Iwagakure's Counterattack

The border of the Land of Earth.

Thanks to the efficient operation of the logistics personnel, a simple Camp has been initially set up.

Inside the Central Army Tent, Danzo sat in the main seat, his usual gloomy demeanor replaced by an unusually radiant appearance.

It was now the day after the battle ended, and most of the pursuing ninjas had returned, leaving only a long period of battlefield cleanup.

Now, gathered in this Central Army Tent are all Jonin completing their missions.

"You've all worked hard. You fought very well in this First Shinobi World War. Your contributions have been recorded, and you'll be waiting for the village's rewards!"

Danzo knew what everyone wanted, so he didn't say anything and just gave out the rewards.

"Thank you, Danzo."

All the Jonin present Jonin delighted. What were they fighting and killing for? Wasn't it all for the reward offered by the village?

This resounding victory earned them enough credit and rewards to advance further, both in terms of strength and status.

Seeing this joyous scene, the little flame of ambition in Danzo's heart seemed to be doused with oil, and it suddenly surged upwards.

These people will all be his supporters, helping him ascend to the Hokage Position.

Danzo glanced at Mimura Hamaki, who remained silent as she made her move, Danzo curled his lip.

"Everyone!"

Danzo raised his hand and pressed it down, and the entire tent immediately fell silent.

Everyone turned to look at Danzo, anticipating his next words.

Looking at the Jonin who were influenced by his words and actions, Danzo extremely satisfied. He cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "The preliminary results have been tallied, but I believe such good news should be shared with everyone. Now, let's have our Vice Commander Mimura Hamaki give you a report."

All eyes turned to Mimura Hamaki, who was standing at the front. Danzo's order was clearly mocking, and everyone was aware of it. Some looked at him with sympathy, some with sneer, and some with indifference.

Danzo waved to his subordinates.

The Root ninja carrying the post-war summary scroll did as instructed, approached Mimura Hamaki, and handed the scroll directly to her.

Mimura Hamaki took the scroll expressionlessly, glanced up at Danzo above, and shook her head helplessly.

He didn't understand how things had developed to this point. He himself had no intention of vying for power with Danzo, but Danzo just didn't like him and targeted him at every turn.

Unfurling the scroll in her hand, Mimura Hamaki quickly scanned the entire scroll, her previously dim eyes suddenly locking onto a set of data—the number of casualties on both sides: 264 from Iwagakure and 148 from Konoha.

It's unbelievable that Iwagakure suffered fewer than 300 casualties in what was touted as such a great victory, and the casualty ratio between the two sides is also incorrect.

It's important to understand that while Iwagakure has the largest number of ninjas, their quality isn't the best. With limited resources, the more mid-to-low-level ninjas there are, the lower their quality will be.

In this situation, with such a casualty ratio, especially when one side had the advantage, it was definitely not a victory worth celebrating.

However, Mimura Hamaki didn't raise any doubts at this moment. He just gave Danzo a strange look and then read it aloud exactly as it was written on the scroll.

As Mimura Hamaki read the report, the once lively camp fell silent, and everyone looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard about the casualties on both sides.

This is really strange. Everyone was fighting very well in this battle, so why were so few enemies killed?

Danzo's expression was also not good at this moment. Although the strategic objectives of the First Shinobi World War that he was originally proud of had been achieved, the number of enemy troops killed was really unsatisfactory.

"Terai, what's going on? Is there anything wrong with this statistic?" Danzo's voice turned cold. Those who knew him knew that he was extremely angry.

"Danzo," Terai said, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead, "The data is correct; I've already had it verified."

"Then can you explain to me why the number of enemies killed is so small, even though we drove Iwagakure out of the Land of Grass in this First Shinobi World War?" Danzo suppressed his anger. Although he asked about the number of enemies killed, he focused on driving Iwagakure out of the Land of Grass.

"It's possible the battle isn't completely over yet, and some data hasn't been tallied. Also, Iwagakure's retreat was very decisive; they didn't engage in much fighting with us, so their losses were less."

"In that case, let's hurry up and compile the statistics. I need an accurate report of the results as soon as possible so the village can know everyone's achievements."

