Time slowly ticked by as Seimei and every ninja and samurai, who weren't heavily injured or hadn't exhausted their chakra, kept killing the remaining chakra beasts.
Since all the AA-rank and A-rank chakra beasts were killed, the low-ranked ones couldn't keep their cohesion. Even the remaining two or three could only command a small group of C-rank and lower chakra beasts to either run away safely or retaliate fiercely.
However, with their dwindling numbers and the ninjas' fierce yet clever assaults, all of them met their ends.
No chakra beasts were able to retreat. All of them were killed one by one systematically within three hours of the AA-rank mutated demon's death.
Once the last chakra beast fell, the remaining ninjas and samurai couldn't help but let out relieved sighs.
The peace had finally returned to Kitakari town once again.
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That evening, Senju Haku, Uchiha Sorata, and Aburame Shoji, who held the ninja rank of full-fledged Jonin or higher, came to the inn after finishing a Jonin-level strategy meeting of all qualified Konoha ninjas.
Hyuga Ginjo was a Special Jonin, so he couldn't attend the meeting. He stayed in the inn with Seimei.
As for Seimei…
Although he had displayed Elite Jonin-level strength, he was, after all, still a fourth-year academy student.
And students on a mission had no business participating in the strategy meetings.
Unless the leader of Konoha, the Hokage, directly vouched for him, Seimei wouldn't be able to participate in these meetings.
And Seimei didn't care about these things.
For him, increasing his own strength took priority. As for the tedious tasks and meetings, it was better for these adults to handle them.
Although he had the mindset of an adult, he was still a ten-year-old child in this world.
What did the post-cleanup meetings have to do with him, a young academy student and a child who wasn't even an official Shinobi yet?
Wasn't it better to practice the Uzumaki Sealing Technique in the inn in the meantime?
As Seimei was engrossed in the Four Symbols Seal, his perception suddenly caught three persons with familiar chakra signatures entering the inn.
Seimei instantly identified them.
Who could they be other than his three teammates who went out to join the strategic Jonin meeting?
Knock Knock
After a few seconds, Seimei heard a couple of knocks on his room's door before hearing Senju Haku's instructions.
"Seimei, join us in my room for a brief discussion in five minutes."
"We need to discuss a few more things before setting off for Konoha tomorrow morning."
Seimei raised an eyebrow with a thoughtful expression.
He looked at the scroll containing the Four Symbols Seal, which he was studying before responding reluctantly, "Very well, team leader."
"I will join you all in five minutes."
Although he wanted to study the Fuinjutsu Seal first, the matter Senju Haku had to discuss must be important.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have disturbed him and asked him to meet so urgently.
After all, their schedule to set off for Konoha stayed the same even after the beast riot.
Something fishy was going on, which would definitely make things troublesome tomorrow.
He just couldn't guess what.
After all, what could be more troublesome than a beast riot?
A war, perhaps?
But that was unrealistic at this stage.
Some trouble on the road, such as enemy ambushes?
Possible. Definitely possible.
All these thoughts ran through Seimei's mind in less than a second's time.
Only then did he hear Haku's voice, "Alright, we will be waiting."
Then, Seimei heard the sound of footsteps becoming fainter and fainter until he could no longer hear them.
Senju Haku probably went to the doorstep of Hyuga Ginjo's room to inform him about the same thing.
Thinking this, Seimei looked at the Fuinjutsu scroll once more before closing it with a few gentle rolls.
Next, he put it inside his storage seal.
It was time to go and find out exactly what was going on.
But first, he needed to freshen up.
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After five minutes, Senju Haku, Uchiha Sorata, Aburame Shoji, Hyuga Ginjo, and Seimei sat at a round table.
The three who had joined the Jonin meeting had solemn expressions on their faces. Seeing this, Ginjo and Seimei were rather curious.
But they weren't in haste to ask about it.
Their captain would naturally spill the be…cough…let them know about the important information.
And then, Senju Haku said, "Before we get to the reason for this small discussion, I will tell you about the status of our forces in this town."
Seimei's ears perked up as these words fell.
