No matter whether Sakumo Hatake had truly eliminated Mist's commander moments ago or if the commander had instead survived and fled, with all the ninja in this area wiped out, Mist's command system was already crippled.
An army without a "brain" could only fight scattered skirmishes on small scales, and the outcome was already predictable—only someone strong enough to turn the tide against an entire army alone could possibly reverse the situation now.
Unfortunately, it seemed like Mist currently lacked such powerful ninja, so their hopes were practically nonexistent.
After storming into Mist's headquarters and completing their mission, Konoha's strike force now faced another critical challenge—Mist ninjas fighting with the fury of cornered beasts.
Within this battleground no larger than several dozen square meters, the fiercest fighting began.
Yet at this moment, whether the strike team could hold out or not had already become irrelevant to Konoha's ultimate victory.
Their fight was nothing more than fighting tooth and nail just to stay alive.
After eliminating enemies inside the command center, Sakumo Hatake and his elite unit turned outward once again, confronting foes outnumbering them by multiple times, even dozens of times.
But at this point, Haseo didn't move. He simply stayed in the shattered room, unmoving.
Only Uchiha Kushan remained at his side. At this moment, Haseo looked as though he had something important to convey.
"Even disregarding that earlier fire, there was actually little value left here… or more accurately, almost nothing. What remains are merely routine documents regarding troop deployment. But since Mist's frontlines will soon collapse, these files have already lost their significance.
If we had obtained these before the assault began, their value would have been different.
Considering that when our assault started, they likely suspected something already, thus beginning destruction of their most crucial classified materials. As long as commanders possessed enough decisiveness and foresight, just a few short minutes would suffice for completing such disposal."
Haseo roughly flipped through the remaining documents inside the headquarters, then casually tossed them aside. Thinking logically, Mist wouldn't be foolish enough to leave behind their most vital intelligence under circumstances like these.
Any written material not encrypted with coded writing nor protected by sealing protection techniques could generally be considered low-value.
Though numerous files lay around, practically none contained content applicable to the current battlefield situation… At best, Haseo could only take them back to Konoha as raw data for intelligence research on other ninja villages.
"Lord Haseo, even though our victory is all but sealed at this point, isn't it reckless to let your guard down like this? At least wait until the battle ends and the battlefield settles down before studying these things, right?"
Uchiha Kushan couldn't quite understand Haseo's composure right now. Outside, people were fighting as if splattering brains everywhere—yet here he was reading documents?
To an Uchiha, such confusion justified a direct question—one that could even carry undertones of doubt or accusation.
Still, changing his address from "Commander-sama" to just "Haseo-sama" showed some progress—a small sign of acceptance, at least.
Even an Uchiha must yield when the situation demands it.
"I'm not being lax," said Haseo. "First, I wanted to obtain confidential intelligence from this place. Second… I've already fulfilled my role as commander. The final tasks will naturally be handled by others. Even in war, each ninja has their designated role to fulfill."
So saying, he actually took a seat.
"..."
Uchiha Kushan was speechless. The slightly improved impression he had formed of Haseo moments ago began crumbling again.
Outside, Konoha ninjas were still fighting fiercely. As these words left Haseo's mouth, maybe someone had just died out there. Can such sacrifices really be summarized with simplistic phrases like "each fulfilling their duty"?
"Then what about that classified mission you gave me earli—"
Before Uchiha could finish speaking, an intense surge of chakra suddenly erupted from Haseo—who until now appeared "excessively relaxed."
Seriously? Out of nowhere? Kushan was completely stunned.
One moment, Haseo looked like a lazy man sunbathing by the sea; the next, he stood poised for battle—
A stance maintained at peak combat readiness.
Uchiha Kushan's [Sharingan] slowly unfolded. In fact, he'd never experienced such a detailed activation process before… Time itself seemed to slow in his perception.
First, blue lightning surrounded Haseo, then shortly after, a brown-colored chakra cloak radiated outward around him.
He lifted his right leg like he was swatting a fly…
That's when time snapped back to normal speed.
"Boom!"
With a thunderous explosion-like sound, Haseo's foot slammed onto the slanted ground.
It was only then that Kushan noticed a hand silently emerging beneath Haseo's landing spot.
