As large numbers of unconscious Iwagakure ninjas were carried away, the elite shinobi of the Stone kept running back and forth across the battlefield. They were not only rescuing the unconscious, but also retrieving the bodies of their dead comrades. The atmosphere was as heavy as a funeral.
Iwagakure's invasion had ended in total defeat, and at a terrifying cost.
After making sure there were no further problems, Brook left first, leaving Minato Namikaze and the Konoha shinobi behind to keep watch over the remnants of the Iwa army.
In the end, the Konoha ANBU did not follow Brook's earlier suggestion to strip the Iwa shinobi of their spoils.
All compensation would be settled later at the negotiating table between Iwagakure and Konoha.
Once he left that battlefield, Brook immediately headed for the front in the Land of Lightning. Two tailed beast jinchuriki were gathered there as well, though Kumogakure had very few notable bloodline limit clans. Most of its shinobi were Lightning Release users who specialized in taijutsu.
That was why the Hidden Cloud had always coveted the bloodline limits of other nations. They wanted to seize those bloodlines and cultivate them as their own.
The most famous Kekkei Genkai in Kumogakure was probably only Storm Release, a fusion of water and lightning that produced controllable light based lightning. Compared to ordinary Lightning Release, it was far easier to guide and manipulate.
At this moment, the war between Konoha and Kumogakure had already grown extremely fierce, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The Cloud shinobi were especially aggressive. They barely seemed to understand the meaning of retreat and simply charged headlong into battle.
Kumogakure was also highly united. Both jinchuriki obeyed the Fourth Raikage's command without hesitation, unlike Iwagakure's Four Tails jinchuriki, Roshi, or Kirigakure's Six Tails jinchuriki, Utakata, both of whom had abandoned their villages.
In terms of top tier combat power, the Fourth Raikage A and his two jinchuriki still gave Kumogakure a slight edge. After all, once a jinchuriki fully transformed into a tailed beast, the destructive power and lethality were terrifying.
But Konoha's lineup was far from weak.
Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, and the Ino Shika Cho trio were all present. That was more than enough to keep Kumogakure's Raikage and jinchuriki occupied.
Konoha also had the deepest foundations among the Five Great Ninja Villages, with the greatest number of major clans and the strongest core force. During the Second and Third Shinobi Wars, it had fought multiple great nations at once, and that was proof enough of its overwhelming foundation.
Now that Konoha had committed its entire main force to this battlefield, its overall quality was enough to suppress Kumogakure even without relying on jinchuriki of its own.
The sealing techniques inherited from the Uzumaki clan were especially effective against tailed beasts, and Jiraiya was well versed in them. Meanwhile, the Uchiha clan's Sharingan was also extremely effective against tailed beast chakra.
At the moment, Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, was fighting Killer B, the Eight Tails jinchuriki, while Uchiha Fugaku was battling Yugito, the young Two Tails jinchuriki.
Orochimaru was under the greatest pressure, facing the Fourth Raikage A head on. At the same time, the Hyuga clan, which had long held a deep grudge against Kumogakure, had sent many of its own experts to join forces against the Raikage.
Kumogakure had made a miscalculation. They had deployed far fewer troops than Konoha this time, and because they had crossed borders to wage war, reinforcements could not arrive quickly. From the start, they had been put on the back foot.
Even the Fourth Raikage had not expected Konoha to completely abandon the front against Iwagakure and throw its full weight into crushing the Cloud.
After the fierce battle had dragged on nearly an entire day, the Hidden Cloud finally chose to retreat in full. The first day of the war ended there.
After all, a shinobi's chakra was limited. Even a jonin could not unleash too many ninjutsu in succession, let alone genin and chunin.
Even the Third Raikage, famed for his monstrous taijutsu, had ultimately died from exhaustion after fighting for three days and three nights. That was already close to the upper limit of stamina in the Naruto world.
Compared to that, the monsters of the One Piece world were a different breed entirely. Portgas D. Ace and Jinbe had fought for five days and nights, while Akainu Sakazuki and Aokiji Kuzan had battled for ten days and nights for the position of Fleet Admiral, even transforming the climate of Punk Hazard in the process.
Inside Konoha's temporary command base, Orochimaru, who was famous for his survival ability, was already wrapped in bandages. He had clearly suffered quite a bit at the hands of the Fourth Raikage.
Jiraiya, even with Sage Mode, had also taken injuries.
On the other hand, Uchiha Fugaku, who usually kept a low profile, had shown shocking strength in this battle. Aside from obvious strain in his eyes, he was completely uninjured.
He had openly revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan and displayed true Kage level combat power. He had managed to suppress both jinchuriki and had even nearly succeeded in forcibly controlling the Two Tails.
