"Ha, Lady Tsunade, you have that little faith in me?"
Hearing Tsunade's words, Li Anshi reached out and ruffled her hair, then produced the leave-of-village permit Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him and held it in front of her.
"See for yourself. The Third Hokage has already issued my permit. You should know what that means, right?"
"Wow, it's real!"
Tsunade's eyes widened as she identified the document in Li Anshi's hand.
"Of course, it's real!"
"Don't worry, Tsunade. Go back and tell Lady Mito not to worry either."
"Just tell her that I will do my best to bring back every member of the Uzumaki clan that can be saved to Konoha."
"Okay. Anshi, thank you."
Tsunade took a few steps forward and wrapped her arms around Li Anshi's waist.
"Haha, I accept your thanks, Lady Tsunade."
"Mm."
After persuading Tsunade to leave, Li Anshi wasted no time and headed directly for the village gate.
The Land of Whirlpools had been under siege for several days.
Although none of the four great ninja villages had dispatched a large number of their own forces, the combined ninja from those four, along with more than a dozen smaller villages, amounted to a considerable army.
These ninjas, positioned according to their respective villages, had formed a tight encirclement, trapping the Land of Whirlpools at its very center.
The Mist Village's forces were positioned by the sea, with four or five large ships, each over ten meters long and five or six meters wide, arrayed on the water. Numerous bandaged Mist ninjas were gathered on their decks.
A portion of the Mist ninjas stood directly on the surface of the ocean, their figures appearing and disappearing within a thick fog.
In the other areas, ninjas from the other great villages were spread out, completely surrounding the entire country.
From the sky, their numbers were no less than ten thousand.
The people of the Land of Whirlpools had suffered many casualties in the past few days; marks of lightning strikes, fires, and floods were everywhere.
The ground was uneven, as if it had been struck by an earthquake.
After days of fierce fighting, the ninjas of Uzushiogakure numbered less than a thousand.
They had only held out this long because the Uzumaki constitution granted them a degree of self-healing; as long as they weren't killed, they could slowly recover.
For those with graver injuries, a bite into a clansman with a strong bloodline and a drink of their blood could hasten their recovery.
Fortunately, the Land of Whirlpools was the Uzumaki clan's home base, and it was covered in their sealing jutsus. Leveraging this geographical advantage, they had repelled the attacking ninjas time and time again.
Without these sealing jutsus, the Uzumaki ninjas would have collapsed long ago after so many days of fighting.
However, a majority of the sealing jutsus across the country had already been destroyed. In three days at most, Uzushiogakure would likely be breached.
Still, perhaps holding onto a sliver of hope for their clan head, Ashina Uzumaki, only ninjas over the age of twelve were on the front lines defending against the powerful enemy.
Of course, they had not placed all their hopes on Ashina Uzumaki.
The children of the clan under the age of twelve had already been gathered together.
Once the Land of Whirlpools fell, aside from the Jonin who would hold back the enemy, a portion of the Chunin were tasked with the solemn duty of breaking the children out of the encirclement, to preserve the hope of the Uzumaki clan as best they could.
If they could save even one more child, their sacrifice would have meaning.
Even if they failed, the two children Lord Ashina had taken to Konoha would one day make the Uzumaki clan great again!
…
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Li Anshi heard violent explosions. Looking up, he saw fireworks of various colors erupting about three or four kilometers away.
Seeing this, Li Anshi's expression relaxed slightly.
The fighting was still ongoing, which meant the Land of Whirlpools had not yet been annihilated by the ninja forces led by the four great villages.
From the scale of the battle, it seemed that one side did not have an overwhelming advantage; the Uzumaki clan still had some strength to resist.
"I need to hurry."
"Otherwise, if the Uzumaki clan is wiped out before I arrive, it will be hard to explain to Tsunade."
"After all, I've already made such a bold promise!"
With that thought, chakra erupted from under Li Anshi's feet. His figure flickered, and he sped towards the Land of Whirlpools.
Soon, Li Anshi crossed the few kilometers and encountered the ninjas on the outer perimeter.
"So, the ones surrounding the Land of Whirlpools here are Stone ninjas..."
