Each Person's Efforts

"Hoo..."

Yuzuru tried to restrain the scale of his jutsu, but he was also honing the power of his ninjutsu... The neat cuts in the surrounding trees were proof of that.

Wind Release ninjutsu was indeed extremely sharp, and when limiting the attack method to a single target, the chakra consumed during casting was very small.

Just as Yuzuru had guessed before, he quickly mastered several Wind Release ninjutsu.

Ninja were a profession with high offense and low defense. The physical strength of an ordinary ninja would never be stronger than a tree trunk... The Wind Release ninjutsu Yuzuru used could easily cut through tree trunks, and thus could easily cut through a ninja's body.

This was provided he could hit them. As everyone knew, although the defense of ordinary ninja was poor, their evasion skills were MAX, and they were as agile as monkeys.

At this point, Yuzuru confirmed one thing again: the things he obtained from the "dungeon" could quickly be turned into his own combat power. He was extremely fortunate, and it had to be said that this was what helped Yuzuru adapt to the battlefield quickly.

"That's all for today, my chakra is almost depleted... Aside from the combat style being somewhat uncomfortable, Wind Release is indeed very practical."

Since Yuzuru had secretly learned some Wind Release ninjutsu from the Shimura Clan, the combat style he displayed just now inevitably bore some resemblance to Shimura Danzō. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a "mini Danzō"...

He would have to be careful in the future and avoid using these ninjutsu in front of Shimura Danzō unless absolutely necessary.

Normally, he might be able to get away with using a few Wind Release ninjutsu, but it was hard to say when facing the real thing.

Yuzuru's progress in strength was not bad, but he still lacked the ability to deal with truly powerful individuals. Therefore, he hoped to enter a dungeon again before his next mission.

However, because he was targeted by Orochimaru's assassination, the cooldown time for this dungeon was extended to twice the normal duration, lasting two weeks. Excluding the time spent returning from the Land of Rain, Yuzuru would have to wait at least another week for the Nine-Tails' Rampage dungeon to cool down.

Would there still be enough time? Yuzuru couldn't be sure.

When Yuzuru returned to the front-line camp, Torifu Akimichi had just arrived at the field hospital.

Biwako Sarutobi, the head of the front-line hospital, personally treated Torifu Akimichi's injuries, and Torifu Akimichi also synchronized some intelligence with her.

"The Jinchuriki of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, indeed difficult to deal with."

Upon hearing that the two Jinchuriki were acting together, Biwako Sarutobi also found the matter somewhat troublesome.

Shouldn't something like a Jinchuriki be reserved for extreme situations where "nothing else can be done"? Iwagakure was using Jinchuriki for aggressive offense rather than extreme defense. This situation was beyond Konoha's expectations.

"No one understands the power of the Tailed Beasts better than we do," Torifu Akimichi sighed.

He said this not because Konoha possessed the most powerful Tailed Beast, the Nine-Tails, but because he had a personal grievance... During the alliance ceremony between Konoha and Kumogakure years ago, the Second Hokage and the Second Raikage were attacked by the rogue ninja Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure, resulting in their deaths.

The reason Kinkaku and Ginkaku were so powerful that even two Kage couldn't handle them was twofold: first, they had many subordinates and launched a surprise attack on the two Kage who were forming an alliance; second, at critical moments, they could partially transform into the Nine-Tails.

Those two were swallowed by the Nine-Tails but survived by eating its flesh and blood—a feat that even the First Hokage might not dare to attempt. Nine-Tails sashimi, a dish even the First Hokage might not dare to eat.

If not for the Second Hokage's self-sacrifice, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Torifu Akimichi, and others would not have survived.

"Torifu, don't worry too much. Jinchuriki are not Tailed Beasts. Tailed Beasts can be considered natural disasters; they are irrational. But Jinchuriki... Jinchuriki are just ninja."

Biwako Sarutobi pointed out one thing: although Jinchuriki were incredibly powerful, they would not easily transform into their Tailed Beast form, or rather, they could not fully transform to maintain their sanity.

Because they had to fight against the will of the Tailed Beast within them, Jinchuriki could never unleash their full combat potential. Using Jinchuriki in battle was prone to harming oneself and others, which was why Konoha found Iwagakure's actions extreme... Iwagakure's Jinchuriki were not perfect Jinchuriki.

"That's true, but... Iwagakure's recklessness is truly daunting."

