Several sharp whooshes cut through the air, interrupting Kōki's thoughts. He turned to look behind him. Several Konoha ninja appeared at the edge of the battlefield. They were the reinforcements from Konoha: Minato and his party, dispatched by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Unfortunately, they had arrived too late. Everything had ended before they got there.
Minato and the others hurried over, only to be shocked by the sight before them. Broken rocks and shattered timber littered the battlefield, and a basin had formed at its center, like a crater left by a meteorite. They could not help wondering who possessed enough strength to leave the battlefield in such a state.
Their gazes turned toward the figure kneeling on one knee at the center of the battlefield, and they saw the Konoha forehead protector on his forehead. Immediately realizing that one of their ninja was still alive, they ran toward him.
Once they drew close, they recognized him as Kōki Itō. Before they set out, Hiruzen Sarutobi had given Minato and the others information about Kōki, Mamoru Uehara, and the rest.
Minato and the others stopped in front of Kōki and saw his impassive expression and eyes full of sorrow. A glance revealed the four coffins beside him, and seeing that Kōki was alone, they understood what had happened here.
They had lost teammates before, too, and understood the grief of their deaths. They all looked at Kōki with sympathy. They knew they should not disturb him now, but some things had to be asked. After exchanging glances with the others, Minato asked Kōki, "Itō, where are the Sand ninja?"
"I killed them all."
Sharp breaths were drawn...
Every ninja present inwardly sucked in a cold breath, for no other reason than that Kōki had dealt with more than a dozen elite Sand ninja at such a young age.
When they set out to provide support, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already told them that Sunagakure had sent elite ninja to infiltrate the Land of Fire.
They all understood that ninja sent to infiltrate an enemy country were at least Jonin-level.
Yet they had never expected a child like Kōki to wipe out the entire Sunagakure force. Although it had cost them four of their own ninja, such a spectacular achievement still shocked them.
They also noticed that Kōki's clothes were neat and that there were no wounds anywhere on his body. In other words, he had killed the entire Sunagakure force without suffering a scratch. Reaching this conclusion, they all inwardly cursed, What a monster.
In their eyes, Kōki's performance had already gone beyond anything the word "genius" could describe. Only the word "monster" could express their astonishment.
After learning of Kōki's feat, the sympathy in their eyes slowly gave way to a trace of respect. Although Minato among them could have achieved the same result, virtually no one could have done so at such a young age.
At the same time, they recalled the information about Kōki they had read before coming to his aid. He could be called a genius ninja, but not yet a powerful one. Now, however, they took back that assessment. The strength Kōki had just displayed shattered their understanding.
After receiving Kōki's confirmation, Minato and the others split up to clear the battlefield.
While examining the bodies of Mamoru Uehara and the others, Akimichi Chōza clearly sensed powerful yang release chakra radiating from the coffins holding them. This yang release chakra was even purer than what he had developed through years of practicing the Akimichi secret techniques. It reminded him of the wooden figure that had blotted out the sky and sun while they were on their way, and a suspicion arose in his mind.
It was definitely Wood Release. There was no mistake.
From the Warring States period to the present, the Akimichi Clan had followed closely in the Senju Clan's footsteps. They had an exceptional understanding of the techniques used by the Senju Clan's leader, Hashirama Senju. Because they, too, excelled at Yang Release, they had also sought Hashirama Senju's guidance on many things. Hashirama Senju had generously shared some information about Wood Release with members of the Akimichi Clan. That was precisely why Akimichi Chōza could immediately recognize its traces.
But Akimichi Chōza was not the only person present who could recognize Wood Release. The others who had come as reinforcements had also more or less identified the release technique Kōki had used.
They did not have the deep family heritage Akimichi Chōza possessed, but they had all heard the legends of Wood Release. It was the power wielded by Konoha's First Hokage, the God of the Shinobi World, and it was Konoha's pride and symbol.
"Itō, what ninjutsu did you use to kill the Sunagakure force?" Minato Namikaze also had a suspicion about the release technique Kōki had used and sought his confirmation.
Looking at Minato's sunny expression, the despondent Kōki found it somewhat glaring. He did not answer, merely lowering his head in silence.
"Then does Lord Hokage know?" Minato continued asking. Kōki still did not answer, but his expression had already confirmed the truth for Minato.
After asking those two questions, Minato already had his answer; all he lacked was an admission. Still, he continued questioning him. He could see that Kōki was in low spirits and knew the reason for his sorrow. He comforted Kōki, saying, "Itō, Jonin Uehara and your teammates were all heroes. Their deaths were not meaningless."
"They all died bravely for their ideals."
"They all stayed true to their own wills and passed those wills on to you."
"I think they must have trusted you deeply, even at the moment of their deaths."
Minato Namikaze's words reminded Kōki of the moments when his teacher and teammates had died. They had all been smiling, looking as though they believed in him.
Kōki pulled himself together again and silently swore in his heart, Teacher, Katsuto, Yui, wait for me. We will be reunited someday.
This blow had made Kōki more mature. Before, he had not understood what it meant to be a ninja or what war was.
Having come from a time of peace, his only impressions of war had come from television dramas and films.
As an outsider, he had never truly felt what war was like. He had only known that war was brutal and cruel, but not how brutal or how cruel.
Now Kōki knew. Real war cut more deeply than anything he had felt sitting in front of a computer. The pain of loss, the helplessness of watching teammates die before his eyes, and that regret could break a person's mind. It made him hate war and fear it, too, because he was afraid of losing someone again.
Now, looking back on how he had clamored to graduate early and enter the battlefield, Kōki could only think how childish he had been. He had thought he could control everything with Wood Release, only to discover in the end that he could not even control whether one Jonin and two Chunin lived or died. He had even spouted lofty words about restoring Konoha's glory. How ridiculous.
Now, Kōki believed it was time to abandon his mindset as a spectator and a player. Only by truly becoming part of this world could he truly change it. Looking down on this world would only leave him to swallow the bitter consequences of his contempt.
At the same time, Kōki understood that he still had major shortcomings. His strength was reasonably secure with Wood Release as its foundation, but his research into Yang Release was still sorely lacking. In the original story, Naruto, who had inherited the Sage of Six Paths' Yang Release, had been able to save Guy directly with Yang Release after he opened the Eight Gates. If his own Yang Release could reach that level, he believed that even people with injuries like Mamoru Uehara and the others would not die.