Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

Ninjas are tools for carrying out missions.

As low-ranking ninjas, they had no right to question orders from their superiors; they could only carry out missions like tools until their deaths. This was the helplessness of low-ranking ninjas, who had no idea why their actions were justified.

"Leave one person behind to use Wind Release to slow down the monsters' recovery!"

The Sand Ninja leader shouted loudly.

They were unable to completely "kill" the Edo Tensei ninja.

However, persistent injuries can slow down the recovery process. The number of living ninjas is still superior, so by sheer numbers, they can still reach the Konoha lines by sheer numbers.

"For Sunagakure!"

"Charge!!"

The Sand Village Chunin led the charge.

But soon, his shouts were drowned out by the explosions brought by the Edo Tensei ninja.

The carnage, with limbs flying everywhere, continued to unfold in the night.

This fierce battle is just a small microcosm of the Sunagakure's madness tonight.

...

Flames surged across the horizon, and the booming explosions echoed throughout the entire border front.

Such a tremendous commotion startled Shen Er. With his hands behind his back, he slowly walked out of the recuperation room, quietly looking down at the distant flames of war, feeling the intense aura of death.

Zhili immediately stood close to him and reported, "Sunagakure has launched a full-scale attack."

"I'm afraid they came for you."

As a purple grim reaper who emerged from the Warring States period, Chiri is no mere pretty face.

She has her own assessment of the battlefield situation.

"I know……"

Shen Er narrowed his eyes slightly, guessing that an assassination attempt against him was already on its way. He just didn't know how the Sand Village's assassination would unfold.

Now, he has two choices:

Firstly, staying on the front lines, under the layers of protection of the Konoha ninjas, is relatively safe, but one must always be on guard against possible assassinations.

Secondly, evacuate immediately. He has already done enough, and no one will blame him for it. Returning to Konoha means absolute safety, but there may be dangers on the way.

Therefore, Shen'er's choice is

Chapter 139 The Zen Temple let out a roar, the heavens and earth trembled, and the tailed beast fled.

"We're retreating."

"?"

Zhili paused for a moment, somewhat surprised.

She had assumed that, given Shen'er's personality, she would choose to stay on the front lines and fight alongside the Konoha ninjas. Given the ever-present threat of assassination, staying with her comrades might be the safest option.

"The Sand Village's sudden all-out attack was forced out by my Zen Release Ninjutsu."

Shen Er calmly analyzed the situation: "Their target is me. If I stay here, I will put others in danger because of me. If we leave the front line, we can draw away the forces targeting me."

There's no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days.

Rather than suffer prolonged and exhausting pain, I prefer short-term pain. I deliberately create an opening to lure out the assassination forces prepared by Sunagakure as soon as possible, and then let the Demon King Gojuri slaughter them all.

Chiri nodded, indicating that she would unconditionally support whatever choice Shen made.

During a break from packing.

Shen Er suddenly raised his head and looked in a certain direction in the night.

"What's wrong?" Zhili asked, puzzled.

In an instant, countless plans flashed through Shen'er's mind, and he slowly said, "We might have to leave a little later."

...

Just now...

The Sun Wukong inside him reminded him in an extremely serious tone: "Hey! Shen Er, I can sense Isobu's presence."

He even recalled that the other party had said before that being able to sense Isobu meant that the Three-Tails Jinchuriki was less than three kilometers away. If they could get closer to within one kilometer, they could establish a secret communication.

Three kilometers is a very dangerous and ambiguous distance.

The Three-Tails Jinchuriki appeared at the scene of the great battle late at night, his intentions were self-evident.

They're either here to assassinate him, or to target the Konoha ninja on the front lines. If he doesn't retreat, the Tailed Beast Ball will be aimed at him; if he retreats, assassination squads will attack... By daring to bring a Jinchuriki to the front lines, Sunagakure has clearly used some means to reach an agreement between the Jinchuriki and the Three-Tails.

Three-Tails Chakra Mode? Tailed Beast Transformation? Tailed Beast Ball?

All of these are possible.

only……

She glanced at Chiri beside her. With Chiri there, the mere three tails were nothing to fear.

The Sand Village's plan is impossible to realize, but if Chiri's existence is exposed, the assassination forces targeting him will probably be hesitant to act.

Is there a better way to handle this?

The answer is yes.

Shen Er immediately asked himself, "Sun Wukong, are you confident you can persuade Isobu?"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Sun Wukong was confused again.

"Make it not cooperate with the Jinchūriki to release the Tailed Beast Ball, anything else is fine."

With the situation urgent, Sun Wukong didn't have time to argue with Shen'er about any deals. He started to analyze the situation seriously: "Isobu is actually very laid-back. He's the laziest among us tailed beasts. He used to lie motionless on the surface of the sea for a whole year."

