"No, Kagami, you did your best."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the bloodstains beneath Kagami Uchiha's eyes. While offering words of comfort, Hiruzen felt a wave of relief wash over him internally.
As a disciple of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi had some understanding of the terrifying power wielded by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the Asura of the ninja world, Madara Uchiha.
Even if Hiruzen hadn't personally witnessed their true power, the Valley of the End wasn't far from Konoha.
That place bore the scars of the battle between the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha.
If Hiruzen remembered correctly, the area had once been mountains and hills, but it was now a basin, scarred with enormous handprints and chasms hundreds of meters long.
The sheer horror of that scene made Hiruzen break out in a cold sweat just by looking at the remnants of the battle.
Kagami Uchiha was the strongest of the Uchiha clan after Madara Uchiha's departure, and furthermore, Kagami possessed the same eyes as Madara – the Mangekyo Sharingan!
Given Kagami Uchiha's talent, Hiruzen Sarutobi had worried that Kagami might one day grow to reach Madara Uchiha's level.
But judging from Kagami Uchiha's current state, his strength hadn't progressed much in the past year; instead, it seemed to have regressed significantly.
A year ago, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki would have been utterly dominated by Kagami Uchiha.
But now, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki had actually managed to escape from Kagami Uchiha's grasp.
Judging by the aura Kagami Uchiha currently projected, his potential seemed exhausted, and his body was much weaker than before.
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that the current Kagami Uchiha was finally an Uchiha who posed no threat to him.
As this thought surfaced, a sliver of guilt pricked Hiruzen Sarutobi's conscience.
Ever since learning that Kagami Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan after their teacher's death, Hiruzen Sarutobi's wariness towards him had reached its peak.
However, according to intelligence from his father, Sasuke Sarutobi, Kagami Uchiha weakened to some extent after every battle. It was precisely because of this that Hiruzen Sarutobi had delayed entering the battlefield himself. Only when he felt the time was right, using the pretext of sending a reinforcement request to the Uchiha forces in the Land of Wind, did he finally arrive.
Scheming against his own comrade like this clearly pricked the conscience of the still relatively young Hiruzen Sarutobi, causing him to feel guilt.
However, this sliver of guilt was quickly extinguished by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Master Tobirama said the Uchiha clan is easily swayed by emotion and prone to extreme actions. We must avoid involving the Uchiha clan in the village's decision-making as much as possible..."
"Furthermore, after Madara Uchiha defected from Konoha, Setsuna Uchiha also led a faction of the Uchiha in rebellion..."
"If they saw Kagami's power, they would surely attempt another rebellion."
"So, I'm sorry, Kagami."
"Everything... is for Konoha..."
After recalling the transgressions committed by various Uchiha clan members, the guilt Hiruzen Sarutobi felt towards Kagami Uchiha vanished completely.
...
"Sensei, you're amazing!"
Beside Li Anshi, Sagawa Yui, Kondo Kazuya, and Sakamoto Toshio gazed at him with pure adoration.
After killing the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Li Anshi hadn't participated in the pursuit of the Cloud ninjas.
The routed Cloud forces couldn't inflict much harm on the Konoha ninjas.
Rather than chasing them down, it seemed better to use his chakra to heal the injured Konoha shinobi, ensuring more of them survived.
The three Sagawa members had found him during this time.
"Alright, stop gawking."
"You three help out too."
Li Anshi shook his head and began instructing the trio on how to administer first aid on the battlefield.
For those with minor injuries who could still walk, Li Anshi generally didn't intervene.
For those unable to move, Li Anshi would first stabilize their condition before having Sagawa and the others carry them aside.
Following the actions of Sagawa's group, some other Konoha ninjas also abandoned the pursuit of the Cloud shinobi and joined the rescue effort.
Of course, these ninjas didn't know medical ninjutsu. Therefore, like Sagawa's team, their role was limited to moving the ninjas whom Li Anshi had given initial treatment.
Then, they used clean water to wash the wounds of the severely injured to prevent secondary infections.
Initially, Li Anshi felt that these helping ninjas couldn't keep up with his own healing speed.
But as time went on, Li Anshi discovered that his healing speed couldn't match the rate at which the ninjas were transporting the wounded.
He knew that even after initial treatment had saved the lives of many severely injured, a slight bump during transport could still prove fatal.
Thus, Li Anshi looked up, intending to ask the helpers to slow down, but what met his eyes wasn't a dozen ninjas, but nearly a hundred.
Glancing around, Li Anshi realized that the battlefront ahead was blocked by a figure wreathed in lightning and a ten-meter-tall octopus-like creature. Apart from a dozen Jonin and the Third Hokage confronting them, the other ninjas had already withdrawn.
Therefore, it wasn't that the ninjas transporting the wounded were carelessly rushing, disregarding the patients' safety, but rather that many more had joined the effort.
"Summoning Technique!"
Suddenly, a familiar voice reached Li Anshi's ears. Looking up, he saw Tsunade, her face pale, pressing her hand to the ground. Her chakra and the blood from her thumb rapidly formed intricate runes on the earth.
Poof!
A burst of white smoke erupted, and along with it appeared a slug, about three meters long and eighty centimeters high.
"Lady Tsunade."
The slug lowered its head in greeting after appearing.
"Lady Katsuyu, please help heal these injured shinobi."
"As you command, Lady Tsunade."
Following Tsunade's instruction, the slug seemed to dissolve like sand, instantly splitting into hundreds of fist-sized slugs. They quickly crawled onto all the injured shinobi, emitting a blue chakra glow as they began the healing process.
"Phew..."
Seeing this, Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief. She had just stood up when darkness clouded her vision, and she began to fall backward.
"You're pushing yourself too hard, Tsunade!"
Li Anshi's figure instantly appeared behind Tsunade, catching her and steadying her body. He frowned.
With Tsunade's current chakra levels, she shouldn't have been able to summon such a large slug clone.
Clearly, in order to heal more wounded Konoha ninjas, Tsunade had drawn upon chakra far exceeding her limits when she performed the summoning technique.