Choza was deeply tired. He decreased his body back to normal dimensions and immediately walked inside the remaining section of the metal fortress.
He wanted to make certain that even if any Kumo shinobi were still alive, they would not find him an easy target out in the open. But he had done his job. He had annihilated almost the entire remaining monster army and only a few scattered Kumo stragglers were left on the field.
Dodai who had survived thanks to his Lava Release Rubber Ball finally broke out of the protective sphere. Blood ran down his forehead from a deep cut and his face showed the bitter anger.
He raised his voice with gritted teeth and shouted the order that every surviving Kumo fighter needed to hear. "RETREAT!"
The word carried across the valley and the remaining Kumo shinobi turned at once to flee.
Dodai did not know how he would face Ā or his father, the Third Raikage after such a humiliating defeat. His force had outnumbered the Konoha defenders by five to one yet they were now running with hundreds of their own dead and with almost nothing to show for the attack.
They had arrived with five hundred shinobi and only about a few remained able to move. At most they had managed to take the lives of ten or fifteen Leaf fighters.
Shunsui had no intention of letting even those final few escape. As soon as Choza stepped fully inside the safety of the fortress walls he gave one last set of orders through the Yamanaka network.
"Yamanakas coordinate the targets for everyone. Fire towers, snipers, earth towers, fire at will!"
Every Konoha shinobi on those towers answered with a single loud shout. "FOR KONOHA!"
The fire towers released their charged blasts toward any place where two or three Kumo fighters still clustered close together.
The snipers aimed at the enemies who had already moved farther away from the original game zone. The earth towers sent continuous waves of stone spears into every target that remained inside their range.
More Kumo shinobi fell as holes appeared in their bodies from the high speed metal rounds or as the fire blasts pulverised entire small groups.
A few of the fastest runners still managed to reach the far ridges and disappear from sight yet the Konoha side no longer cared about complete destruction. They had already won far more than anyone had expected.
When the last visible Cloud fighter vanished the defenders began to shout in pure joy at the scale of the victory. It was a success that would change the course of the Konoha-Kumo war and everyone present understood that fact.
Shunsui finally dismissed the Tower Defense game with a single thought. The metal walls, the towers and the monster remains all faded at once.
Everyone who had been standing on the elevated platforms suddenly felt the surfaces disappear and fell to the ground.
When they rose to their feet again every pair of eyes turned toward Shunsui. The young chunin had managed to do something no one else his age could claim.
He had led only one hundred Konoha shinobi in the defence of a key location against five hundred Kumo fighters and had done so without suffering heavy losses.
Shunsui himself was crouched on the ground and breathing hard. The constant drain of chakra required to keep the expanded game active combined with the continuous recharge from the Battery Tower had not been gentle on his internal chakra pathways.
The system had overloaded under the strain. He could feel a spreading redness across his skin and a sharp pain like many thin needles stabbing him from underneath the surface. The sensation was not quite as severe as full chakra exhaustion yet it came close enough to make every movement uncomfortable.
Shinku walked over to him and placed a steady hand on his shoulder. The jonin looked tired from his own part in the long defence yet his voice carried real respect. "Kid, no. Commander Shunsui. Well done. You might go down not only in the history books of Konoha but also in the records of the other great villages for managing to do what you did today."
The praise was honest and openly given. Shunsui answered with a soft and slightly weary smile. "It is still not enough to end this war. Five hundred shinobi in the grand scheme of things is nothing to a great village."
He understood that a single regiment was only a small part of the full Kumo army.
Shinku nodded at the realistic assessment yet continued with the wider meaning of the success. "You might be right about the pure numbers but this is a major morale victory for us. Konoha shinobi everywhere will hear that we defeated a full Kumo regiment without heavy losses and against difficult odds."
"The people inside the village and the fighters still on the other fronts will feel new motivation. And let us not forget the direct effect on this battlefield. Kumo is now short five hundred trained men and they have lost the chance to take the supply route to Fialgo."
He looked toward the far end where the last of the Kumo force had disappeared. "We will be able to push the offensive hard enough that they may have to withdraw from the Land of Fire entirely."
Choza's deeper voice joined the conversation from a few steps away. "Sadly for you Shunsui, we will not be here to witness Konoha's full victory on this front."
Shunsui turned his head toward his sensei with clear confusion. "What do you mean sensei?"
Choza held up a small toad that sat calmly on his open palm. The summoning animal looked at Shunsui for a brief moment and then disappeared in a short burst of white smoke.
Choza explained the message the toad had carried. "That was one of Jiraiya san's messenger toads. He already found out about our victory here."
Shinku sounded openly surprised by the speed of the news. "This quick?"
Choza gave a wry smile and continued the explanation. "A surviving Kumo shinobi managed to report the defeat to the Third Raikage's son who is currently fighting against Jiraiya san. The Raikage's son somehow figured out that it was Shunsui, Konoha's new golden boy, who turned the tables in the valley. He wants to rush here immediately to kill Shunsui and Jiraiya sama is holding him back for the moment."
Shunsui processed the information and asked, "So he got to know about it because the Raikage's son was angrily shouting how he would murder me for killing hundreds of his men?"
Choza nodded once. "Yes. We will have to leave this area at once. Jiraiya san will not be able to hold the Raikage's son back for very long. And if that man wishes he could even attempt to assassinate you inside the main camp and then escape easily with his speed."
-------Author Notes--------
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