After a day or two of preparations, they had treated all the lightly injured and stabilized the condition of the seriously wounded. The Senju Clan's Medical Unit had earned another wave of goodwill, and Li Yu set off for the village with a group of injured shinobi.
"Sensei, are we really going back to the village so soon? Won't the Sand Shinobi from the Land of Wind attack again?"
"Exactly! With you holding the fort there, Sensei, the Sunagakure shinobi wouldn't dare come back."
Watching Yuhi Kurenai and Uzuki Yugao take turns chiming in, Li Yu couldn't help smiling.
"That's right. The Sand Shinobi don't dare fight anymore. They've surrendered."
His three students stared at Li Yu in disbelief, then asked excitedly,
"Really? Is the war over?"
"That's wonderful!"
Although the news that the Land of Wind had surrendered was known only to the jonin who had attended the meeting, ordinary shinobi didn't know the details.
As far as Li Yu was concerned, surrender had become a foregone conclusion. As the original story showed, the Land of Wind surrendered after losing to the Land of Fire in the Battle of Mount Kikyo.
What's more, with Li Yu's appearance, Konoha's casualties had been greatly reduced. Unlike in the original story, they hadn't won at the cost of devastating losses. This time, the Land of Wind had no choice but to surrender. The balance of power spoke for itself.
A nearby Genin whose name he couldn't remember overheard them and cut in,
"What if the Sand Shinobi are only pretending to surrender?"
Sarutobi Asuma glanced at the Konoha Ninja and shot back,
"Then we'll fight them again."
Hearing that bold reply, Li Yu thought, You even stole my line. Still, Asuma really is Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's son.
Li Yu continued to play the part of a master, casually glancing at the Konoha Ninja who had spoken up.
The shinobi immediately hunched his shoulders and shivered, lowering his head. His two companions seemed to have felt the force of Li Yu's gaze as well, and both lowered their heads.
Once they saw Li Yu look away, the two companions turned and flicked the talkative shinobi on the forehead.
"Ow!"
One of them muttered under his breath,
"You idiot. Whatever Lord Senju Nawaki says goes."
"Exactly. You can't even read the battlefield. Anyone with eyes can see what's going on. The Sand Shinobi have suffered heavy losses, and even the Fourth Kazekage is no match for Senju Nawaki. What else can they do but surrender?"
Li Yu had exceptionally sharp hearing. He caught their smug, after-the-fact analysis and smiled. They're really getting into their roles. They've got a knack for acting.
For the time being, he dubbed them Shinobi A, Cannon Fodder B, and Sissy C. The one who had asked the question was Shinobi A. Throughout the journey, he had been relentlessly flattering Li Yu and his students, fetching tea and water like a bootlicker. He also provided plenty of amusement during the otherwise dull trip.
After several days on the road, the group slowly entered the Land of Fire. At their current pace, they still had four or five days to go before reaching Konoha, a far cry from the speed at which they had come.
Suddenly, Li Yu sensed seven or so shinobi moving rapidly underground in his direction.
Li Yu's brows furrowed as he realized that the seven shinobi were heading straight for him.
"Watch out! Shinobi underground! We're under attack!"
Two blades shot up from the ground on either side, thrusting toward Li Yu. Two more shinobi burst out of the earth behind him, their Ninja Blades slashing toward his back with a sharp whistle.
The other three shinobi exploded out of the ground. One slashed at Uzuki Yugao's neck, another thrust upward at Yuhi Kurenai, and the last viciously aimed for Sarutobi Asuma's legs.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft!"
The shinobi grinned viciously as their attacks struck their targets. Their tried-and-true ambush was supposed to skewer their opponents like candied fruit, decapitate them, or cut off their legs, leaving them helpless.
The nearby Konoha Genin and Chunin were stunned. The team's only jonin and its three Chunin had been ambushed and dismembered in an instant.
Cannon Fodder B and Sissy C grabbed the talkative Shinobi A between them, pressing their faces together.