That performance pushed the morale of the radical faction within the Uchiha clan to its peak. Their confidence was overflowing, and many of them felt that the Uchiha had made the greatest contribution to Konoha's first day victory.
"The Cloud's forces have withdrawn to the rear of the Land of Rice Fields," Nara Shikaku said at the post war command meeting, holding the latest intelligence in hand. "The question is whether they plan to regroup and continue the war."
"Then tomorrow we storm into the Land of Rice Fields and keep slaughtering those dark skinned Cloud brats!"
The radical Uchiha members immediately declared their stance. Their achievements in this battle had already inflated their confidence, and they felt it was time for the clan to claim greater authority.
"The Eight Tails in full tailed beast form is incredibly powerful, not much weaker than the Nine Tails," Jiraiya said seriously. "If we push them too hard, their desperate counterattack will cost us dearly."
He did not want Konoha to lose too many shinobi in this war. Beating Kumogakure and making them pay a price was enough. A battle where both sides bled each other dry was meaningless.
"Is there any news from the Iwagakure front? Or from the Hokage?"
Fugaku suddenly looked at the silent Orochimaru.
"The situation over there is even more uncertain. If the Fourth Hokage dies, Konoha will be thrown into another round of internal struggle."
Without old figures like Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo, the Uchiha clan might truly have a chance to step into the center of Konoha's power structure.
Still, when he thought of Minato Namikaze and the Flying Thunder God Technique, Fugaku quickly abandoned the idea that Minato had fallen in battle.
What he was really worried about now was the safety of Uchiha Shisui, the genius of their clan.
Was that Brook truly powerful enough to force Iwagakure to retreat?
"Hehehe… I just received good news from that battlefield," Orochimaru said with a grin. "Iwagakure suffered two to three thousand casualties. The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, and the Five Tails jinchuriki have both been captured by Lord Brook."
"Iwagakure has already surrendered and sued for peace."
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire command room fell silent.
Behind Orochimaru, a mysterious black robed figure stood without a word, hidden beneath a mask and strange glasses that concealed his eyes completely.
----------
The moment Orochimaru finished speaking, everyone in the command room froze.
For a long time, not a single voice rose.
"What? You don't believe me?" Orochimaru laughed softly. "Lord Brook is already on his way to this battlefield. Once he arrives, Kumogakure will collapse very quickly."
He spoke as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Meanwhile, Danzo of the Animal Path had already dispatched his transparent chameleons to collect corpses from the battlefield. They stole the bodies of shinobi from both Konoha and Kumogakure without hesitation.
The clans of Konoha had naturally noticed that many of their dead had vanished, and several were already investigating the matter. The Uchiha were conducting the most thorough search of all.
The Hyuga branch family, however, was almost immune to such losses. Once a branch member died, the Caged Bird Seal would destroy the Byakugan. Even if the body were taken, there was little value left in it. If a branch member went missing for too long, the seal would erase everything before enemies could exploit it.
The Uchiha were different.
If a Sharingan was stolen, the only response was absolute retaliation. Anyone who dared touch Uchiha eyes had to be hunted down and killed as a warning to all others.
Kakashi Hatake was practically the only exception. He had Minato Namikaze protecting him, and after receiving Obito's Sharingan, he had kept it covered most of the time. It was only after the Uchiha clan's destruction that the name "Copy Ninja" truly spread across the world.
"Is that guy really that strong?" Jiraiya exclaimed in disbelief. "That bastard Brook and Minato Namikaze really defeated tens of thousands of Iwa ninja? That's absurd!"
And it had happened in such a short time.
Konoha and Kumogakure had fought for nearly a full day, and each side had already lost four or five hundred shinobi before ending the first day of war.
That number could not be dismissed lightly.
Their total military strength was only a little over ten thousand. Losing four or five hundred in a single day was already close to one twentieth of their entire force. It was a brutal casualty rate.
If both sides kept killing each other at that pace every day, they would both be destroyed in less than a month.
Still, the death toll would naturally drop in the later stages. The first day of war was always the bloodiest, the day of full scale frontal clashes. After that, the conflict would shift into smaller engagements across places like the Land of Rice Fields, with squads hunting each other until one side finally broke.
"Is the battle over there really finished?" Even Nara Shikaku, with his frighteningly sharp mind, was shaken by the report.
He had already considered the possibility that Lord Brook might launch a decapitation strike and force Iwagakure to retreat.
But no one had imagined he would defeat the Third Tsuchikage and the Five Tails jinchuriki, while also wiping out two or three thousand Iwa ninja in one go. That was a greater loss than what Konoha and Kumogakure had inflicted on each other combined.
