A Pyrrhic Victory and a Great Victory

"Shiraha, how are the others?" As the antidote took effect, Hatake Sakumo rapidly regained his strength, though he had little Chakra left.

"The others are dealing with Sunagakure's Jōnin. All the ninja at the outpost have been killed." Shiraha answered as he used the Mystical Palm Technique to treat Hatake Sakumo's chest wound.

Boom!

A massive explosion suddenly erupted from the direction Shiraha had come from, seemingly mixed with the screams of ninja.

"Do a simple treatment. I'll deal with the enemy first." Hatake Sakumo frowned deeply.

Shiraha nodded. "All right."

He quickly used specially made bandages to dress Hatake Sakumo's wound.

"Shiraha, preserve the bodies."

With that, Hatake Sakumo swiftly departed.

Shiraha looked at the male and female corpses before him, a trace of excitement flashing through his eyes.

He took out the Sealing Scroll he carried with him and sealed away the corpses. During the process, his fingers touched the blood on the bodies.

Data appeared beneath the Eye of Truth—

Obtained Cells of a Powerful Radioactive Creature (1/1). Cell vitality and bloodline purity meet the standards. Quality: Excellent.

Obtained Cells of a Powerful Radioactive Creature (1/1). Cell vitality and bloodline purity meet the standards. Quality: Fine.

Third-Class Apprentice advancement requirements:
1. Spirit ≥ 6.0, Constitution ≥ 2.0. Incomplete.
2. Cells or Tears of a Powerful Radioactive Creature (3/3). Complete.

By the time Shiraha had stored the bodies and reached the battlefield, all of Sunagakure's Jōnin had already been killed.

However, everyone on their side was wounded as well.

Oshima Shuichi was in the worst condition. His face was deathly pale as he leaned against a tree trunk, his right arm severed at the shoulder.

Uchiha Soujin clutched his chest, blood continuously seeping through his fingers.

Sarutobi Keita lay on the ground, both hands pressed tightly over his lower abdomen as his body twitched faintly.

Everyone was using Healing Jutsu Scrolls to cover their wounds and treat themselves.

"Teacher Shuichi, let me see the wound. I'll stop the bleeding." Shiraha hurried over to Oshima Shuichi's side.

"Treat Keita first." Oshima Shuichi gritted his teeth and endured the agonizing pain.

Hearing that, Shiraha took out the Mystical Palm Technique Scroll and handed it to Oshima Shuichi.

With Shiraha's current amount of Chakra, making a Mystical Palm Technique Scroll was somewhat difficult.

Tsunade had given this to him for emergencies, and he only had one.

"Shiraha... It hurts... Save me... I don't want to die yet... Cough, cough, cough!" When Sarutobi Keita saw Shiraha before him, it was as though he had glimpsed hope for survival. The blood spilling from his mouth had already choked him to the point where he could barely speak.

"It's all right. Don't move. It'll stop hurting soon."

Shiraha examined Sarutobi Keita's injuries, his expression turning grave.

He held his hands just above Sarutobi Keita's abdomen as the pale green Chakra released by the Mystical Palm Technique continuously flowed into his lower abdomen.

Sarutobi Keita's internal organs had ruptured, and his intestines had spilled out of his stomach. Such injuries were beyond saving.

There was no way Shiraha could save him. All he could do was greatly ease his pain and let him die with some dignity.

"Stop wasting Chakra! He's done for! Come treat me!" Uchiha Soujin shouted from nearby.

An enemy blade had struck his chest. It was not a fatal wound, but it was still serious, and the intense pain made his expression look somewhat ferocious.

The healing effect of the Healing Jutsu Scroll could not heal his injury.

"Shiraha... Hah... Hah..." Hearing Uchiha Soujin's words, Sarutobi Keita looked somewhat lost. When he saw Shiraha's expression, his face filled with fear and unwillingness, and his breathing became increasingly rapid.

Before long, he closed his eyes forever.

Although everyone knew Uchiha Soujin was right, saying such things while a teammate was on the verge of death still seemed cold-blooded.

More importantly, Oshima Shuichi, whose injuries were more severe than his, had not said a word.

Shiraha stopped supplying Chakra and slowly closed Sarutobi Keita's eyes.

"I'll deal with Sakumo-sama's and Teacher Shuichi's injuries first." Shiraha was feeling rather heavy-hearted, and his tone was far from pleasant. After examining Uchiha Soujin's wound, he took out another Healing Jutsu Scroll and handed it to Uchiha Chiho.

"Chiho, please."

"Mm." Uchiha Chiho accepted the scroll and went to Uchiha Soujin's side.

Once the Mystical Palm Technique Scroll's effect ended, Shiraha continued treating Oshima Shuichi with the Mystical Palm Technique. After completely stopping the bleeding, he applied medicine and bandaged the wound.