Danzo addressed the crowd, not forgetting to Jonin the Jonin present even at this moment.

The meeting ended in a whimper, and the Camp quickly sprang into action. Although the number of enemies killed was not ideal, it was a fact that they had driven Iwagakure out of the Land of Grass and that they had invaded the Land of Earth. So the entire Camp was still filled with an atmosphere of excitement and joy.

Iwagakure also cooperated with Danzo's actions. They seemed to have a lot of attention tied up in the war with Cloud Village, and appeared passive and sluggish in the battle against Danzo.

For several days, Iwagakure only defended and did not launch a single counterattack, which greatly emboldened Danzo. Almost every day, the Camp was filled with his shouts for an attack.

Under such command, most of the Konoha Ninja were like they had been injected with chicken blood, going out early and returning late Tenten, searching for an opportunity to First Shinobi World War Iwagakure.

While Danzo battle report also reached Hiruzen Sarutobi in the rear.

This victory report was undoubtedly timely. Although the incident of Danzo's Danzo of Yohei Uchiha had been temporarily suppressed, its aftershocks were still ongoing.

It was only because Danzo is now serving as the Commander of the Western Front that he was given a lighter punishment. Now that he has this achievement, although his merits and demerits cannot be offset, at least it can shut up Branch Family's complaints.

"Hiruzen, don't you think there's anything wrong with this battle report?"

Utatane Koharu, being a woman, was naturally more meticulous and sensitive. As she looked at the submitted battle report, she felt that something was amiss.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was taken aback, somewhat puzzled. He carefully reviewed the contents of the report but found nothing amiss.

He was worried that his memory might be wrong, so he took the scroll and looked at it carefully again, but still couldn't find any problems.

"Homura, take a look too. Do you see anything wrong?" Hiruzen Sarutobi handed the scroll back to Mitokado Homura, asking him to see if he had made any discoveries.

Mitokado Homura took the scroll, read it carefully, and shook his head at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The two then turned their attention to Utatane Koharu.

It's not surprising that the two didn't notice, since they weren't directly involved in the battle. The report scrolls were mostly correct, but the wording was somewhat evasive.

"Don't you think the number of casualties in this First Shinobi World War against Iwagakure is a bit too low? Such a large battle, which drove Iwagakure out of the Land of Grass, yet the count of Iwagakure's dead is only 324? That's far too few!"

Utatane Koharu hadn't mentioned it, the two of them wouldn't have noticed the problem, so the loss was indeed less.

Perhaps Iwagakure's retreat was timely, or perhaps some battle results were not fully tallied; these could all explain why the battle report showed a low number of enemy casualties.

However, this is not a big problem. As long as the strategic goal is achieved, the results are real, and there is no need to pay too much attention to other details.

"The number of enemy casualties is a bit low, but as long as this battle report isn't falsified, it's still a great victory," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile. "I believe Danzo wouldn't lie to us on this point."

"Yes!" Mitokado Homura chimed in, his face also beaming with a smile.

The situation in Konoha is currently very favorable. Although they are facing enemies on multiple fronts, they hold an absolute advantage on every battlefield, which makes them feel extremely confident.

Under their leadership, Konoha flourished and was able to face the Four Great Ninja Villages without defeat. Even though it hadn't reached the peak of power during the First Hokage's reign, it was certainly comparable to the Second Hokage's era, which made the two old men extremely satisfied.

"Hiruzen, Danzo has performed such a great service, shouldn't his position as elder be reinstated?" Mitokado Homura seized the opportunity and pleaded for Danzo again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's smile vanished, his face hardening again. He brought his pipe to his lips, took several puffs, and then said slowly, "We'll have to wait a little longer. It's only been a short time since he was stripped of his position, and you're already going to reinstate him?"

What are you expecting the Uchiha and other clans in the village to think? It took us a lot of effort to appease them.

"Are you trying to provoke them at this time? Don't you think the village is chaotic enough already?"

"Sigh, I also hope that Danzo can be reinstated as soon as possible so that he can help us share the burden of our tasks. It's really not used to having to do the work of three people in the past, but now it's just two people doing it!" Mitokado Homura said, offering a reason that even he himself didn't believe, as he defended himself.

