Avengers of the Whirlpool Family.

Chapter 341: Compromise
Tsunade in the rear received the news and was urgently thinking about what to do at the same time. Jiraiya in the front line learned earlier than Tsunade that there was a problem with his own unit responsible for logistics.

Yamanaka Inoichi, who was the first to receive the news, immediately dispatched more personnel to investigate and provide support, and also reported the information to Jiraiya as soon as possible.

"What did you say? Something happened to Demou in the rear? Are you sure?"

Jiraiya suddenly stood up from his seat and asked Yamanaka Inoichi with a slightly shocked expression.

"Yes, Master Jiraiya, it is 100% certain. And from the results of the preliminary investigation, it should be Orochimaru who made the move. The target should be the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, or the bloodline of the Hyuga clan, because except for Demou, all the other people in the Hyuga branch who were responsible for protecting Demou have disappeared, and there is no body left on the spot."

Yamanaka Inoichi said with a serious expression.

The people of the main family of the Hyuga clan will indeed not leave the village easily, but as long as the village needs them, or if they have any needs, they will still leave Konohagakure Village, or even the Land of Fire. However, they will almost never act alone, and they will definitely be accompanied by a considerable number of guards. The branch family exists for this purpose.

Whether it was Hyuga Tokuma who followed Jiraiya to the front line, or Hyuga Tokumou who stayed in the logistics base, they were all protected by more than a dozen people from the branch families, and their personal combat power was above the level of Chunin.

This is also the most direct way for the Hyuga clan to protect their own bloodline limit.

In fact, over the years, such means have protected the main family of the Hyuga clan many times, and the only Byakugan that was revealed was the one obtained by the Hidden Mist Village.

And today there was a second accident.

The person who made the move was Orochimaru again.

"!?"

The moment Jiraiya heard this name, his expression also changed.

"Jiraiya-sama!!"

And at the same time.

Outside the main tent.

A very high-pitched voice was heard, and the next second a tall man in white clothes stepped in. It was Hyuga Tokuma who followed Jiraiya to participate in this battle.

At this moment, the head of the Hyuga clan also had an anxious and angry look on his face.

After hurriedly bowing to Jiraiya, he couldn't wait to speak: "Master Jiraiya, I heard that something went wrong with Demou!? Is this true!?"

After all, the Hyuga clan is still the largest ninja village in Konoha.

Moreover, each clan still has its own special channels of communication.

As soon as any problem arises with Hyuga Tokumou, Hyuga Tokuma will naturally know about it in the shortest possible time.

As members of the same clan, they are cousins ​​with an even closer relationship.

Dejian would naturally be very concerned about Demou's problems.

"Don't worry, Tokuma. I have already sent people to look for him. I will try my best to rescue all the members of your Hyuga clan, including Tokumou."

Jiraiya said in a very calm voice.

"Thank you, Master Jiraiya. Please allow me to join the search team. I..."

Tokuma first bowed again to express his gratitude, and then continued to express his intention to participate in the search operation.

"Tokuma, although it is not 100% clear at the moment, the intention of the attackers is obviously to get the Byakugan of your Hyuga clan. You are also a member of the main family. You can't leave the front line casually now. God knows whether these people will stare at the second pair of Byakugan. You can't act privately. I have already made arrangements here and have sent the corresponding news back to the village. You don't have to worry too much, Tokuma. The village will definitely do its best to rescue you."

Jiraiya waved his hand to interrupt Tokuma's next words and spoke with a solemn expression.

This is not Jiraiya's excuse.

Rather, it is a dangerous issue that really needs to be considered.

What if Orochimaru feels that a pair of Byakugan is not enough? Tokuma's safety is a big issue, and it is not 100% clear what Orochimaru's intentions are.

Was he simply trying to obtain the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai, or was he cooperating with Menma to launch an attack? With everything unclear, Jiraiya didn't want to see more uncontrollable factors.

The disappearance of a member of the Hyuga main family along with a dozen members of the branch family was already a huge disturbance. If another member of the main family were to fall victim to the murder, Jiraiya would feel that it was his biggest dereliction of duty.

