Returning to the Village and the Celebration Banquet!

Uchiha Miya awkwardly found himself at a loss for words and could only put some distance between them.

A whole crowd of Konoha Ninja immediately gathered around, asking Hyuga Shin questions and cheering. They tossed Hyuga Shin into the air again and again.

Several other Uchiha ninja came over to Uchiha Miya's side.

"Miya, you were pretty valiant this time too," an Uchiha ninja said with a smile.

"It was nothing... I'm still no match for that guy," Uchiha Miya said.

Another Uchiha ninja leaned closer. "I never expected you to go over and hug Hyuga Shin. Looks like he really is your best friend."

"Ah!" Uchiha Miya suddenly remembered that incident, and shame flooded his handsome face.

He abruptly turned his head away.

Pretending not to hear what his clansmen beside him were saying!

I need to work harder. Even with Three Tomoe now... I'm still no match for Hyuga Shin.

"Haha, you two can keep pushing each other forward. Hyuga Shin really escaped danger this time! Still, if Namikaze Minato hadn't insisted on coming to rescue him, they probably wouldn't have won such a great victory today."

"Hmph... the Konoha High Command."

Uchiha Miya snorted coldly, his tone turning icy in an instant.

The expressions of the other clansmen changed as well.

The more they went to war, the more dissatisfied they became with the Konoha High Command!

This was, after all, Cloud Village territory.

Once the celebrations were over, Hyuga Shin returned with the others.

They had to avoid Killer B regaining his composure and leading the Cloud Village Ninja back to attack. If that happened, there would be another bloodbath...

Of course, even if that happened, Konoha had nothing to fear.

After all, two of the Sannin were here!

Moreover, Hyuga Shin had managed to kill Raikage A. Though he claimed that Raikage A had already been seriously wounded, allowing him to succeed by luck.

No matter what, Hyuga Shin was undoubtedly very strong!

The ninja at the front lines were all overjoyed.

After all, the stronger their companions were, the safer they would be!

However, when the news spread, it directly shook the entire Shinobi World!

When Konoha received the firsthand report, everyone was dumbfounded.

Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately summoned Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura.

"Hyuga Shin killed Raikage A? This is simply... simply absurd!" Utatane Koharu was completely stunned.

They had clearly intended to send Hyuga Shin to the Raikage to be killed, thereby soothing the Raikage's fury.

How had it turned around like this instead?!

If it had been said that Raikage A died while being besieged by Namikaze Minato, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, that would have been perfectly normal.

After all, those three were indeed extremely powerful.

But...

Hyuga Shin?

No, how could he possibly do it?

With a pair of Byakugan?

This was utterly ridiculous.

Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke and slowly said, "The news has been confirmed. Hyuga Shin did indeed kill Third Raikage A, and together with Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato, and Orochimaru, he sealed the Two-Tails Jinchuriki."

Shimura Danzō said in a strange tone, "Hmph... I said Hyuga Shin was a War Hero and should not have been sacrificed. Now, a hero has proven himself worthy of the title—he truly is outstanding! Yet such a hero was cruelly abandoned by Konoha and left in mortal danger!"

The situation was stronger than the people involved.

In the past, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two Hokage Advisors would have snapped back at Danzō.

But now, they could not.

Mitokado Homura sighed. "Hyuga Shin... when did he become so powerful? Our previous assessment of him now appears to have been drastically mistaken."

"But no matter what, this is a tremendous victory for Konoha."

"Raikage A is dead."

"The Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, has been captured."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slightly. "Put that aside for now. We must make good use of this victory. Send out the notice: hold a victory banquet for Hyuga Shin and the others, and reward every ninja who participated in this operation."

Two days later.

Hyuga Shin and the others returned to Konoha with the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.

The moment they entered the village, they were surrounded by the villagers' enthusiasm!

During this time, the unprecedented victory had been publicized like mad. Of course, Konoha's propaganda department had glossed over Hyuga Shin's part, saying only that he had been captured and that, under Namikaze Minato's leadership, Konoha Ninja had upheld their principle of never abandoning a comrade and dispatched a large force to rescue him.

"Shin!"

"Hyuga Shin!"

"The Hyuga Family's hero is back!"

Hyuga Shin spotted members of the Hyuga Family among the crowd.

The Main Family watched him from afar, their gazes filled with scrutiny, surprise, and fear...

Meanwhile, the branch family members wore proud expressions as they surrounded Hyuga Shin and cheered.

"Shin, you're incredible! You're the pride of our Hyuga Family!" a member of the Hyuga branch family shouted excitedly.

Hyuga Shin replied with a smile... At that moment, he too was enjoying this honor!

Very soon.

The victory banquet was held.

The main ninja who had participated in the battle were all gathered together.

Laughter and cheerful chatter filled the air.

Namikaze Minato, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru sat at the head table, while Hyuga Shin and Uchiha Miya sat beside them.

Everyone raised their cups in congratulations to Hyuga Shin and the others.

During this time, Namikaze Minato's prestige had reached its peak, surpassing everyone else. Especially regarding the rescue of Hyuga Shin, the Hyuga Family, both to preserve their dignity and to build ties with Namikaze Minato, had sent lavish gifts to his home.

"Hyuga Shin, we have you to thank this time. If you hadn't killed the Raikage, we wouldn't have achieved such a great victory."

As humble as ever, Namikaze Minato raised his cup and spoke to Hyuga Shin.

Hyuga Shin quickly stood and responded respectfully, "Lord Minato, you flatter me. If you hadn't insisted on rescuing me, I might not have survived... And as for killing the Raikage, it was truly just luck!"

After that, the banquet became even livelier.

At the banquet, Uchiha Miya secretly watched Hyuga Shin, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He was happy for Hyuga Shin's achievements, yet unwilling to accept the gap between them.

Shin, I'll definitely catch up to you, Uchiha Miya secretly swore.

Inside Hyuga Shin's body.

Su Nuo sensed all this and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Wasn't that why people said the Uchiha were lunatics?

Who could possibly understand what went on in an Uchiha's mind?

Over the past two days, some loose-lipped people had also talked about how Uchiha Miya had returned to seek reinforcements, only to find that there were too few people at that camp to send anyone. Uchiha Miya had nearly gone hysterical and had even wanted to go rescue Hyuga Shin by himself.

Yet after Hyuga Shin truly turned out to be fine, Uchiha Miya instead began feeling that the gap between them was enormous. For the past two days, everyone else had been celebrating, while Uchiha Miya alone had been training...

That was beyond absurd.

All one could say was that not just anyone could understand an Uchiha's mental state.

They were the ultimate kind of awkward.

"Hmph..."

"Hyuga... Konoha..."

Su Nuo sat amid the Sea of Corpses and Blood, sneering repeatedly.

The Konoha High Command were nothing but a bunch of useless trash.

In the original timeline.

At the beginning, Konoha of the Land of Fire had not been one of the parties at war, nor had it been attacked first. So why was the difference between the beginning and the end so enormous? How had it gone from staying aloof because it had nothing to do with them to being besieged by every village?