Looking at the ninjas in yellow vests before him, Li Anshi found a certain irony in the situation.
So far, of the other four great ninja villages, he had only encountered the Sand and the Cloud.
With a fifty-fifty chance, he had run into the Stone ninjas, whom he had never seen before.
"It seems my luck is pretty good."
Compared to the Sand and Cloud ninjas, who were skilled in Wind and Lightning Release, the Stone ninjas, who specialized in Earth Release, were much slower.
Several flashes of white light shot out. The dozen or so Stone ninjas in front of Li Anshi all clutched their necks with both hands, their eyes bulging as they collapsed to the ground.
Swish, swish, swish—
With every step, Li Anshi killed ten men. The Stone Village ninjas fell to his flying daggers before they even realized their comrades behind them were in trouble.
However, as Li Anshi moved deeper into the battlefield, the ninjas beyond his hundred-meter range finally noticed something was wrong.
One by one, the ninjas beside them were clutching their necks and falling to the ground, not making a single sound until death.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed such a thing could happen.
As they saw the figure strolling towards the center of the battlefield, a name that once shook the ninja world surfaced in their minds.
"Everyone, run! Konoha's Little Li's Flying Dagger is here!"
Following the first Stone ninja's shout, more and more ninjas became aware of Li Anshi's presence.
The reaction from the Stone Village's side was particularly intense.
Everyone who needed to know understood the real story behind the Cloud Village's "humanitarian aid" funds to Konoha.
However, since no one knew if their own village might one day need to provide "humanitarian aid," no one had exposed the matter.
But the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning shared a border, and conflicts often erupted between the two.
Whenever the Stone ninjas were at a disadvantage in a fight with the Cloud, they would taunt them about their "humanitarian aid."
And the Cloud ninjas had no way to refute it.
They could only curse the Stone ninjas, wishing for them to encounter Konoha's Little Li's Flying Dagger.
Without personally facing Li Anshi, it was difficult to imagine the terror of his Little Li's Flying Dagger.
That horror of being killed in an instant, whether you were a Genin, Chunin, Jonin, or even a Kage-level powerhouse, was the truest way to understand the meaning of the phrase "all are equal before death."
If you dared to appear within a hundred meters of him, your life was no longer your own.
When you died depended on when Li Anshi pointed his flying dagger at you.
Back then, the Stone ninjas had mocked the Cloud for their cowardice.
But now, facing Li Anshi on the battlefield themselves, they finally understood how terrifying it was to see their comrades fall silently all around them.
"Everyone, be careful! According to our intelligence, Little Li's Flying Dagger carries about three hundred daggers on him!"
"He isn't carrying any sealing scrolls! Wait until his daggers are exhausted, then attack immediately!"
"For now, everyone, get out of his hundred-meter range!" a Stone commander roared.
Empowered by chakra, his voice covered the entire battlefield.
"What? Little Li's Flying Dagger is here?"
The Stone commander's words brought a momentary silence to the battlefield.
Then, the ones who reacted most strongly were the ninjas from the Cloud Village.
One by one, the Cloud ninjas fled the battlefield at their top speed. Even those who were just one move away from killing their opponent didn't press their advantage, instead exploding with their fastest speed to get away from the Stone ninja's position.
"Are these Cloud ninjas insane?"
A Mist ninja couldn't help but mock, "Just a name, and they all rout before even seeing the enemy."
"I really don't know how they became one of the five great ninja villages."
An older Mist ninja heard the young man's words and shook his head.
Still too young!
In the previous battles, the performance of these Cloud ninjas was in no way inferior to that of the Mist.
They fought with a life-or-death abandon, no weaker than any other great ninja village.
For them to act like this, the most likely reason was that this Little Li's Flying Dagger was even more terrifying than the rumors suggested.
Thinking of this, the older Mist ninja discreetly and quietly retreated from the front line as well.
As a ninja who had witnessed the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the Asura of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha, fight and had lived to tell the tale, he knew better than anyone that sometimes, the gap in strength between ninjas was greater than that between a man and an ant!
Without the Stone commander needing to say another word, any Stone ninja within a hundred meters of Li Anshi wished they had two more legs.