And there is another reason. Here at the front line, Tokuma is still needed for the time being. The Hyuga clan's Byakugan is one of their important weapons in the war.

Even though everything seemed calm at Menma's place, what if this was Menma's plan? Wait until the most critical "eyes" were lost at the front line before launching a surprise attack?

Such a result was something that Zilai did not want to see.

Even if Tokuma leaves, there will be other Hyuga people, but the branch family generally cannot compare with the main family.

"But..."

Tokuma felt anxious and wanted to say something else.

"Tokuma, you have to trust me, and you have to trust the village even more!"

Jiraiya said with a slightly stronger tone.

"!?"

This is clearly a mandatory command.

Tokuma's face froze. After the blue and red changed several times in a row, Tokuma could only nod silently and said, "Yes, I understand, Master Jiraiya."

Following from that.

After bowing to Jiraiya again, he turned around and left the tent.

Looking at Hinata Tokuma's receding back.

Jiraiya rubbed his temples with a headache.

"Haiyi, I'll trouble you to follow up on the next matter, especially in Takigakure Village. We must not let any problems occur again."

Jiraiya said very seriously.

"Yes, Master Jiraiya, please rest assured!"

Hai Yi also bowed quickly and replied.

"Menma, Orochimaru, what are you going to do?"

Jiraiya frowned and thought silently in his heart.

The sudden appearance of the snake caused a wave of disturbance and the situation became increasingly bizarre. This war, in which the five major ninja villages participated to varying degrees, also entered an even more confusing situation.

Because judging from the current situation.

Only the Hidden Mist Village has completely given up its intention to go to war. Although there has been no public declaration of withdrawal from the war, the fact that all the remaining Mist Ninjas have retreated back to the territory of the Water Country is already the best proof of their attitude.

This is already a sign of weakness from a major ninja village.

It can also be predicted that the Hidden Mist Village will have a hard time coming back after this retreat. Through this battle, people in the world will clearly realize the weakness of the Hidden Mist Village. They lost so many Mist Ninjas in one battle, but could only swallow their anger. In addition, the news of the loss of the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails was slowly known to the entire ninja world, and the Hidden Mist Village's status as a great power would become shaky.

Withdrawing from the war was their only choice. But there was only the Hidden Mist Village.

In the north, the Iwagakure Village and the Kumogakure Village were still engaged in a fierce battle. The Iwagakure Village had dispatched most of its main forces, and in the initial attack, it had already fully invaded the territory of the Land of Thunder.

The sphere of influence previously covered by the Hidden Cloud Village.

Now, they are all under the control of the Iwagakure.

Now the Iwagakure ninjas are launching the most violent attack on the largest stronghold of the Hidden Cloud Village located in the western border. Once they can break through here, even a large area previously occupied will be swallowed up by the Iwagakure Village. The areas as far north as the Frost Country, as far south as the Field Country, and as far as the Hot Spring Country will no longer be controlled by the Hidden Cloud Village.

This large area will become the sphere of influence of Iwagakure Village in the future.

The power of the Hidden Cloud Village will be greatly reduced.

This is the strategic goal that Oonoki has always wanted to achieve.

It is also a place that the Hidden Cloud Village cannot easily abandon. The moment the Fourth Raikage learned that the Hidden Cloud Village had intensified its offensive, regardless of the fact that his own injuries had not yet fully recovered, he still led another batch of elite Cloud Ninjas to support the front line.

Even during the most difficult period after his father died in the war, he did not lose this rich area.

It is even more impossible to give up so easily now.

Whether a ninja village can remain strong for a long time is directly related to the size of the area it can control!

Lost here.

The Hidden Cloud Village would lose a considerable portion of its mission share and many material supply sites, which was already extremely fatal, not to mention that this was an important strategic location that could determine the outcome of the war. If it was lost,

From now on, their Cloud Village will be threatened by the Iwagakure ninjas at all times.

It was like having a sword of Damocles hanging over his head, something the Fourth Raikage could never accept.

Therefore, the Fourth Raikage was determined to fight to the last moment.

The battle between the two major ninja villages became even bloodier.

