Only after news of the elite shinobi forces made it back to Konoha did the Third Hokage, who had just finished dealing with the "Death Legion" summoned by Moryo, freeze in shock.
He had never expected the Akatsuki Organization to be bold enough to ambush the elite shinobi forces. Even less had he expected their casualties to be so devastating.
Seeing the Third Hokage's face turn ashen, Utatane Koharu took the report from the person beside her and glanced at it. She cried out in shock, "How is this possible?!"
Mitokado Homura took the report as well. After reading it, he said gravely, "So their target was the elite shinobi forces led by the Four Kage! They're unbelievably bold."
He had wanted to berate the Akatsuki Organization for its outrageous audacity, but the moment he thought of the elite forces' losses, a chill ran down his spine.
The elite shinobi forces led by the Four Kage had been assembled by the Five Great Shinobi Villages specifically to wipe out the Akatsuki Organization. This battle had been exactly what both sides expected.
But that only made the elite forces' defeat harder to accept.
After steadying himself, Mitokado Homura looked at the Third Hokage. "Hiruzen, what do we do now?"
"The report is quite clear," the Third Hokage said. "The Akatsuki Organization suffered losses this time, too. Several members were gravely injured, and the Tsuchikage destroyed several of their leader Nagato's Human Puppets. They probably won't launch another large-scale attack anytime soon!"
Mitokado Homura hesitated. "And in the future..."
The Third Hokage shook his head.
He was an old man with one arm gone. He could no longer worry about the future.
Including him, the Five Kage had suffered one death and two injuries; most of them were out of commission. If