Haku continued, "According to the commander, during the beast riot, we have lost about 80 capable Konoha ninjas. These ninjas are either dead or crippled, forcing them to end their careers as Konoha ninjas."
"Among them, at least 60 were confirmed to be dead."
"Ten of these deceased ninjas were Jonin, around fifteen Genin, and the rest of them were Chunin."
"ANBU will carry their remains to Konoha, where they will receive proper burial and the respect they deserve as dedicated protectors of the Land of Fire."
"I hope the Sage of Six Paths will look over them so their souls can find peace in the Pure Land."
After saying this, Senju Haku stopped speaking.
A stifling silence descended in the room as only the sound of gritting teeth and clenched fists could be heard.
Seimei, who also clenched his fists under the table, couldn't help but mock the Sage of Six Paths in his mind.
Otsutsuki Hagoromo looking after their souls after they ascended to the Pure Land?
This has to be one of the biggest jokes I have heard in this life so far.
That guy, who despite having enough strength, chose to stay on the sidelines and watch his sons, Indra and Asura, wreak havoc upon humanity…
That damned real uncle of mine…
If he could, he would just sit on the sofa and eat some popcorn as he enjoyed the mess of a world he had created.
Unless grandma Kaguya breaks free, he wouldn't even bat an eye.
Well, to be honest, he is only alive in the soul form now, so whatever the fuck we chakra-wielding superhumans and beasts do has nothing to do with him.
But even when he was alive, he clearly ate melons while watching his sons fight and destroy almost half of the Land of Ancestors.
No wonder my real father said goodbye to him early on and left for the Moon.
He just didn't want to be a part of that shit.
After a while, Seimei said, "That's all we have managed to achieve after all this planning and struggle, after all."
Aburame Shoji chimed in, "Don't be down, Seimei. You have already tried your best and rescued at least sixteen people from certain death. With some time and proper treatment in Konoha Hospital, they should fully recover."
"And one person can only do so much."
"Unless we have an unstoppable force, who could wipe out all the chakra beasts before they could even reach the walls, such as the Second Hokage, Lord First, or ninja of similar caliber, death and crippling injuries on the battlefield are a common thing."
Senju Haku also nodded with some emotion.
He said, "At least, things are a lot better now."
"In the Warring States Era…"
He trailed off and fell silent even before completing his sentence.
But Seimei understood.
In that era, when everyone below the clan elder level of power was nothing more than cannon fodder and few bothered to study medical Ninjutsu properly, the death toll used to be even higher.
To stop these tragedies, you needed to wield absolute power that your opponents could not withstand at all.
The crushing power of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
However, in this world where SSS-class chakra beasts and horned aliens like the Otsutsuki clan existed, even they couldn't ensure complete safety.
To protect your home, the power similar to the Sage of Six Paths must be attained.
After a while, Uchiha Sorata said, "Captain. It's time to discuss the matter about tomorrow's departure."
Haku snapped out of his daze and replied, "Oh?"
"Ah, yes."
Then, he took a deep breath and finally said, "We will set off for Konoha tomorrow morning as per the previous schedule."
"However…"
"We will probably be ambushed on the road…by the Sunagakure ninjas, no less."
"And we have got intel pointing to the involvement of Sunagakure ninjas in instigating the beast riot."
As soon as the world fell, silence once again descended in the room.
A chilling chakra pressure began to rise from the bodies of the five ninjas.
The table and the chair began to creak and tremble.
Uchiha Sorata's eyes turned crimson as his Sharingan, which had evolved to a three-tomoe state, flared into life with an eerie chill.
The insects began to squirm within Aburame Shoji's body.
Veins around Hyuga Ginjo's eyes suddenly bulged as he involuntarily activated his Byakugan.
Seimei's Tenseigan came to life as they glowed with intense ocean-blue light. His eyes almost flashed red. If he didn't have great control over his body, reflexes, and chakra, his eyes would have activated Sharingan subconsciously.
Senju Haku's voice took a chilling edge as he continued, "So…"
"We will make sure that whoever comes to ambush us tomorrow is properly escorted to the Pure Land."
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