzen's smile immediately froze, and he returned to his silent, reticent demeanor.
Ryun was a pain in his heart. Because of that incident, his three beloved disciples completely broke ties with him. As the leader of the village, he also admitted his own failure. The Third Hokage's face on the Hokage Rock, which was destroyed by the Black Dragon, still hadn't been repaired.
Not long after, as the news of the war victory spread, the people of Konoha once again heard Ryun's name.
The vast majority of villagers still recognized him as a hero of Konoha, even though he had done wrong by harming Konoha and even seriously injuring the Hokage.
Although the Konoha leadership didn't state the reasons for his actions, and certainly wouldn't mention their own incompetence and faults, they publicly defended his reputation by citing that Ryun lost his mother at a young age and lost control in a fit of rage.
So now, the villagers of Konoha only knew that Ryun had made mistakes in a moment of impulse, but he was still the Konoha hero who could bring victory to the village. The news of victory from the front lines undoubtedly reinforced this belief.
Within the Senju compound.
When Mito Uzumaki, lying paralyzed in bed, heard Kushina finish relaying the news of victory, she was so overjoyed she cried. This was definitely the best news she had heard all year.
"Good, good child. I knew it, I knew he still loved Konoha... cough... He's always so reliable, always able to step up at the most critical moments... cough..."
As Mito Uzumaki spoke, she kept coughing, her face showing an unhealthy redness.
She could no longer get out of bed now, spending most of her time lying down, her life nearing its end.
This also indicated that Kushina was not far from becoming the Nine-Tails jinchuriki.
Hearing Grandma Mito say that Ryun still loved Konoha, the smile on Kushina's face immediately faded.
'If Ryun loves Konoha, then has Konoha ever cared for him?'
Over the past year, Kushina often exchanged letters with Ryun. She didn't think Ryun had any lingering attachment to Konoha in his heart.
However, Ryun's intervention to help Konoka this time also surprised her. Kushina planned to write him another letter to ask about the situation.
If Ryun was willing to return to Konoha and stay by her side, it would of course be a wonderful thing.
Wind-Fire Battlefield - Sand Ninja Camp.
When the Third Kazekage received the intelligence from the Lightning-Fire battlefield, he flew into a rage.
"Damn it, why did that bastard intervene to help Konoha? Wasn't it said that he had completely broken with Konoha?"
Seeing the Third Kazekage's fury, all the high-ranking Sand ninja officials below fell silent, too afraid to speak.
"Kazekage-sama, don't forget that the reason Uchiha Ryun broke with Konoha was entirely thanks to the Cloud Ninja. It's actually quite reasonable for him to step in and settle scores with Kumogakure..." Elder Chiyo set down the intelligence report in her hands and spoke.
Her perspective on matters was much clearer than the Third Kazekage's.
Hearing this, the Third Kazekage calmed down.
"Elder, are you saying... he will only participate in the Lightning-Fire war and most likely won't affect us here?"
"No, the impact is certain. Even if he doesn't participate in the Wind-Fire war, as long as he leads the Konoha ninja to victory in the Lightning-Fire war, or even ends that battlefield for Konoha, the situation will still be very unfavorable for us."
Elder Chiyo spoke with conviction. If Konoha could end the Lightning-Fire war, they would be able to free up more troops to fight them. So even if a top-tier fighter like Ryun didn't come, they would still face huge trouble.
"The Elder makes a good point. It seems we need to intensify our offensive here... We can't pin our hopes on the Lightning-Fire battlefield breaking the deadlock. That useless Third Raikage actually couldn't even defeat an underage child..."
The Third Kazekage scowled and cursed.
What he didn't know was that in the not-too-distant future, he would be killed by the grandson of the Elder Chiyo he trusted most. And at that time, Sasori of the Red Sand was also precisely an underage child...
"Third Kazekage, please be patient. It's still too early to talk about victory or defeat on the Lightning-Fire battlefield. Kumogakure is a tough nut to crack. It's not that easy. We should still wait a bit longer..."
One of the Sand Village's high officials, Ebizō, also stepped forward to offer his opinion.
"My brother is right. Kumogakure still has cards up its sleeve. Deciding the outcome of a war based on one major battle is impossible."
"Also, there is one more point the Kazekage-sama must treat with caution: you must never regard Uchiha Ryun as a child."
"That guy has successively defeated Hanzō of the Salamander, known as the 'Demigod'; Sarutobi Hiruzen, known as the 'Strongest Hokage'; and the Third Raikage, known as the 'Tailless Tailed Beast' and possessing the 'Strongest Spear and Shield Ninjutsu'... Every one of them was among the world's topmost powerful experts, yet they all ended up defeated by him..."
Elder Chiyo reminded him with a serious expression.
The Third Kazekage dared to call such a person a child... With this kind of ignorant and arrogant mindset, she had to correct it as soon as possible.
"I know, Elder..."
The Third Kazekage laughed awkwardly. How could he not know about Uchiha Ryun's terror and prowess? Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so furious upon receiving the intelligence earlier.
The reason he said that was simply because he didn't want the people below to become too fearful of Uchiha Ryun and consequently lose confidence in the ongoing war...
Now that Elder Chiyo had said this, the people below couldn't help but feel anxious and uneasy...
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