Escape From Konoha

"You said that Ichiki sealed herself during the fight with the Konoha ninjas?"

While scanning the ancient documents in Miaomu Mountain's library, Shiraishi suddenly learned this surprising news from Liuli's mouth, and even the documents in his hand almost dropped to the ground.

Liuli took a deep breath, nodded slightly, and placed the scroll in front of Shiraishi.

"See for yourself, there was an accident on the battlefield of the Bear Country. Not only that, Jiraiya's troops also successfully escaped with the support of Konoha. The troops stationed there only annihilated part of their troops. .”

When Shiraishi heard the news, he quickly took the scroll filled with battle reports, opened it and scanned it.

Sure enough, as Liuli said, something unexpected happened on the battlefield in the Bear Kingdom.

While intercepting Konoha's support troops, Ichihime encountered the root Shimura Danzo, and then used the sealing technique to seal herself so that outsiders could not get even half a step closer to her body.

As a result, the Bear Country was leaderless and lost its precious combat power equivalent to the tailed beast level, which gave Jiraiya's troops a glimmer of hope.

Although the troops from the Kingdom of Oni struggled to intercept, they only annihilated a thousand people in Konoha, and finally allowed Jiraiya and others to escape. At this time, they had almost returned to the border of the Kingdom of Fire, and it was no longer realistic to pursue them.

"What's going on? Why did Yiji seal herself?"

Shiraishi is concerned about this issue.

Although he couldn't keep Jiraiya, this incident made him quite regretful.

But after thinking about solving Miaomu Mountain, whether the opponent is dead or alive will not play a key role in the overall situation.

One Sannin cannot shake the foundation of the Kingdom of Demons.

He was more concerned about Yiji's current situation than this.

What happened, you need to seal yourself up.

Is the chakra in the body going crazy?

No, if it were before, this possibility would have existed.

However, a few years ago, Ichiji had almost mastered the use of chakra in her body, and there was no longer any situation where she could go berserk with power.

Therefore, this possibility is ruled out.

"The situation is currently unknown. I need to rush back to the Bear Country as soon as possible. I will leave this place to you."

Liuli's original intention was to wait for the matter here at Miaomu Mountain to be completed and return with Shiraishi.

However, now that something like this happened to Yiji, as a mother, she naturally had to go and understand the situation in person.

"Okay, then you should set off quickly and leave it to me to handle it."

Shiraishi agreed without hesitation.

The matter of Miaomu Mountain has basically been settled, and all that is left is simple finishing work, and the distribution of the treasure house of Miaomu Mountain with Ryūchi Cave. He has no problem handling these matters alone.

In comparison, the matter on Yiji's side is more worrying.

To be able to activate Yiji's final self-protection mechanism, she must have encountered a problem that she couldn't solve alone.

It also means that this is a distress signal.

Liuli nodded, without any nonsense, quickly disappeared from Shiraishi's eyes and left the library of Miaomu Mountain.

"Danzo...Tsunade-sensei, you really exceeded my expectations...No, maybe it was the two consultants who did it."

Shiraishi suspected Tsunade at first, but after thinking about it carefully, it was more likely that the two advisors did this.

Even if he intends to release it, as Hokage, he cannot act like this blatantly.

After all, Danzo is an important criminal who attacked Hokage. No matter what the reason is, releasing him means detonating the pressure of public opinion in Konoha Village.

This will be a heavy blow to the reputation of the new Hokage who has only been in office for more than a year.

"A Hokage who can only plead to criminals" represents incompetence and the humbleness of Hokage. This will not only turn the neutral faction against the Hokage, but also make the people under the Hokage question their boss's ability.

Therefore, it is more likely that Danzo will be temporarily released by consultants.

After all, without orders from the top, Danzo, as a repeat offender of the murder of Hokage, would never be able to get out of prison.

Therefore, Shiraishi could guess that the top management of Konoha must have gone through a very heated debate in the past few days.

This signal actually has advantages and disadvantages for Shiraishi.

The downside is that Konoha has joined Danzo and his forces as such a new force. Some things either don't exist, or they happen countless times. If Konoha can release Danzo once, he will definitely be able to release it a second time, a third time, or even more.

