This battle itself wasn't particularly impressive, but it aligned well with its purpose and expectations—it was originally meant for bullying an elderly loner. Madara Uchiha, despite his age, could only display limited strength.
Conversely, Haseo had already used everything he had; after all, this was about as much as he could handle.
Actually, the current outcome was much better than Haseo had expected—he originally thought it would turn out far worse.
Yet this was only Haseo's subjective perception. From the perspective of third parties watching from a distance, this was truly a breathtaking battle.
There were exploding Tailed Beasts, falling meteors, and giant mecha-style showdowns. Even among ninja, an ordinary person wouldn't see something like this in a lifetime… unless it was during the Fourth Great Shinobi War? Oh right, that happened. Never mind then.
Right now, the Uzumaki squad was speeding toward the battlefield.
"Confirm if the battle over there has ended yet? We can't help with a fight at that level. Rushing in recklessly will only distract Lord Haseo."
"Of course. Another chakra signature has already vanished—that was Madara… Hurry up! Lord Haseo has already won, though judging from the intensity of that fight, it must have cost him greatly.
Lord Haseo should be heavily injured—his chakra is rapidly depleting."
"Hurry up, hurry up!"
You could say the Uzumaki squad's decision to stay behind on their own was actually a smart move. Although they had been repeatedly forced to retreat earlier due to the expanding battlefield, staying put allowed them to reach Haseo's side the fastest now.
When every Uzumaki shinobi finally arrived breathless at the battleground, thanks to the Sensor ninja's precise detection abilities, they quickly found Haseo.
Honestly, they hadn't expected Haseo to be in such bad shape.
Right now, Haseo was half-leaning against a rock. His left hand pressed onto his left abdomen, and as for his right hand… he no longer had one.
The craziest part was that a tree was growing out of his leg—what the hell happened? Was he trying to regenerate nature himself?
Further away lay Madara's corpse, which nobody had bothered to check yet.
Haseo's eyes looked dull and unfocused. He showed no reaction to the arrival of the Uzumaki squad.
"Lord Haseo, Lord Haseo?"
Kajin stood at the forefront, trying to rouse Haseo's consciousness.
"He's lost too much blood…"
Everyone hurriedly tried to stop Haseo's bleeding, yet… given his injuries, even the Uzumaki squad couldn't help, let alone regular medical ninja.
"We need Tsunade-sama…"
"What about Lady Katsuyu's summoning?"
"I'll handle it."
Sannai pushed Kajin aside. She approached Haseo and immediately rolled up her sleeve without hesitation. Clenching her fist, she extended her arm toward Haseo's mouth.
A white blur suddenly filled his vision. Somehow, at that exact moment, he felt a flicker of consciousness return.
Haseo struggled to shift his gaze and glanced at Sannai's face, recognizing her despite his condition:
"Ah… cough, cough. Sannai, you're a married woman now. What kind of… discussion were you planning with me? At the very least, look at my current state…"
"You've got to be kidding me," Haseo thought to himself as Sannai offered her arm, not her thigh.
"Stop him from talking…"
"Yeah, way too much talking. It's exhausting."
Sannai forcefully shoved her arm into Haseo's mouth.
At least he still had the sense to bite.
Chakra flowed from Sannai into Haseo—not to heal him, but to keep his chakra circulating.
Sannai gave a slight nod before Ka-jin stepped forward again.
"Lord Haseo, please form hand seals for the Summoning Jutsu."
This time, Haseo finally reacted somewhat normally. He raised his left hand, instinctively preparing to bite his thumb… However—
For one thing, his mouth was already full.
And secondly, the man was covered in blood—was there not enough blood already for summoning without drawing more from himself?
"Did he sustain brain damage?"
"No, no—it's probably just excessive blood loss, oxygen deprivation, and confusion."