For a village to lose two or three thousand shinobi in one battle was a catastrophic blow. It was enough to shake the foundations of one of the Five Great Hidden Villages.
"Yes, it's over," Orochimaru replied calmly. "And tomorrow, Lord Brook will come here as well and deal with Kumogakure."
The moment those words were spoken, the previously arrogant Uchiha immediately quieted down.
Whatever ambitions had begun swelling in their hearts were forcibly pressed back down.
Supporting Uchiha Shisui's rise was still possible.
Trying to seize power by force was not.
After all, Minato Namikaze and Brook were simply too strong.
"That's excellent!" several clan heads said excitedly. "This war will end very soon! Konoha will remain the strongest hidden village and continue suppressing the other four!"
Although today's losses had already made their hearts ache, the thought of victory on the very next day filled them with excitement.
Everyone wanted the war to end quickly. The sooner it ended, the fewer clan members would die.
Jiraiya let out a long sigh. "If we had known he was that strong, and that he could crush Iwagakure so quickly, we shouldn't have gone to battle so soon. We sacrificed all those people for nothing."
If they had only waited one more day, until Brook arrived on this battlefield, the losses Konoha had suffered might have been drastically reduced.
"Then tomorrow we should just follow Lord Brook and strike while they're reeling," one of the Uchiha jonin said with a laugh. "We already made the greatest contribution today. Once Lord Brook steps onto the field, there might not be any chance left for us to earn merit."
"Enough," Orochimaru said at last. "Go back and rest. Recover your chakra. Treat your injuries. Shikaku, arrange the patrols."
With that, he ended the meeting and left the room together with the black robed, masked man beside him.
After Orochimaru was gone, the clan heads and jonin continued whispering heatedly among themselves, all discussing the same name.
Brook.
They had all come to the same conclusion.
In the future, Brook's words might carry even more weight than Minato's.
Which meant they had to find a way to make contact with him.
After all, this was a figure even more terrifying than the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.
At the very least, no one had ever heard of the First Hokage single handedly massacring thousands of enemy shinobi in a frontal battle, capturing the opposing leader, and ending a war almost by himself.
Meanwhile, Brook continued moving across the battlefield with Flying Thunder God and Kamui, constantly leaving behind new Flying Thunder God marks along the way.
The more he traveled, the more he craved the powers of the Otsutsuki clan and the Rinnegan.
What he truly wanted was Yomi Hirasaka, that supreme space time technique capable of crossing vast distances instantly.
With that power, he could even return directly to the ruined Northern Underworld and use it as a transit point whenever he wished.
"I wonder if collecting the tailed beasts will drive the Sage of Six Paths crazy again," Brook muttered to himself. "Or maybe he's more worried that I'll unseal Kaguya."
But that was a different matter entirely.
Harvesting bloodline limits was one thing.
Releasing Kaguya Otsutsuki was another.
Brook was certain the moment he moved toward that goal, the Sage of Six Paths would turn against him without hesitation.
Still, since Hagoromo already knew Brook possessed both the Rinnegan and the Gedo Mazo, he must have guessed Brook would eventually start collecting the tailed beasts.
Most likely, the Sage intended to deal with Isshiki Otsutsuki first, then interfere with Brook afterward.
If Hagoromo hid away even one tailed beast, Brook would never be able to restore the Ten Tails to its complete form.
Thinking that through made Brook a little more vigilant.
He already had the Nine Tails and the Five Tails.
Obito was in the middle of capturing the Three Tails.
Next, Brook intended to seize the Two Tails and the Eight Tails.
After that, he would have Iwagakure trade the Four Tails in exchange for the resurrection of Onoki and Han. At worst, he could return a portion of the Five Tails' chakra to Han as a gesture.
That meant only the One Tail, Six Tails, and Seven Tails would still be missing.
It seemed the day he turned against the Sage of Six Paths would also be the day he moved to gather all remaining tailed beasts at once.
Perhaps the perfect time would be when he and Hagoromo confronted Isshiki Otsutsuki together.
That would be the ideal moment to strike everywhere else.
As Brook neared the border of the Land of Rice Fields, he finally sensed the Flying Thunder God marks he had left on Orochimaru and Danzo of the Animal Path.
In the next instant, he appeared before them.
Without a single wasted word, he used Flying Thunder God again and pulled both men away from Konoha's war camp.
"Well?" Brook asked the moment they arrived elsewhere. "How many corpses from bloodline limit clans did you collect?"
In truth, what interested him most were the bloodlines of Konoha's clans.
At the very least, the body expansion techniques of the Akimichi and the shadow manipulation of the Nara were both abilities with real value.
.....
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