The Kage of each village had already led their teams out of Konoha and returned home.
The wounded, however, were a real problem. Those with minor injuries were easy enough to handle. After treatment and a period of rest, they had no trouble leaving with their teams.
But the severely wounded had no such option.
Never mind leaving with their villages' teams-even getting out of bed was no easy feat for them.
If they really did leave, they might well die along the way.
The problem was that the war had ended, and every village had countless problems and a mountain of accumulated business to deal with. As their villages' Kage, they could not stay in Konoha indefinitely without returning home.
Moreover, forming the Allied Shinobi Forces had drained each village of its military strength. There had been no choice while the war was raging, but now that it was over, the gaps in their defenses had to be filled as soon as possible.
Otherwise, if someone-Rogue Ninja, for instance-found an opening and launched an attack, they would be in serious trouble.
So Gaara and the others had to take their people home as soon as possible.
As a result, the severely wounded were left in Konoha.
There was no other choice!
On the surface, it looked as though the other villages had taken advantage of Konoha.
After all, so many severely wounded patients would certainly consume enormous amounts of supplies and manpower.
But there was no helping it. Among the villages in the Shinobi World, only Konoha had so many Medical Ninja and such a high standard of treatment.
Even if the other villages took their severely wounded away and encountered no problems on the road, they would have no way to accommodate those patients after returning home.
They