Gathering intelligence

In this pursuit, the leaders of both sides had reached a tacit understanding, and neither had deployed their strongest fighters. Yet the fighting was far more brutal than imagined, and the death toll even far exceeded that of the earlier thousand-man melee.

The savage battle finally ended after a full day and night. Outbursts of all kinds of powerful forces had completely transformed the terrain of the battlefield, leaving sheer cliffs everywhere and rivers crisscrossing the land. Together with the bodies strewn across the ground, they formed a scene of exceptionally brutal warfare.

The two sides had committed nearly a thousand ninja in total. By the end, Konoha had only around two hundred left, while the Iwa ninja had fared even worse, with barely over a hundred successfully retreating to their village.

In the end, only the simultaneous appearance of White Fang and the Tsuchikage brought the battle to a halt. After exchanging a look in midair, both ordered a retreat, but each knew that this had created a blood feud.

Elsewhere, Kitsuchi led his squad into Kumogakure to confront the Raikage. The hot-tempered Raikage could hardly stand for that. He admitted it outright, mocked Kitsuchi, detained the squad, and sent Kitsuchi flying with a slap.

After this series of events, relations between the two ninja villages deteriorated completely, and the two sides had already begun engaging in close combat. Naturally, the Tsuchikage would no longer continue tangling with Konoha.

Having achieved his goal, White Fang likewise quit while he was ahead and prepared to return to the village with the surviving Konoha ninja. This had probably been the bloodiest battle since the Second War, and could be considered a pyrrhic victory.

Anyo was finally released from the barrier as well. The moment he dispelled it, Little Chili Pepper sensed a sharp aura lingering around him. It was so frightening that she felt another glance might pierce her eyes and blind her.

Had this short-haired brat improved again?

Forget it. Never mind him. Finding Minato came first. I wonder if he made it back safely.

Soon, Little Chili Pepper smiled, because Minato's brilliant blond hair was so conspicuous that it was hard to miss him.

As soon as Little Chili Pepper approached Minato, she noticed the sorrow all over his face. Looking around, she found Dan Katō missing. She clapped a hand over her mouth and said in disbelief, "Could it be that Dan Katō..."

Minato gave Little Chili Pepper a gentle look and shook his head. "He's fine. He went to treat the wounded ninja."

"Oh, I see." Little Chili Pepper sighed in relief. Although they had not been a squad for long, working together had been quite pleasant. Anyo was the exception, of course.

"Then why do you look so sad?"

"Because so many of our comrades died here."

Only when Minato said this did Little Chili Pepper realize. As a fellow Konoha ninja, she had felt no sorrow at all for the fallen just now, thinking only of Minato. Guilt welled up within her.

Anyo strolled over just then. "What war doesn't have casualties? You'll get used to it once you've seen enough. If you don't want people to die, make yourself stronger and bring this chaotic era to an end as soon as possible."

Seeing Anyo approach, Little Chili Pepper hurried behind Minato and complained, "He tried to bite me yesterday. Minato, beat him up for me."

"Oh, please," Anyo said irritably. "I was only saying it. If I'd really wanted to, do you think you could have escaped? Besides, Minato's chakra is almost exhausted now. Let him get some proper rest."

Sure enough, as soon as Anyo finished speaking, Minato began swaying on his feet, clearly showing signs of chakra exhaustion. Little Chili Pepper hurried to steady him, then scooped him up in her arms.

"Rest easy. I'll protect you."

"Thank you." After saying those two words, Minato fell fast asleep.

Seeing that there was nothing seriously wrong with Minato, Anyo did not linger. He immediately went over to White Fang and asked, "Teacher, are we heading back?"

White Fang nodded. "There probably won't be any more major battles. We've successfully established several strongholds, but harassment is still a possibility, so small-scale fighting will break out from time to time. Once they find an opportunity, they'll definitely launch a surprise attack. However, the village has taken that into account and sent ninja from the Hyuga Clan to relieve us."

These strongholds were like nails driven into Iwagakure's path of advance, a thorn in the Tsuchikage's throat. Although he had no attention to spare for anything else right now, once he recovered, these strongholds would become the most dangerous places. That made members of the Hyuga Clan the best choice to defend them. After all, their Byakugan would allow them to see through enemy surprise attacks with ease.

"Then I can get some proper rest when we get back."

Although he had already been on the battlefield twice, Anyo did not dare let his guard down in the slightest. One careless mistake would mean death, and there were many uncertainties on a battlefield besides. Even White Fang had nearly died this time. Compared with growing stronger on the battlefield, keeping his head down and developing back in the village was the way to go.

White Fang's perceptive eyes seemed to see straight through Anyo's thoughts, and he soon interrupted his fantasy. "When we return to the village, I'll have a mission for you after one day's rest."

"Huh? Only one day off?" Anyo was somewhat dissatisfied.

White Fang snorted. "You may have completed an S-rank mission this time, but you know perfectly well how much that achievement was inflated."

Hearing that, Anyo immediately grinned. "One day is enough. More than enough."

Seeing his student's shameless behavior, White Fang said with some distaste, "You've already been promoted to chunin and are qualified to complete missions independently. So I'm giving you a chunin mission now: gathering intelligence. Not just on the ninja villages of the Five Great Nations, but on the other, smaller ninja villages as well. In short, the more you gather and the more detailed it is, the better."

In war, intelligence was crucial. White Fang entrusting him with such a mission was clearly an acknowledgment of his abilities. Naturally, Anyo would not refuse, but he still needed to clarify things before setting out.

"By myself?"

White Fang answered firmly, "Yes, just you. This isn't a combat mission. The fewer people, the better. As for its rank, it'll provisionally be B. Whether it's upgraded later will depend on how much intelligence you obtain."

"If I slip up and get caught, can I surrender?"

Hearing this, White Fang fell silent for quite a while before saying, "If you're captured, Konoha won't acknowledge your existence. Whether you surrender is up to you. But if you divulge the village's secrets or information, I'll come and kill you myself."

Anyo smiled faintly. "All right. Understood."

"I haven't finished."

"Hm?"

"What I just said was spoken to you as the Konoha White Fang. What comes next is from your teacher." White Fang said with utmost seriousness, "First, don't push yourself beyond your limits. Second, don't take risks. Third, come back alive."