You Would Be Throwing an Egg at a Rock Too

"What? You're the reinforcements?"

Tsunade stared in disbelief. She had thought Commander Mitokado Homura had sent reinforcements, but the people before her were either wrapped in bandages or missing limbs.

"Hehe, how bold." Orochimaru had noticed something exciting. He said:

"If pretending to be reinforcements succeeded, then just as now, you would scare off the Rain Ninja.

If it failed, a single Rain Ninja battalion would leave you with heavy casualties.

Who decided to send you here to take this risk?"

Everyone looked toward Mei Senju, the captain of the Medical Department.

Before the operation, Mei Senju had delivered an impassioned speech.

That Will of Fire was too pure.

He had said there would be no danger to their lives. They were going to act as a decoy force, and merely showing up would count as a victory.

The wounded felt that if they did not come, they would be disgracing Konoha's ancestors and would have no face to raise their heads beneath Kage Rock.

Those with serious injuries swallowed medicine and pretended they only had minor wounds.

Those with minor wounds tore off their bandages, unwilling to fall even one step behind.

When they reached the vicinity of the battlefield, they did exactly as Mei Senju had said: they watched the battlefield from a distance without approaching.

This decoy force truly changed the battlefield.

There were more than ninety surviving shinobi on the battlefield, along with more than fifty wounded.

Using only a little over a hundred shinobi, they stopped Hanzo's forces, far exceeding the command center's expectations.

When they had set out, Mitokado Homura had believed that even if this force was completely wiped out, stopping Hanzo would still count as accomplishing their strategic objective.

Mei Senju said quietly, "Lady Tsunade, Lord Orochimaru, I was the one who had the mobile wounded act as a decoy force.

"However, it was Kawadera Uchiha who persuaded me to make the final decision. He said that his eyes and surname made his words unconvincing, so he asked me to issue the order."

Tsunade looked toward Kawadera Uchiha. She did not know why Kawadera Uchiha had taken the risk, or how he had managed to persuade Mei Senju, an experienced company commander.

Kawadera Uchiha said, "Lady Tsunade, when the Rain Ninja attacked the Medical Department, I noticed something.

"The proportion of wandering shinobi among the Rain Ninja was extremely high, while very few of them knew Amegakure's secret techniques.

"Judging from these details, Demigod Hanzo did not want to fight Konoha to the bitter end. His will to fight was not firm.

"He only needed to fight Konoha a little, put on an act for his ally, Tsuchikage Ōnoki, and get through it somehow. He did not want to commit too much."

Tsunade nodded repeatedly.

In their recent battle with Hanzo, the three of them had been at a disadvantage. However, Hanzo had not been eager to attack. In the end, he had left after making a threat and granting the three of them the title of Sannin.

They were all old foxes. Hanzo would not fight Konoha to mutual destruction for Ōnoki's sake.

"Although the result was perfect, the Medical Department must never again rush ahead for credit so recklessly. If Hanzo had changed his mind at the last moment, even with several hundred wandering shinobi, he could have killed everyone except the three of us."

Mei Senju immediately lowered his head when he heard Tsunade's reprimand.

He had only accepted Kawadera Uchiha's plan because Kawadera Uchiha was one of Tsunade's trusted aides.

If it had been anyone else, Mei Senju would have simply stayed at his post no matter how convincing their words sounded.

Jiraiya, however, said, "Hey! We won, and it was a crushing victory far beyond Uncle Homura's expectations. Shouldn't we be celebrating? Shouldn't we be registering the rewards?

"Stop getting hung up on these details. I think Mei Senju and Kawadera Uchiha did an excellent job—an amazing job.

"When I saw the reinforcements just now, I really breathed a sigh of relief."

Tsunade could only say, "Mei, I didn't realize you were such a gambler. If you won, you saved more than eighty people; if you lost, you would have sacrificed more than fifty. All right, it was indeed worth a gamble. If I were you, I would have tried it too.

"You and Kawadera will each receive the reward for an A-rank mission."

The group returned to the Land of Grass.

At a certain moment on the road, Kawadera Uchiha suddenly jolted awake.

Something major seemed destined to happen on the Sannin's way out of the Land of Rain.

During the march, the medical company was very close to Tsunade, so he quickly found her.

Every day, besides treating the seriously wounded, Tsunade also had to handle much of the group's official business as deputy commander.

What about Jiraiya?

He soon discovered that Jiraiya was not with the group.

While Seigetsu Senju was repairing his muscles, Kawadera Uchiha made some indirect inquiries and learned that Jiraiya had remained behind in a town.

After hearing Kawadera's inquiries, she mentioned it to Tsunade when she returned. As a result, she received a mission to go to the town in the rear and notify Jiraiya to rejoin the group.

Seigetsu Senju said, "The teacher said that Lord Jiraiya should show some restraint when peeping. Why hasn't he returned yet? What if he or the main force runs into Hanzo?"

"Exactly," Ken Aburame said. "How could the women of the Land of Rain compare with those of the Land of Fire?"

The others all looked toward Ken Aburame.

Ken Aburame was perfectly frank. "I like insects. That doesn't mean I like female insects. I have normal masculine tastes too."

When they reached the town in the rear, the group spent the night lying in wait at the bathhouse, but they did not see Jiraiya.

Ken Aburame sighed. "As expected of Lord Jiraiya. His peeping skills are so advanced that even my insects noticed nothing."

Kawadera Uchiha said, "Perhaps Lord Jiraiya has grown tired of peeping. After all, you said the women here are inferior to those of the Land of Fire, and even more inferior to the women of our Konoha.

"Let's try a different approach. Look around the outskirts of the town. There may be other clues."

In a secluded cottage outside the town, the group found Jiraiya.

Jiraiya was teaching three children to mold chakra beneath the curtain of rain.

Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan...

This time, the three Sannin had preserved much of their strength, so they had not all encountered the three of them together.

Seigetsu Senju and the others looked at one another, unsure what Lord Jiraiya was trying to do.

Within his sea of consciousness, Kawadera Uchiha said, "Second, do you see those three? Those three will destroy Konoha in the future, flattening it to the ground."

"Hm? Didn't you say the Uchiha Clan would destroy Konoha? Are you deliberately deceiving me?"

"Second, who says Konoha can only be destroyed once? In the future I saw, Konoha was destroyed and rebuilt, then rebuilt and destroyed again. This happened several times. It grew frail, with devastating casualties."

Tobirama Senju fell silent.

He did not understand why Konoha would become like that.

"I have a mission for you. Kill those three children!"

"I refuse."

"Are you trying to bargain over the reward again?"

"Of course not. This isn't about the reward. Even if you gave me a forbidden technique, I still wouldn't go."

"Then why?"

Kawadera Uchiha said, "Because I don't want to throw an egg at a rock."

"Are you afraid of little Jiraiya? He is a Konoha Ninja. How could he attack you?"

"Not Lord Jiraiya. Forget about me, Second. Even if you were resurrected at the height of your power right now, killing those three children would be beyond your abilities. You would be throwing an egg at a rock too."

"What?"

Tobirama Senju carefully observed the three children and said, "Is it because that child possesses the legendary Rinnegan?"

"No. It's because Madara Uchiha is still alive! It's because those three children belong to Madara Uchiha!"

The soul fire above Tobirama Senju's head flared violently. Once again, he felt that the situation was too absurd—which seemed to mean it was true.

"Uchiha... Madara? Still alive?"

Jiraiya turned around and looked toward Seigetsu Senju's squad.