The good thing is that Shiraishi has detected the upper limit of Konoha.

Even a repeat offender like Danzo can make the higher-ups change their own principles, and even the Hokage may be a tacit consent member. Just making this decision already means that Konoha has been forced into a desperate situation at this time, and it feels like it is at the end of its rope. .

If this were not the case, he would not have done such a small trick despite the pressure of public opinion in the village.

In other words, this is all the strength that Konoha can exert at the moment.

All the trump cards are displayed in front of him, and there will be no so-called hiding in the future.

"Thinking about it, it's really a pity that the Third Hokage died in the line of duty so quickly..."

After all, during the Third Hokage's reign, Konoha gave the Kingdom of Demons too much room for development.

Saying this may be a bit disrespectful to the deceased, but it is an indisputable fact.

But it's too late to say this.

After all, Kakashi wouldn't agree.

The current military crisis between various countries against the Kingdom of Demons has been resolved. At the same time, it has also coincided with Yagura, causing a split in trust between the great powers.

Next, the huge state machine of the Ghost Country will operate at full speed.

The key observation target in the future should be on ‘Xiao’.

◎

The Konoha troops who narrowly escaped death and returned to the Land of Fire alive will inevitably feel lucky in their hearts.

But looking at the returning companions, all of them were depressed and their expressions were numb, followed by intense grief, which made them want to cry.

Some of the Konoha ninjas who survived were not only physically disabled, but also had a fear of the shells.

Whenever a loud noise is heard, the body can't help but start to tremble, with a look of fear in the eyes.

After so many days of baptism by artillery fire, that voice would echo in their minds from time to time, turning into a nightmare that would accompany them throughout their lives.

This kind of mental trauma is the most difficult to treat.

Even Jiraiya had some psychological shadow over the sound of the bombardment.

Because every day in the Bear Country, no matter day or night, you are not immune to the sound of shelling.

Compared with the ninjutsu of ninjas, the explosive effect of cannonballs has more impact on the five senses, leaving a deep and unforgettable impression in people's minds.

Such symptoms are called "ammunition phobia" by Konoha's medical ninjas, a mental disorder caused by cannonballs that is difficult to treat with ordinary medicinal stones. Not surprisingly, this kind of mental illness that is difficult to cure will accompany the ninja who suffers from it throughout his life.

As soon as they step onto the battlefield and hear the bombardment of artillery shells, they can't help but recall the fear of being dominated by the artillery shells of the Kingdom of Ghosts in this war, resulting in a rapid decline in their combat capabilities.

And this symptom is not limited to Konoha. Iwagakure ninjas who have experienced several large-scale battles with the Kingdom of Demons have many ninjas suffering from this kind of mental illness.

A station on the border of the Country of Fire.

The medical area was crowded with a large number of wounded people. Because there was no enough space in the medical area, many injured people could only lie in temporary tents, and nurses with a little knowledge of medical skills could simply treat their injuries.

After all, relying on the more than thirty medical ninjas stationed in this area, it is completely impossible to treat the injuries of thousands of injured ninjas in a short period of time.

Even so, medical personnel are still in short supply.

There is also a shortage of medical supplies.

Due to quality problems found in the medical supplies shipped from Konoha to the frontline battlefields, the harmless medical supplies that were temporarily collected and shipped here were completely unable to support the use of so many injured people.

Even though Konoha has been accelerating acquisitions and has even begun to ask for help from the alliance's Sunagakure, hoping to temporarily free up some of the medical supplies and provide them for Konoha's use... In this way, it is still impossible to fundamentally eliminate the consequences of this accident in a short time. medical crisis.

"How are the wounded treated?"

Standing outside the medical area, Jiraiya looked at the Konoha ninjas who were screaming and screaming on the ground, their wounds suppurating and rotting, with a hint of pain in his eyes.

Although I knew that medical resources here were in short supply, I still couldn't help but ask with a glimmer of hope.

But he also understood that the possibility of this was very slim.

After all, he provided the pseudo-immortal talisman produced by Miaomu Mountain, but he still couldn't solve such a crisis.