Then, according to the severity of their injuries, he treated everyone in turn.

This truly exhausted him.

While receiving treatment, Hyuga Hideto could not help silently shedding tears. Only when Shiraha asked did he learn that Oshima Shuichi had lost his right arm to the enemy's final counterattack because he had saved both Hyuga Hideto and Sarutobi Keita.

Such a powerful Elite Jōnin, someone who sacrificed himself for others, had lost his dominant right arm. It was equivalent to having most of his swordsmanship crippled, while the ninjutsu he had learned could no longer be used. He would likely have to withdraw to a supporting role from now on.

Of course, compared to the losses, their gains this time were even greater.

Sunagakure's elite Puppet Master squad, composed of six Jōnin, had been completely wiped out.

Hatake Sakumo alone had killed four Jōnin in succession: the two from Iwagakure, as well as Akayu and Hakusa from Sunagakure. The latter two in particular had been important figures in Sunagakure.

The price they had paid was only the deaths of three Genin from Squad 17 and Sarutobi Keita from Squad 1, one severely wounded Elite Jōnin, and light injuries for the rest.

If not for White Fang, their trump card, Sunagakure and Iwagakure would definitely have caused chaos within the Land of Fire.

Sunagakure's Jōnin squad in particular had been made up entirely of elites. If they had truly resorted to guerrilla warfare, then unless White Fang led the team, it would probably have taken the Three Ninja to defeat the same number of Jōnin.

It was no exaggeration to say that this victory in the encounter battle had shattered Sunagakure's plot and might even become the catalyst for ending the Second Ninja World War.

From a strategic perspective, once Sunagakure's frontline forces learned this terrible news, their morale would surely suffer.

In terms of sheer numbers and the value of those who had died, Konoha had made an enormous profit.

Yet life was priceless. Once it could be measured in value, it became worthless.

Shiraha's relationship with Sarutobi Keita could only be considered decent, and that was mainly because he needed to maintain his "upright persona." Otherwise, there had been little interaction between them.

Yet this talented newcomer, someone who would most likely have become a Jōnin and participated in high-level decision-making in the future, had died right before Shiraha's eyes.

If they headed directly to the main battlefield, where hundreds or even thousands of ninja clashed in a massive melee, it would likely be even more brutal.

After Shiraha finished treating all the wounded, Hatake Sakumo said, "Gather the bodies and send the information back to the village as soon as possible. Then wait for the higher-ups' orders."

"Mm." Sakamoto Kouta nodded. Although they had gained much from this battle, his mood was low because their losses had been too great.

The group used Sealing Scrolls to preserve the corpses of Sunagakure's Jōnin.

Since certain special methods could extract intelligence from the corpses of ninja, as long as the bodies were sent to the village's Interrogation Department before the Chakra in their brains completely dissipated, specialized ninja could use secret techniques to read fragments of their memories.

That was also why Shiraha had destroyed the corpses of the Iwa Ninja he had previously killed with Acid Splash.

As for using demonic items to help Hatake Sakumo just now, the barrier spell had left no casting traces, and Fire Style had concealed it as well, so he was not worried.

The corpses of the other fallen Konoha Ninja could only be cremated as soon as possible. After all, they did not have enough Sealing Scrolls to store so many bodies.

As long as they could find the metal tags bearing ninja identification numbers, they could identify the corresponding people even if the corpses had been mutilated beyond recognition.

These fallen ninja were all Konoha's heroes, yet most of them might not even receive individual gravestones. They would only become another cold name added to the Memorial Stone.

Hatake Sakumo's feat of killing Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law had announced to the world the sharpness of White Fang's fangs.

The Second Ninja World War had already lasted five years.

Killing Akayu and Hakusa was a great victory Konoha had achieved during its war with Sunagakure.

Though only in their early thirties, the two had already been among Sunagakure's strongest. It was only a matter of time before they succeeded the Third Kazekage.

Their deaths dealt Sunagakure a blow no less severe than if Konoha had lost the Three Ninja.

Even the Third Kazekage found it somewhat unbelievable when he received the intelligence. He had dispatched Sunagakure's most elite Jōnin squad to launch a surprise attack on the Land of Fire, yet he had never expected Konoha White Fang, their trump card, to be so powerful.

Akayu and Hakusa had joined forces, yet they had still died at White Fang's hands without even managing to escape.

After this battle, Iwagakure, which had agreed to fight Konoha alongside Sunagakure, suddenly fell silent.

The deaths of Akayu and Hakusa became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

For a time, Sunagakure, which had already been showing signs of decline on the main battlefield, gradually became unable to withstand Konoha's offensive after suffering such a devastating blow to morale.