"What's the situation?"
Although they could tell that Yugito Nii had deliberately gone easy on them for some reason, none of them knew why.
"What else could it be?" Nara Shikaku blurted out. "She likes Lord Shiki, that's why she went easy on us—for his sake!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Inoichi Yamanaka and Chōza Akimichi froze.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"No way!"
Both of them wore expressions of pure disbelief.
Only Nara Shikaku, who remained uncharacteristically calm at this moment, spoke indifferently.
"Is that really so strange?" he asked. "With Lord Shiki's strength and appearance, is it surprising that women would like him?"
"…Uh."
When put that way, it actually made perfect sense.
What truly shocked them wasn't that someone liked Shiki but that the one who did was the Two-Tails Jinchūriki of Kumogakure, their enemy.
Noticing Inoichi and Chōza still standing there stunned, Shikaku waved his hand casually.
"Don't worry about it. Lord Shiki will handle this himself. It's not something we need to interfere with."
"That's right."
The others nodded.
In any case, all they needed to do was report it to Shiki.
After returning to the Konoha camp, Jiraiya summoned several jōnin.
"Among the shinobi I brought this time, there are skilled medical-nin," he ordered. "Pass it down—treat all the injured immediately."
"Yes!"
Treating the wounded was a priority. No one raised any objections.
"Alright, that's it. Dismissed!"
As the meeting ended, Jiraiya rubbed his temples.
"This fight…" he muttered. "Even after battling Kumogakure for an entire year, I don't think I've ever been this exhausted."
The physical endurance of those Cloud brutes was absurd.
I managed to hold them back this time, he thought. But what about the next one?
What a headache.
He really couldn't understand why the old man had issued that order in the first place. Wouldn't it have been easier to just let Shiki take full command?
Compared to that thought, something else unsettled him even more.
How did Shiki suppress Kumogakure alone for an entire year?
Could the gap between them really be that ridiculous?
"…Forget it," Jiraiya sighed. "The more I think about it, the more irritated I get."
He stretched his legs and left the camp.
Who knows when the next war will start… I should at least get some rest.
On the Kumogakure side, the atmosphere was completely different.
It was lively—almost cheerful.
Although they hadn't defeated Jiraiya outright, every Cloud shinobi present—including the Third Raikage, A—was in high spirits.
"Now this is what a war should feel like!!"
A battle where both sides clash head-on, exchanging blows again and again—that was real war.
Compared to this…
Fighting Shiki before had been something else entirely.
The Third Raikage's expression darkened as he recalled it.
"Back then, I couldn't even fight properly. I had to sit there and defend myself."
"The past year… what the hell was that supposed to be?!"
Being suppressed and beaten down for an entire year—it only became more humiliating the more he thought about it.
For the battle-hungry shinobi of Kumogakure, neither being completely crushed nor completely crushing others felt right.
Only battles like today—tight, fierce, evenly matched—were what they truly wanted.
Hearing the Third Raikage speak, the surrounding shinobi nodded vigorously.
No matter what, today's war had been satisfying.
"I didn't expect it," someone said. "That Namikaze Minato actually has some skill."
As Minato's direct opponent in this battle, Future Fourth Raikage A couldn't help but admit it.
At first, he'd looked down on Minato.
But after fighting him, that opinion had completely changed.
With the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato had managed to restrain the combined movements of A and Killer B, preventing them from disengaging freely.
Even so...
"Next time, I'll definitely beat him!"
A slammed his fists together confidently.
Looking around the conference room and seeing the high morale, he nodded in satisfaction and said no more.
Just like that, another half-year passed in the Third Great Ninja War.
On the Sunagakure battlefield, the cooperation between Tsunade and Orochimaru, two of the Legendary Sannin, left the Sand shinobi completely disoriented.
Yet Sunagakure was stubborn.
No matter how badly they were beaten, they refused to surrender—making the situation endlessly frustrating.
On the Kumogakure battlefield, Jiraiya and the Third Raikage continued trading wins and losses.
Neither side could decisively overwhelm the other.
Originally, the most reassuring front should have been the Kirigakure battlefield, led personally by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Instead, to everyone's shock, it became the only battlefield where Konoha suffered consistent disadvantages.
The realization hit hard.
The Third Hokage… really was old now.
He was no longer the shinobi he once was.
The calmest battlefield of all was Iwagakure.
Konoha had stationed the fewest troops there—yet it was also the quietest.
With Shiki holding the line, every skirmish from Iwa was repelled.
Ōnoki simply didn't have the courage to launch a full-scale assault.
If not for the appearance of the Sarutobi clan shinobi once again, Shiki might not have even noticed that another half-year had passed.
He leaned back in his chair, looking at the people before him with a mocking smile.
"I can understand why the Third Hokage is still alive," Shiki said lazily. "He's still Kage-level, after all."
"But you?" His eyes narrowed slightly. "How did you manage to survive until now?"
"You didn't spend this whole time playing dead, did you?"
"..."
The Sarutobi clan shinobi were speechless—furious, yet unable to say anything.
Shiki's achievements were real. If he slaughtered them here, he wouldn't suffer even the slightest consequence.
"Ahem!" one of them coughed awkwardly. "Lord Shiki, you jest."
Unable to argue. Unable to threaten. All they could do was laugh.
They knew the truth themselves.
They were still alive mostly because of their clan's status.
Whenever things became dangerous, they stayed behind in the camp.
Otherwise, they would've died long ago.
"Alright," Shiki waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not interested in listening to your nonsense."
He didn't even bother hiding his disdain.
Chat with them? Even if he were bored, he wouldn't waste time like that.
"Lord Shiki, we—"
Before they could finish, Shiki interrupted again.
"No time. The Iwagakure front is busy."
"..."
Busy?
Looking at Shiki leisurely leaning back in his chair, surrounded by a peaceful camp atmosphere—
That excuse didn't even pretend to respect their intelligence.
"Go tell the Third Hokage," Shiki added calmly. "In another year, I'll definitely come to support."
"…."
He'd said the same thing twice before.
And they'd heard it twice before.
So it really failed.
Exchanging glances, they finally understood.
Shiki had never planned to help.
They shrugged, said no more, and bowed.
"Lord Shiki. We'll take our leave."
"Get out."
"..."
After they left, Hyūga Hiashi, acting as deputy commander of the camp, finally stepped forward.
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