Seeing that the situation was lost, and that even Kitsuchi, the son of their commander, the Tsuchikage, had been captured, the remaining Iwagakure shinobi raised their hands in surrender or scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing for their lives.
Obito Uchiha looked at the corpses strewn haphazardly before him, piled into mountains. The thick stench of blood rushed into his nostrils, making him nauseous.
His eyes widened. Only now did he realize that he and Minato Namikaze had somehow taken the script that should have belonged to the Third Raikage.
In the original story, these ten thousand enemies should have been assigned to the Third Raikage.
The Third Raikage had faced ten thousand shinobi alone and ultimately died of exhaustion.
Yet now, that script had been assigned to him and Minato.
"If Minato hadn't mastered Sage Art and been able to summon Gamabunta to help, Minato and I really would have been worn to death by those ten thousand enemies!"
Thinking of that, Obito Uchiha could not help but feel lingering fear, secretly grateful that he had escaped disaster.
But as the saying went, every cloud had a silver lining. After this trial of life and death, Obito Uchiha had finally awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He gently rubbed his eyes, feeling that newly acquired power surging through his body.
After awakening Kamui, he immediately felt a tremendous increase in his sense of security.
The ability to freely turn his body intangible and evade attacks was simply incredible!
At this moment, Obito Uchiha was brimming with confidence. He even felt that, with this miraculous ability, he would dare to trade a few moves with Isshiki.
"Ugh, cough, cough, cough..."
Obito Uchiha had overexerted himself in this battle. Unable to keep his balance, he toppled over.
Iwagakure
Tsuchikage's Office.
Ōnoki was waiting in the village for news that the Two Lights of Konoha had been slain.
"Hehehe... The Two Lights of Konoha are strong? Weren't they still crushed beneath my hand?!"
Ōnoki smugly awaited news of victory.
Several bottles of champagne sat on the table, ready to be opened in celebration.
But just as he happily awaited the battle report, terrible news arrived.
"Lord Tsuchikage! Bad news! Bad news!"
An Iwagakure ANBU rushed into the Tsuchikage's office in a panic.
Ōnoki frowned slightly and immediately rebuked him. "Why are you panicking? Have some decorum!"
"Speak slowly!"
The Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, gestured for him to continue.
"The Two Lights of Konoha are not dead! The ten thousand shinobi we sent were completely wiped out! Your son was captured alive, and Akatsuchi was killed in battle!"
The Iwagakure ANBU answered through clenched teeth.
"What?! What did you say?!"
Ōnoki sprang up from his seat in agitation!
Crack!
Perhaps he had used too much force. Ōnoki instantly threw out his old back.
Enduring the pain, Ōnoki snatched up the battle report.
When he saw that Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha had repelled ten thousand Iwagakure shinobi, Ōnoki's vision went black!
The sky had fallen!
This time, Iwagakure's backbone had snapped!
"I'm so pissed!"
Ōnoki flung the intelligence report away and slammed his hand down on the table!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The champagne bottles on the table shattered across the floor!
"How is this possible?! What the hell were they doing at the front lines?!"
"Were they all putting on an act?! Ten thousand people! Ten thousand people! Even if they were ten thousand pigs, if those two kept cutting them down, their Chakra should have been exhausted by now, right?!"
"Those two aren't Madara Uchiha! Ten thousand people still couldn't take down two men! Worthless trash! Good-for-nothings! Brain-dead idiots!"
Ōnoki cursed like a madman.
"Lord Tsuchikage, please calm down!"
The Iwagakure ANBU hurriedly tried to persuade him.
"Calm your damn head!"
"A war right on our doorstep, and this is how it turned out! What level are Iwagakure's shinobi forces at now? Have they no shame at all?!"
"At this rate, we'll lose to Hidden Mist, then lose to Hidden Sand. Once we've lost to everyone, there'll be no one left to lose to..."
After Ōnoki finished speaking, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed backward.
Ten thousand men! That was already a major part of Iwagakure's reserves!
For Iwagakure, this Battle of Kannabi Bridge was equivalent to the Ming Dynasty's Tumu Fortress and Sarhu disasters!
If Konoha continued its offensive now, Iwagakure would likely be forced into a battle to defend the village.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi of Konoha was determined to destroy Iwagakure, then he could only guard the borders as Tsuchikage while the daimyō died for the state.
The Iwagakure ANBU hurriedly pinched Ōnoki beneath the nose to revive him.
The higher-ups of Iwagakure all wore grim expressions, and many were beginning to consider a ceasefire.
Konoha
Inside the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat at his desk with a dark expression. Before him lay an unfinished eulogy.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the eulogy, his heart filled with worry and helplessness.
Ten thousand against two. The disparity between friend and foe was simply too great. They could not possibly return alive.
Faced with such an overwhelming difference in strength, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that their chances of survival were exceedingly slim.
So, he had prepared the eulogy in advance.
When the time came, the announcement would describe how Minato and his disciple had bravely stepped forward without fear, choosing to remain behind alone to cover their comrades' retreat and engaging countless powerful enemies in a desperate battle.
In the end, hopelessly outnumbered, they would die of exhaustion after fighting with all their strength.
And then he could take the opportunity to promote the Will of Fire!
"Ah..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed softly.
He raised his head and looked through the window at the faces carved into Hokage Rock.
A trace of guilt and self-reproach appeared in his eyes.
He could not help finding it somewhat ironic. The young people were shedding blood for the village, while he hid safely in the rear.
The Will of Fire had always been the core spirit of Konoha. It emphasized that the older generation of shinobi should bravely sacrifice themselves so that the new generation could grow strong.
But now... what he was doing seemed to run completely contrary to that.
Back when he and the others had gone with their teacher to negotiate peace with Hidden Cloud Village, they encountered an assassination attempt. Facing the pursuit of Hidden Cloud Village defectors, their teacher could clearly have escaped unscathed, yet he had resolutely chosen to stay behind alone and cover their retreat.
That was the Will of Fire!
And he... not only had he failed to personally take the battlefield, he had chosen to abandon Konoha's green shoots instead.
"I have failed my teacher..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi gripped the windowsill tightly with both hands, staring at Hokage Rock towering atop the distant mountain as he murmured to himself.
At that moment, Shimura Danzō suddenly emerged from the shadows.
"Do not blame yourself. Teacher once said that there would always come a time when we had to give our lives. Before that day came, we needed to cherish our lives."
"Now is not our time yet!"
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi like this, Shimura Danzō immediately knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi was spiraling into self-reproach again.
Hearing this, and seeing Shimura Danzō's aged face, Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer hold it in.
Not our time yet? Look how old we both are.
In a few more decades, forget using Ninjutsu. We might not even be able to hold in our shit.
"Lord Hokage! Urgent intelligence!"
An ANBU suddenly appeared in the office and dropped to one knee.
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