Rustle, rustle—
Hearing Yuu's question, Samehada's scales lightly scraped against one another. Then, under Yuu's gaze, its barbed hilt curled around and gently touched his wrist, conveying a sense of reaching out.
"…Heh."
The corner of Yuu's mouth curved upward.
Alright. It seemed this creature also understood that a wise man submitted to circumstances.
Among the many weapons of the ninja world, Samehada was an extremely unusual one. Rather than calling it a sword, it would be more accurate to describe it as a special creature used as a sword. It possessed an independent will and differed from Enma, who could transform into the Adamantine Staff, only in that it could not speak.
In the original story, it had taken the initiative to show affection toward Killer B after being attracted by his chakra. It had also mourned the death of its former master, Kisame Hoshigaki.
Yuu did not believe his chakra was more delicious or attractive than the Eight-Tails' chakra. However, since Samehada had taken the initiative to show friendliness, he could at least try using it for now.
Alternatively, he could study what material the creature was made from and see whether he could obtain some from the Land of Water for academic research.
At once,
Yuu returned the Sword of the Thunder God in his right hand to the sheath on his back. Then, holding Samehada in his left hand, he turned and surveyed the battlefield around Shakuka Town.
By now, the battle had already entered its final stage.
More precisely, from the moment Yuu escaped using Twin Dragons Turning Destruction and instantly killed Fuguki Suikazan, the outcome of the battle had already become unquestionable.
Raiga Kurosuki, another member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, had originally intended to continue resisting, but Uchiha Fugaku surrounded him together with Yashiro and the others.
In terms of strength, Raiga and Fugaku were roughly evenly matched. Both had also endured bitter fighting and were no longer in peak condition.
However, Fugaku's dōjutsu had just advanced by one level.
After finding an opening, he suddenly cast a Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique on Raiga, immediately leaving him rigid and unable to move.
Uchiha Yashiro and the others seized the opportunity and rushed him together. Fire Release, shuriken, and kunai struck him in quick succession. In the blink of an eye, four or five wounds deep enough to expose bone appeared across Raiga's body.
They then forced his arms behind his back, bound him tightly with rope, and brought the battle to an end.
With the defeat of the two Ninja Swordsmen,
the morale of the Kiri ninja, who had lost their commanders, collapsed instantly like a punctured balloon.
Some Kiri ninja launched desperate final attacks and were quickly killed by Konoha.
Many more lost their will to fight and surrendered.
A very small number of fortunate survivors used the darkness as cover to flee into the mountains and forests, disappearing without a trace.
The clamor of battle gradually subsided.
Only the restrained groans of the wounded and the exhausted breathing of the survivors continued to rise and fall around them.
The air was filled with the heavy smell of blood and scorched flesh.
At this moment, Uchiha Fugaku and Kakashi began counting the casualties suffered by both sides.
"…Captain Mikami."
Uchiha Fugaku approached Yuu and reported,
"According to the preliminary count, Konoha lost nineteen people, with seventeen seriously wounded. We killed sixty-one Kiri ninja and captured forty-four…"
Judging purely by the casualty ratio, Konoha had achieved an overwhelming victory.
Even after excluding the thirty or so people Yuu killed with Thunder-Fire Divine Punishment, the casualty ratio between the two sides was still approximately one-to-one.
Considering Kirigakure had attacked with advance intelligence while Konoha had been caught unprepared, achieving such a result was already excellent.
Furthermore,
Fuguki Suikazan, Raiga Kurosuki, and Jūzō Biwa—three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—had either been killed or captured. Most of Kirigakure's elites had also been lost.
Unless Kirigakure was willing to spare no expense and transfer another large group of fresh troops from the homeland, it would be difficult for the southeastern front to erupt into another major battle in the near future.
Mm. Coincidentally, the Ninja Swordsmen killed or captured during these battles were precisely the "lucky trio" who had escaped from Might Dai in the original story.
Unfortunately, they were not nearly as fortunate this time—especially Fuguki Suikazan, whose head had already been separated from his body.
The gains were substantial.
However, there was still one problem that needed to be confronted.
"Cough…"
Uchiha Fugaku coughed and said,
"Although we ultimately won the battle, Kirigakure took advantage of an opening, and Konoha suffered greater losses than expected. As acting commander, I failed to detect Kirigakure's movements in advance…
"Please punish me, Captain Mikami."
