Avengers of the Whirlpool Family.

Chapter 342 The End
On the northern battlefield, Iwagakure Village won a great victory.

On the southern battlefield, the Hidden Leaf Village withdrew its troops.

It swept across the entire ninja world in a short period of time. As one of the parties involved, Menma naturally dispatched personnel to pay attention to the movements of major countries at all times. Among these major countries, the withdrawal of Sand Village was the fastest.

In Maki's own words, money determines how much work will be done. It is ridiculous to talk about favors between countries and ninja villages. Whether it is Hashirama Senju or Naruto Uzumaki in the original work, the so-called era of peace created by mutual understanding is completely based on the strong military force of an individual. Perhaps they were indeed moved to varying degrees by Hashirama and Naruto, but if the two did not have the corresponding strength and status, would the Kages of these big ninja villages be moved?
I'm afraid if we really talk about it, it's not a question of being moved or not.

It’s a question of ‘dare to move or not’, right?
There is no need to mention the power of Naruto and Sasuke at the level of Six Paths. Even if they are at the same so-called Super Shadow level, ten Ōnoki and ten Third Raikage are not enough to be defeated by Hashirama Senju with one hand. The so-called "below the Six Paths and above the Super Shadow" must be divided into a separate level, referring to Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara back then.

Strength is always the only means to uphold justice.

The truth is always in the hands of the strong.

At least in this world, this is the most correct statement.

Therefore, it is impossible for there to be so-called friendship between the five major countries, and it is even more impossible to maintain eternal peace. In this battle, the alliance between Konoha, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure is the best proof. After all, the Kirigakure Village still has the core interests of its own ninja village - the issue of the Six-Tails.

The Sand Village is definitely all about money.

If Konoha was strong enough, Maki would naturally choose to cooperate to the end. But when it was obvious that Konoha was already out of strength and the Hidden Mist Village had already retreated, was Maki crazy enough to continue cooperating with Konoha?
Staying in the front-line stronghold for such a long time seemed to Maki, the Fifth Kazekage, to have done the most they could, so after finding an excuse, Maki led most of the troops to retreat back to their own ninja village.

Menma also received the news.

While still considering whether to withdraw some forces from the Kusagakure Village to further suppress and intimidate the Konohagakure Village.

The news of Konoha's withdrawal was also directly obtained by Menma.

"Oh? Are you sure that most of the personnel have retreated? Or is it just a small number of personnel? There is a big difference here."

Menma put down the scroll in his hand and asked with a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at Duolan who came closer to report.

"Yes, Master Menma, we have confirmed it repeatedly. The other side does not seem to have any intention of hiding anything. They just retreated openly. In addition, this is a letter sent by Konoha. They said that you need to read it in person. It has been confirmed that there is no special spell on it."

Duo Lan lowered his head with a look of respect and replied. As he spoke, he took out a green scroll from his arms and presented it with both hands.

A young Taki nin who was in charge of guarding on one side also stepped forward immediately after Menma nodded and took the scroll from Duolan's hand.

It was delivered directly to Menma's desk.

Dispersed perception.

The scroll that is completely wrapped.

Although he did not think that Jiraiya and his people would do such a dirty thing, and he trusted Duolan and others, he still had to be cautious. This was something that was ingrained in Menma's bones. If he had not been cautious enough, he would have become a pile of bones many years ago.

The chakra is completely attached and it sweeps through the area.

After making sure there are no issues.

Menma simply spread out the scroll, and when he saw the contents inside, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Not much content.

There is only one core.

That is, Jiraiya wanted to meet Menma alone.

Moreover, he has promised with his own credibility that he really just wants to meet her and there is absolutely no other messy thing going on.

"Jiraiya?"

The figure of this Konoha hero couldn't help but emerge in Menma's mind. He was once one of Menma's favorite characters in his previous life.

just now.

In Menma's opinion.

'This is a joke...'

Menma shook his head slightly, then casually threw the scroll into the trash can beside him with a little force.

Meet?

Sorry.

If it was a long time ago, Menma would still have had such interest, but after continuous battles and one annoying conversation after another, Menma has lost all his patience and interest.

Different road non-phase plan.

Jiraiya was destined to be his own enemy.

