The Ironic Will of Fire

Seeing that the situation was lost, and even Kitsuchi, the son of the Tsuchikage and their own commander-in-chief, had been captured, the remaining Iwagakure ninja either raised their hands in surrender or scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing for their lives.

Obito Uchiha looked at the corpses strewn everywhere, piled high as mountains. The thick stench of blood hit his nose, making him want to vomit.

His eyes widened. Only now did he realize that Minato Namikaze and he had somehow received the script that should have belonged to the Third Raikage.

In the original story, those full ten thousand men should have been arranged for the Third Raikage.

The Third Raikage had faced ten thousand ninja alone and ultimately died of exhaustion.

Yet now, that script had been assigned to Minato and him.

"If Minato hadn't mastered Sage Art and been able to summon Gamabunta to help us, Minato and I would have been worn to death by those ten thousand enemies!"

Thinking of it, Obito Uchiha could not help but feel lingering fear, secretly thankful that they 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 Mangekyo 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 phase through attacks and evade them was simply awesome!

At this moment, Obito Uchiha was brimming with confidence. He even felt that, with this miraculous ability, he would dare exchange a few moves with Isshiki.

"Ugh, cough cough cough..."

Obito Uchiha had overexerted himself in this battle. Unable to stand steadily, he collapsed.

Hidden Rock Village

Tsuchikage's Office.

Onoki was waiting in the village for news that the Two Lights of Konoha had been slain.

"Hehehe... Are the Two Lights of Konoha really that strong? Didn't I still crush them?"

Onoki smugly waited for news of victory.

Several bottles of champagne sat on the table, ready to be opened once victory was confirmed.

But just as he waited joyfully for the battle report, terrible news arrived.

"Lord Tsuchikage! Bad news! Bad news!"

An Iwagakure ANBU rushed into the Tsuchikage's office in a panic.

Onoki frowned slightly and immediately rebuked him. "Why are you panicking?!"

"Speak slowly!"

The Tsuchikage, Onoki, gestured for him to continue.

"The Two Lights of Konoha are not dead! The ten thousand ninja we deployed have been completely wiped out! Your son was captured alive, and Shishou died in battle!"

The Iwagakure ANBU answered through gritted teeth.

"What?! What did you say?!"

In his agitation, Onoki shot up from his seat!

Crack!

Perhaps he had used too much force, but Onoki instantly threw out his old back.

Enduring the pain, Onoki snatched the battle report away.

When he saw that Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha had repelled ten thousand Iwagakure ninja, Onoki's vision immediately went black!

The sky had fallen!

This time, Iwagakure's supporting pillar had collapsed!

"I'm so pissed!"

Onoki flung away the intelligence report and slammed the table hard!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The champagne on the table instantly shattered all over the floor!

"How is that possible?! What the hell were they doing on the front lines?!"

"Were they all putting on an act?! Ten thousand men! Ten thousand! Even if they were ten thousand pigs, if those two hacked at them, their chakra should have run dry, right?!"

"Those two aren't Madara Uchiha! Ten thousand men couldn't take down two people! Worthless trash! Good-for-nothings! Brain-dead idiots!"

Onoki cursed like a madman.

"Lord Tsuchikage, please calm down!"

The Iwagakure ANBU hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"Calm down my ass!"

"A war right at our doorstep, and it turned out like this! What level are Iwagakure's ninja forces at now? Have they no shame at all?!"

"At this rate, we'll lose to Hidden Mist Village. After Hidden Mist, we'll lose to Hidden Sand Village. Once we've lost to everyone, there'll be no one left to lose to..."

After saying that, Onoki's eyes rolled back, and he fell backward.

Ten thousand men! That was already practically Iwagakure's entire foundation!

For Hidden Rock Village, this battle at Kannabi Bridge was equivalent to the Ming Dynasty's Tumu Fortress and Sarhu disasters!

If Konoha continued its offensive now, Hidden Rock Village 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 nation as Tsuchikage while the daimyo died for the state.

The Iwagakure ANBU hurriedly pinched Onoki beneath the nose.

Every Iwagakure higher-up wore an ugly expression, and many were beginning to consider a ceasefire.

Konoha Village

Inside the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat at his desk with a grim expression. Before him lay an unfinished eulogy.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the eulogy, his heart full of worry and helplessness.

Ten thousand against two—the disparity between friend and foe was too great. It was impossible for them to return alive.

Faced with such an overwhelming difference in strength, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew full well that their chances of survival were extremely slim.

Thus, he had written the eulogy in advance.

When the time came, the announcement would describe how Minato and his disciple had bravely stepped forward without fear in order to cover their comrades' safe retreat, resolutely choosing to remain behind alone and fight a desperate battle against numerous powerful enemies.

In the end, outnumbered and outmatched, they had exhausted all their strength and died.

Then he would take the opportunity to deliver a round of Will of Fire propaganda!

"Ah..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a soft sigh.

He raised his head and looked through the window at the Hokage Rock.

A trace of guilt and self-reproach showed in his eyes.

He could not help feeling that it was 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 Konoha's core spirit. It emphasized that the older generation of ninja should courageously sacrifice themselves so the new generation could flourish.

But now... what he was doing seemed somewhat contrary to that.

Back when he and several others had gone with their teacher to Hidden Cloud Village for peace talks, they had encountered an assassination attempt. Facing pursuit by Hidden Cloud Village's rogue ninja, their teacher could clearly have escaped unscathed, yet for their sake, he had resolutely chosen to remain behind alone and cover their retreat.

That was the Will of Fire!

And he... not only had he failed to personally go to the battlefield, he had instead chosen to abandon Konoha's green shoots.

"I have failed my teacher..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gripped the window frame tightly with both hands, staring at the Hokage Rock standing atop the distant mountain as he murmured to himself.

Just then, Danzo Shimura suddenly emerged from the shadows.

"Do not blame yourself. Our teacher once said that there would always come a time when we gave our lives. Before that time, we needed to cherish our lives."

"Now, the time has not yet come!"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi like this, Danzo Shimura immediately knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi was spiraling into self-inflicted turmoil again.

Hearing this and seeing Danzo Shimura's aged face, Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer hold it in.

Not yet? Look how old the two of us are already.

In a few more decades, forget about casting ninjutsu—we might not even be able to hold our own shit in.

"Lord Hokage! Urgent intelligence!"

An ANBU suddenly appeared in the office and dropped to one knee.