"Hmm?"
Yuu raised an eyebrow.
He had been thinking about how to bring up this subject himself.
Strictly speaking, Yuu bore some responsibility for Konoha being caught in a surprise attack this time.
After all, his current identity was commander of the southeastern front, not an ordinary soldier like he had been on the Sunagakure battlefield.
The last time he left for the Land of Wind, it did not greatly affect the overall situation. Jiraiya and Orochimaru were still at the stronghold, and Konoha and Sunagakure had already entered negotiations.
This time, however, Kirigakure had only been temporarily repelled.
Although it seemed unlikely that they would launch another campaign in the short term, the possibility was not zero.
If Yuu had not left, even if Kirigakure still attacked, Konoha's casualties would have been greatly reduced and the battle report would have looked far better.
Fugaku had taken the initiative to accept responsibility. Although he seemed to be taking the blame, perhaps he was also retreating in order to advance and indirectly reminding Yuu of his own responsibility…
Mm. Probably not.
After all, Uchiha Fugaku's mind had been officially certified by the original story as functioning differently from that of ordinary people. He was only slightly better than Rasa of Sunagakure.
If he truly possessed that degree of political subtlety, he would not have allowed the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha to deteriorate beyond repair.
What he had just said was probably sincere. He genuinely believed he bore responsibility and was also trying to shoulder part of the blame for Yuu.
However…
"Senior Fugaku, please lead the others in cleaning up the battlefield first. I'll check on the wounded.
"Come to the command post afterward. There are several matters I need to discuss with all of you."
Yuu said.
"Hmm?"
Uchiha Fugaku froze slightly and glanced at Yuu.
However, he did not ask anything. He merely turned around and began directing Yashiro, Gekkō Shigure, and the others to continue cleaning the battlefield, collecting the bodies, and taking control of the prisoners.
The various tasks began proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Yuu, meanwhile, walked over to Rin and gave the brown-haired girl an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, Rin. I returned late."
"You didn't. You came back at exactly the right time."
Rin had just finished bandaging a wounded ninja's arm. She stood, wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, and smiled.
"This surprise attack was unexpected. You returned extremely quickly already.
"Besides, resisting Kirigakure is the responsibility of all of us. You can't carry everything by yourself."
"Is that so…"
Yuu hesitated.
Honestly…
he did feel somewhat guilty.
Kirigakure's offensive had been extremely powerful. If he had not returned, the Shakuka Town stronghold might genuinely have fallen, and Rin and the others might have encountered fatal danger.
Logically speaking, with Fugaku and Shisui as two potential Mangekyō users, along with Kakashi and Obito, it was unlikely that Rin would be the first one forced to stand in front of a blade.
But weapons had no eyes on the battlefield. If something truly happened, regret would come too late.
Rin seemed to understand what Yuu was thinking.
She moved slightly closer and gave him a bright smile.
"I almost forgot to say it. Yuu, your entrance just now was very impressive.
"That giant eagle is the summoned beast you recently subdued, right? It really is as majestic as we imagined."
The giant eagle had not yet departed and was still circling high above the Shakuka Town stronghold.
When Yuu and Rin looked up, it lowered its head and exchanged a distant glance with them through the darkness.
Then it spread its wings and glided down from the sky.
After briefly hovering near Yuu, it descended gently to the ground in a whirlwind.
"Whoa! What an enormous eagle!"
Kurenai had also finished working and hurried over to Yuu. Her eyes shone as she looked between him and the giant eagle.
"This creature is far too large! It looks three or four meters tall, and it seems so obedient. It listens to everything you say, Yuu."
"Right?"
Yuu smiled, thinking that she had not seen what this creature looked like when it was hissing angrily.
It obeyed him so completely only because Yuu was stronger—strong enough to kill it.
However, ninja beasts at the giant eagle's level possessed relatively high intelligence. If they spent more time together and he gradually influenced it, they could probably form a genuine bond.
Perhaps he could even add Rin, Mikami Tajima and his wife, and the others to the summoning contract.
Then, if they encountered danger, they could escape through the air.
