Uchiha Sorata stared at the corpse of Masaru with a complicated expression on his face.
How should he explain this?
From the slight smile and peaceful expression on Masaru's face before he drew his last breath, it felt as if he died in utter peace.
Of course, that was actually not the case.
This guy got his heart pierced and internal organs boiled and charred by countless high-voltage lightning bolts. His death was rather violent.
Did his Genjutsu somehow make this Masaru guy feel less pain? But the ShacklingStakes Technique should provoke waves of gut-wrenching pain, as if their very soul are being impaled by thick, rusty metal nails.
Now, just look at this guy's face.
Not that he had any issue with it.
It was just that…
"The whole thing ended very anticlimactically," Sorata blurted out in a low voice.
When Seimei heard this, he looked at Sorata with a strange expression on his face.
We were facing Masaru with our lives on the line.
A single mistake could have taken our lives.
And now, you're complaining that the battle ended too quickly?
Brother, how much more excitement do you want in life?
Is it necessary to seek death to gain euphoria?
Is your Uchiha madness acting up again?
Seimei thought inwardly.
After a while, he said, "Anticlimactic? This is fine, too."
"Life has been way too exciting lately with enemies and chakra beasts popping up everywhere."
"It's good that the battle ended quickly."
"At least, we killed this Elite Jonin without suffering any harm."
Hearing this, Uchiha Sorata nodded slightly.
Then, he reminded, "Let's seal his corpse and store it."
"A ninja of Masaru's caliber must have a lot of crucial intel. The Yamanaka clan ninjas in the Torture and Interrogation Department might be able to uncover something."
"And we have been away from our main team for a while."
"It's about time we return."
"Alright," said Seimei, and he carefully sealed the corpse of Masaru inside the storage scroll while making sure to keep the head out of harm's way.
Then, he stood up, dusted his hands, and said, "Okay. Let's head back."
Uchiha Sorata nodded.
Soon, both of them activated the Body Flicker Technique and vanished from their spots without leaving a single trace.
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After nearly five minutes of high-speed travel, Seimei and Sorata arrived at the previous Sunagakure ambush spot to join the Konoha Shinobi group and kill the remaining Suna ninjas.
However, when they arrived there, the battle had already ended.
Corpses of various Suna ninjas were littered all across the battlefield. Some got killed by clean hits. Others hardly had any part of their corpse intact.
As for the battlefield…
That was in an even worse condition.
The nearby trees were burned and charred by the powerful Fire and Lightning Release Ninjutsu.
A few trees were forcibly uprooted due to the altered terrain, which included several elevated platforms, fissures, and sinking ground.
The ground, boulders, and other trees were disfigured by several deep gashes, indicating frequent use of Wind Release Ninjutsu.
Plus, a good portion of the battlefield was also covered in water.
Seeing this almost post-apocalyptic scenery, Seimei could already imagine the devastating battle that took place just a few minutes ago.
And right now, two Konoha Shinobi specializing in Earth Release were trying to erase the evidence of the battlefield. A few ANBU ninjas were also helping them to bury all the evidence they couldn't collect.
However, among the dead bodies, Seimei spotted three Konoha ninjas as well.
One had his heart pierced by something sharp, one got decapitated, and the last one had a whole chunk of his right torso missing.
Even with Konoha reinforcement, the Suna ninjas still had the numerical advantage.
It wasn't hard for Seimei to imagine how those Suna ninjas, faced with certain death, used any means necessary to drag the Konoha ninjas to hell with them.
Most failed. But a few clearly succeeded.
From the tactical point of view, this was a huge victory for Konoha. They only had to pay a small price to achieve that.
And the price was the lives of three fellow Konoha ninjas.
This was the life of a Shinobi.
They danced at the edge of death.
To protect what they deemed important, they threw their lives away without hesitation. Of course, the brainwashing Genjutsu, Will of Fire, and the loyalty to the clans ingrained in them also played big roles.
A little carelessness could spell death. Even the strongest Shonobi could die.
No one was an exception unless you had some crazy ocular technique that defied logic, or if you were a horned, smooth-skinned, alien bastard with absurd resurrection techniques like Kama.
Seeing this, Seimei took a deep breath and sighed.
He couldn't slack off. He needed to grind harder.
His current strength might seem incredible to regular Shinobi, but against the true powerhouses, he was still nothing more than an ant they could squash with little effort.
If he didn't train hard, he could also be like one of these unfortunate ninjas who turned into cold corpses.
He needed to increase the number of his trump cards as well.
Finishing his thoughts, Seimei walked toward his team.
There, he saw a heavily injured Hyuga Ginjo receiving basic first aid treatment from Senju Haku.
His wounds were terrible. It was already a miracle that he didn't die.
Fortunately, this was an alternative Naruto Universe, which had many potions and pills that could save lives at critical moments.
From the looks of it, Hyuga Ginjo had probably taken minor healing potions to resist the deteriorating bodily functions and blood coagulation pills to stop the bleeding.
What did it mean?
It meant that this whole group of Konoha ninja had no medical ninja except for him.
Seimei was speechless.
All the wounded ninjas were just receiving basic first aid and bandaging.
What were the higher-ups thinking?
A reinforcement squad with a dozen ninjas should have two medical ninjas at the very least to minimize on-field casualties.
But they had none.
Forget about it. The more I think, the worse the situation seems.
I will treat Ginjo first.
Seimei shook his head and lampooned inwardly.
Then, he stepped forward and fed a top-grade blood restoration pill to Hyuga Ginjo and said, "Swallow it. It would help you restore blood quickly and accelerate your body's natural healing process a little."
"Meanwhile, I will use medical Ninjutsu to heal your wounds."
Hyuga Ginjo didn't hesitate at all. He nodded and directly swallowed the pill.
Soon, Seimei brought out a medical toolkit. He used disinfectant and cotton to clean the wounds on Ginjo's body and began using the Mystical Palm Technique to heal the internal and external injuries.
After nearly five minutes, Seimei stopped.
In front of him, Hyuga Ginjo's complexion was now ten times better than before. His injuries were healed. Not even a scar remained.
Seeing this, Seimei advised, "Once we arrive at Konoha, you'd better go to the Hospital for a thorough checkup. If you have any hidden injuries, they will detect them and treat them immediately."
"Don't underestimate the severity of the hidden ailments. They don't seem that big of a deal at first glance."
"But if you don't treat them early on, they can hinder your growth as a ninja and cause you all sorts of health issues later."
"I heard the hidden ailments even caused some ninjas' little brothers to be dysfunctional. Their tools just wouldn't stand up, leading to several separations and unhappy couples."
"You better be careful. Don't be one of them."
Hearing this, Hyuga Ginjo, who was feeling refreshed and smiling, suddenly froze. His back was drenched in cold sweat.
His expression turned solemn as he said, "I will go to Konoha Hospital as soon as we return."
Seimei chuckled in his mind as he looked around to see if there were other injured Shinobi around.
However, most ninjas only had some minor injuries. Still, Seimei sent a few shadow clones to check up on them and heal their wounds as well.
Once the battlefield cleanup was complete, the reinforcement group returned to their posts. They only asked Seimei's group to bring the bodies of the deceased Konoha Shinobi to Konoha for proper burials.
Now, only Otsutsuki Seimei, Senju Haku, Uchiha Sorata, Aburame Shoji, and Hyuga Ginjo remained in the forest.
Senju Haku turned his head toward his teammates and said, "Alright."
"You have all been through a lot of hardships in this mission."
"So, let's not waste any more time."
"Let's return to Konoha."
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