And so, a clear space formed in a hundred-meter radius around Li Anshi.
Not only that, but on the straight line of Li Anshi's advance, more ninjas retreated to the sides, opening a path nearly three hundred meters wide for him to proceed.
Seeing that these Stone ninjas were so sensible, Li Anshi did not continue the slaughter but instead rushed towards the center of the battlefield at his fastest speed.
…
"Konoha's reinforcements are here!"
The commotion on the Stone ninja's side was naturally noticed by the Uzumaki clan ninjas of the Land of Whirlpools.
The news spread quickly across the battlefield, causing the morale of the Uzumaki clan to soar.
With Konoha's reinforcements, they had a glimmer of hope for surviving this calamity.
They were not afraid to die.
But if they could live, who would want to die?
The Uzumaki Jonin who had previously refused to support Konoha now wore rare looks of guilt.
They probably never imagined that after they had torn up the alliance treaty, Konoha would still be willing to send ninjas to support the Land of Whirlpools.
Although, from the shouts on the Stone side, it seemed only one Konoha ninja had come to help.
But this one person was worth a thousand men!
The battle that made Little Li's Flying Dagger famous was built upon the corpses of nearly a thousand Cloud ninjas.
Back then, he had been alone.
Now, with the assistance of the Uzumaki clan ninjas, it wasn't impossible to wipe out the entire invading force.
Of course, all of this depended on just how many daggers Konoha's Little Li's Flying Dagger had brought with him.
As Li Anshi approached the center of the battlefield, more and more ninjas quickly retreated.
As for those who were unwilling to retreat, they were already clutching their necks, having fallen under Li Anshi's flying daggers.
From the moment Li Anshi appeared to the end of the battle, less than three minutes had passed.
But those three minutes were enough to make the Uzumaki ninjas look at Li Anshi with a mixture of admiration, terror, and apprehension.
They admired his courage for coming alone to support the Land of Whirlpools.
They were terrified of his horrific killing speed.
Their opponents were also Jonin from the major ninja villages.
But those who couldn't escape in time had all left their lives behind.
At this moment, they finally understood why the Raikage of the Cloud Village, after so many of his ninjas had been killed by Li Anshi, had specifically issued a "special pardon" regarding him.
They were apprehensive because they had unilaterally torn up the alliance with Konoha, and they didn't know how Konoha's Little Li's Flying Dagger would view their country.
"Lord Anshi, I am Sakurazuki Uzumaki, currently the acting Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools."
Soon, the Uzumaki ninja who had pleaded with Ashina Uzumaki to go to Konoha for aid came before Li Anshi, bowing and introducing himself.
In fact, after Ashina Uzumaki left the Land of Whirlpools, Sakurazuki had not only taken on the role of acting Daimyo but also served as the Kage of Uzushiogakure.
However, although the "Kage" of a small village was called a "Kage" internally, the title was not recognized by the five great ninja villages.
To the ninjas of the five great villages, only their own leaders could be called "Kage."
The leaders of other small villages, most of whom only had the strength of a Jonin, could entertain themselves in their own villages, but if word got out, they would be laughed at by the ninjas of the five great villages.
Therefore, in front of Li Anshi, Sakurazuki didn't dare claim to be the acting "Uzukage" of Uzushiogakure.
When he saw that Li Anshi was not carrying a sealing scroll on his back, a flicker of disappointment flashed in Sakurazuki's eyes.
It seemed Konoha had no intention of annihilating the forces attacking the Land of Whirlpools.
Otherwise, Li Anshi would not have come without a sealing scroll.
In the current situation, although the deterrent of Little Li's Flying Dagger was still powerful, three hundred daggers were far too few against nearly ten thousand ninjas.
Sakurazuki thought this in his heart, but his face betrayed nothing.
"Thank you very much for your aid, Lord Anshi. As the acting Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools, I can renew the alliance between Uzushiogakure and Konoha with you."
"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, Acting Daimyo."
Li Anshi did not accept Sakurazuki's gesture of goodwill, instead stating his purpose for coming directly.
"We in Konoha have no intention of renewing an alliance with Uzushiogakure."