The Avengers of the Uzumaki Family

"Leave this to me. You two should go back to the fortress and rest. Today is only the first day. Although we have won, the situation is still very serious. We can't waste a single second."

Ah Jun said seriously.

"Ah."

"Yes!"

After nodding in response, Fu and Wugou swayed and headed back towards the fortress, one after the other.

A Jun immediately threw himself into the more intensive and important work of repairing the barriers and mechanisms.

Leaving aside the fact that the Hidden Light Village side is currently in high spirits and making post-battle preparations, they are still carrying out these preparations.

The morale of the retreating Iwa ninja was at rock bottom. The three who led the rearguard, Hirotsuchi, Rōshi, and Han, all had gloomy expressions. Rōshi, who had returned to his human form, looked particularly miserable.

This is due to the powerful regenerative abilities of the Jinchūriki.

If it were any other ninja, even if they weren't dead, they'd be lying unconscious to the side right now, thinking they could move on their own!?

The Han on one side is only slightly stronger than Lao Zi.

He also had injuries of varying degrees all over his body.

His breath was extremely weak.

The only person who maintained full combat strength was Huang Tu, but when he saw the miserable state of his own side, Huang Tu's expression was truly extremely gloomy.

Let's not even talk about the injuries sustained by the two Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.

The casualties of the main force far exceeded Huang Tu's expectations, and the battle had only lasted for a little over an hour.

The Iwa ninja suffered over a thousand casualties.

The proportion of those killed in battle also reached one-third.

Huang Tu could hardly believe his ears and eyes.

"Lord Loess? What are we going to do next?"

Hei Mu, who was standing to one side, also approached and looked at Huang Tu with a questioning expression.

"Break camp and retreat. Let's rest for a while, then find out where Lord Tsuchikage is. Report the information here immediately, especially the information about that black monster. Let Lord Tsuchikage make the judgment later."

After a short silence, Huang Tu slowly spoke.

If we must say the casualties were huge.

It's not really true.

Their total number of Iwa ninja is close to six thousand. A thousand casualties may not be considered a serious blow, but the damage to morale will take a long time to recover from. There are also issues with Rōshi and Han.

Huang Tu glanced at the expressionless Lao Zi as if it were an unintentional gesture, and silently shook his head in his heart.

"Yes, Lord Huangtu."

Kuroki responded respectfully.

He then vanished in a flash.

Even the usually stubborn Old Purple remained silent in the face of Huang Tu's obvious conservative retreat. Old Purple may have a fiery temper, but he was not stupid. He knew all too well that with the current strength of his village, it would be difficult to conquer the fortress in front of him.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 456 Onoki's Judgment

The Iwa ninja army continued their retreat with this heavy atmosphere all the way.

After retreating to a position hundreds of miles away from the Hidden Light Village fortress, Huang Tu ordered the Iwa ninja to re-establish their camp, make arrangements for the wounded, and also dispatched a large number of reconnaissance personnel.

Although it is highly likely that the other side would not take the initiative to attack them from the fortress under normal circumstances, all potential risks should still be nipped in the bud, even though they are far from being at the point of being paranoid and seeing enemies everywhere.

But mentally they were definitely at a disadvantage.

If their morale were to collapse further due to some minor issues, they wouldn't even need to wait for their Tsuchikage father to arrive; they could simply head home.

That's about it so far.

This war, which began less than three days ago when the troops crossed the border from their own ninja village and officially marched into the enemy territory, has been exceeding Huang Tu's expectations.

This is a war course that ordinary people cannot grasp.

After a fierce clash, a temporary period of 'calm' ensued. The Iwa ninja did not launch an attack, and the Kōnin at the fortress, under the overall coordination of A-Jun, Wu-Gou, and Fu, focused on further consolidating the fortress's defenses. Both sides tacitly agreed to only send out scouts from their respective units to investigate each other's information in detail.

The major battle quickly devolved into localized clashes and skirmishes between small units.

Ah Jun, Wu Gou, and the others were happy to use this method to buy time.

Huang Tu and the others were simply waiting for the arrival of their Third Tsuchikage.

This territory of the Land of Waterfalls was stained red with blood.

