The operation to purge the Iwa ninjas continued until the early hours of the following morning.
Between the interception led by Sakumo Hatake's hundred master swordsmen and the subsequent sweep by the cleanup force—composed of the Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans—every Iwa ninja within a dozens-of-kilometers radius was systematically hunted down. Aside from a few lucky scouts who managed to flee early, nearly five hundred Iwa ninjas, including Kyu and three other Jonin, were either killed or captured.
Konoha's casualties were a mere tenth of the enemy's. Most of those losses had occurred during the initial skirmishes between small scouting parties; during the actual large-scale sweep, Konoha's losses were negligible.
"Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit." With over twenty Jonin—including heavyweights like Sakumo and Tsunade—and hundreds of Chunin mobilized once the enemy's strength was mapped out, such a lopsided kill-to-death ratio was perfectly normal.
In just half a month, hundreds of Konoha shinobi and nearly a thousand Iwa ninjas had been buried here. Considering the upcoming clash between the two main armies, which would involve upwards of twenty thousand combatants, the lush weeds of the Land of Grass would undoubtedly grow even thicker and greener next year, fed by the blood of the fallen.
Hatani had neither the time nor the inclination to wax poetic about the fragility of life. Since leaving the main camp with Tsunade the previous day, he had gone nearly twenty-four hours without sleep. After the intensity of the battle, his body was in a state of extreme physical exhaustion.
However, his mind was in a state of abnormal, hyper-active excitement.
There was only one reason for this: the number under the Juggernaut's icon on his system interface. Thanks to his "tireless efforts," it had finally dropped to 3,341.
While the skill level of the Chunin swordsmen couldn't compare to the Jonin—and was a far cry from Sakumo Hatake, whose single performance had shaved off 200 Gold (a difference like a firefly's glow compared to the sun)—their sheer numbers made up for the lack of quality.
To save her student Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi had spared no expense, ordering Sakumo to bring only those at the rank of Chunin or higher. One could say that, aside from the dozen or so swordsmen under Orochimaru and Jiraiya, almost every kenjutsu-specialist Chunin in the Konoha force was present.
Although time was limited and Hatani couldn't observe every single one of them, the dozens he had managed to track throughout the night had contributed a total of 159 Gold in discounts.
It was a bit of a shame he couldn't shear every single "sheep" in the unit, but he knew that continuing to chase diminishing returns was a waste of time. It was better to focus on his primary objective: getting Sakumo Hatake to mentor him. After all, no matter how much theory you have, you can't drive a car until you actually get behind the wheel.
But while the dopamine rush of exploiting the system was intense, his true material gain was the nearly two thousand Gold he had farmed. Including the leftover change from his Blade of Alacrity purchase, he was now sitting on 2,173 Gold.
It was enough to buy Yasha, the weapon he wanted for his personal sidearm. However, unlocking the Juggernaut hero remained his top priority, so that money had to stay in the bank for now.
To unlock Yurnero as soon as possible, he needed to drive that 3,341 down even further. Even if he couldn't get a "free-load" unlock, he wanted to see that number drop below 2,000.
As for how to achieve that, Hatani turned his gaze toward the figure walking just ahead of him.
As a shinobi, Sakumo Hatake was beyond reproach.
His overwhelming strength and reliability went without saying, but it was his profound sense of responsibility and his dedication to his comrades' lives that truly earned Hatani's admiration. Even though he knew the tragic future—where Sakumo would be vilified by the entire village for abandoning a mission to save his teammates, leading to his suicide—Hatani saw it simply as a clash of ideologies. Others simply couldn't comprehend the man's values.
Personally, Hatani would much rather have a superior or captain like Sakumo Hatake. As for those who would curse or vilify a man for choosing lives over a scroll... Hatani could only sincerely hope they ended up with a teammate or superior as "principled" as Mizuki.
Hatani's mind raced as he calculated his approach. After a moment, he quickened his pace and pulled up alongside Sakumo.
"Oh, it's you, Hatani. Is something on your mind?"
Before Hatani could even open his mouth, Sakumo turned to him with a warm, proactive smile.
"Ah, I actually have a few questions I was hoping to ask you, Lord Sakumo," Hatani replied, momentarily caught off guard by the contrast between this friendly man and the cold, lethal killer from the previous night. He quickly recovered and offered a respectful smile.
"What kind of questions?" Sakumo asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Well... they're about kenjutsu."
"Kenjutsu?" Sakumo raised an eyebrow, his interest deepening. He glanced at the green-hilted Blade of Alacrity strapped to Hatani's back and asked, "Are you a practitioner of the Konoha-style?"
In truth, Sakumo was quite curious about the boy. He had been stationed on the border of the Land of Rivers facing the Sand for a long time; upon returning to the village, he had heard rumors of a new genius named Namikaze Hatani who had been taken in as Jiraiya's first disciple. He found himself naturally interested in what kind of student the boisterous Sannin would pick.
"I'm very interested in swordsmanship, but I've never actually had a proper teacher," Hatani replied. He suppressed the surge of excitement at Sakumo's opening and continued carefully.
"As for this blade... it's a trophy I scavenged from an enemy on the way back to camp."
Seeing Sakumo's gaze linger on the Blade of Alacrity, Hatani unstrapped it and held it out, offering a casual explanation. In the hidden villages, the higher-ups generally exploited ninjas through mission payouts, but they rarely laid a hand on personal battlefield spoils. It was a policy designed to encourage aggression and initiative during missions.
"Oh? You didn't just pick up a nice sword and decide on a whim that you wanted to be a swordsman, did you?" Sakumo teased, a playful glint in his eye.
"Of course not! To be precise, I only noticed the sword because I was already looking for one," Hatani explained with feigned earnestness, acting as if he hadn't realized the Jonin was joking.
"Hahaha, easy now. I was only teasing," Sakumo laughed heartily. He was a kind man at heart and didn't want to keep poking fun at the boy, which was lucky for Hatani, who wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up the "earnest student" act.
"But truly, why the interest in kenjutsu?" Sakumo's expression turned serious and slightly puzzled. "Jiraiya is the Third Hokage's prize pupil, and his ninjutsu is formidable. Your talent for ninjutsu is said to be excellent as well. Surely it would be more beneficial for you to focus your efforts there?"
After all, while one could become a powerhouse through ninjutsu, taijutsu, or even genin, most young ninjas found the flashy power of ninjutsu far more alluring. Who doesn't love the idea of overwhelming firepower?