The sun climbed slowly into the sky, and the battlefield fell quiet again. The Cloud shinobi had begun retreating the moment the Nine-Tails went berserk.
The Nine-Tails was too powerful. The Cloud shinobi's attacks had barely affected her.
More than a hundred bodies lay scattered across the ground, some from Konoha, others Cloud shinobi.
Mito Uzumaki pursued them a long way. Only when she felt her mind beginning to blur did she turn back toward Konoha.
The Nine-Tails' Chakra began to recede, gradually revealing Mito's original appearance. Exhaustion seeped into her body.
Weakness lingered in her heart. Mito knew she had only days left to live.
She was already old and frail. Repeatedly drawing on the Nine-Tails' Chakra had pushed her aging body even further.
Her priority now was to return to Konoha and seal the Nine-Tails inside Kushina Uzumaki once more.
While she was still alive, she could settle her affairs. Two Konoha shinobi appeared before her and helped her to Konoha Hospital.
As soon as the earlier battle in Konoha had ended, Danzo had notified the Konoha doctors sheltering in the refuge.
The hospital was bustling now. That brief battle had cost Konoha dozens more shinobi and left over a hundred wounded.
"How are you, Senior?"
The moment Mito appeared at the hospital, a crowd of Konoha shinobi gathered around her.
Even Mitokado Homura, fresh from the explosion, came to her side.
"Bring Kushina here. My body won't hold out much longer. Let her spend my last few days with me.
"There's much I need to teach her about Sealing Jutsu and the Nine-Tails."
"Yes, Senior. I'll send someone right away."
Several Medical Ninja began examining Mito and administering nutrient solution to keep her failing organs functioning.
Meanwhile, in a forest in the Land of Fire, Fugaku and