Because the number of people healed by the Pseudo-Sage Talisman is limited, and there are too many seriously injured people here, some seriously injured Konoha ninjas often die without waiting for the Pseudo-Sage Talisman, with miserable screams and hideous and painful expressions. Like a ghost whose revenge has failed.

More importantly, the Pseudo Immortal Talisman stores magic chakra. Without a stable supply of Immortal Chakra, these Pseudo Immortal Talismans are one-time consumables.

Once it's used up, it means it's gone. You need to find a ninja who knows senjutsu to replenish it with energy.

However, I searched all over Konoha and could not find such a talent.

After all, his senjutsu is only half-baked and he can use natural energy, but he cannot fuse natural energy with chakra himself to form senjutsu chakra and enter sage mode. You must rely on the power of the two immortals in Miaomu Mountain to enter the immortal mode.

For the first time, Jiraiya hated himself for why he didn't practice senjutsu seriously in his spare time and wasted such a good opportunity.

There are obviously so many opportunities to take advantage of.

If you can learn senjutsu on your own, you can save the lives of more Konoha ninjas.

Maybe this war can be reversed...

Shikaku, who was standing next to Jiraiya, shook his head slightly. Seeing such a bleak scene that was like the wailing of demons in hell, he also fell silent. A dim light shone in his black and white pupils.

Powerless.

inability.

The dull mood was also born in Lu Jiu's heart.

In this war, as a military advisor, he was unable to make effective suggestions.

Even if he could think of a good way, he could detect the intention of the Kingdom of Ghosts at the first time. However, in the end, due to the excessive military power gap between the two sides, as well as the leakage of operational capabilities and intelligence, his strategy was not launched before it was launched. Blocked or even ignored by the Kingdom of Ghosts.

The differences in all aspects are too great.

In addition to the numerical advantage, Konoha was at an absolute disadvantage in other aspects.

And the number of people is just an advantage in numbers and has no more meaning.

In a one-on-one situation, the Konoha ninja will most likely lose.

As for the equipment gap, there is no such thing as despicable or not.

After all, this is a battlefield.

The only purpose of entering the battlefield is to use all means to kill the enemy who threatens you.

This is the truth about survival on the battlefield.

The existence of equipment gaps only shows that Konoha does not pay as much attention to the issue of ninja equipment as the Kingdom of Demons. I believe that in the final analysis, ninjas still have to look at their own qualifications and cannot rely too much on the power of external objects to improve themselves.

Now that I think about it, Konoha really lacks a real change.

We still don’t pay enough attention to things like science, and we still don’t invest enough money in this area.

"The medical troops from Konoha will arrive here soon, as well as new medical supplies. They should be able to save most people by then."

In the end, Shikaku didn't finish his sentence and only gave a possible answer.

After all, he is not a medical ninja. Even though he is experienced in the battlefield, he is not sure how many of his companions are completely hopeless.

"This is my personal dereliction of duty..."

Jiraiya lowered his head, looking sad.

Lu Jiu shook his head.

"No, if there is a dereliction of duty, it should be the dereliction of duty of all of us. This war should not have been fought from the beginning. We lack a real understanding of the Kingdom of Ghosts. Lord Daimyo, you are still too anxious."

Regarding this war, Shikaku initially neither supported nor opposed it, and was on the neutral side.

For him, starting this war has half the pros and cons.

What he has to do is to fully support his superiors when they make a decision and fulfill his obligations.

But now it seems that the advantages and disadvantages of attacking the Kingdom of Ghosts are not evenly divided.

Unfortunately, he could not predict the future at that time.

I couldn't pay for my wrong judgment at that time.

"What are your plans next?"

Jiraiya couldn't hide the sadness on his face, not only in Konoha, but also in Mt. Myoboku.

He also understood the battle situation at Miaomu Mountain.

The Great Toad Immortal died in battle.

The pure land belonging to the toads was burned by the flames of war, and countless toads lost their lives in the flames of war.

At the high level of Mt. Myoboku, only two people, Fukasaku Sage and Shima Sage, were left alive. Through the magic of Mt. Myoboku, they opened the channel of distant water and took Naruto to escape back to Konoha to avoid the disaster.

