"All right, rest here peacefully. I'll come pick you up after a while."
Hanma waved goodbye to Konan.
A few days earlier, Danzo, travel-worn after much hardship, had finally found Hanma and completed the deal to attack Shukaku.
And against an enemy on the level of a Tailed Beast, even Hanma could not guarantee Konan's safety.
So Hanma sent Konan to the Ninken clan's territory as a temporary place to stay.
Konan held two adorable Ninken in her arms, her eyes curving like crescent moons as she sweetly waved back at Hanma.
"Be careful, okay? Konan will be good!"
Seeing Konan's adorable appearance warmed Hanma's heart.
Perhaps he could talk to Tsunade about having a son and daughter as well.
But first, he had to finish this order.
After all, he was the man known as Konoha Gold Medal Substitute.
Taking payment and getting the job done was Hanma's professional duty. He could not tarnish his own reputation.
Land of Rivers, border of the Land of Fire.
"Don't break formation! Don't panic! Withdraw in an orderly manner!"
"Jonin, stay behind! Use Earth Release to hold back the enemy! Intelligence Division, contact Lord Hokage again!"
"Where are Lord Hokage's orders?! Have we been abandoned?! They're about to reach Konoha!!"
The Konoha ninja retreated in disarray, while some of the wounded left behind had already been abandoned on the battlefield.
Inexhaustible Chakra, wide-range offensive ninjutsu, and that nearly unsolvable Shield of Sand.
Shukaku's power had deeply shocked Konoha's ninja. Such a natural-disaster-like existence had shattered their fighting spirit.
Bunpuku sat upright upon a floating platform of sand, like an emperor overlooking the battlefield, his expression indifferent as he commanded the Sunagakure Ninja to hunt down the Konoha ninja.
Wherever he passed, the earth gradually turned into desert, becoming a source of his