Konoha: The Soul King from the Uchiha Clan

Chapter 13 Turning Point

With their combined strength, as long as they don't let their guard down, dealing with the Iwa ninja's chunin and genin won't be a piece of cake, but it won't be too dangerous either.

Led by Minato Namikaze, Konoha's high-ranking ninjas and Konoha ninjas from the northwest blocked the Iwa ninjas' attack.

Once the Konoha ninjas from other directions arrive, the Iwa ninjas will be doomed, and a complete defeat is only a matter of time.

However, the Iwa ninja are very resilient, and even when faced with the threat of death, few Iwa ninja surrender.

Loyalty to Iwagakure was one aspect, limited treatment after surrendering was another, and bringing shame upon his family in the village and making them unable to hold their heads high was yet another.

After about two hours of fighting, at 5 p.m., the Iwa ninja were finally wiped out by Konoha.

Apart from a very few who surrendered or were captured alive, the entire battlefield was littered with corpses from both sides, numbering over 1,300. The battlefield was devastated, filled with the smell of gunpowder and blood. Carnivorous birds circled overhead, and an atmosphere of desolation and despair permeated the air...

The Iwa ninja's stubborn resistance, their fearlessness inflicting heavy casualties on Konoha, with over five hundred genin lost.

The quality of the Iwagakure genin is not high, and the quality of the Konoha genin is not much better. They are all simplified versions of the ninja academy training, and their quality is not as good as that of the genin who are carefully trained in peacetime.

Konoha's truly elite genin have been almost entirely lost in the years of war.

Most of the Konoha genin who survived the early stages of the Third Shinobi World War had become chunin, and some were even special jonin.

These are the elite warriors who have survived countless trials and tribulations, but unfortunately, their numbers are extremely small.

The battle was won, but the Konoha ninjas weren't particularly happy. They silently disposed of the corpses and cleaned up the battlefield.

While the deaths of comrades are one factor, the greater issue is that years of war have numbed many ninjas, making even victory less stimulating.

Perhaps only when the war ends will the Konoha ninjas be able to be happy...

Although there are still dangers in carrying out missions during peacetime, those dangers are far less than those on the battlefield.

After cleaning up the battlefield, everyone dragged their tired bodies back to the camp. Those who needed to work continued their work, while those who needed to rest rested.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Gen was one of those who had to keep busy. As a member of Team 7 directly under Minato, and since Minato wasn't the type to abuse his power for personal gain, he inevitably had to do a lot of work.

Two days later, Minato received orders from the Third Hokage to lead the remaining troops to the Land of Grass, where the real battlefield between Konoha and Iwagakure was.

Meanwhile, Onoki, far away in the Tsuchikage Building of Iwagakure, also received news that the Iwagakure forces that had penetrated deep into the Land of Fire had been completely wiped out.

Although he had expected it when he received the news that the Kannabi Bridge had been destroyed, Onoki still slumped helplessly in his chair when the news actually arrived.

Onoki just couldn't understand why Konoha always produced so many talented people, and why someone always stepped up to turn the tide in times of crisis...

During the Warring States period, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha dominated the world.

During the First Shinobi World War, the Second Hokage skillfully maneuvered and, although he was ultimately killed by a scheme, Hiruzen Sarutobi and others led the various factions of Konoha to stabilize the situation.

During the Second Shinobi World War, the White Fang of Konoha and the Legendary Sannin of Konoha reappeared, and overall, Konoha still didn't suffer any major losses.

Minato Namikaze has appeared again in the Third Shinobi World War, it's infuriating!

This was the first time the four great ninja villages, established since their founding, had invaded the heart of the Land of Fire, pushing Konoha to the brink of collapse, but... they still failed.

If you miss this opportunity, it's hard to say whether you'll have another chance in the future.

Is Konoha truly blessed by destiny?

No, no, absolutely not!

Onoki banished the terrible thoughts from his mind. If he lost confidence, wouldn't Iwagakure always be overshadowed by Konoha?

I don't believe Konoha will always have such good luck, let's wait and see!

"Go and inform the elders to hold a meeting."

"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage."

Fifteen minutes later, in the same large conference room, Onoki and the elders gathered, all with solemn expressions, creating a very somber atmosphere.

"First of all, I need to make a self-criticism. Iwagakure lost the bet, and that is mainly my responsibility."

Onoki floated up and bowed deeply.