However, the powerful toads such as the Great Toad of Yansu and the Four Great Bright Kings all fell in the war and no one was spared.

It can be said that Miaomu Mountain, which was attacked by the Demon Country, retained less than 20% of its heyday, or even lower.

"You just received a letter from Hokage-sama, asking Jiraiya-sama to return to the village as soon as possible, and I will take charge of the overall situation here."

Shikaku replied.

Jiraiya nodded and walked away in a daze.

Looking at Jiraiya's dazed steps, Shikaku sighed.

The defeat in this war was a big blow to Jiraiya, but it was not the same to him.

I was really given a severe lesson.

Lord Hokage is right, Konoha needs to change now. Whether it is technology or system, it is too far behind the Kingdom of Demons... But, can it really be done? Shikaku thought deeply.

The obstacles to focusing on technology are not big, but system changes...

Shikaku thought of the three clans of Ino, Deer and Butterflies behind him, as well as of Sarutobi, Hinata, Inuzuka, Aburame and other large and small ninja clans...

A cruel reality that makes people feel helpless.

◎

The white room was filled with the cold smell of disinfectant.

After injecting the latest tranquilizer with a syringe into the arm covered with red eyeballs, the unstable chakra in the old body finally became more stable.

"It seems that the chakra has stabilized. However, I suggest that Lord Danzo, it is better to use this kind of power less in the future. Whether it is Sharingan or Wood Release, they coexist in one body. If the body is not suitable, It will put a huge load on the body.”

The medical ninja in a white coat said seriously after stabilizing the chakra in Danzo's body.

The Sharingan and the Wood Release are both rare and precious blood successors in the ninja world. If these two powers are integrated into one, or if the body is not suitable, it may be life-threatening for a young man, and even more so. Let alone an old man like Danzo who is over sixty.

This approach is no less than dancing on the tip of a knife. If you are not careful, you may fall into the abyss of death.

"If you don't have this kind of power, how can you talk about great achievements? I don't want to hear such words in the future."

The bandage on Danzo's face has been removed, leaving only his left eye, and his right eye is a dark hole, staring at the medical ninja who spoke.

The medical ninja sighed in his heart and just bowed his head respectfully: "Yes."

He glanced down at Danzo's exposed right arm, which was studded with a large number of red eyeballs - Sharingan.

Each Sharingan is at the level of three magatama. One of the eyeballs, unlike the other open Sharingans, is completely closed as if falling into a state of death.

However, the medical ninja knew that the power of the Sharingan was only superficial.

There is another terrifying blood inheritance limit in Danzo's body - Wood Release!

These two forces eat away at Danzo's little vitality every day and every night.

From the perspective of medical ninjas, it is not strange for Danzo to die from the backlash of his power.

"How is the condition of my right eye? Is there any possibility of recovery?"

Danzo asked this important question again.

The medical ninja glanced at an eyeball not far away that was soaking in a container.

That was Danzo's right eye - originally the Mangekyō Sharingan of Uchiha Shisui.

At this moment, this Mangekyou Sharingan has long turned into a normal black pupil, and the black pupil is dull and has lost its bright color.

It feels like you have reached the end of your life and there is no way back.

The medical ninja glanced at the Mangekyo Sharingan with regret and replied: "Sorry, the power of this Mangekyo Sharingan has been exhausted and is on the verge of collapse. If you continue to use it, I'm afraid it won't even be able to open your eyes, let alone Don’t talk about using the pupil technique.”

"What about using the rest of the Sharingan as energy?"

The medical ninja shook his head silently and gave a negative attitude.

After hearing this answer, Danzo let out a sigh of relief, feeling quite regretful.

This Mangekyo Sharingan has been a trump card in his hand since it was taken from Uchiha Shisui.

No god!

This pupil technique that can rewrite a person's will is really too powerful.

Even Hiruzen, who was a close friend, could not resist the erosion of this pupil technique. During the period of control, he was reduced to a puppet working for the root.

However...this time it failed.

It failed to control the 'target', but instead aroused strong resistance from the other party.

Not only that, in order to be able to control the 'target' for a long time, he directly used up all the remaining power of the Mangekyo Sharingan at once.

