The Avengers of the Uzumaki Family

At the same time, Shibuki, Yutaka, Fu, Taran, Ajun, and others in the lower positions on both sides also responded.

"In addition, there is the situation of the battles in Kumogakure and Iwagakure. I hope you can pay close attention to it, and let me know as soon as there are any changes."

After nodding, Mianma shifted his gaze to Ajun and said in a very serious tone.

"Kumogakure and Iwagakure? Hmm, please rest assured, Lord Menma, I will keep a close eye on things and maintain regular contact with Iwagakure."

Heeding Mianma's orders.

Ah Jun was taken aback at first, then nodded in understanding.

As a seasoned veteran ninja, A-Jun had seen far too many situations to miss. He immediately grasped the true meaning behind Menma's words: the focus was on Iwagakure, not Kumogakure.

Mianma, who had originally planned to explain more, understood that Ajun truly understood her meaning when she heard Ajun's last sentence, and nodded with a satisfied look on her face.

Then.

Menma also gave some additional instructions on other relatively important matters before announcing the end of this special high-level meeting.

The outcome of this great battle quickly spread throughout the entire ninja world, and the impact of this resounding victory profoundly influenced the entire ninja world's格局 (geju, a concept encompassing overall structure, overall landscape, and overall dynamics).

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 338 A Helpless Move

While Menma's side was finally able to relax and celebrate a little, the retreating Konoha and Kirigakure forces were in a state of gloom and despair. Kirigakure, in particular, was devastated by the deaths of Mei Terumi and Ao, which left the village without a central command system, even though a few veteran Kirigakure Jonin were still leading the troops.

However, under the relentless pursuit of the Taki ninja, they were still unable to stop their defeat.

Countless Kirigakure ninjas perished on their retreat, their armor and weapons scattered along the way. This battle completely shattered the morale and spirit of Kirigakure, a result of a significant miscalculation of the situation.

Neither Mei Terumi nor Ao, nor the others in Kirigakure, expected the main battle to end so quickly, nor for Menma to arrive so promptly. More importantly, Menma's strength far exceeded Mei Terumi and the others' expectations. Mei Terumi originally thought that Menma was at most a level stronger than her, and that his ability to defeat the Fourth Raikage was definitely the result of cooperation with others.

But everything was beyond the imagination of Mei Terumi and Ao's Kirigakure side. The casualty rate was as high as 50%, which was already an extremely exaggerated figure. Not to mention that most of the Kirigakure ninja who retreated were also injured. If it weren't for Choza Akimichi, Kakashi, and Might Guy leading the Konoha troops to meet them later...

The Mist Ninja will have to pay an even heavier price.

However, the Mist Ninja didn't appreciate Konoha's kindness at all; on the contrary, almost all of them harbored resentment. In their eyes, this was a complete deception and trap by Konoha. Otherwise, why would the main battle have ended so quickly?

Most importantly, thanks to the diligent investigation by the remaining Mist Ninja, it became clear that the Konoha side had not suffered any significant casualties.

How could the Mist Ninja possibly accept this?!

Even if some unforeseen event forced a retreat, couldn't they have provided support more promptly?

The Mist Ninja really did shift all the blame onto Konoha.

They don't consider objective factors at all, but that's actually the most authentic and normal behavior.

Therefore, after the Mist Ninja retreated back to the Land of Fire, they did not give any notice. After a short rest, the remaining people, led by some of the surviving Jonin, headed east. They were unwilling to stay here any longer.

Returning to your own ninja village as soon as possible is the best course of action.

Moreover, they maintained a state of complete vigilance towards Konoha throughout the entire process, and immediately used special channels to send news from the front lines back to their own Master Yuan, hoping that Master Yuan could send troops to provide support.

They truly have lost all trust in Konoha now.

On the Konoha side, everyone fell silent upon receiving the specific news, especially Jiraiya, who truly hadn't expected the Kirigakure side to suffer such heavy losses.

Looking at Kakashi, Akimichi Choza, and others who came to report the specific information, this hero of Konoha could only sigh helplessly.

The Mist Ninja suffered such a devastating defeat, which was certainly not what Jiraiya wanted to see.

This wasn't an intentional betrayal of their teammates; it was a choice made out of necessity. After the retreat, Jiraiya immediately issued orders to support the Mist Ninja, but Menma's speed was simply too fast. How could two legs possibly outrun the Flying Thunder God Technique?

"Lord Jiraiya, what should we do next? Should we just let the Kirigakure ninja leave the front lines like this?"

Kakashi, Akimichi Choza, and Yamanaka Inoichi all chose to remain silent.

On the other side, a young man wearing large sunglasses and a Konoha-style vest couldn't help but ask a question.

This young man is also a special Jonin of Konoha Village—Yamashiro Aoba.

He was considered a fairly strong ninja in Konoha.

"Forget it, let them leave. This joint operation was indeed not carried out according to the prior agreement. The casualties suffered by the Mist Ninja have far exceeded what they can accept. We should not do anything more. If we provoke the Mist Ninja's sensitive nerves, a battle might break out between us and the Mist Ninja. That is not a good choice."

Jiraiya gently shook his head and said.

That's how the relationships between the five great ninja villages are; so-called alliances are always the easiest to break.

Even the slightest misunderstanding can cause huge damage to a relationship.

Not to mention today's kind.

Jiraiya asked himself honestly, if Konoha were in the same situation as Kirigakure, he would probably feel the same way.

