The fierce fighting gradually subsided.
The scale of this encounter between Kirigakure and Konoha wasn't large, but the quality of the participants was no less than that of a major battle on the main front.
On Konoha's side: Jonins composed of Kekkei Genkai and secret technique users from the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Inuzuka Clans, the 'cheating' Might Duy, plus one of the Sannin, Jiraiya.
On Kirigakure's side: the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the future Fourth Mizukage Yagura, Mei, plus Sora who single-handedly turned the tide.
It could be said both sides fought with true fury, and both suffered enormous losses.
Konoha's Frontline Command Post against Iwagakure.
Smack!
An angry Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, slammed his smoking pipe onto the table.
"Yuki Sora…"
"A sixteen-year-old youth!??"
Hiruzen frowned deeply, his face filled with annoyance and anger.
At this time, he had learned that Kirigakure's front had suffered another major setback.
The previous battle report from Jiraiya mentioned the death of the Hyuga Clan's Hizashi. The death of a clan head-level Elite Jonin was itself an extremely disgraceful matter for Konoha.
But who would have thought that the battle report this time was even more devastating than the last!
Jiraiya is injured!
Among the pursuit force, eleven Jonins were killed! Adding the casualties from the surrounding patrol squads, Konoha's losses this time exceeded fifteen Jonin!
Painful!
So painful!
Those were Jonin, existences at the top of the Ninja World's food chain, so strong they could reign supreme in small countries, not some common cabbage on the roadside!
Even for a great Ninja Village like Konoha, nurturing a single Jonin required an unknown amount of manpower and resources!
And yet,
This time, Sora single-handedly killed fifteen of them.
He had even done so in front of Jiraiya!
Anger!
Hiruzen was burning with rage, wishing he could smash the sand table in front of him to pieces!
"Jiraiya…"
"Plus an elite team full of Jonin… were almost wiped out by a single Kirigakure youth? This is too outrageous!!!"
Hiruzen paced back and forth irritably in the empty command room, his hands clasped behind his back.
The deed was done. Rather than staying angry, it was better to think about how to solve the current problem.
As Konoha's supreme leader, Hiruzen deeply understood that he absolutely must not lose his composure during war, otherwise he would only lead the village to ruin.
After pacing anxiously in the command room for a long time, Hiruzen's expression gradually turned gloomy.
"Something's not right!"
"The Ninjas Kirigakure deployed this time don't seem like a probing infiltration. It's more like they knew something and wanted a single, fatal strike!"
"Plus the reports of Kirigakure's harassment from other areas…"
Hiruzen closed his eyes. As Hokage, he had long been thoroughly familiar with the Land of Fire's topography.
In a moment, the locations of Kirigakure's activity gathered from the intelligence began to appear in his mind, connecting from points to form a surface.
"The specific targets attacked by the Kirigakure's Ninjas were scattered in a fan shape around Jiraiya's area of operation. They even deliberately left a vacuum zone around Jiraiya himself, with no one approaching it."
"Then Kirigakure's elite Ninja Team, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Yagura, and that Yuki Sora, boldly and directly penetrated this vacuum zone as if no one was around. Their target…"
"Was it Jiraiya from the very beginning?"
"The Kirigakure's Ninjas seemed to know Jiraiya was there!!!"
Feint in the east, attack in the west! Besiege the enemy to strike their reinforcements!
Having experienced three Great Ninja Wars, Hiruzen instantly sensed a whiff of conspiracy from the simulated map.
"There's a problem here!"
"A big problem!"
Hiruzen frowned, "This time, Kirigakure seemed to be coming specifically for Jiraiya. Moreover, they might even have obtained accurate intelligence on Jiraiya's whereabouts, which is why they dared to send all their elites in this desperate gamble!"
"The village…"
"Has a traitor!"
A Ninja of Jiraiya's stature held an extremely high position in Konoha. All his intelligence was top secret, not something easily obtained.
But…
If someone within the village wanted to use Kirigakure's hand to eliminate Jiraiya, then it wasn't impossible!
Thinking of this, Hiruzen's expression grew even darker.
Jiraiya was his direct disciple, his faction's loyal member!
'To move against Jiraiya…'
'It seems someone is dissatisfied with me, the Hokage!'
…
Over the next few days, the Kirigakure vs Konoha front unexpectedly fell into a rare period of peace.
Both Kirigakure and Konoha exercised great restraint, pulling their forces into defensive formations.
A 30-kilometer vacuum zone suddenly appeared between the two camps. Neither side crossed the line again, and even small-scale probing became much more restrained.
There was no other way.
Both sides were intimidated.
On Kirigakure's side, four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were killed by Duy's 'cheat', and Yagura was severely wounded.
Their high-level combat power was seriously damaged, and they didn't dare to provoke easily anymore.
On the Konoha's side, things weren't much better. With over a dozen Jonin dead and their supreme commander, Jiraiya nearly killed, they directly entered a turtle-like defensive state.
In fact,
Jiraiya even issued a special order: anyone who encounters a young Ninja using Ice Release should immediately abandon combat and retreat.
He also distributed Sora's portrait, abilities, and other intelligence to Konoha's Ninjas to prevent a repeat of the Jonin Massacre.
"Sigh…"
"I never thought the disgrace that old man Onoki experienced would happen to me now."
Jiraiya was utterly helpless.
His student, Namikaze Minato, intimidated Iwagakure with his title [Konoha's Yellow Flash], even forcing the Third Tsuchikage to issue the order 'Upon encountering the Yellow Flash, abandon the mission and flee immediately'.
Now…
Almost the exact same situation had happened to Jiraiya.
When he thinks about it…
It's really frustrating!!!
…
Kirigakure's Camp.
Due to the failure of the main mission [Assassinate Jiraiya], the Anbu's members previously sent out for sabotage and disruption began to be recalled in batches.
However,
This kind of mission, being heavily outnumbered, was ultimately too difficult. Even for the elite Anbu's members, it was hard to avoid casualties.
Fortunately, Kirigakure's Ninjas were known for their strong individual assassination abilities, specializing in stealth and escape. About eighty percent returned completely unscathed.
Speaking of which, the unit with the highest casualty ratio throughout the entire mission was the Mizukage's direct subordinates, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
"Sora, don't feel pressured."
In the large tent, Yagura, whose burns had begun to heal slowly, said with a smile, "Fuguki-senpai and I have already reported the details of this mission to Mizukage-sama. Every detail was reported truthfully."
"You don't need to worry about repercussions from the mission failure. If Mizukage-sama blames anyone, I will take full responsibility."
As soon as he finished speaking, Fuguki, who is nearby, also nodded and said, "And me. The responsibility for this mission's failure will be borne solely by Yagura and myself. You need not worry."
Yagura and Fuguki were no fools. They knew that if Sora hadn't been present on this mission, both of them would probably be dead at the hands of the Konoha's Ninjas.
Actually,
If it were someone else, given Fuguki's nature, he would have just dumped the blame on them. But with Sora, he didn't dare.
Out of gratitude?
Maybe a little bit!
But more it was fear of Sora's terrifying strength!
Fuguki was quite certain that if he really dared to pin the blame on Sora, he probably wouldn't live to see tomorrow's sun.