Iwagakure's tactics were becoming increasingly insane, pushing the ninja war beyond the basic rules, which made Torifu Akimichi very worried.

Biwako Sarutobi shook her head. Some things could only be dealt with as they came, so she let the topic drop and changed the subject to other matters.

"How did you feel about leading your team this time? Were there any promising talents?"

"Not bad. The special Jonin in the team has a solidified ability, but she also has the potential to grow into a well-rounded Jonin."

Kairi Omori had the potential to become a Jonin, but it was unlikely she would advance further. Her strength might only be at the lower end of the Jonin ranks.

"There's also a Uchiha Chunin. She's a bit impulsive and very aggressive on the battlefield; she's a typical Uchiha ninja... She has more potential."

The Uchiha were unpredictable, and no one could easily define them. It was possible for them to grow from a kind child to the ultimate villain.

"As for the remaining Genin, who is a civilian, he's very good and can be considered an unexpected gain from this trip... This Genin is very skilled at using the Body Flicker technique."

"At that time, we encountered two elite Jonin from Iwagakure. With the cooperation of his teammates, he used the Body Flicker technique to charge in front of the enemy and then broke through with some kind of ninjutsu without hand seals, instantly eliminating one Iwagakure Jonin, thereby opening up space for the entire squad to retreat."

Torifu Akimichi chose to lead an unstable team combination instead of his usual Ino-Shika-Cho team for a reason... He wanted to quickly cultivate ninja for Konoha who could adapt to the battlefield and possess considerable combat power.

If he could cultivate top talents, that would be even better.

This method of replacing training with practical combat and leading ninja on dangerous missions certainly had the risk of trying to force growth, and a single mistake could lead to heavy casualties.

However, due to the dire situation of the war, Torifu Akimichi had to take these risks.

Ninja who survived the harsh missions Torifu Akimichi participated in would find it hard not to grow... Yuzuru's performance in this mission was indeed an unexpected gain; he was by no means an ordinary Genin.

"A Genin defeated an Iwagakure Jonin? He is indeed quite talented."

"Yes, after a few more missions with these individuals, they can be assigned to other squads to serve as the backbone of the team."

Torifu Akimichi's method of cultivating talent was also quite extreme.

"There haven't been any major wars in the ninja world for twenty years, and who would have thought Konoha would weaken to this extent, losing its original sharpness on the battlefield..."

As a ninja who had lived through the First and Second Hokage eras, Torifu Akimichi was naturally dissatisfied with Konoha's current situation on the battlefield... More accurately, he found Konoha's mediocrity hard to accept.

In fact, there were things he hadn't considered. Konoha's poor performance on the battlefield could be simply summarized by one reason: a weak leader leads to a weak army.

Konoha lacked a sharp edge, unable to ignite the ninjas' fighting spirit.

"You can't say that. Our ninjas need time to emerge from the past peace and readjust to a brutal war."

"Over the past twenty years, Konoha has neither stagnated nor regressed. Konoha has been constantly progressing and developing. The village has accumulated the foundation to wage war and survive, it just needs time to transform this foundation into direct battlefield strength."

From war potential to war capability, it indeed required a certain amount of time for the transformation. Not to mention anything else, Konoha's economic strength was the strongest among the five great ninja villages. Konoha had the power of money.

From the beginning of the war until now, the number of Konoha ninjas was rapidly increasing.

"Hiruzen... Is that what the Hokage said?"

"Yes, those were Hiruzen's words."

"In other words, the Hokage believes this war will not end in the short term, correct?"

"The conflicts that have been brewing in the ninja world for twenty years, if these conflicts could be easily resolved now, then this war would never have broken out."

Unlike Iwagakure, which went all out from the start, Konoha had long been prepared for a protracted war. Compared to the ultimate victory in a long war, temporary gains and losses meant nothing.

Facts proved that the Third Hokage's judgment was correct. The Second and Third Shinobi World Wars were essentially one war.

After the Second Shinobi World War broke out, the extremely brutal combat situation stunned all participating countries. Due to the difficulty in accepting such exaggerated casualties at the time, all countries laid down their arms more than a year after the Second Shinobi World War began.

However, the Second Shinobi World War was a war without a peace treaty. After a brief intermission, the Third Shinobi World War broke out immediately.

Since the major ninja villages had neither exhausted their war potential nor achieved their strategic objectives, there was only one path left before them...

Fight, keep fighting, until human brains are beaten into dog brains.