Menma didn't think that there was any meaning or value in any conversation between them at this point. The enemy needed to be completely annihilated.

"Go ahead and continue to follow up on the situation in Konoha and Sunagakure. Also, send congratulations to the Iwagakure Village in my name."

After all, they are allies in name only, right?
Moreover, this war, at least from the perspective of outsiders, was a complete alliance between Taki, the Kusanagi Alliance and the Iwagakure Village to fight against the other four major ninja villages. Formal congratulations were still necessary, and Menma also planned to take this opportunity to test the background of the Third Tsuchikage.

Now it has become a covenant that can be seen through at a glance.

But Menma still needs to determine whether there will be a critical interval in between, and judge his side's next strategic choice based on Ōnoki's attitude, because after this battle, Menma can already foresee a future where he will be surrounded by enemies on all sides.

This is also an inevitable trend.

Menma must be prepared in advance.

This is a requirement of the current situation and a result determined by the geographical location.

"Yes, Master Menma, please rest assured!"

Duo Lan once again lowered his head in response, then immediately turned around and left.

The Sand Village and the Konohagakure Village withdrew their troops one after another, and the smoke of war slowly receded. After it was certain that the two major ninja villages would end the current war, the Takigakure Village and the Kusagakure Village, under different orders from Menma, each began corresponding preparations for withdrawal.

But these are just some preliminary preparations. Before being 100% sure that all the enemies in the front border have retreated, Menma cannot really let all the Taki and Kusanagi retreat. What if the enemy launches a surprise attack?
Unlike the vast land areas of the five major countries, losing part of the territory will certainly compress the strategic space and lose corresponding interests (such as the current Hidden Cloud Village). It is indeed possible to cause serious damage, but it will never be to a fatal degree.

It is different for small and medium-sized countries like theirs. There are only a few strategic locations. Once they are lost, the enemy can march in without any worries about the impact of other factors.

Of course, we need to be cautious and careful.

And even if they can withdraw their troops in the end, according to the current situation in the ninja world, corresponding troops must still be retained in the front-line positions. Even Fu, Yugao, Muku and others must have corresponding time allocation and stay in an area at least close to the front-line stronghold to facilitate support at any time.

And at the same time.

On a plain hundreds of kilometers away from the frontline stronghold of Takigakure Village.

Jiraiya stood alone on a relatively high earthen slope, looking towards the northwest. The Konoha ninja army was already under Jiraiya's command. Except for a small number of garrison personnel who remained in the front-line stronghold according to previous regulations, the rest had already returned to the village under the leadership of Haiyi, Suzaku and others.

Originally, Kakashi and Choza wanted to stay and accompany Jiraiya.

But they were all rejected by Jiraiya.

He wanted to meet Menma alone here. This was his sincerity, at least he thought so. Jiraiya planned to give Menma a final advice here. Everything was not completely irreversible yet.

However, Jiraiya was destined to be disappointed. The agreed time was 11 o'clock in the morning. Jiraiya started waiting from o'clock in the morning until sunset, but he still couldn't see Menma coming. Jiraiya's heart sank little by little, and his eyes gradually changed from firmness at the beginning to disappointment.

"Are you really not going to give me any chance at all?"

After all, Jiraiya is still that kind of indecisive person. Many times he already knows that he must make up his mind, but what happens in the end?

There will still be self-sway.

From this point of view, Nagato is really a worthy disciple of Jiraiya. The two have a lot of overlap in personality. The most classic scene is after the failure of the Konoha invasion plan.

The scene where Nagato was verbally tricked by Naruto.

At that time, I thought Naruto was very passionate and responsible. Looking back now, every word of Naruto's persuasion was very empty and boring.

Nagato asked Naruto questions about "pain" when he subdued him, but Naruto was simply unable to give a direct answer or explanation.

Silence is Naruto's best attitude.

It was obvious that Naruto had been forced into a dead end by Nagato from a 'moral' perspective.

In the end, Naruto was able to influence Nagato just by shouting slogans! ?
This has to be said to be an extremely outrageous thing.

Or it should be said that Nagato actually always had the same obsession as Naruto and Jiraiya hidden in his heart, but it can be seen that Nagato's personality has a bit of "weakness" and "naivety" that is consistent with Jiraiya.