In the end, it failed.

"Chiba Kazuhime..."

What kind of monster is it?

I thought it would be a sure thing for a little girl to use Shisui's pupil technique to control her opponent.

But the result was that although the other party was affected, he did not succumb to the pupil technique.

Even after using up all his power, it only slightly affected her memory and caused confusion in her will.

When I think about this operation, not only did it fail to achieve its goal, but a Mangekyō Sharingan was sacrificed in vain, resulting in the loss of the trump card of the other gods from now on... This made Danzo quite upset.

But this annoyance only existed for a few seconds before Danzo calmed down.

"Bring Experimental Subjects No. 3 and 4 to the torture chamber."

Danzo stood up from his seat and gave an order to the medical ninja beside him.

He is still guilty and cannot stay outside for a long time.

Moreover, there must have been various unfavorable public opinions in the village regarding his 'prison escape'.

"Yes, Lord Danzo."

The medical ninja was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

◎

The border between the country of bears and the country of birds.

The corpses on the ground had already been cleared away, leaving a large area of ​​land vacant.

In the middle of the land, a pillar of fire is burning, and this pillar of fire has been burning for two days and two nights, and it has no tendency to stop until now.

The pillar of fire was surrounded by hundreds of ninjas from the Kingdom of Ghosts. They were scattered in various surrounding areas, sealing the land tightly and not allowing any unrelated personnel to approach.

"Is this here?"

After two days of long journey, Liuli finally arrived here from Mt. Miaomu. Under the leadership of a Jonin from the Kingdom of Demons, he came to the front of the pillar of fire.

In the past two days, the ninjas from the Kingdom of Ghosts who guarded this place had tried many methods but could not open the pillar of fire.

Any object that comes into contact with the pillar of fire will burst into flames for no apparent reason.

Even steel will quickly melt into molten iron after contact.

Not only that, the shell of the fire pillar is very hard, and any ninjutsu that comes into contact with the fire pillar will be automatically bounced away by the fire pillar, or it will lose its sound directly and be swallowed up by the high temperature released by the fire pillar.

"Yes, we have used many methods in the past two days, but we can't wake up Lady Yiji inside. If we hadn't sensed that there was still life activity inside, we might have thought..."

The accompanying Jōnin from the Kingdom of Demons smiled bitterly and did not continue.

"This is the Uchiha Fire Formation...a barrier technique used in the past to protect companions or imprison enemies on the battlefield. However, using this technique will consume a lot of the user's chakra, and only jounin can use it."

Liuli told the origin of this pillar of fire.

As the strongest barrier technique passed down from generation to generation in the Uchiha clan, according to family history records, as long as this wall is erected, it can defend against all attacks.

If it is performed by more than a dozen clan jounin, even a tailed beast can be imprisoned for a short time.

But when used by a ninja like Kazuki, it is even more terrifying.

He possesses chakra that is not inferior to that of tailed beasts, and his total chakra is much more abundant than the combined chakra of a dozen jounin.

As long as this barrier technique is set up, if someone doesn't know how to remove the barrier, even the tailed beast jade spit out by the tailed beast can only stare from the outside.

What's more, the Uchiha Fire Formation in front of me has been improved by Ichihime. It uses Senjutsu Chakra and Yin-Yang Release as the foundation of energy and techniques, and its blocking ability is even stronger.

You must use a specific seal to enter.

Relying on external force, even Liuli cannot crack it from the outside.

And Liuli is one of the people who knows the specific seal style.

Asking the accompanying Jonin to watch nearby, Liuli walked to the front of the fire pillar and began to form seals.

Not long after, a door opened on the pillar of fire, allowing only one person to walk through it.

After Liuli made sure there was no problem, she walked in directly.

After Liuli entered, the door disappeared directly from the pillar of fire.

In the center of the pillar of fire barrier, a girl who looked exactly like her stood there with her head lowered, motionless like a sculpture.

Liuli walked up to the girl, Yiji, and held her chin with her hands, forcing her to lift it up.

I saw that Kazuhime's face had lost its expression, and the three Magatama Sharingan also lost its light, and its color was muddy.

