Not long after,
the sky began to pale with the first hint of dawn.
As morning light appeared, the smoke and stench of blood lingering in Mount Kikyo's valley gradually became clearer. The scattered rubble, puppet fragments, ninja tools strewn everywhere, and broken human remains all spoke of the brutality of last night's battle.
By now, the initial cleanup of the battlefield had been completed.
Orochimaru's figure appeared on the slope and came before Mikami Yuu.
"Lord Orochimaru!"
Nohara Rin quickly stood and greeted him.
Yuu also shifted slightly and inclined his body in greeting.
Orochimaru did not care about this somewhat casual gesture. He first glanced at Rasa lying on the ground, then lifted his chin.
"How is he?"
"Still alive, but he probably won't be getting up anytime soon."
Yuu said.
Rin's medical ninjutsu was decent, but it certainly could not compare to Yuu's trait-enhanced Healing Technique, let alone the newly unlocked Seed of Vitality. However, there was no need to use that ability on Rasa. It would be too wasteful. As long as his life was preserved and he did not die, that was enough.
Orochimaru had also studied medical ninjutsu. With a glance at Rasa, he roughly understood his current condition.
"Yuu, how much have you recovered?
"I plan to stay here and continue cleaning the battlefield and searching for any fleeing Suna ninja. Someone needs to bring the wounded and prisoners to Kikyo City for unified placement and custody. Can I leave this task to you?"
"Hm?"
Yuu froze slightly, then immediately understood.
Right.
There were quite a lot of Sunagakure prisoners, and Konoha had also suffered many wounded in this battle. They could not all remain in the valley. Since Wildfire City had served as bait and was currently occupied by Sunagakure, the only option now was to withdraw to nearby Kikyo City.
However…
Yuu suddenly thought of something.
What had happened to the village where Yakushi Kabuto was?
Logically speaking, the battle between Konoha and Sunagakure had mainly taken place near the valley entrance. But when ninja fought, especially with Chiyo's final puppet self-destruction, it was hard to say whether the nearby villages had been affected. Besides, if any Suna ninja fled in the chaos, they were very likely to hide in those places.
Therefore,
after Orochimaru walked away, Yuu found Kakashi and Obito and brought the matter up as if casually.
"Huh, if you hadn't said it, Yuu, I almost forgot!"
Obito clapped his hands hard. "We still don't know how those civilians are doing. That's really worrying!"
"So, you two stay behind and help Lord Orochimaru's group tally the battlefield. While you're at it, check those villages."
Yuu said naturally. "If any villagers were injured, or if their houses and property suffered losses, record it for now. Later, when we negotiate with Sunagakure, we can add those damages and make them pay compensation."
"Okay!"
Obito nodded.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, sensing that Yuu seemed to have some other intention, but he did not say anything. Like Obito, he simply nodded slightly.
At this moment, Obito suddenly reacted.
"Wait… the two of us? What about you, Yuu? Aren't you staying?"
"Rin and I will escort the wounded and the Sunagakure prisoners to Kikyo City. Once you finish cleaning things up here, you can come there and regroup with us."
Yuu said.
"Ah…"
Obito's face fell.
He had not seen Rin for some time and had originally wanted to properly boast about his battle achievements in front of her. But now he was being told to split up… Hmm, thinking carefully, there actually wasn't much to boast about. Compared to Yuu, everyone else might as well have been slacking off.
"Fine, I get it. Kakashi and I will come find you as soon as possible!"
Obito reluctantly agreed.
Soon,
the group was split into two.
Yuu took three or four small squads, along with the wounded and prisoners, and prepared to head to Kikyo City.
Compared with the Konoha "escort personnel," there were far more Sunagakure prisoners. In theory, if someone raised their arm and called for everyone to scatter and flee, some of them might actually escape.
However, most of them had been frightened out of their wits by Yuu. They were terrified that if they made any strange movement, this god of slaughter would notice them. If he came over and gave them a couple of slashes, they had no way of physically withstanding it like Rasa. So at this moment, it was better to behave obediently.
On the other side,
Orochimaru took several other squads and continued clearing the battlefield.
As for Jiraiya,
that guy had earlier taken a group of Konoha ninja to chase Chiyo. He had not returned yet, and no one knew whether he had caught up or not.
"Let's go. Try to return to Kikyo City before lunch."
Yuu lifted his chin and led the team out.
…
At this time,
inside Wildfire City,
Pakura and Karura looked at Chiyo before them, their faces filled with shock.
"Elder Chiyo, what happened to you…?"
"…"
At this moment, Chiyo looked as if she had aged ten years. Her usually clean and tidy clothes were now torn and ragged, covered in dust and bloodstains. Her face also carried unconcealable fatigue and a deep sense of defeat.
This was a version of Chiyo that Pakura and Karura had never seen before.
Add to that the dozens of Suna ninja who had returned with her, all looking like frightened birds, and the fact that Rasa had not appeared with the group, and a terrifying truth was already about to surface.
"Cough, cough. This isn't the place to talk. Let's go back first."
Chiyo coughed a few times, signaling for Pakura and Karura not to speak. Then she brought the two of them into the command post.
Only there
did Chiyo take a deep breath, lower her voice, and speak gravely.
"Something happened. We fell into Konoha's ambush at Mount Kikyo. Orochimaru and Jiraiya were both there… Rasa was captured by Konoha while covering our retreat!"
"What?!"
Although they had already vaguely expected this result,
when they heard it directly from Chiyo's mouth, Pakura and Karura still widened their eyes in shock.
"What a massive play. Not only Jiraiya, even Orochimaru was there, and not a single hint leaked beforehand. They waited until now to strike like thunder… As expected of Konoha. That kind of hidden patience, strategy, and execution really isn't something we can match."
Pakura sighed with emotion.
Hearing this, Chiyo hesitated.
But in the end, she chose to tell the truth.
"Actually… the one who defeated Rasa wasn't Orochimaru or Jiraiya. It was… that white-haired brat."
"!?"
~~~
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