Jiraiya slammed both hands against the ground. White smoke exploded outward, and a toad materialized in front of them.
"I need you to hold something for me," he said, gesturing toward the unconscious Third Kazekage. "Swallow him and keep him secure until we can hand him over to the Hokage."
The toad's mouth opened wide, revealing a cavernous throat. With one quick gulp, the Third Kazekage disappeared into its stomach. The toad's expression didn't change.
"Done. Anything else?"
"That's it. Thanks."
The toad vanished in another puff of smoke.
Jiraiya let out a long breath and turned to Kenji. "I've been dying to know. What did you do back there?"
Orochimaru and Fūza both looked over, clearly interested in the same question. The explosion had happened so fast that they'd only seen the result, not the setup.
"I had a puppet hidden in position earlier. When he was hovering and performing his jutsu, I launched it at him from below. It latched on, and detonated the explosive tags I'd packed inside. Honestly, I didn't expect it to work that well."
"How many did you use? A few tags wouldn't be enough to hurt a Kage-level fighter."
"Ten," Kenji said. "I packed them all inside the puppet's torso. Figured if I was only getting one shot, might as well make it count."
"Ten explosive tags going off at point-blank range," Orochimaru said thoughtfully. "That would certainly be enough to disrupt his chakra control momentarily."
"Either way, we owe you one," Jiraiya said, clapping Kenji on the shoulder. "Without that move, we'd have been stuck fighting him for hours. Maybe longer."
Fūza nodded agreement. "And if you hadn't helped with Shukaku, I wouldn't have survived long enough to be here at all."
Both Orochimaru and Fūza were clearly curious about other details, like how the puppet had avoided detection by the iron sand, or how he had controlled it remotely. But they were experienced enough not to pry into another ninja's secrets. Every shinobi had techniques they kept private. Knowing the basics was enough.
After a few minutes of rest, Tsunade finally recovered.
The absence of blood had calmed her hemophobia. When she stood up and dusted herself off, her eyes had regained their usual sharpness.
"Let's move," she said. "We need to get to Chiyo's battlefield. We've captured both the One-Tail's jinchūriki and the Third Kazekage. All that's left is Chiyo and Ebizō. Suna's defeat is certain. It's time to end this war."
"Right!"
Despite their exhaustion and running low on chakra, the group felt a surge of new energy. After years of fighting, the Second Great Ninja War was finally approaching its end. The joy of impending victory was enough to push back all fatigue.
The five of them headed quickly toward the battlefield where Chiyo and Ebizō were engaged with Sakumo. The closer they got, the clearer the sounds of combat became.
The battle was still going strong.
When they reached the edge of the battlefield and got their first clear view, the scene was brutal.
The ground was littered with shattered puppet parts. Arms, legs, torsos, heads, all scattered across the dirt. And between the puppet debris were bodies. Suna ninjas, most of them puppet masters, lying motionless where they'd fallen. The death count looked to be in the dozens at least.
In the middle of it all was Sakumo.
He moved through the remaining puppet forces like a streak of white lightning, too fast to track properly. Each strike of his blade cut through puppet strings and wood. When Suna ninjas tried to counter, they died before they could complete their techniques.
It was a masterclass in efficient killing.
Chiyo and Ebizō were desperately controlling their last few puppets, trying to maintain some kind of defensive formation. Around them, maybe a dozen Suna puppet masters remained alive, clearly stalling for time while they waited for the Third Kazekage to arrive with reinforcements.
The moment Chiyo spotted Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the others approaching, her face went pale. She wasn't stupid. If they had left the main battlefield to come here, it could only mean one thing.
The Third Kazekage had lost.
"Retreat!" she shouted. "All main forces pull back immediately! Three squads stay behind to cover the withdrawal! Hold them at any cost!"
Before the words had fully left her mouth, she launched her remaining puppets forward, every weapon they had deployed at once. The remaining Suna ninjas turned and ran toward their retreat path without hesitation.
"She doesn't waste time," Orochimaru said. "The second she realized the situation, she bolted."
"Get word to our nearby forces," Jiraiya ordered. "Pursue the retreating Suna ninjas, but don't chase too far. Watch for ambushes. They know the desert terrain better than we do. No need to take unnecessary risks now that victory's ours."
