"Okay, sure." Upon hearing Shin'un's report on the successful completion of the mission—with no casualties and a large amount of supplies seized— Nara Shikahito's obviously overthinking face broke into a smile.
Upon receiving the mission scroll from Shin'un, Nara Shikahito immediately offered a word of praise.
"Congratulations, Shin'un, you've completed the mission once again."
"If I remember correctly, you're still maintaining a 100% task completion rate, right?"
After speaking, Nara Shikahito looked at Shin'un with a slight sigh.
"That's really reassuring."
Faced with Nara Shikahito's praise, Shin'un didn't respond, but instead, his eyes darted around and he chatted casually:
"On the way here, I heard some ninjas say that the battle on the Rain Ninja front has ended?"
"Was it Konoha?"
Is it true?
Nara Shikahito put the task sheet that Shin'un handed him aside, leaned back in his chair, and lazily looked at Shin'un.
"Of course it's true; overall, it can be considered a victory for Konoha."
"As you know, the fighting on the Rain Ninja front has always been fierce."
"It just so happens to be your first day on a mission. Hanzo of the Salamander is leading all the Rain Ninja in an attempt to break through Konoha's defenses in one fell swoop."
You should already know the result.
After a slight pause, Nara Shikahito continued:
" Hanzo of the Salamander's personally led team was held back by Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya Jiraiya's combined forces, while the Rain Ninja in other directions were suffering repeated defeats against the Konoha Ninja."
"The number of ninjas in Amegakure was already far less than that of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and after this battle where all of Rain Ninja were staked, the losses were even more severe."
"The entire Amegakure, even if you add up all the ninja, only has a handful left; they're no longer capable of organizing any more ninjas to participate in the war."
After speaking, Nara Shikahito looked at Shin'un.
"It's a pity. If they weren't wary of Hanzo of the Salamander, Orochimaru would probably have wiped out Amegakure directly, instead of only being able to temporarily prevent them from participating in the war."
Upon hearing Nara Shikahito's words, Shin'un nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, for the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Amegakure alone is not a threat at all."
"The reason it was so difficult was simply because of Hanzo of the Salamander, the leader of the Rain Ninja Village."
"Regardless of his ' Demigod ' title, the fact that he has led Amegakure to fight against Konoha this far demonstrates his strength."
As he spoke, Shin'un felt a pang of emotion.
Hanzo of the Salamander was not described in detail in the original work, and he was completely insignificant in the later scenes of epic battles in Hokage.
Unexpectedly, he was so powerful during the Second Shinobi World War, almost single-handedly raising Amegakure to a level where it could rival the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Moreover, although Shin'un had never been to the Rain Ninja front and had never personally witnessed Hanzo of the Salamander in action, he could sense Hanzo of the Salamander's strength from his conversations with other Konoha Ninja.
The Ibuse summoning beast that can cover the entire battlefield with poison gas, the Body Flicker Technique Transmission technique that leaves no trace of a person, the Water Release that blots out the sky, and the unpredictable swordsmanship...
Any one of these skills alone could make one Jonin, but when combined, they created the dominant combat power of Hanzo of the Salamander on the battlefield.
"Alright, although there are regrets, ultimately, the outcome of the Rain Ninja Front is good."
Seeing Shin'un deep in thought, Nara Shikahito made a joking remark.
"The battlefield north of the Land of Rain the Stone Ninja are located, has recently seen some victories. Seeing that the current battlefield situation is favorable for Konoha, isn't that something to be happy about?"
Nara Shikahito smiled and then said:
"Moreover, and most importantly, the Rain Ninja front has already won."
"I have received word that Orochimaru and Tsunade are each leading reinforcements to the other two fronts."
"Because Chiyo led the Sand Ninja's puppet army to the Stone Ninja's front lines, Tsunade led a thousand reinforcements there."
"And the one responsible for supporting us here is naturally your teacher, Orochimaru."
"Your teacher should be able to lead two thousand reinforcements here by tomorrow."
"Teacher?" Shin'un was taken aback when he heard that Orochimaru was about to arrive at the Sand Ninja battlefield.
It had been several months since I'd last seen Orochimaru, and now that Nara Shikahito mentioned him, I still felt a strange longing...
Shin'un nodded and was about to leave.
Suddenly realizing that Nara Shikahito hadn't mentioned Jiraiya's whereabouts, and recalling the events of this period in the original story, Shin'un immediately inquired:
"Our teacher has led reinforcements here, and Lady Tsunade has led reinforcements to the Stone Ninja front."
"And what about Sannin Lord Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin?"
"Hmm?" Nara Shikahito raised an eyebrow, looking at Shin'un curiously. "Are you in a good mood today? Asking so many questions?"
"Ah, no, I'm just a little curious." Shin'un quickly shook his head.
Smiling and shaking his head, Nara Shikahito said, "It's nothing serious, of course I can tell you."
"According to the original plan, Jiraiya should have arrived here with Orochimaru to concentrate our superior forces and achieve victory in one of the remaining two battlefields as soon as possible."
"But it is said that Jiraiya changed his mind after meeting the three children, saying he wanted to stay and take care of them for a while."
"Three children?" Upon hearing that Jiraiya the Land of Rain and would need to stay and care for them for a while, Shin'un showed no outward reaction, but his heart skipped a beat as he realized something.
Lost in thought, Shin'un continued speaking outwardly:
"Would the Lord Hokage agree?"
Nara Shikahito shook his head and said:
"Of course I disagreed, but firstly, the two thousand ninjas Orochimaru brought were more important, and secondly Jiraiya's attitude was firm, so in the end I had no choice but to agree to Jiraiya's request."
"Whoosh~"
Lifting the curtain, Shin'un stepped out of the tent, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts, all of which lingered on the three children Jiraiya had encountered.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, these three children will be Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato, Jiraiya will be taken in by Jiraiya as his disciples, becoming Minato's fellow students.
After a series of events in the future, Yahiko dies, the original Akatsuki is destroyed, and Nagato, who can use the Rinnegan, invites S-rank missing-nin from various villages with Konan to begin building the Akatsuki.
Furthermore, under Obito Uchiha's influence, they began collecting the Nine Tailed Beasts, attempting to achieve peace in the Shinobi World through intimidation.
In the end, after attacking Konoha, Nagato was persuaded by Naruto's Talk no Jutsu and used the Rinne Rebirth to revive all the Konoha ninja who had sacrificed themselves before dying himself.
Konan, after preparing 600 billion Explosive Tag, fought Obito, who was disguised as Madara Uchiha, and was killed by Obito.
Caught off guard, the appearance of an important character from the original work left Shin'un momentarily lost in thought.
.