One incident by itself would not have made Yagura think too much.
But when two incidents happened at the same time, he had no choice but to think deeper.
At the very moment Sunagakure's army launched its all-out assault on Kirigakure's forces, the Konoha shinobi who had been stationed within Kirigakure's ranks as reinforcements suddenly disappeared.
Not one remained.
If someone wanted to call that a coincidence, Yagura would not believe it even if they beat him to death.
"Not a single one left?"
"Even Minato Namikaze is gone?"
The Kirigakure shinobi below him nodded heavily.
Yagura's expression darkened at once. He turned toward the direction of Konoha, and his face grew so cold it seemed as though water could drip from it.
"Konoha!"
"Faithless, treacherous dogs!"
"You sold out Kirigakure. One day, you will pay for this!"
"Utterly shameless!"
If it had been any other time, Yagura would have torn into Konoha first.
But right now, he had neither the time nor the energy to pursue the matter.
Sunagakure's army had already arrived.
Without Konoha's support, how long could Kirigakure's forces possibly last?
Even though Kirigakure's reinforcements had already set out from the village, Yagura still felt no confidence at all.
There was no one in the entire Kirigakure army capable of restraining Rasa.
Even if he himself could rely on the Water Mirror Technique to barely hold Rasa off for a short while, what about Pakura?
Once his chakra ran out, who else would be able to stop Rasa?
"There aren't enough top-tier shinobi in the village."
"Of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, only Munashi Jinpachi is left."
"But Jinpachi cannot possibly be Pakura's match."
"Just half a year ago, this had still been Kirigakure's absolute advantage."
"So what exactly went wrong?"
"How did Kirigakure end up like this?"
Yagura's expression turned uglier and uglier.
"Yagura-sama, what should we do?"
The Kirigakure shinobi below him could no longer hide the anxiety in his voice.
Yagura drew in a deep breath and forcibly steadied himself.
"Pass down my order."
"Fight!"
"This battle has already become the decisive moment of life and death for Kirigakure. We no longer have any road left to retreat upon. Only by fighting to the end do we still have a sliver of hope."
"Follow the river route."
"Fight while retreating."
Yagura's idea was not wrong.
In fact, it was the only choice left.
With Kirigakure's current strength, defeating Sunagakure was impossible.
If they fought to the death, then there would likely be only one outcome—death.
If they turned and ran without resistance, the casualties would only become even heavier.
Only by fighting while retreating, and relying on the river and the terrain advantage of water, could they preserve as many Kirigakure shinobi as possible, withdraw alive to the Land of Water, and then use the homeland's terrain to resist Sunagakure's advance.
In the Land of Water, even if Sunagakure's army was much stronger than Kirigakure's, they still would not be able to conquer Kirigakure in a short time.
Just as before, Kirigakure's army had been far stronger than Sunagakure's, yet had still not been able to break Sunagakure quickly.
As for victory…
Yagura no longer dared hope for it.
"Konoha is too shameless."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi is unworthy of the title of Shinobi Professor."
"He took my benefits, then turned around and did this."
"If I had known things would turn out like this, I never would have dealt with Konoha."
"If I had chosen to withdraw back to the Land of Water back then, the outcome would have been far better than now."
"Konoha has harmed Kirigakure too deeply."
If Yagura had once hated Sunagakure the most, then now the village he hated most had become Konoha.
Under the pursuit of Sunagakure's army, Kirigakure's forces were left in utter disarray.
Even with Yagura's orders to fight while retreating and prioritize survival—
this was still a battlefield.
Not a place where someone could live simply because they wanted to.
Sunagakure's shinobi had waited far too long for this day.
For the past several years, Sunagakure had been suffocated by humiliation.
Kirigakure.
Konoha.
Iwagakure.
One after another, they had all trampled on Sunagakure.
Even small ninja villages had dared to reach out and take bites.
"Kill!"
"Kill them all!"
"Don't let a single one escape!"
"Avenge the comrades who died for Sunagakure!"
…
Shrill screams.
Bitter wails.
Panicked cries.
Battle shouts filled with murderous intent.
Roars of desperate resistance.
The heavy smell of blood spread across the battlefield, so thick that even the air overhead seemed tinged with a faint pink mist.
Minato Namikaze found Konoha's order strange.
At a time like this, having him lead Konoha's shinobi away from the battlefield—was that not the same as selling out Kirigakure?
Kirigakure's forces were no match for Sunagakure's to begin with.
Without Konoha's reinforcements, they simply could not hold.
But Minato was a shinobi.
And a shinobi's first principle was obedience to orders.
"So the alliance between Konoha and Kirigakure has collapsed?"
"Did something happen?"
A faint but increasingly ominous unease rose in Minato's heart.
Before this, he had already once left his students in danger because he had gone to support Kirigakure instead of staying on the front against Iwagakure.
As a result, his three students had been left isolated and helpless.
One had lost an eye.
One had lost his life.
And even his corpse had not been brought back.
Even though the Uchiha Clan had already rebelled, Uchiha Obito had still been his student.
One day as a student, a lifetime as a student.
"Minato-sama, please come with me."
An ANBU shinobi had already come to meet him the instant he returned to the village.
Minato followed, then frowned.
"This road leads to the medical department."
The ANBU shinobi did not answer.
Soon enough, they arrived at the medical unit.
Minato entered a hospital room.
A boy lay unconscious on the bed.
Another figure stood beside him.
"Elder Koharu."
Koharu Utatane turned around and gave Minato a slight nod.
"Minato, Kakashi's condition is somewhat serious. He'll need some time to recover, but the medical division has already done everything we could for him. His life is not in danger."
Minato nodded slowly, but his fist tightened little by little.
"Koharu-sama…"
"Have you seen Rin?"
Koharu fell silent.
Minato froze for a moment.
Then, the bad premonition in his heart deepened sharply.
Koharu let out a sigh.
"Not long ago, a Kirigakure ANBU squad attacked one of Konoha's shinobi teams. Rin was captured by them and forcibly had the Three-Tails sealed inside her, turning her into a jinchuriki."
"After that, they sent her toward Konoha, intending to trigger a Tailed Beast rampage inside the village."
"In order to protect Konoha, Rin deliberately threw herself onto Kakashi's kunai and ended her own life."
"Rin was a hero."
"She sacrificed herself for the village."
"This is what Kakashi himself said while he was still conscious."
For an instant, Minato's eyes reddened.
His three students.
One had died on the battlefield before because Minato had not been there in time to save him.
One had sacrificed herself for the sake of the village.
And the last—
had been forced to watch his own companion throw herself onto the kunai in his hand.
If he did not move the kunai, his companion would die.
If he moved it, then Konoha would suffer a Tailed Beast rampage, and Rin's sacrifice would be meaningless.
A cruel choice.
A merciless choice.
A pain so sharp it was difficult even to imagine.
And all of it had happened because he had not been there.
If he had been there, none of this would have happened.
"Kirigakure!"
"Are those people beasts?! Konoha was helping them, and they turned around and attacked Konoha instead?"
Koharu sighed again.
"That is exactly why you were called back."
Minato stood there in silence for a long moment.
His expression changed again and again.
Obito.
Rin.
Kakashi.
Three students entrusted to him.
One was already gone forever.
One had chosen death with her own will.
And one had been left to carry unbearable pain.
And he—
their teacher—
had not been there for any of it.
His fingers slowly dug into his own palm.
The pain was real.
But it could not compare to the heaviness pressing against his chest.
"So…"
"It was still my fault."