They stopped and watched as Konoha ninjas began flowing onto the battlefield, chasing after the retreating Suna forces. With Chiyo and Ebizō determined to escape and the Third Kazekage already captured, there was no point wasting strength on a pursuit that didn't matter. The war was won. Everything else was just cleanup.
Sakumo finished destroying the last of Chiyo's puppets and sheathed his blade. The chakra dissipated as he walked over to them. His hair was streaked with dust and sand, and blood still dripped from his weapon, but he showed no signs of fatigue.
"Why are you here?" he asked. "Did the Third Kazekage retreat?"
"Retreat?" Jiraiya grinned proudly. "No. We captured him alive."
Sakumo's expression shifted to disbelief. The original mission had been for Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade to stall the Third Kazekage while he led the main offensive against Suna's puppet forces. He'd never imagined they'd actually capture the Kazekage alive.
"And not just him," Jiraiya added, clearly enjoying Sakumo's reaction. "We also captured the One-Tail's jinchūriki."
Sakumo was silent for a long moment. He understood better than most how difficult it was to capture a Kage-level opponent alive. Ten times harder than killing them outright. With both the Third Kazekage and the One-Tail's jinchūriki in Konoha's custody, the upcoming negotiations with Suna would be completely one-sided.
"Suna's going to pay dearly for this war," he finally said.
"They'd better," Tsunade said fiercely, clenching her fist. "We've lost too many people. Suna has to pay the price for that."
She looked toward Kenji. "We couldn't have captured the Third Kazekage without this guy. His ambush made the whole thing possible. Otherwise we'd still be fighting that bastard when the sun came up tomorrow."
Kenji felt a bit uncomfortable under the sudden attention. "I just provided support. It was everyone's teamwork that actually brought him down."
Jiraiya said, slapping him on the back hard enough to make him stumble. "Without your explosive tag ambush, we never would've gotten the opening we needed. I'm telling the Hokage about this personally. You're getting a major commendation."
"That's right," Fūza chimed in. "Without your help against Shukaku, I wouldn't have survived long enough to capture the jinchūriki."
"Enough arguing," Tsunade cut in. "I'll personally recommend you for a commendation to the Hokage. That's settled."
Seeing how determined she was, Kenji just nodded and didn't argue further.
Sakumo stepped forward, extending his hand with a smile. "I'm Hatake Sakumo. It's good to meet you."
"The honor's mine," Kenji replied, shaking his hand. "I've heard a lot about the Konoha's White Fang. I didn't expect to meet you so soon."
At this point in time, Sakumo's reputation and influence in the shinobi world far exceeded even the Third Hokage's students. His name alone was enough to make enemy ninjas retreat. Of course, that fame would eventually become a weapon used against him by people who should've been allies.
"That's just a nickname," Sakumo said with a laugh. "Nothing legendary about it."
Kenji studied him for a moment. Looking at the man's smile, it was hard to imagine that this warrior would one day take his own life because of baseless accusations and village politics.
Such a waste. Such an injustice. What a sad world.
He silently resolved to find a way to prevent that outcome if he could. A true warrior should die on the battlefield facing enemies, not by his own hand because his village had turned against him.
Within the hour, Konoha forces had finished eliminating the Suna ninjas who'd stayed behind to cover the retreat. Unfortunately, Chiyo and Ebizō had already escaped with their main force. But no one was particularly concerned about that. Suna's retreat meant the war was over. All that remained was the political negotiation between the two nations.
The Land of Wind was nothing but endless desert. It held no strategic value for Konoha. There was no point in pursuing. With the Third Kazekage and the One-Tail's jinchūriki captured alive, Konoha's victory was already guaranteed.
The golden light of sunset spread across the battlefield. The sounds of combat gradually faded, replaced by the cheers of victorious Konoha ninjas. People were embracing, laughing, crying with relief that they'd survived. Kenji stood among the crowd, looking at the distant sky turned red by the setting sun. He knew that while the Second Great Ninja War had ended, peace wouldn't last. In just a few years, the Third Great Ninja War would break out.
He needed to use this brief period of peace to grow stronger, as fast as possible.
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40 Advance Chapters!