Cannon Fodder B and Sissy C let out ear-splitting screams.
"Ah!"
As they screamed, they jiggled their big faces, squashing Shinobi A's face between them until it was distorted. A beat too slow to react, Shinobi A drew a Kunai to face the enemy.
"Thud! Thud!"
The bodies that had been struck turned into chunks of wood and fell to the ground.
"Damn it, we fell for it!"
"They spotted us in advance!"
"Retreat!"
More than a dozen Specialized Kunai flew toward the seven Iwagakure shinobi.
"Whoosh!"
"Too late."
Li Yu caught a Kunai in midair and appeared among the seven shinobi. His left hand struck the Iwagakure shinobi in front with a Rasengan. Then he twisted at the waist and swept his right hand horizontally in a strange arc, slicing across the throats of two shinobi.
His legs lashed out like whips, kicking toward two Iwagakure shinobi who hadn't yet reacted.
"Thud! Thud!"
His two powerful kicks sent them flying in opposite directions.
"Flying Thunder God Slash!"
Seizing the opportunity, Uzuki Yugao used the Flying Thunder God technique and drove her Ninja Blade into an enemy's heart, killing him in one strike.
"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!"
Sarutobi Asuma spewed a cloud of scorching ash over an enemy, then ignited it with Fire Release. In an instant, the black smoke flared red, and a charred corpse fell to the ground. Asuma casually threw a Kunai, striking the burned shinobi in the neck.
Seeing that things had gone awry, the last two shinobi immediately burrowed underground again to escape.
"Sensei, we can't let them get away!"
Yuhi Kurenai said angrily.
The reason was that one of the fleeing shinobi was the one who had tried to skewer her with a blade. It seemed to have struck a nerve.
Plenty of female shinobi wanted to die looking beautiful. None would accept being killed in such a humiliating way.
Even gentle Yuhi Kurenai couldn't take that lying down.
Seeing this, Sarutobi Asuma didn't say a word. He took off after them for the sake of the woman he loved.
Watching him, Li Yu couldn't help shaking his head.
"Asuma, you're going the wrong way."
Young men were so easily swept up in the heat of the moment. It looked like he would have to handle it himself. Following his senses, Li Yu pushed off and caught up in a few leaps. The two shinobi were slower underground than on the surface, so he didn't hesitate to form Hand Seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Stone Grand Funeral!"
He had adapted this technique from the Fourth Kazekage Rasa's Gold Dust Burial. He didn't want to crush the two Iwagakure shinobi underground, so he slowly fed chakra into it, increasing the pressure until he forced them out.
"Thud! Thud!"
The earth and stone grew denser, and the pressure underground suddenly intensified. Unable to bear it, the two shinobi burst out of the ground.
Li Yu gripped two Specialized Kunai, ready to finish them off. But someone beat him to it, kicking the two shinobi flying side by side.
"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"
Trees sprouted beneath the enemy who had attacked Yuhi Kurenai and bound him. Kurenai emerged from the trees and finished him off with a single strike.
The other shinobi was surrounded by the approaching Uzuki Yugao and Sarutobi Asuma. Asuma killed him with Wolf Fang Cleaving Awl.
The two sides had exchanged blows several times, but it had all happened in the blink of an eye. The seven Iwagakure shinobi had been killed.
"It's finally over."
Seeing that the battle had ended in the distance, Shinobi A, Cannon Fodder B, and Sissy C happily hugged each other, jumping up and down.
The injured Konoha shinobi behind them breathed a sigh of relief.
"Lord Senju Nawaki's squad is amazing!"
"Yeah, I thought we were done for."
"The battle isn't over so soon."
"That's right. They're here."
Even the usually composed Sarutobi Asuma had noticed something in the distance. After sensing for a moment, Li Yu said,
"Forty-three Iwagakure shinobi are heading this way."
"That's a lot of them."