"Maintain stability at the front, keep a close eye on the situation of the Takigakure forces, send out more reconnaissance personnel, and further strengthen the defense of all forward outposts to prevent an attack by the Takigakure forces. Then immediately send the intelligence from here back to the village. Oh, right, remember to send someone to inform the Sunagakure village. We must not let the Sunagakure village be attacked as well. Inoichi, Shikaku is currently seriously injured and unconscious. I hope you can take full responsibility for this. Suzaku, as your deputy, you should also assist him from the side."

After a moment of contemplation, Jiraiya slowly spoke.

Kirigakure has already been defeated, and it's clear they're unwilling to continue the war. With Kirigakure no longer a constraint, Jiraiya concludes that Konoha can no longer continue to suppress them alone.

At least judging from the current situation, unless Konoha goes all in on a decisive battle, there will be too many issues to consider. This is not a question of whether they have the courage or not, but that a major ninja village really has to take all the possibilities into account.

Konoha is the Konoha of hundreds of thousands of people.

One wrong step.

That means hundreds of thousands of people will suffer together.

Jiraiya couldn't make such a judgment and could only leave it to Tsunade in the village. This was due to the difference in their status, but also to Jiraiya's deep-seated indecisiveness. This is why it is said that Jiraiya is actually quite similar to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

It's just that Jiraiya is more carefree than Hiruzen Sarutobi, and doesn't care about things like profit or power at all.

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya, please rest assured."

Yamanaka Inoichi and Nara Suzaku also responded in unison.

In terms of talent reserves, Konoha is still considered the best in the ninja world, but if the corresponding abilities of these talents cannot be brought into play, then all of this is in vain.

It can only be said that Konoha Village has never truly lost to any other ninja village, and has almost always maintained a 100% victory rate against external forces.

Konoha will only lose to itself.

The fact that Konoha, as the victor in the past three Shinobi World Wars, never enjoyed any of the benefits that should have been enjoyed as the winner of a war is the best evidence of this.

While the animosity between villages certainly plays a role in the power dynamics of the ninja world, the weakness and inaction of Konoha's leadership are the most crucial factors!

Jiraiya's retreat.

At present, it is not yet possible to determine whether it is correct or incorrect.

However, it is also clear that this is a unique style that belongs to the Konoha lineage.

Although the shadow of war has not completely dissipated, the border situation has clearly calmed down temporarily, with the clouds of war still hanging in the air.

Menma did not order the Takigakure ninja to continue the pursuit.

Jiraiya also instructed the Konoha ninjas to switch to full-scale defense.

The two sides then engaged in a protracted reconnaissance battle along the border established by the "international" authorities.

The maximum size of each clash will not exceed a collision between two small teams.

It can be said that Konoha's high-profile attack ended in a disappointing fashion.

At the same time.

Far in the southwest of the Land of Grass, near a low-lying border with the Land of Wind, the Fifth Kazekage, Baki, who had recently arrived at the front lines to personally command the Sand Ninja, received a message from someone specially dispatched by Jiraiya.

Maki was also completely dumbfounded.

Two great ninja villages!

A full army of eight thousand ninjas.

Even though he had already tied up the power of Kusagakure, it was one thing that he couldn't do anything to Takigakure led by Uzumaki Menma, but he still suffered a crushing defeat?

For a moment, Machi doubted his own eyes and ears.

How can this be true?

Maki rubbed his temples, feeling a terrible headache. In this situation, anything he did seemed wrong.

The only thing that Maki is thankful for is that no real offensive has been launched; at most, there have been some sporadic skirmishes. In the past period, the combined number of casualties on both sides hasn't even reached a hundred.

Even fewer people died in battle.

This is also because Machi was very restrained.

As for Wuwei and Karin, they would prefer to see a stalemate. Even if Sunagakure is not good, it is still a large ninja village with more than 10,000 ninjas and a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast. If they really put up a strong attack...

To be honest, neither Wuwei nor Karin really think they can defeat Sunagakure. The only thing they can do is to delay as much as possible. As long as they can hold out until the main battlefield, and Menma wins smoothly, that will be enough.

Therefore, the atmosphere of war here is not heavy.

Now, they have received news of the defeats of Konoha and Kirigakure on the main battlefield.

Maki had lost all desire to continue the attack. Even though Konoha had not officially announced its withdrawal and its fighting strength seemed to be relatively intact, the Fifth Kazekage had already made his own judgment.

"Men, order the entire army to march back to the Wind Valley stronghold!"

That was an order that required no hesitation.

Mackey had clearly decided to give up on the attack entirely.

The reason they didn't retreat directly back to the village, but instead withdrew to their own ninja village's largest stronghold in the eastern border region, hundreds of miles from the front line, was to maintain the alliance with Konoha. After all, they were allies, and Konoha had received benefits from them, so they needed to save face.

The fact that Machi did not withdraw his troops immediately was the last bit of leeway he left.

As for how Konoha should view things, that's beyond Maki's control.

The order has been issued.

All personnel set off.

Although some Sand Ninja had reservations about Maki's orders, they all obediently followed them under his forceful command. This is unlike the original story where Gaara was promoted by Maki, Chiyo, and others (who were indeed strong enough, but lacked real prestige).

As a capable assistant to the Fourth Kazekage Rasa and a veteran Jonin, Maki participated in many important events in Sunagakure and made many contributions. He had a high reputation in Sunagakure, and some people had long regarded Maki as a strong candidate for the next Kazekage.

In this life, it was because Gaara had prisoners and a series of different plot events that led to Maki becoming the Fifth Kazekage with the support of Chiyo and Ebizo. Although his strength was indeed inferior to Gaara, who was the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, Maki's prestige was genuine.

The vast majority of the Sand Ninja in the village still had to obey his orders.

Some of the Sand Ninja with similar seniority also had to consider Ebizo and Chiyo's opinions; they couldn't act recklessly.