Not far away,
Obito watched Yuu and the others. He seemed to want to join them, but Kakashi dragged him away to help settle the prisoners.
A short while later,
Yuu worked with Rin and the others to treat all the dozens of lightly and seriously wounded ninja.
Afterward, he separately found Kakashi and Asuma and told them to report to the command post after finishing their work.
They were not to bring weapons or armor.
"A meeting? Huh? Why aren't you bringing me?"
Obito approached with a displeased expression, apparently complaining that Yuu was treating people differently.
But Yuu merely waved his hand and said casually,
"We're meeting to discuss our future operational plans. Once we reach a decision, we'll inform you.
"You probably don't want to attend the kind of meeting that requires thinking and endless arguing, do you?"
"That's true…"
Obito scratched his head.
For someone whose intelligence stat was only two, thinking was indeed rather painful.
He would rather remain outside and help Rin with some work, such as handling the wounded.
As for Asuma…
his position was actually similar to Obito's, and strictly speaking, he had not yet reached the decision-making level.
However, because he was Sarutobi Hiruzen's son and could barely be considered the acting captain of Kurenai's squad, he possessed enough status to attend this small meeting.
Moreover, Yuu had another consideration.
The matter they were about to discuss involved a certain member of Konoha's leadership, so Asuma needed to be present as a form of endorsement.
Otherwise, they might later be accused of secretly conspiring without proper legitimacy.
…
Fifteen minutes later,
inside the command post,
Yuu, Uchiha Fugaku, Kakashi, and Asuma stood around the four sides of a square table.
Yuu inhaled lightly and went straight to the point.
"Senior Fugaku, Kakashi, Asuma, there is a piece of intelligence I need to share with all of you."
"…Go ahead."
The people present exchanged glances, their expressions becoming slightly serious.
They sensed that the topic they were about to discuss would be grave.
Kakashi even walked toward the outside, checked both sides of the tent, then carefully closed the door.
Then,
Yuu made a shocking statement.
"The heavy casualties caused by this attack on Konoha's strongholds were not entirely our responsibility.
"The more important reason was that someone deliberately leaked Konoha's defensive deployment information to Kirigakure."
"What?!"
Uchiha Fugaku's pupils abruptly contracted, and his face instantly filled with astonishment.
Kakashi reacted slightly faster.
"Yuu, you mean… a traitor has appeared among Konoha's ninja?"
"That… shouldn't be possible, right?
"Everyone in our force was personally assigned by Lord Hokage and has lived in Konoha for many years. How could any of them collude with the isolationist Kirigakure?
"Could it have been a spy Kirigakure planted inside Konoha many years ago?"
Asuma rubbed his chin with one hand and analyzed the situation.
Yuu swept his gaze across the people beside him and spoke casually.
"Of course it's possible.
"And all of you know this traitor.
"He is the Second Hokage's disciple, Lord Third's advisor, the leader of Root, and the head of the Shimura clan—
"Shimura Danzō."
"!!!"
The words fell like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
Uchiha Fugaku and the other two widened their eyes and stared at Yuu in disbelief, as if trying to determine whether he was joking.
Gradually, Uchiha Fugaku was the first to recover. His eyelids lowered slightly.
If the traitor was Danzō…
then it truly was not surprising.
After all, Shimura Danzō's exclusion of the Uchiha clan had long been completely public.
Previously, he had consistently refused to allow young Uchiha to hold any position outside the Konoha Military Police Force.
His sudden change of attitude this time had been extremely abnormal and easily suggested hidden motives.
Although colluding with Kirigakure to deal with the Uchiha was somewhat shocking—and hardly politically correct…
given Danzō's moral standards inherited from the Second Hokage, it would not be especially surprising if he had truly done such a thing.
After all, that was the inherently evil Senju Tobirama.
Similar thoughts occurred to Asuma and Kakashi.
However, openly discussing the village "targeting the Uchiha" did not conform very well to Konoha's Will of Fire and would not benefit unity.
Thus, the two could only exchange glances.
Then Asuma coughed several times and asked,
"Yuu, this is an extremely serious accusation. Do you have evidence?
"After all, Lord Danzō is one of Konoha's elders and has made many contributions to the village.
"Although he can be somewhat… paranoid, surely he wouldn't go so far as to do something this insane, right?"