It can be said that Jiraiya died in battle and Nagato failed.

These are all inevitable results under uncertain factors.

This is also one of the biggest reasons why Menma is unwilling to believe and feels that Jiraiya is not worthy of trust.

The last ray of thought.

It was ruthlessly cut off by Menma.

Along with the last ray of sunset, it dissipated on the earth.

Jiraiya took a deep look at the direction where Menma was, kicked his feet, and chakra burst out. This hero of Konoha also turned and left.

Just as he couldn't understand Orochimaru back then, Jiraiya will never be able to understand Menma now.

A figure moving further and further away, two parallel lines that will never meet, and the slowly sinking sky.

At the moment when the two completely overlap.

It also heralds the arrival of the dark night.

The dangerous aura was almost completely gone.

After repeated reconnaissance, it was finally confirmed with 100% certainty that the main forces of the two major ninja villages had left the front line.

Menma also ordered most of the Taki ninjas and Kusanagi ninjas who were ready to retreat to their respective ninja villages in batches and in an orderly manner.

It is enough to leave only the necessary garrison troops on the front lines of both wings.

Especially in the Kusagakure Village, you can relax a little. Menma knows the character of the Sand Village very well.

It is indeed a bit of an exaggeration to say that he bullies the weak and fears the strong.

But under normal circumstances, even if the Sand Village was given a few more courage, Menma didn't think that the Sand Village would take the initiative to advance without any unexpected factors.

Let’s not count the Taki and Kusa alliance that Menma is currently leading.

In fact, judging from the power of the major ninja villages today, the name of the five major countries is already a bit of a misnomer.

The Sand Village and the Mist Village have obviously fallen behind.

Especially the latter, who lost two tailed beast Jinchuriki in succession, the Fourth Mizukage also died a violent death, and has yet to select a successor.

Recently it suffered another heavy blow.

That is to say, some of the heritage of the past is still preserved, but compared with the situation of the five major countries coexisting, it is really very reluctant.

The Sand Village is similar.

The only thing that is slightly better than the Hidden Mist Village is that the One-Tail of their own village is still under the control of their own village, but this is all thanks to Tsunade's "magnanimity". If the person in power is Danzo, the Hidden Sand Village will never be able to get the One-Tail back in this lifetime.

Moreover, the geographical location of the Sand Village is obviously much worse than that of the Mist Village.

in summary.

These are two brothers in distress.

Menma doesn't need to worry too much about the Sand Village. Similarly, the Kumogakure Village, which has been severely hit by Menma and the Iwagakure Village, does not need to be too concerned at this stage. In the battle of the Fengzhu stronghold, the Kumogakure Village paid the price of three to four thousand Kumo ninjas killed and injured, and the death ratio was more than one-third. The Fourth Raikage, who had just recovered some of his vitality, was once again injured by Huang Tu in the head-on confrontation.

Even if Killer Bee is truly worthy of the title of perfect Jinchūriki.

One person can defeat thousands of troops.

But the Iwagakure Village has two tailed beast jinchuriki.

Although the combination of Lao Zi and Han cannot definitely defeat Killer Bee, they can still offset the terrifying power brought by Killer Bee.

In the remaining regiment.

Elite Rock Ninjas such as Akagi, Kamisui Ryuganzetsu, etc. are able to penetrate the Cloud Ninja defense line with great force.

Once again in extreme helplessness and with the situation on the verge of collapse, the Fourth Raikage could only grit his teeth and retreat once again.

This retreat.

This means the complete defeat of the Hidden Cloud Village.

Of course, the Fourth Raikage might not admit defeat so easily, but Ohnoki would definitely force this stubborn Fourth Raikage to bow his head.

No matter how you look at it, the Hidden Cloud Village will no longer be a threat to Menma in the short term.

Instead it was the Iwagakure Village.

In the future, you will become Menma's biggest enemy.

Therefore, after setting up the defense line against the Hidden Leaf Village, Menma adjusted his focus to the northwest area.

If Menma must make a choice.

In Menma's opinion, the Iwagakure Village led by Ōnoki is the biggest strategic threat to his side.

That old man is much more decisive than Tsunade, Jiraiya and others, and much more rational and resourceful than Danzo.

He is a real tricky old fox.

(End of this chapter)