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Land of Fire, Konoha.

Konoha Hokage Administration Building, Battlefield Anomaly Investigation Department.

Yuhara returned to Konoha. He did not encounter Yagura again, which was a blessing in disguise.

"Genin Yuhara, please explain what happened during your mission."

A Konoha Ninja questioned Yuhara.

Before returning to Konoha, Yuhara dug a hole outside the village and buried some "prohibited items" whose origins were difficult to explain. These mainly included the Six Paths Tools, Orochimaru's Secret Techniques, Tigo's corpse, and a Sealing Scroll... This was to prepare for the possibility that Konoha might search him, and this action alone showed just how little he trusted Konoha.

Afterward, he returned to Konoha with some of his teammates' corpses and parts of other teammates' corpses, then reported to the village that the entire squad apart from himself had probably been wiped out.

Konoha's investigation was standard procedure. After all, Yuhara claimed to be the only survivor, so the matter required further investigation... He was currently in an office in the Hokage Administration Building. Only two Ninjas sat across from him at the desk, which showed that this was merely a routine inquiry and that he was not being targeted in any special way.

"Yes. Our twelve-man squad was assigned to patrol Area 248 on the eastern border of the Land of Fire. When we reached the mission site, Captain Hayase failed to deploy the formation properly. Under his orders, the squad could only advance in a clustered formation, and he rejected the suggestions several members made along the way. We then suddenly encountered powerful Mist enemies. Captain Hayase lacked judgment—he first underestimated the enemy and charged ahead, then fled in the middle of the battle, ultimately resulting in the squad's annihilation..."

Yuhara described the squad's fate as concisely as possible. He did not need to lie about any of it; anyone could tell that the captain bore enormous responsibility.

"The so-called 'powerful enemies'—who exactly were they? Can you identify them?"

"They were a four-man squad. I could only identify two of the Ninjas: one was the Mist Jōnin Karatachi Yagura, and the other was the Mist Jōnin Juzo Biwa," Yuhara said.

The two Konoha Ninjas exchanged glances, looking somewhat incredulous. It was obvious that they knew what those two names represented.

"You're saying those two appeared within the Land of Fire not long ago?"

"Yes."

"What was their objective?"

"I don't know."

The two Ninjas continued questioning him one question after another. Soon, they reached the crucial point:

"Since the enemies were so powerful, how did you escape?"

Yuhara had already prepared his explanation. He did not want to boast about his strength, because it was nothing worth boasting about. Nor did he want to reveal that he had defeated Juzo Biwa, because such a claim would be difficult to prove and would only make the situation more complicated.

"I'm a Magnetic Release Kekkei Genkai Ninja. During my escape, I used iron sand to completely wrap myself up and hide. That prevented Chakra from leaking out and blocked their detection. In the end, I was lucky enough to escape alive."

As he spoke, Yuhara indicated that he could demonstrate his ability. After the two Ninjas nodded, he waved his hand, and a mass of iron sand flew out of the "Sword Crate" on his back... At this point, there was only a lump of iron behind Yuhara, because the one containing mercury had been discarded on the battlefield.

The two Konoha Ninjas nodded. Yuhara's explanation sounded reasonable and quite credible.

No one could expect Yuhara to stand his ground against such powerful enemies, could they? They were enemies that even ordinary Jōnin-level Ninjas could not handle. Who could expect a Genin to do anything against them? The fact that he had survived at all was already proof of extraordinary resourcefulness.

Apart from dealing with that captain, Yuhara had not actually done anything that violated Konoha's rules. But he would never volunteer that information, because in the world of Ninjas, "overthrowing one's superior" was absolutely forbidden.

Even if Yuhara's actions were defensible, he was not a Ninja with the "authority to punish." To avoid provoking any trouble, he had to keep his mouth shut.

Considering what Yuhara intended to do later, he likewise could not allow himself to bear a similar stain.

After asking several more questions, the routine inquiry ended. However, just before Yuhara left, they added a few more things.

"There's nothing else of note, but until the review is complete, you cannot leave the village for the time being. Please understand. Also... this is the casualty list. Please confirm it, and if there are no problems, sign it."

Yuhara took the list and saw Tigo's name prominently included. It gave him an unreal feeling.

Then he spotted Hayasegawa's name. All he could say was that he had gotten what he deserved.

As his gaze moved downward, something unexpected happened... Yuhara had not expected to see another familiar name, so he read it aloud without thinking:

"Unno... Iruka..."

The image of that boy in his early teens instantly surfaced in Yuhara's mind. So it was him?

"Is there a problem?"

Hearing him say that name, one of the Konoha Ninjas immediately asked.

"Nothing. I just think he was too young. He shouldn't have died on the battlefield."

Yuhara shook his head, picked up a pen, quickly signed his name on the casualty list, and handed it back.

War really was full of unexpected events.

After Yuhara left, the two Konoha Ninjas exchanged glances and nodded at the same time.

During the inquiry just now, they had used a subtle genjutsu-based hypnotic guidance technique that was difficult to detect. Through it, they confirmed that what Yuhara had said was basically the truth.

The methods used by ordinary investigation departments, the Anbu, and the Root Organization were different. Under normal circumstances, Konoha could not simply seize a Ninja and search through their mind, or it would certainly cause internal problems.

Even Yuhara was, in name, a "Konoha Ninja," wasn't he?

However, the rights of the living needed to be respected, while the dead were different. After all, the dead could not complain that their privacy had been violated.

The several corpses Yuhara brought back were temporarily sent to the Torture Department. After examining them, the Torture Department Ninjas learned what had happened to the squad. Comparing that process with Yuhara's account, Konoha found that the two matched perfectly, and thus basically confirmed that there was nothing wrong with Yuhara.

On the contrary, the squad's commander had far more serious problems.

In the end, the news that a twelve-man Ninja squad had been almost completely wiped out reached the Fourth Hokage. Minato Namikaze read the report on the incident with a deeply furrowed brow.

"Was this the squad newly assigned to that Genin, Yuhara? So the young female Ninja beside him died this time..."

Perhaps because Yuhara had once "run his mouth" in the Land of Rivers, he had left a deep impression on Minato Namikaze. Who would have thought the Hokage still remembered him?

At the same time, the Hokage expressed genuine sorrow over the death of the young Ninja.

He then waved his hand, and an Anbu Ninja appeared before his desk.

"Investigate how a Ninja of this caliber was able to become the commander of a twelve-man squad..."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

The Anbu Ninja accepted the investigation report and was about to turn and leave.

Unexpectedly, Minato Namikaze called him back. "Oh, right. One more thing... Go to the operations department and have them count how many young Ninjas under the age of fourteen are still stationed on the front line."

"Lord Hokage, are you thinking of..."

"Just have them compile the numbers first."

In the face of cruel reality, there were times when even the Hokage seemed especially powerless.

The helplessness of small figures might be great helplessness, but the helplessness of great figures was certainly great helplessness.

PS:

1. To reach 100,000 words as soon as possible, I posted today's two chapters this morning.

2. Some readers were wondering about Jugo's age. The original work confirms several things: First, Jugo is about three years older than Sasuke. Second, Orochimaru left Konoha around the time of the Nine-Tails incident (disregarding anime-original content and judging from the manga). Third, before Orochimaru left Konoha, the development of the Cursed Seal had already been completed and it had been put into use.