"No, no, no, this is the result of our unanimous agreement. It's not like you, Tsuchikage, acted unilaterally. We should all share the responsibility."

Onoki's most trusted elder quickly spoke up.

Upon hearing this, Onoki's other confidants quickly chimed in to support him, and with everyone echoing their sentiments, the matter of responsibility was quickly dropped.

After all, if the collective is in charge, it's as if no one is in charge.

The other elders had no objections, firstly because it was indeed something everyone agreed on, and secondly because they couldn't shake Onoki's position.

Since that's the case, there's no need to say anything.

"The battle has failed, and the situation in the Land of Grass is at a stalemate. Although we don't want to admit it, the truth is that Iwagakure has lost the chance to defeat Konoha."

"Therefore, I plan to send an envoy to Konoha to negotiate a temporary ceasefire."

"Lord Tsuchikage, should we hold on a little longer? What if Konoha encounters problems on other battlefields?"

Onoki gave the elder who had spoken a strange look and said, "Don't procrastinate; make decisive decisions."

"If we don't fight thoroughly and don't make peace seriously, what good is dragging things out besides wasting our fighting strength?"

"Besides, wouldn't it be better to preserve our strength through peace talks?"

"Oh……"

The elder suddenly realized that the Tsuchikage was planning to break the treaty at any opportunity.

As expected of the Tsuchikage, he's really something... No wonder I'm an elder and he's the Tsuchikage.

"It was my narrow-mindedness that led me to this conclusion; Lord Tsuchikage is right."

"Lord Tsuchikage, what about Sunagakure?"

"When the war started, we made a pact with Sunagakure to fight side by side."

Onoki looked speechless and said, "It's just a verbal agreement, does it really count?"

"If that's valid, do we still need to guard the border against Sunagakure?"

"We are close to Sunagakure, so a weak Sunagakure is a good Sunagakure."

"Therefore, peace talks should not be carried out in a high-profile manner, but should be conducted in secret."

"As long as we don't suffer any losses, we'll agree to Konoha's request. Konoha is under immense pressure, so they shouldn't make excessive demands."

"We need to end the peace talks as soon as possible, so that the Konoha ninjas from the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain can join forces to weaken the Sand Village for us."

"Even if Konoha doesn't reveal any weaknesses and the Third Shinobi World War really ends, we will still have something to gain and won't end up with nothing."

Sigh, these elders aren't very bright; they insisted I spell things out so clearly...

The weakening of Sunagakure is beneficial to both Iwagakure and Konoha, since the mission share in the ninja world is only so large.

Whether the elders of Iwagakure truly hadn't thought of it or had already, they all feigned sudden realization, giving their leader a great sense of accomplishment.

Thus, before Minato Namikaze could even make a move on the battlefield in the Land of Grass with his reinforcements, the envoy from Iwagakure secretly entered the Konoha military camp.

The news of Iwagakure's request for peace talks was delivered to Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk as quickly as possible.

Hiruzen Sarutobi truly did not want to continue fighting Iwagakure, and he keenly sensed that peace talks with Iwagakure would be the turning point of the Fourth Shinobi World War.

With Iwagakure withdrawing, even if they were just watching from the sidelines, as long as Konoha decisively defeated Sunagakure, Iwagakure wouldn't dare to make any rash moves.

With Iwagakure and Sunagakure withdrawing one after another, Konoha only has Kumogakure and Kirigakure left to deal with.

Concentrate our efforts on eliminating Kumogakure first, forcing them to negotiate peace, and then the last one, Kirigakure, will be easier to deal with.

In this way, the Fourth Shinobi World War will end, and Konoha will be able to recuperate and catch its breath.

Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi offered very lenient terms for peace talks, with the main point being that neither side would suffer a loss.

The negotiations were handled by Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze from the front lines.

The Hidden Rock Envoy also received instructions from his superiors. The two sides were like fish in water, they hit it off, and the peace talks proceeded very quickly.

After the peace talks were reached, in order to allow Konoha to deal with Sunagakure without any worries, Iwagakure kept its promise and withdrew most of its army from the Land of Grass, leaving only a small number of necessary ninjas behind.

Seeing that Iwagakure kept its promise, and before Sunagakure could react, Konoha left behind the necessary ninja and mobilized a large army to attack Sunagakure's front-line headquarters at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of River...

(End of this chapter)