"A thousand years ago, it was punished by a sage for assisting in the creation of poisonous ninjutsu. So it doesn't really have any good feelings towards humans, and it's even less likely that it would easily assist humans in battle. It's very likely that it was forced into it."

"The desert is short of water, so it makes some trade with humans."

Sun Wukong concluded, "If I were to intervene, I could probably persuade it to stop."

The tailed beasts still held some reverence for the Sage of Six Paths.

Especially for someone like Isobu, who was once reprimanded by the Sage of Six Paths, there would be psychological trauma. Whether it was assisting the Sand Village ninja in making poison or participating in the war, both were considered violations of the rules.

We are still in the era of World War I.

As far as I know, in the original timeline of the Ninja Wars, it was probably not until the Third Shinobi World War that the Tailed Beasts began to assist the Jinchuriki in battle.

This is also the source of Shen Er's confidence in persuading the Tailed Beasts to surrender.

Your tailed beast brothers are still being tortured and howling by those despicable humans, and you, a tailed beast who has been reprimanded by the sage, dare to help humans? Aren't you afraid that the sage will punish you if he finds out?

There are immortals three feet above your head!

Another point is that he is considered a "prophetic child" in Sun Wukong's mind. Even if he said that if Sun Wukong and Isobu had a secret conversation, Sun Wukong would probably bring up this secret message on his own initiative.

If this secret were told by Jin, who is human, given that the two sides are currently enemies, Isobu would most likely just consider it a lie told by Jin to save his own life and would not believe it.

But when these words came from his good friend Yotsuba, the meaning was completely different.

Let heroes persuade heroes! Let tailed beasts persuade tailed beasts!

Even if it doesn't completely make Isobu abandon his secret deal with Sunagakure, surely it can at least prevent Isobu from using the highly destructive Tailed Beast Ball?

There is a famous scene involving Zhang Fei in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

A roar from Dangyang Bridge caused the sky to collapse, the earth to split, and the water to flow backward.

Once Sun Wukong successfully persuades Isobu in the secret talks and reaches a new agreement, he could even recreate that famous scene, shielding all the Konoha ninja behind him and then driving back the Three-Tails...

As for whether it will arouse suspicion afterward, Er has already thought of an explanation.

This was the plan that Shen Er came up with in a flash.

Of course, there is another possibility. Isobu was truly tamed by Sunagakure and became a Jinchūriki of the Sunagakure group for life. Even knowing that Jinji was the Child of Prophecy, he still broke the rules and disobeyed the Sage's teachings, insisting on unleashing the Tailed Beast Ball.

If it really comes to that, we'll have to use Chiri as our trump card.

She could subdue the Three-Tails with just a glance and then redirect the Tailed Beast Ball's attack.

Even so, he still possessed the compassion of a healer and could not bear to commit too many acts of killing.

If Isobu is willing to cooperate with others and perform a miracle, there will be less bloodshed tonight. But if it is determined to submit to Sunagakure... then I can only apologize.

Between killing the Sand Ninja with the Tailed Beast Ball and letting more Sand Ninja live to return and spread his terrifying reputation of "Zen-in Jin'er's roar can cause the heavens and earth to collapse and the Tailed Beasts to flee," Jin'er clearly preferred the latter.

Furthermore, killing fewer people would plant a bond in Chiyo's heart.

That way, I can coerce her into giving herself to me later.

...

I'll leave a little later...

Uchiha Chiri still did not raise any objections, nor did she even ask for the reason.

He simply refined his chakra silently, staying by Shen's side without ever leaving his side.

Instead of staying put, he put on the Hokage's half-sleeve and headed to the front line.

Along the way, a Jonin bumped into him and quickly stepped forward to dissuade him: "Lord Jin, the front line is too dangerous right now. The Sand Village is acting like madmen tonight, pushing forward even under the threat of Edo Tensei ninja self-destruction. You should retreat quickly!"

"At times like these, I should stay on the front lines and treat the wounded at any time. Don't worry, my guardian ninja will protect my safety."

Shen Er refused the Jonin's offer and went against the current to a front-line outpost. Here, one could see many shadows moving forward in the desert, and one could also see Edo Tensei ninjas self-destructing one after another.

Before the Three-Tails Jinchuriki got close, Shinji began busily casting Healing Palm Techniques.

Just then, Sun Wukong's voice rang out again: "Isobu is almost a kilometer away. I'll contact it now."

"Please," Shen Er added, taking advantage of the situation, "It would be best to let it show its power first, and then withdraw its attack when I step in."

"You have too many demands."

"Once this matter is over, I'll add five more chapters to Journey to the West for you when we get back."

"OK! Leave it to me, Old Sun."