With no choice, Ka-jin grabbed Haseo's hand and began forming the seals for him. Surprisingly, seal-making was deeply ingrained in Haseo; even with a dazed mind, he could complete the motions purely out of muscle memory.
But… there were simply too many seals. Since Ka-jin couldn't forcibly manipulate Haseo's hands, he could only follow along with Haseo's movements. As a result, instead of five hand seals, Haseo cranked out a dozen or more before finally calling it quits.
It was his usual combat style—multiple seals formed together, a classic occupational habit.
During his battle against Madara Uchiha, Haseo hadn't used the Summoning Jutsu. The reason was simple: any beast summoned by anyone would "defect" to Madara's side under the power of his eyes.
Haseo gently pressed his palm onto the ground, and Katsuyu appeared in a puff of smoke.
At this point, everyone finally relaxed slightly… truly, Lord Haseo—he wasn't like ordinary people who needed rescuing.
With Katsuyu's appearance, Tsunade immediately arrived via Retrograde Summoning.
Haseo's consciousness drifted in and out, but voices filled his ears—chaotic shouts, even crying.
Then, in an instant, searing pain shot through him like a vice tightening around his skull, jolting his entire being awake—his senses and awareness were returning.
He saw Tsunade in front of him. After a brief moment of recognition, he understood that the battle had already ended.
Tsunade continued working furiously, tears streaking down her face, although this clearly wasn't the time to talk about that.
"Burn… burn it all."
His eyes moved past Tsunade and settled on Madara Uchiha.
"Burn? B-burn it?! Are you spouting nonsense again, Haseo? Have you gone insane over burning Hokage corpses now?!"
That good-for-nothing woman actually has some brains. Am I really gonna burn myself alive? Just to complete some dumb straight like two-three-four?
"I'm saying... Madara, burn him."
Ka-jin exchanged a glance with another Uzumaki Shinobi beside him. Carefully, they approached Madara's corpse. After confirming it was truly a corpse, they flipped the body over and verified the presence of the second Rinnegan within its empty eye socket.
Ka-jin took out a kunai and slashed at that eye... He didn't care about the "Six Paths Eye." Lord Haseo had ordered destruction, so the Uzumaki Shinobi followed orders accordingly.
After destroying the other eye, Ka-jin started a fire. Whatever, better burn it all into ashes first before worrying about anything else.
Haseo's consciousness returned, and despite his excruciating pain, he now retook control of command.
"Tsunade, a little steadier there! Why are your hands shaking?"
"C'mon, be gentle! That in your hand—is that my intestine? My... insides?"
"Stay steady, handle them carefully. Don't spill the 'contents.'"
Never mind how messy it gets, just think—what if someone says in the future: "Man, that Fourth Hokage was amazing—he even took a punch bad enough to crap himself!" Yeah, I don't care about reputation, but hearing that just sounds terrible, doesn't it?
For years, Haseo had never felt this relaxed—not because of the world's future, but because he finally broke free from the chains of his past.
Truth be told, Haseo felt genuinely happy at that moment.
He'd achieved something great by risking everything. Even if only a few people knew what happened, Haseo had already earned his satisfaction—he had finally answered the questions haunting him from the past.
Once freed from those shackles, Haseo's whole being became lighter. With the past gone, he could genuinely look forward now.
Except maybe Haseo didn't consider the situation properly—he grew too joyful.
Without a word, Tsunade suddenly reached out and pinched his neck. Who knows what she did, but that chatterbox immediately fell silent and fainted again without warning.
Right now, Lord Haseo... was completely helpless.
"That's better. Let's continue."
There was a cold edge in Tsunade's voice.
First, Haseo's condition was difficult, and she was doing her absolute best.
Second, she was already angry about him secretly taking on such a risky mission, yet he wouldn't stop jabbering...
The Uzumaki Shinobi nodded in agreement...
Let's face it—it's better when Lord Haseo stays out cold.
[Author's Note: We're in the final stretch. If you've enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a rating or review!]
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