Oh, so it wasn't aimed at me?
As a second deeper boom rang out, the ground beneath Haseo's feet splintered into deep layers. Under overwhelming force, massive craters formed, structures collapsed, cracks spread across the surface, and the battling shinobi previously engaged in fierce combat were thrown into chaos in an instant.
Nearby, Kushan almost lost his footing. Worse than the imbalance was the unbearable ringing that shattered his eardrums.
Blood didn't seep up from underground.
At this point, only internal organs would spray out like dumpling filling from a torn wrapper.
Trying to turn around your losing situation?
Under such circumstances, any slightly competent commander would act the same way. It's a gamble, so your decision isn't wrong at all. But... I think I've had enough of these ambushes already."
Letting his men do all the fighting while he lounged in the back? That just wasn't Haseo's thing. He'd faked a tiny flaw on purpose—used himself as bait—and bam! An eager sucker took the bite.
Actually, this flaw he created wasn't fully convincing and full of issues. However, the Mist currently desperately needed such a "turning-point" action... As long as they eliminated Haseo, the Mist still had a fighting chance.
Unfortunately, such thoughts weren't exclusive to the Mist; Haseo himself was well aware of it too.
"Ha...seo...sama?"
Beside him, Uchiha Kushan was still wearing a dazed expression.
"It's nothing. I just put on a little performance. You Uchiha don't seem to like acting like this usually. But... Either that person recently eliminated by Sakumo Hatake or the one I've just dealt with—somewhere among them there must be the front-line commander of the Mist.
Too bad both should be unrecognizable now. Judging from appearances alone, we won't be able to distinguish their identities."
Haseo said while glancing at an exposed forearm and simultaneously releasing his Earth Release state.
However, Haseo's description wasn't entirely accurate. The Mist ninja killed under simultaneous attack from Sakumo Hatake and Might Duy might deserve the term "unrecognizable," but the ninja crushed underfoot by Haseo right now—nobody ever heard of someone turning themselves into minced meat just because they were disfigured.
Haseo squatted down and gently clasped the right hand of the fallen ninja with his own.
"Hello, we're equals. Though enemies, we can meet peacefully like this. Isn't that nice? Well then, please treat me kindly."
What was he doing here? Some kind of performance art?!
Yet if the ninja Haseo just killed was truly the commander of the Mist forces, then one couldn't help but admire that previously mentioned Mist ninja who implied the commander had already died... Now that was a real actor! What great acting!
"Lord Haseo... Did you already know the enemy commander was still alive and ready to sneak-attack us?"
So Lord Haseo actually was such a meticulous strategist, capable of precise calculations and unparalleled schemes?
"Nah, I just stayed sharp. That 'commander' died too easily, appearing rather weak, so I felt something was off... Plus, I've been ambushed so many times before, and lately the Curse of First's Love has been haunting me, so being cautious never hurts."
As he spoke, Haseo instinctively reached out to touch the pendant around his neck.
It wasn't just recent bad luck; the Curse of First's Love would likely plague him until his dying day. A guy cursed like him had no choice but to stay on high alert... You could practically imagine Haseo getting clocked by a potted plant while strolling downtown, much less out here on the battlefield.
Therefore, Lord Haseo wasn't a mastermind strategist—he was simply still haunted by the [Curse of First's Love].
"And if the Mist commander is indeed still alive, he will certainly strike the moment I show the slightest carelessness... Ultimately, I'm just willing to offer some bait."
Uchiha Kushan stayed silent for a while, but finally couldn't resist speaking up:
"Lord Haseo felt that the previous 'commander' died too quickly, which made you feel uneasy. But isn't the real commander dying even more swiftly now?"
"…"
How could he possibly respond to that?
"[Cough]," Haseo quickly steered the conversation elsewhere. "As a ninja, you need to work on keeping things under wraps—you almost let the word 'Classified' slip earlier… I was only pretending to be your enemy, not pretending to be you. How could you fall for it even more easily than the enemy did? Are Uchihas really mentally unstable?"
No, Lord Haseo... Even though the enemy fell easily, you were clearly acting against me too...
Uchiha Kushan managed to hold back those words deep within his heart.
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