The War Ends

"Die, you old hag!" Tsunade descended from the sky, her Monster Strength aimed at Chiyo. Chiyo instinctively retreated, pulling a controlled Konoha ninja in front of herself as a shield.

To avoid hurting him, Tsunade had no choice but to withdraw her Monster Strength. Before Chiyo could regain her composure, she saw a mass of white hair shooting out from behind Tsunade.

"Secret Technique: Wild Lion's Mane Technique."

Jiraiya's white hair lengthened and lashed toward Chiyo. At the same time, Sakumo plunged down from above with the White Fang Blade raised in his hand.

"Damn it!" Chiyo gritted her teeth and summoned every puppet to her side. She refused to believe these Konoha ninjas would dare strike their own villagers!

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

Jiraiya withdrew his white hair and pressed both hands to the ground. In an instant, a vast swamp appeared beneath Chiyo's feet, dragging her downward. Chiyo tried to break free.

But Tsunade, who had been watching for an opening, seized her chance and came down with a punch from above.

Chiyo had no choice but to abandon her living puppets and hurriedly used the Substitution Technique to evade that terrifying blow...

"They've started fighting?" Minato and the others frowned as they watched flames rise in the distance.

"Let's hurry over and support them!" Fugaku urged anxiously. After all... what if someone precious to them was on the battlefield? How dangerous would that be?

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball came roaring in from behind Morikawa Hotaru. She had long since run out of chakra, and just as her life hung by a thread, a wall of water blocked the fireball.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Two figures appeared beside Morikawa Hotaru.

"Flying Thunder God!"

"Hotaru, are you all right?" Jin activated his Sharingan and looked at Morikawa Hotaru, who had already collapsed onto the ground.

"Jin?"

Morikawa Hotaru stared at the little boy before her in disbelief. At that moment, Minato returned to Jin's side after dealing with the enemy ninja. "Hotaru, go get treated first."

"C-Captain Minato..." Morikawa Hotaru stammered. She seemed to want to say something, but Minato interrupted her.

"Your injuries come first. Leave this place to Jin and me."

"Huh? Can't I go to the medical unit for treatment?" Jin looked at Minato pitifully, but Minato ignored him. "Get ready, Jin!"

Jin sighed regretfully. "Damn, no slacking off now. Hotaru, hurry to the medical unit and get treated."

With that, he chased after Minato, who had already charged into the crowd of enemies.

Watching Jin, who was younger than herself, gradually become capable of standing on his own, Morikawa Hotaru could not help feeling a little inferior... and a little relieved...

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

After using his Sharingan to lock onto the enemies' positions, Jin immediately unleashed his ninjutsu. Minato, meanwhile, turned into a yellow flash as he cut through the crowd.

Wherever the two went, the Sand Ninja wailed in agony...

The battle continued until noon the next day, when Chiyo, already severely wounded, finally gave the order to retreat...

"We won! We won!"

"Dad! I avenged you!"

"Hahahaha! The final victory belongs to Konoha!!"

"..."

Some cheered, while others grieved... like Jin, who was stubbornly lingering in the medical unit...

"Lady Tsunade... Big Sister Tsunade, could you please check again? My face really won't be scarred, right?" Jin clung miserably to Tsunade as she treated the wounded.

"I told you it won't, it won't!" Tsunade glared at Jin impatiently. It was just a cut on his face. Did he have to be this dramatic?

"Come on!" Jin said indignantly. "I make my living off this handsome face. If it gets ruined, it'll affect my happy life for the rest of my days! Big Sister Tsunade, please take another look?"

Veins bulged on Tsunade's forehead. Her left hand clenched into a fist as she gave him a smile that did not reach her eyes. "Oh? Then let big sister take a look for you."

As she spoke, she leaned closer to Jin's face. Jin still naively thought she was genuinely examining him, right up until a fist as large as a sandbag came at his face, accompanied by an impatient roar. "Get the hell out!"

"Ah... damn it~"

"Ah... Lady Tsunade... p-please... be gentler..." The wounded man who had witnessed everything swallowed nervously and spoke with great caution...

"So violent... I don't know how Brother Kato puts up with her..." Jin grumbled as he rubbed his handsome face.

To him... the only good news was that the war was over. Though there would be another great war in a decade or so... he would deal with it when it came.

"La la la, we're going back to the village. La la la, time to lie flat~" Having figured it out, Jin skipped all the way to the command post.

There was no other reason than Sakumo's order that all chuunin and above would return in batches...

"Master, Lord Jiraiya, Lord Orochimaru, Big Brother Minato." Jin greeted them happily.

"Oh, looks like Jin is in quite a good mood." Jiraiya teased him in high spirits.

"Jin, you and Minato will be responsible for leading the genin back to the village. I gave the list to Minato," Sakumo instructed. "Rest for two days after you return, then come see me."

"Ah... only two days of rest?" Jin was a little disappointed. He had thought he could play for a few more days...

Sakumo chuckled. "Then rest for one day."

"Ah?" Jin hurriedly took several steps back. "Don't do that, Master. Two days is good. Two days is perfect."

"Hahahahaha~"

Even Orochimaru's lips curled up slightly at the child's antics. What an interesting child...

"Senior Sakumo won't return to the village until Hidden Sand signs the treaty with us, so you can rest for at least a month. The reason you need to go to Senior Sakumo's house after two days is that Sakumo's son, Kakashi, is going to register at the Ninja Academy, and he hopes you can accompany him," Minato explained with a smile.

"Senior Sakumo has already made the arrangements. For now, I'll be the one guiding your training."

"Hehe... then I might as well not go back at all..."

"Captain Minato! All members of Konoha's First Genin Squad are present. We can depart!" a Hyuga Clan genin reported respectfully.

"All right, let's go." Minato nodded, then gently nudged Jin, who had fallen asleep against him. "Wake up. It's time to leave."

"Mm..." Jin sat up and stretched. "Can't all the genin go back together? Why do we have to split into five groups?"

Minato only smiled. "Senior Sakumo and the others have their reasons. Come on, Jin."

Jin somehow found a carriage and dove straight inside, intending to sleep all the way back to Konoha. With so many people, they could not possibly travel at full speed anyway...

But Minato pulled him out with one hand. "Jin, the journey is also a good time to train. Don't think about slacking off!"

"Come on... let me go..."

The facts proved that Jin's wails were completely useless. Along the way, Minato used Shadow Clones to take Jin elsewhere, either making him train in taijutsu or explaining chakra nature transformation and the theoretical knowledge behind the Flying Thunder God.

"Come on, Brother Minato, are you really planning to teach me the Flying Thunder God?" Jin asked with a miserable expression.

Minato's Shadow Clone looked perfectly matter-of-fact. "Of course. Your Sharingan and the Flying Thunder God are a perfect match! I've already thought up a whole series of ninjutsu for combining your Sharingan with the Flying Thunder God in the future!"