Enrollment ended, two hours later.
At the entrance of Konoha, over four thousand ninjas stood ready for battle.
Fugaku stood on a high platform, his black hair fluttering in the wind, his voice deep and powerful, echoing across the entire square.
The ninjas below instantly fell silent, all eyes fixed on him.
"We are about to march to the Kirigakure battlefield!"
"Rescue our children!"
"Avenge our fallen comrades!"
"Konoha's glory, we will reclaim it with our own hands!"
He dramatically swung his right hand down. "Now, depart!"
Boom… Boom…!
Over four thousand ninjas leaped simultaneously, rushing out of Konoha's main gate like a black torrent.
The streets on both sides were packed with villagers seeing them off.
An old woman with white hair stumbled out of the crowd and handed a bouquet of wild chrysanthemums, still dewy from the morning, to an Uchiha ninja she knew.
Her withered fingers clutched the ninja's sleeve tightly as she said, "Please… please bring Sosuke back. My grandson loves my rice balls the most."
The ninja solemnly accepted the flowers, nodded, then leaped onto a treetop, disappearing into the ranks.
Some Uchiha clansmen seeing them off shouted loudly, "Konoha will win! Uchiha will win!"
Amidst the cheers, a red-haired little girl suddenly broke free from her mother's hand and ran after the squad for over ten meters until she was stopped by a Chunin on duty.
"Daddy! You must come back!" Her tearful cry pierced through the commotion.
...
After entering the dense forest, the marching speed suddenly increased.
The ninjas' figures flickered among the tree canopies, like a group of silent ghosts.
Fugaku's steps did not falter. He slightly tilted his head and looked at Shun beside him. "Shun, are you sure the Kirigakure ninjas will raid South Sand Castle?"
Shun leaped from the side and said, "Along the southern coast of the Land of Fire, there are only three cities—Bear City, White Bird Castle, and South Sand Castle. Bear City is the wealthiest and has been raided many times. White Bird Castle is in the middle, and the frequency of recent attacks has also been increasing. South Sand Castle is close to the Land of Hot Water. After they plunder White Bird Castle, they will inevitably escape to the Land of Water through the Land of Hot Water."
Unkai caught up from behind and said in a deep voice, "Why not go directly to South Sand Castle to intercept them?"
Shun shook his head. "No, we'll go to Bear City first."
Tetsu frowned. "Won't that delay too much time?"
Shun's gaze was sharp as a blade as he said, "Hiruzen made the children graduate early and form a 3,000-person old and young army, and now the casualties are extremely heavy."
Fugaku pondered for a moment and said, "You mean…"
"First, rescue the children in Bear City, send a portion of people to escort them back to Konoha, and also bring back the children's bodies. We need to let the people of Konoha see with their own eyes what kind of hell their Hokage had sent the children to."
"Then, we will go to White Bird Castle, repeating the same actions. Finally, we will only take 300 Jonin and rush at full speed to South Sand Castle to intercept Kirigakure's main force."
Tetsu still had doubts. "300 Jonin… won't that be too risky?"
"The reason why Kirigakure's more than 3,000 ninjas are difficult to eliminate is that they have no strongholds. They commit crimes by moving around, robbing and then fleeing. Now that they have plundered enough, their desire to fight has already decreased."
Fugaku's Sharingan flickered slightly. "Alright, we'll do as Shun says."
...
Eleven hours later, Bear City.
The setting sun, like blood, illuminated this once prosperous coastal city.
The city walls were damaged, and the streets were scattered with uncleaned ninja tools and bloodstains. The air was filled with a scorched and bloody smell.
Five children, less than ten years old, lied fallen in a fan shape, the furthest one still clutching an unlit signal flare.
Unkai's voice trembled. "The forty-seventh squad, completely wiped out. This is already the seventh group we've encountered today."
Tetsu punched a tree trunk. "That old man Hiruzen!"
Fugaku's Mangekyo slowly rotated, his gaze falling on the small body clutching a rag doll. "Collect all the remains."
Inside Bear City's Konoha stronghold, which originally housed 1,000 people, only 53 remained.
In the empty training ground, several children with dirt-streaked faces huddled in a corner, their eyes vacant.
A one-armed Uchiha chunin staggered forward, his voice hoarse. "Fugaku-sama, you finally came."
Fugaku's gaze swept around, his Sharingan instantly capturing the residual battle traces.
The Chunin gritted his teeth and said, "Kirigakure ninjas came two days ago. They… they took all the supplies, and those who refused to surrender died."
Shun's fists cracked as he clenched them. "What about the children?"
"The ones who are alive… are all here."
A small girl, seemingly less than ten years old, timidly walked over, clutching a blood-stained photograph.
"Uncle, will my daddy still come back?"
Shun crouched down and gently stroked her head. "We will definitely make those people pay the price."
Unkai walked over and said, "Report, the statistics are out. 841 bodies have been collected, including 754 children's bodies and 87 adult bodies. Additionally, 43 bodies are too incomplete, and 59 people are still missing."
Shun said coldly, "Let these 2,000 people send the 53 survivors back to Konoha, and also bring these bodies. Before entering the Konoha gate, have people take the bodies out of the storage scrolls and transport them on stretchers to the Ninja Academy square. Finally, notify the families to come and claim the bodies."
After hearing this, Unkai gasped.
If one only heard of hundreds of deaths, many people would have no concept. But if they did things according to what Shun had said, transporting bodies on stretchers to the academy square, with two people per body per stretcher, these 884 bodies could form a long line of nearly 2,000 meters. Seeing this long procession of bodies, the reaction of the villagers on the streets would be hard to imagine.
Shun looked in the direction of Konoha, his tone icy and filled with killing intent. "I want them to see clearly that every tiny body is a nail driven into Hiruzen's coffin."
Tetsu suddenly laughed, a chilling smile. "Arranging the bodies in the Ninja Academy square… what a brilliant idea. Hiruzen is the principal of the Ninja Academy, and it was he who ordered the students to graduate early. This is going to put Hiruzen on the hot seat."
Hearing this, Fugaku ordered in an unquestionable voice, "Execute it. Let the Third Hokage see his masterpiece with his own eyes."
***
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