"The spirit also uses magic to seal itself off...is it being invaded by the spirit?"

Ruri saw Kazuki's question at a glance, and both eyes transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan at the same time, like rotating lightning.

Watching Kazuhime's three Magatama Sharingan lose its light, he injected a stream of Senjutsu Chakra into the right Mangekyo Sharingan to activate the pupil technique in the right eye.

"The great god is real!"

A pupil technique used to dispel all negative mental effects!

Even against strange species like monsters, it has a powerful restraining effect.

The pupil of the right eye shines on Ichiki's eyes. Visible to the naked eye, a ray of brightness appears from Ichiki's Sharingan, washing away the darkness in his eyes.

The body that was standing still on the spot started to move slightly with its fingers, becoming energetic.

Immediately afterwards, as if she suddenly woke up from a dream, Yiji stepped back, fell to the ground, and began to breathe heavily, her eyes completely restored to clarity.

"Well... I really had a pretty bad dream..."

Yi Ji pressed her hair with her palms, still feeling a little headache.

"How about it?"

Liuli asked.

"It's okay. The huge and complicated memory in my mind has been eliminated. But it's no problem even if you don't come to help. Anyway, I will be able to solve this illusion in a short time."

Yiji stood up from the ground and said to Liuli.

"As a ninja of the Uchiha clan, I was given a genjutsu by an outsider, so I have no right to say such things."

Liuli smiled coldly.

Yiji puffed up her cheeks slightly in silent protest.

"I just accidentally fell into a trap, and I didn't lose either."

"But your mission to stop Konoha's troops failed. For the Kingdom of Demons, this is a loss."

Liuli pointed out this fact.

Yiji's expression collapsed.

Although she didn't know how long she had been here, at least forty hours had passed before Liuli came from Miaomu Mountain.

For such a long time, after losing her main force, it was enough for Konoha to rescue Jiraiya's troops.

At this moment, the opponent's troops have probably returned to the Country of Fire and are resting again.

"How many people did Konoha lose?"

Yi Ji asked cautiously.

"Less than five thousand."

Knowing this answer, Yi Ji was slightly distressed.

According to the original plan, at least seven thousand ninjas in Konoha should be annihilated and one-third of Konoha's military strength should be relieved.

However, after spending so much effort, only less than a quarter of Konoha's military strength has been solved. To be honest, there is a gap of two thousand ninjas from the planned target.

This is undoubtedly a major mistake.

"Next I will personally attack the Country of Fire."

"No need. The Kingdom of Thunder is starting to make moves. If we continue to fight, the Kingdom of Ghosts will also suffer heavy losses."

The purpose of this war was to destroy Mt. Miaomu and kill Konoha's most powerful ally.

Weakening the power of the remaining ninja villages is only a side goal, not the main purpose.

After Jiraiya escaped back to the Land of Fire, the war with Konoha was over.

Unless Konoha wants to continue fighting, then the Kingdom of Demons will naturally accompany it to the end.

"Then, where is Iwagakure..."

"According to statistics, since the beginning of the war, a total of about 7,000 Iwagakure ninjas have been annihilated, and the main mining areas in the western part of Earth Country have been captured. The target has been successfully completed."

Liuli revealed mixed news for Ichiji.

The total number of ninjas in Iwagakure was approximately 25,000. The annihilation of 7,000 people meant that the loss of ninjas in Iwagakure exceeded a quarter of the total number.

And captured the mining resources in the western part of the Land of Earth. It can be said that the battle with Iwagakure was a complete victory for the Kingdom of Demons.

In contrast, due to her problems, the Bear Country fell off the chain at the critical moment and failed to complete the target.

"In addition, your mistakes will be criticized at the meeting later. It is best to be mentally aware."

Liuli said this.

"knew."

Yiji was depressed and didn't say anything that she would never make such stupid remarks again next time.

If she dares to say such words, the iron fist of mother's love will definitely fall on her head.

She is not a child, but an adult who is sixteen or seventeen years old, and has reached the age where she can take responsibility for herself.

So, she formed a seal, released the Uchiha Fire Formation, and left with Liuli.