"At least until the war is over, we shouldn't think about this anymore, otherwise we'll face a united boycott from all the major families in the village, which is no joke," Hiruzen Sarutobi said firmly.

These people were talking about restoring Danzo to his position as an elder, but they didn't consider whether he actually wanted to be that elder. His current goal was to become the Hokage Position, right under Hiruzen Sarutobi's nose.

Just as the Western Front was brimming with confidence and advancing triumphantly, preparing for a major offensive, the counterattack from Iwagakure finally began late that night.

The complacency following the great victory, and the arrogance arising from suppressing Iwagakure, all contributed to the fact that the western Camp's layout was not ideal. Various Defense Barrier Barrier only set up within the Camp itself, while the more distant outer perimeter was completely devoid of them.

Over the course of several days, although Iwagakure was badly beaten, their intelligence ninjas were never idle. Through constant probing, they finally figured out all the information, including the Konoha Camp's perimeter and defense threshold.

A Tailed Beast Bomb ripped through the tranquil sky, crashing headlong into the pale blue light membrane that appeared. With a deafening explosion, the entire sky was illuminated as if it were daytime.

The seemingly solid Defense Barrier flickered a few times before shattering under the violent explosion.

The shockwave from the explosion swept across the entire Camp, and only then did the piercing alarms begin to sound throughout the Camp.

On the outer perimeter, following the Tailed Beast Bomb were dozens of elite Iwagakure squads, each Jonin or Special Jonin, and all of them were at least elite Chunin.

After the explosion, they rushed into Konoha's Camp without hesitation.

They had a clear division of labor; some went directly to the logistics storage points and used Fire Style, Explosive Tag, and other methods to cause the greatest damage in the shortest amount of time.

Some of them wreaked havoc, not seeking to cause many casualties, but only to create greater chaos and disrupt Konoha's command.

Some formed sniper squads, specifically targeting established Konoha squads, determined to break them up even at the cost of their own losses.

Others headed straight for the Medical Camp, the very heart of Konoha's ability to sustain combat, where a large number of wounded awaited treatment. Under normal circumstances, it was the weakest point in the entire Camp.

Of course, Iwagakure's strongest force in this battle, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki Han, along with several Jonin squads, headed straight for the Central Army Tent.

Their goal was simple: to capture the leader first.

Han was like a high-speed steam train, over two meters tall, with scorching steam billowing from his body, like a sharp arrow, cutting through the many obstacles in his path.

The Kunai and Shuriken shot from all sides, as well as the Fireball and Wind Blade thrown at him, were all rendered invisible by his Steam Armor.

Five Jonin squads surrounded him, with Han drawing fire, allowing them to unleash their Ninjutsu more freely.

The Earth Style: Earth Dragon Spear precisely kills each enemy, its upward thrusts always piercing careless ninjas through the spikes. This brutal scene is not only visually shocking, but also sends shivers down one's spine and fills one with terror.

The Earth Style: Earth Core effectively disrupted the gathering of Konoha Ninja. Whenever a group of ninjas attacked, the ground beneath their feet would suddenly collapse, often scattering a small team into pieces.

The most obvious situation in Konoha right now is that command is disordered and everyone is fighting their own battles. Apart from a few small teams gathered in the more distant parts of the Camp, the central command, logistics, Medical Camp and other important places are all in complete chaos.

The ninjas fought in their own small teams, and due to the enemy's deliberate targeting and their own confusion, they were unable to form a united force to resist.

Danzo unleashed a Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves, temporarily repelling the Iwagakure Ninja were surrounding him.

"Terai, give the signal to have all the ninjas move towards me."

Danzo Iwagakure! How could they launch a sneak attack at this moment? All my plans, all my future, will be wiped out in this attack!

Looking around, all that could be seen was a sea of fire, and the Konoha ninjas were either running around aimlessly or blindly fighting the enemy.

A bright white Signal Flare soared into the sky with a sharp whistling sound. As if finding their anchor, the Konoha Ninja in the entire Camp dropped what they were doing and gathered in the direction from which the signal had risen.

The man who was leading his men to Danzo smiled cruelly, "Come on, all of you, gather together, and I'll send you all on your way."