When the people in the city saw the enemy retreat, they were first disbelieving, thinking it might be a hallucination.
When they realized it was real, everyone's face showed surprise, followed by complete exhaustion, and most people couldn't help but collapse to the ground.
Uzumaki Masanori also nearly lost his strength and fell to the ground, but he insisted on standing still, slowly adjusting his breathing, and finally felt his body improve slightly.
He ordered the remaining people with some strength to restore order, while walking to the city wall and staring into the distance.
He saw fallen bodies everywhere in the distance, and traces of powerful ninjutsu attacks, just looking at it made Uzumaki Masanori feel dizzy.
He didn't know how long it had been since the Land of Whilpools had faced such a situation; even during the First Great Ninja War, no one had set foot on the homeland of the Land of Whilpools.
Because of this, the upper echelons of the Land of Whilpools had a misconception that they could protect the Land of Whilpools by themselves, and even if they realized the dangers of the outside world, it did not receive enough attention.
The ambitious people within the country were powerless to change the situation and could only take action in secret.
Now, this misconception has vanished without a trace.
Not only Uzumaki Masanori, but the adults in the capital have probably realized that facing a great nation, the Land of Whilpools cannot survive alone.
Even with an ally by its side, the Land of Whilpools, which does not border the land, may not be able to receive immediate aid.
The Uzumaki clan, rulers of the Land of Whilpools, possessed powerful bloodlines and sealing techniques, but lacked independent military strength—this was the awkward predicament of the Land of Whilpools.
In the past, the Land of Whilpools, failing to recognize this, rejected the military presence of the Hidden Leaf Village, but now they regretted it immensely.
After a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to the city with his troops.
He first went back to the city wall, and Uzumaki Masanori, noticing him, immediately went to meet him, about to say something, but saw blood on Hiruzen Sarutobi's body and asked in surprise, "Hiruzen-sensei, you… you're injured?"
"Ah, the enemy isn't to be underestimated either," Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said.
In the battle with Gengetsu Hozuki, Hiruzen Sarutobi also accidentally fell into a trap.
The weapon used by the opponent was truly formidable, not only blocking Hiruzen Sarutobi's Lightning Release but also controlling it to counterattack, easily piercing through the Earth Release that countered Water Release, and other ingenious ninja tools also caused no small trouble for Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Later, Hiruzen Sarutobi, relying on a composite ninjutsu of Wind Release and Fire Release, instantly elevated the power of his Fire Release to an incredible level.
Even Gengetsu Hozuki's Water Release could not withstand the attack.
Using this method, Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed Gengetsu Hozuki to the brink, but Gengetsu Hozuki still managed to escape.
"That guy must not be doing well either," Although Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't see Gengetsu Hozuki's later appearance, he could vaguely deduce the extent of Gengetsu Hozuki's injuries.
"Hiruzen-sensei, what should we do next?
After this battle, the enemy is probably in a state of panic.
How about leading our troops out and driving them out of the country?" Uzumaki Masanori suggested.
"No, simply defeating them is meaningless.
Not to mention our numbers are too small to form a sufficiently strong army, even if we could win, we would suffer severe losses," Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said, "Furthermore, these are just the vanguard of the Land of Water.
If their attack fails, they can immediately mobilize troops from the Land of Water.
You should know that the coast of the Land of Whilpools has already been occupied by them, and they can bring people in without any worries."
"That's true," Uzumaki Masanori sighed upon hearing this, "In other words, we still have to find a way to defend?"
"It's only a temporary measure.
We need to organize the populace to leave this country.
If we bring them into the Land of Fire, everyone can be protected," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
"Do we still have to leave this country?" Uzumaki Masanori had vaguely guessed this point, but when Hiruzen Sarutobi said it directly, he still felt a sense of reluctance.
"Is there really no other way?"
"What other way could there be?
Reaching this point, it's not that we haven't tried our best.
For the Land of Fire, aiding other countries at all costs would not be widely recognized.
Out of loyalty to our allies, we decided to take you all away from here.
You should be content.
You must know why the Land of Whilpools encountered such a situation, right?" Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
Uzumaki Masanori was speechless for a moment.
Seeing that he still seemed to want to argue, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "How about you go see those innocent people who died, and then reconsider?"