The surrounding countries of Hot Spring, Frost, and Field, including the Iron Kingdom in the northernmost part which had always maintained permanent neutrality and belonged exclusively to the samurai, were all in danger, worrying all the time that the battle between the two great ninja villages would affect them.

In fact, in every battle between big ninja villages, the small ninja villages suffer the most. Not only do they have to provide corresponding manpower and material resources to the big countries, but every battle will bring great damage to the small countries in the war zone.

Many innocent people will lose their homes and loved ones as a result.

This is what Nagato told Naruto in the original work about the suffering that big countries bring to small countries.

But these small countries can only choose to endure silently.

The warring powers don't care about the feelings of these small ninja villages.

The Iwagakure Village and the Kumogakure Village only have each other in their eyes, and in the southern area, both Konoha and the Sand Village are only temporarily withdrawing their troops to a relatively delicate area, not truly ending the war.

The situation in the Sand Village is not bad. Under Maki's orders, everyone is restrained.

But here in Konohagakure Village.

There will still be local clashes with the Taki ninja from time to time. As long as Tsunade in the village does not give the order to withdraw troops, the war will continue. Three Ninja World Wars have broken out in the past few decades.

It seemed like each one would last for several years.

But ninety-nine percent of the time, these are similar local battles.

This was both a test and surprise attack from various angles, but also a judgment made out of unwillingness.

I want to delay the situation for as long as possible to see if the enemy will show some weakness due to lack of patience.

The current Konohagakure Village has a similar mentality.

But how long this can last is a big question mark, as ninja wars are also very logistically demanding.

Generally speaking, each country is required to bear more than half of the logistical supplies, and the rest is provided by the ninja village itself.

Even though the Fire Nation is a wealthy and powerful country, it is impossible for it to have unlimited supply.

Not to mention, the conflict between the country and the ninja village has always existed. Ordinary people may not know about the internal strife between the twelve guardian ninjas in the Land of Fire, but it is no special secret among the top leaders of various countries.

Therefore, in any war, Konoha needs to consider more factors than other ninja villages, but this is Konoha's problem.

Menma doesn't care at all.

If Konoha wants to continue the war, then he will accompany it. If it wants to continue the stalemate, he doesn't care. As long as it is not a war of collapse, once it enters a stalemate, the defending side will always be under much less pressure than the attacking side.

The fact is that Menma already has the leisure to consider other issues and plan some special arrangements for his future.

The Takigakure Village led by Menma is sitting on the mountain and taking it easy, which is also a headache for Konoha. They can't find any space to attack. They want to suppress it by force? They couldn't do it before with the cooperation of the Mist Ninja and the containment of the Sand Ninja. Now it's impossible for them to do it alone.

This is not a one-on-one duel in the true sense. There are too many issues that Konoha needs to consider.

Not to mention the strength that Menma is showing now.

Jiraiya also found it difficult to take action.

You can't really destroy yourself with Takigakure, right? How crazy would one have to be to make such a decision?

And this is one result of completely losing control of the war.

The two sides were deadlocked on the front line for more than half a month.

Along with the news that in the northern battlefield, the Iwagakure ninja had officially defeated the Kumogakure ninja army gathered at the front line, and took down the Fengzhu stronghold controlled by the Hidden Cloud Village.

Tsunade, who was far away in the Hidden Leaf Village, was in deep thought for a long time, also following the advice of Shikaku, who had just recovered and returned to work.

He had no choice but to order the Konoha ninja army on the front line to retreat directly.

In fact, if no orders are given now, it will only be a waste of war supplies. In the Sand Village, the main force has already retreated to the heartland of the Wind Country with Maki. Only the most basic garrison troops remain on the front line.

Troops may be dispatched from the Kusagakure Village at any time.

Although he is not a particularly elite ninja.

But once the number increases, it can still cause death.

Even though Danzo strongly opposed it, Mito Kado En and Utane Koharu still supported Tsunade's judgment this time.

That's it.

As thousands of Konoha ninja troops gathered at the front line retreated to the Hidden Leaf Village under the leadership of Jiraiya.

This so-called Fourth Ninja World War lasted just over a month before it officially came to an end.

(End of this chapter)