Each side had its own concerns, and the reconnaissance personnel they dispatched, though seemingly few in number, actually suffered double-digit casualties.

The final result was that not a single piece of useful information was collected.

And it was after these two days that...

Onoki finally arrived at the front line with his personal bodyguards.

"Welcome, Lord Tsuchikage."

Outside the camp.

Huang Tu, Lao Zi, Han, and other important Jonin, including Kuroki, all bowed and greeted the arriving Onoki.

Even if it's Lao Zi.

Even in public, he still maintained basic respect for Onoki.

That's the Tsuchikage, who held supreme power in his own ninja village for a full fifty years.

"Okay, let's go in first."

Onoki, with a stern expression, nodded slightly and said.

"Yes!"

On his way here, Onoki had already heard the news that his village's first all-out attack had failed.

Honestly.

Ohnoki was not entirely unprepared.

But this is exactly the situation we've come to.

Ohnoki still couldn't accept it.

His own son, along with two Jinchuriki from the ninja village, and an army of over five thousand ninjas.

Let's not even talk about achieving a complete breakthrough.

They even ended up with a bloody head injury.

It would be a miracle if Ohnoki could still be in a good mood.

"This time it was my fault for poor command. I beg the Tsuchikage to punish me."

Back in the central command tent.

Just then, Onoki sat down in the main seat.

Huang Tu then stepped to a nearby spot to apologize.

In any clash of wars, regardless of the factors, if the war ends in defeat, the primary responsibility will inevitably fall on the commander.

Not to mention, given their special status as members of the Loess Plateau, they need to take the initiative to step forward and shoulder more responsibility.

"Alright, let's talk about assigning responsibility after the war is over. The key issue now is the enemy at hand. Lao Zi and Han, you two tell me in detail what this so-called monster born from the Box of Bliss is all about."

Onoki waved his hand, stopping Yotsuchi from further apologizing, and turned to look at Lao Zi and Han.

The monster in the Box of Bliss.

This was the most basic information that Onoki had received before, but he didn't know how strong this monster was, what kind of techniques it used, or what its weaknesses were. He needed to ask Rōshi and Han, who had fought against it, to provide more detailed information.

When Lao Zi and Han heard what Ōnoki said, they exchanged a glance, and Lao Zi was clearly still very unhappy.

Han then spoke up, saying, "Yes, Third Generation Lord, this monster, which was conceived in the Box of Bliss, is named Satoru, and is..."

He gradually reported all the ancient information he had learned from the Five-Tails, as well as all the insights he had gained during the battle, to Onoki.

To be honest.

The battle two days ago left a very deep impression on Han. More than ten years ago, he had fought against the Eight-Tails of Kumogakure. If it weren't for Lao Zi's timely support, he would have been defeated without a doubt. The Eight-Tails in its complete form was no match for them, but with Lao Zi's arrival, the two of them working together could hold off the Eight-Tails, and even gain a slight advantage later on.

Strictly speaking, they were evenly matched.

But the monster born from this box of bliss is not like that.

Strength and speed.

All of them are above these tailed beasts.

They also have a certain degree of predictive ability.

And like the tailed beasts, they don't have a real physical existence. They are weapons created from the Paradise Box, fed on chakra. Such beings are the most dangerous.

As Han continued his explanation, Onoki's expression grew increasingly serious.

Let's not even talk about overestimating the other side. The sheer strength they're displaying right now is enough to prove that the monster born from this Box of Bliss is comparable to the Eight-Tails. Back then, Iwagakure paid an incredibly heavy price to kill the Third Raikage.

Now we need to take down this monster.

Wouldn't that be even more outrageous?!

They weren't fighting alone; they had nearly two thousand Light Ninja working alongside them, and the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki was also present.

If it really comes down to a direct confrontation, who will be the one who suffers in the end?

A Pyrrhic victory cannot be considered a win at all.

This isn't a one-on-one duel. There are other ninja villages in the ninja world eyeing them covetously. They've gone to great lengths to defeat the Hidden Light Village's defenses, but what will the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Cloud Village do to reap the benefits?

Isn't this just doing all the work for someone else's benefit?!

Onoki's brows were also completely furrowed.