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi mention the people massacred by the Land of Water's army, Uzumaki Masanori's face stiffened slightly.
After a while, he finally exhaled and said, "Alright, I understand."
"Since that's the case, send a letter to the capital immediately, gather everyone in the country, concentrate your defenses, and once the Land of Fire opens up the sea route, you can lead the people away," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
The Land of Whilpools was a very small country, with not many people, so Hiruzen Sarutobi could choose to lead the people away; otherwise, he would have to consider other methods.
As Uzumaki Masanori immediately went to handle matters, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly walked to the edge of the city wall, his gaze slightly narrowed as he looked at the enemy troops who had not yet departed in the distance.
"When will they attack again?
How many troops will the Land of Water commit to this island?
When can Danzo open up our escape route?" A multitude of questions flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.
He understood that even though they had won the recent battle, their situation could not be described as very good.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was contemplating the future direction, Gengetsu Hozuki also felt that his situation was not good.
In the battle with Hiruzen Sarutobi, his body was severely burned by powerful Fire Release.
The opponent actually used Wind Release to enhance Fire Release, and its power was no longer something simple Water Release could block, unless he could surpass the opponent by an order of magnitude, but Gengetsu Hozuki clearly did not have that ability himself.
Gengetsu Hozuki felt severe burns on the surface of his body.
With the help of body liquefaction and medicine, he finally felt a little more comfortable, and he didn't have to worry about infection.
He sat on a rock, reached out to touch the burned areas on his body, his eyes cold and his expression extremely gloomy.
In the previous battle, the leader commanding the samurai corps was killed directly, and now the deputy officer was in charge of the entire army.
Even so, the adverse effects of losing the commander were still spreading throughout the army, lowering their morale.
Besides the samurai, the Hidden Mist ninja themselves also suffered considerable losses.
These were all elites of the Hidden Mist Village, and cultivating one required a lot of effort, which was truly heartbreaking.
"I really didn't expect that we would encounter a setback in this place, the Land of Whilpools," Gengetsu Hozuki said to his trusted deputy.
"My lord, what should we do next?" the deputy asked cautiously.
"What else can we do!
Of course, we'll regroup and continue the attack, otherwise, where would the clan's honor be?" Gengetsu Hozuki's temper was truly not good, especially with the pain from the burns making his mind very unstable.
"Of course, this time we can't be like before, otherwise, no matter how many people we have, it won't be enough to die!"
"Should we request support from the village?" the deputy suggested.
"How could that be…" Gengetsu Hozuki said, his expression sinking slightly.
After a moment of thought, he nodded, "Let's request some support.
Since Hiruzen Sarutobi is here, the people in the village should accept it.
More importantly, we need to warn them to be careful of the 'Hiruzen Sarutobi' at the border!"
"Yes," the deputy bowed, acknowledged the order, and withdrew.
Gengetsu Hozuki gazed at the distant town, imagining if Hiruzen Sarutobi was also watching from there.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength was indeed astonishing; although he didn't want to admit it, if Gengetsu Hozuki relied solely on himself, he probably couldn't defeat Hiruzen Sarutobi in direct combat.
However, a ninja's battle isn't just about direct combat.
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was powerful, Gengetsu Hozuki wasn't without any chance of victory; it was just very difficult to find that opportunity in front of an experienced ninja like Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Don't think you can always maintain that calm demeanor, Hiruzen Sarutobi." Gengetsu Hozuki recalled that in the previous battle, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression remained calm, as if he wasn't a powerful opponent at all, which was a humiliation for the proud Gengetsu Hozuki.
With different intentions on both sides, information about this battle was written into letters and sent by messenger summoning animals, trained by ninja villages, to their respective destinations.
At this time, on another battlefield, the troops led by the Third Mizukage were fighting against the border army of the Land of Fire.
Because the Third Mizukage's objective was not victory in this battle from the beginning, his attacks were not fierce, but rather focused on delaying time.
The Third Mizukage naturally wouldn't know that his intentions were within the calculations of the Leaf ninjas.
Danzo Shimura, disguised as Hiruzen Sarutobi, stared into the distance, sneering inwardly.
