Hoshiyomi shook his head, driving away those messy, distracting thoughts.
No matter how you looked at it, this battle had ended in Konoha's victory.
With Iwagakure suffering two consecutive crushing defeats, they probably wouldn't have the strength—or the nerve—to make any big moves for quite some time.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
He walked over to the other side and pulled up the heavily panting Shinku and Jiraiya, both lying on the ground.
Compared to Hoshiyomi, the two of them were in even worse shape.
After all, Hoshiyomi had already stepped into the Kage level, and with a lifesaving technique like Dance of the Startled Swan at his disposal, he had gotten away with "only" three broken ribs, plus the exhaustion from overusing the Sixth Gate.
Aside from that, he was merely tired.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, was only at a seme-Kage level—comparable to Kakashi's strength at the start of the original story.
Shinku wasn't even that—just a standard elite jōnin.
For them to go up against Ōnoki, a peak Kage-level powerhouse (and if you counted the destructive power of Dust Release, arguably even at the "super Kage" threshold), was truly pushing them beyond their limits.
Even with Fukasaku and Shima's assistance in providing early warnings, they had still been battered by Ōnoki, left without a single uninjured spot on their bodies.
It would take at least ten days to half a month of rest before they could even think about fighting again.
Konoha's medical-nin were quick to act.
Seeing that both Ōnoki and Rōshi had already withdrawn, they rushed over and began treating Hoshiyomi and the others.
After receiving medical-ninjutsu treatment, Hoshiyomi's ribs had been set back into place, and Jiraiya and Shinku's external injuries were mostly healed as well.
Though their internal injuries would still require careful recovery, at least they weren't in a state where they couldn't move at all.
Konoha's camp, however, had been wrecked by the combined destruction from Rōshi and Ōnoki—it was completely uninhabitable.
The three of them were still discussing whether they should rebuild here or withdraw to Konoha's previous camp when a figure came rapidly approaching from afar.
It was none other than Sakumo, racing in with his Lightning Release Chakra Mode active.
Seeing the three of them from a distance, Sakumo let out a relieved breath and slowed his pace.
After greeting them, he asked curiously:
"What in the world happened here just now? There was such a huge commotion—we could see it clearly all the way from the Sunagakure front."
Jiraiya, who had moments ago been pounded by Ōnoki to the brink of collapse, suddenly perked up.
He sprang up and began recounting the entire battle in vivid, exaggerated detail—naturally with plenty of self-praise sprinkled in.
When Sakumo heard that the Four-Tails and Ōnoki had attacked together, he was shocked. That combination was, in his eyes, nearly impossible to stand against.
Upon hearing that Hoshiyomi had heavily injured the Four-Tails and even managed to land a sneak attack on Ōnoki, his expression turned to open astonishment.
So… Hoshiyomi had already grown this strong?
Such a feat—perhaps even the Third Hokage himself would have struggled to achieve it.
Seeing Sakumo's expression, Hoshiyomi quickly waved his hand.
"Don't listen to Jiraiya's nonsense. Honestly, luck played a big role in all this…"
After hearing Hoshiyomi's explanation, Sakumo calmed down somewhat and didn't dwell on it further.
A flash of killing intent passed through his eyes as he turned to Hoshiyomi.
"If what you say is true, and Ōnoki's back is injured while the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki is still unconscious… why don't we lead the army in right now?
"With the two of us joining forces, we could finish off both Ōnoki and the Four-Tails here and now. Wouldn't that completely free up this front?"
Hoshiyomi was tempted, but then he remembered the terrifying Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique from the original story.
If they pushed Ōnoki too far, and he unleashed one of those—an attack with a range large enough to wipe out twenty-five fully-formed small Susanoo in one strike—there would be nowhere for him or Sakumo to hide.
"We'd better not," Hoshiyomi said, narrowing his eyes.
"That old man's back may be hurt, but his chakra is still plentiful. If we really drive him into a corner, even if we take him down, we'll suffer heavy casualties.
"This kind of high-risk job should be left for someone else."
Sakumo froze for a moment, then quickly caught on.
He slapped his thigh:
"That's right! With the Tsuchikage and the Jinchūriki both absent from the village, Kumogakure and Kirigakure won't miss this chance. I'll head back to inform Danzō right away!"
What neither Sakumo nor Hoshiyomi realized was that the Third Raikage was already thinking along exactly the same lines.
Even before they could send out any intelligence, he had already taken action.
...
"Tsuchikage-sama! An urgent report from the village—Third Raikage has crossed the sea with three thousand Kumogakure shinobi.
"Judging from the timing, they're probably already attacking the village gates as we speak."
"What did you just say?!"
Because of his back injury and Rōshi's unconscious state, Ōnoki hadn't immediately flown back to Iwagakure.
Instead, he'd spent the night on the front lines receiving treatment.
But now, just as his injury had begun to recover a little, this disastrous news arrived from the village.
Both Ōnoki and the just-awakened Rōshi jolted in shock at the report.
Ōnoki's voice shot up in pitch, and he bolted upright from his bed—so abruptly that it tugged at his recently reset spine.
But he had no time to care about the pain.
He urgently ordered the subordinate to repeat the information in detail.
On the other side, Rōshi's already pale face turned even whiter, his expression sinking into deep regret.
It was all his fault.
If he hadn't recklessly run off, the Tsuchikage wouldn't have chased after him.
If the Tsuchikage hadn't left, the village wouldn't have been vulnerable to this sneak attack.
If anything happened to the village, he, Rōshi, would be guilty beyond redemption.
After confirming the news, Ōnoki was so enraged that blood surged up in his chest, and he spat out a mouthful of old blood on the spot.
Who could have imagined that his carefully laid plans would end up like this?
This wasn't just "coming back empty-handed"—this was losing both the bride and the soldiers.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
The most important thing was to rush back to defend the village—every moment saved could mean hundreds of Iwagakure shinobi's lives.
Iwagakure had about ten thousand shinobi in reserve. If he moved quickly enough, there was still a chance to make it in time.
With that thought, Ōnoki hastily put on his sandals, ready to depart.
Just before leaving, his eyes swept over the pale-faced Rōshi.
Still in a fury, he barked:
"What are you standing there for? Waiting until Iwagakure is breached before you're satisfied? Go assemble a thousand shinobi for immediate support!"
Without waiting for a reply, he activated the Light-Weight Boulder Technique and flew toward the Land of Earth at his fastest speed.
Rōshi, burning with shame, wished he could crawl into a hole.
Turning to the subordinate who had brought the report, he ordered urgently:
"Hurry and gather our forces! We cannot let anything happen to the village!"
Once the troops were assembled, he ignored his weakened state and forcibly activated the Lava Release Chakra Mode, chasing after Ōnoki toward Iwagakure.