Hearing Li Yu and the others talking up ahead, the Konoha Genin behind them and the shinobi on stretchers couldn't help growing tense. They knew that once the fighting started, some of them wouldn't survive.
Li Yu glanced back at the Genin. Their eyes were full of fear and determination. He knew they wouldn't be able to avoid this fight.
Li Yu made a decision and thought to himself, Once these wounded shinobi return to the village, they'll help raise the Senju Clan's standing. I need them to build up my own reputation, too. I can't afford to lose them. There are also ten precious members of the Senju Clan's Medical Unit here.
He turned around and called out,
"I'm leading this squad, so it's my responsibility to get everyone back to Konoha safely."
"I won't let a single person die on the way."
Hearing Li Yu's words, the hundred or so Konoha shinobi behind him regained their confidence and their will to live. Reassuring people didn't cost a thing. Why not say a few words if it helped?
Seeing their reactions, Li Yu nodded with satisfaction. Even his three students looked at him with admiration. Looks like I'm a master of talk no jutsu after all. Can't argue with that.
When the Iwagakure shinobi had come close enough, he quickly formed Hand Seals.
"Water Release: Water Travel Wave!"
A vast amount of water suddenly gathered around Li Yu's entire body, swirling around him before surging toward the Iwagakure shinobi like a flood bursting through a breached dam.
"You can use such powerful Water Release Ninjutsu even without any water nearby?"
"No wonder he's Lord Senju Nawaki!"
"Brother-in-law, you're amazing!"
With one hand, he formed seals and created a Shadow Clone.
Li Yu spread both hands. Blue, spiral-shaped chakra spun rapidly in opposite directions above them, while the two clones kept rubbing their hands against it.
The Iwagakure shinobi facing the enormous surge of water formed Hand Seals together.
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
Thirty earthen walls sprang up to block the huge wave surging toward them.
"Boom! Boom!"
The water smashed through more than twenty walls before finally losing momentum and splitting to either side.
"This isn't over yet!"
Brilliant white light shone in Li Yu's hands, shaped like Shuriken.
"Poof! Poof!"
The clones vanished into two clouds of white smoke. Using the water and the Earth Style Walls for cover, Li Yu had successfully completed his jutsu.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
Li Yu stamped down and sprinted forward. He leapt into the air, flipped forward, and hurled the Rasenshuriken in his hands with all his strength.
"Twice the fun is twice as good. Let's make you a sandwich!"
"What?"
"Boom! Boom!"
Two enormous spiraling spheres of light blazed into existence, spinning rapidly in opposite directions, with a meat grinder between them.
There were barely any screams before blood and flesh flew everywhere. The Iwagakure shinobi had thought they'd blocked the Water Release attack and were preparing to form seals for an offensive jutsu. Before they could finish, they were struck by a devastating blow.
By the time the jutsu ended, two spiral craters a hundred meters across had appeared in the ground. There wasn't a single intact corpse in the area.
The Konoha shinobi who witnessed it all had their mouths collectively form an O. They were so excited that they could hardly put their feelings into words.
Uzuki Yugao wrapped her arms around Li Yu's arm and pouted playfully.
"Brother-in-law, can you teach me that jutsu?"
Yuhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma also looked at Li Yu expectantly.
Li Yu coughed twice to ease his embarrassment, then slipped his arm out of Uzuki Yugao's embrace and said,
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken is an S-rank jutsu. Using it causes arm damage that can't be healed."
The three of them immediately lost heart.
"But you can start with the simpler Rasengan. Learning the unsealed A-rank jutsu Rasengan takes one to two years, or even longer."
"My advice is to study the jutsu that suit your strengths. Everyone has limited time and energy. It's already impressive to master even one high-level jutsu."
After hearing Li Yu's explanation, they immediately gave up on learning Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
After cleaning up the battlefield, the group continued making their way back to Konoha. Along the road, Li Yu used his powerful sensory abilities to detect several squads of shinobi who had infiltrated the Land of Fire. Li Yu's squad dealt with them all with ease.