The opponent thought he had succeeded, but he didn't know that this whole affair was orchestrated by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura.
Both the timing of the Leaf ninjas discovering the secret letter and allowing the enemy to gather intelligence on the movements of the defending forces were meticulously calculated by the two.
The result was excellent: the enemy completely fell for it, and their attack time was very close to their estimation.
Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived in the Land of Whilpools with his people in time, waiting for the rabbit to come to the stake.
"That guy Hiruzen has gone to such lengths, he surely won't lose now," Danzo Shimura muttered to himself.
Suddenly, he saw the ninja hawk, trained by the Hidden Leaf Village, circling in the sky.
He waved his hand, and the ninja hawk immediately landed on his arm.
Danzo Shimura took the letter from the ninja hawk's leg and, after a careful look, a faint smile appeared on his usually cold face.
"Good, I knew it.
Even with the Third Mizukage staying here, no matter who the Hidden Mist Village sent, Hiruzen should be able to handle them." Danzo Shimura burned the letter, lowered his head, and pondered for a moment.
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi mentioned in the letter that they had won a victory, the enemy's strength was still formidable.
It seemed it was time to start the counterattack.
Thus, Danzo Shimura immediately began issuing orders, sending out the already prepared ships to open up the sea route for the people of the Land of Whilpools to evacuate.
Since he already knew the Third Mizukage's objective, his defending forces also focused on defense, while the troops skilled in offense were kept on the other side.
Just as Danzo Shimura began making arrangements, the Third Mizukage also received the letter from Gengetsu Hozuki.
He couldn't believe that the enemy had already anticipated their target would be the Land of Whilpools and had ambushed them there early on.
Upon learning of the Hidden Mist's losses, he immediately felt a pang of heartache.
In order to quickly annihilate the Land of Whilpools, the Third Mizukage had ordered Gengetsu Hozuki to take the elite Hidden Mist ninjas from the village.
Losing even one was a significant loss.
Although he was tempted to blame Gengetsu Hozuki for his incompetence, after all, the opponent was the blood relative of his teacher, and the enemy was Hiruzen Sarutobi, so he could reluctantly forgive him.
"If Hiruzen Sarutobi is in the Land of Whilpools, then who is this person here?" The Third Mizukage's mind quickly churned.
This "Hiruzen Sarutobi" here was ruthless and experienced; none of the ninjas he sent out gained any advantage.
His style was exactly the same as the Hiruzen Sarutobi he encountered during the First Great Ninja War.
Therefore, he believed the opponent was real and did not consider other possibilities.
Now it seemed that this person was indeed not Hiruzen Sarutobi, but he must be a high-ranking official in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Someone with such combat experience and strength could not be easily imitated.
The Third Mizukage boldly guessed that he might be one of the Second Hokage's seven students, most likely Danzo Shimura, who served in the intelligence department.
Danzo Shimura had served in the Anbu for many years, and any ninja village's intelligence department had interacted with him and knew his methods.
And a ninja from the Anbu like him was also very skilled at imitating others.
Danzo Shimura was also Hiruzen Sarutobi's fellow disciple, so imitating him would presumably be very easy.
"Heh heh, I didn't expect to face two of the Second Hokage's students at once," the Third Mizukage chuckled coldly.
He wasn't afraid.
Since that was the case, they would see whose methods were superior.
"Send people to support Gengetsu Hozuki, and at the same time, pay attention to the enemy's movements.
They might also send reinforcements to help Hiruzen Sarutobi; intercept them halfway," the Third Mizukage ordered.
It should be known that in this sea area, the Hidden Mist Village was invincible in naval warfare.
No matter what kind of pirates, they could not be independent in front of the Hidden Mist Village; they either chose to perish or attach themselves to the Hidden Mist Village.
And the Land of Water's army had not invested in naval forces; the only thing to fear was the Leaf ninjas, but the Leaf ninjas would not have as much experience in naval warfare as the Hidden Mist ninjas.
To put it bluntly, Hidden Mist ninjas could probably take on two or three in naval combat.
Even if the Leaf ninjas could send reinforcements to the Land of Whilpools, the Third Mizukage would certainly make them pay a huge price, making them understand that the Hidden Mist Village was not so easy to deal with!