"When all is said and done, this 'demigod' business is just a product of the small villages' ignorance of true power, combined with the salamander's poison. It's what makes them think Hanzo is truly only a step behind your great-grandfather."
"But in reality, without the salamander, both Konoha's White Fang and the 'Professor' have the power to kill him."
"And even with the salamander, you don't think your sister's title of 'Number One Master of Medical Ninjutsu in the Ninja World' is just for show, do you?"
"Besides, your sister has already completed the training of a secret technique."
"If she were to use it, she wouldn't necessarily be any weaker than him."
"And another thing, Nawaki."
"You must understand that your earlier doubts about your sister's abilities are an insult to her strength and her dignity."
Li Anshi turned and took a few steps to stand before him, speaking each word with deliberate emphasis.
"Nawaki, you must realize, for an ant to presume to worry about the safety of a dragon—how arrogant is that?"
"I'm sorry, Sensei, I was wrong."
Nawaki's face turned pale. He was forced back a few steps by Li Anshi's cold gaze. After regaining his footing, he apologized.
"No, Nawaki."
"The person you should be apologizing to is not me, but your sister."
"Of course, I am not saying that it is wrong for you to have such thoughts."
Seeing his apology, Li Anshi's expression softened.
"Nawaki, as a family member, you have the right to worry about your sister's safety."
"But you must understand that so-called 'worry' is, in reality, just a form of self-deceiving illusion."
"When certain things are beyond our control, we experience emotions like 'worry'."
"But when this emotion appears in your heart, why don't you first ask yourself if you have trained to become stronger with your life on the line?"
"If you have, then when you encounter a crisis beyond your capabilities, you will not have such emotions, but will instead calmly accept your failure."
"If you haven't, then your emotion at this time will not be 'worry', but guilt, self-blame, and regret..."
"Guilt for your naivety, self-blame for your ignorance, and regret for wasting the time you had to grow..."
"Nawaki, in my opinion, the word 'worry' is a very disgusting kind of excuse."
"If you are truly worried about your sister's safety, then don't just say it."
"Instead, give it your all to improve your own strength, until you surpass her. And then, when she is in danger, stand before her and crush all the enemies she faces!"
Not just Nawaki, but even Mikoto Uchiha and Rin Hyuga were shaken by his words.
That's right, so-called 'worry' is just an emotional illusion for self-comfort.
If one had the strength to face any crisis, then how could there be such an emotion?
If, after giving it your all, you still cannot change your situation, then die on the path of seeking strength, with no regrets!
In that moment, the mindsets of all three of them changed considerably. As the face is the index of the heart, this change in their mentality made them appear to have a resolve to burn their boats!
Seeing this, Li Anshi nodded in satisfaction.
This resolve might become their greatest asset for survival on the battlefield.
In war, a powerful ninja was fearless.
Powerhouses like Sakumo Hatake, the Third Hokage, the Third Raikage, and the Jinchuriki, unless they encountered an opponent of the same level, all possessed the ability to "break an army single-handedly."
Of course, their "single-handed army breaking" was different from his.
He had the ability to annihilate an army of less than five thousand ninjas. The strength of these five thousand ninjas was meaningless to him. From the Third Raikage down to a commoner genin, in his eyes, it was all just a matter of one dagger.
But Sakumo and the others did not have such an ability.
At most, they could escape from the encirclement of three to five elite jonin teams. If there were no elite jonin, just jonin, that number might be several times higher. And if there were no jonin, how many they could kill would mainly depend on their chakra reserves. And if they didn't want to fight, but just wanted to escape, it would be very difficult to stop them without a powerhouse of the same level.
In some cases, it was not wrong to say they were almost invincible.
In the ninja world, there were very few ninjas who possessed this near-invincible strength.
Most were just ordinary jonin, common chunin, and cannon-fodder genin.
In the face of a powerhouse, a cannon-fodder genin was a consumable used to deplete the powerhouse's ninja tools and a small amount of their chakra.
A chunin was a pillar that could consume a small portion of a powerhouse's chakra and could also coordinate with a jonin to cause more harassment.
A jonin could consume more of a powerhouse's chakra to a certain extent, and if they formed a team with an elite jonin, it was not impossible to survive an encounter.
An elite jonin was an existence that even a Kage-level powerhouse had to take seriously. If a "Special Jonin" was a chunin who could rival a jonin in certain aspects, then an "elite jonin" was someone who had already touched the realm of a "Kage" in certain aspects. If the intelligence was asymmetrical, it was not impossible for a Kage-level powerhouse to be overturned.
…
"I understand, Sensei Li. Please, train me in an even stricter manner!"
Nawaki clenched his fists and bowed to him, making his request.
"Sensei, us too."
On either side of him, Mikoto and Rin also bowed. They too did not want to regret not having trained with all their might when they faced a crisis in the future. Just as he had said, I may not resist, but I cannot be without the power to resist!
"Please train us to the strictest standards."
"Very good. None of you have disappointed me."
Seeing their choice, Li Anshi nodded.
Although, at the beginning, he had only agreed to Tsunade's request to become Nawaki's supervising teacher, and it was also because his relationship with her was not ordinary and he did not want her to experience the pain of losing a loved one, in the time he had been teaching them, he had gradually come to acknowledge them, no longer seeing them as mere appendages to Nawaki.
Even if one were to raise a pet, one would develop feelings for it over time. How much more so for a person?
"I have gathered you here this time for one final special training session, so that you will have a greater chance of survival in the coming war."
"Nawaki, Mikoto, Rin..."
"Before we begin, I have a question for you."
"In a war, what do you think is the most important thing?"
The three of them straightened up, looking at him in surprise.
In a war, what is the most important thing?
Hadn't the academy teachers already taught them this? And with special emphasis?
A ninja must obey the orders of their superiors, follow their commands, and complete the missions they are given. If they violate this, their superiors can kill them directly.
However, they also knew that Sensei Li was not an ordinary person. Since he had asked such a question, the answer was surely not what the teachers had said.
"I think the most important thing should be intelligence."
After a moment of contemplation, Rin was the first to speak.
The Byakugan was the number one reconnaissance Kekkei Genkai in the ninja world. The ninjas of the Hyuga clan almost always participated in wars as sensory ninjas, providing intelligence support for their teammates. With their assistance, it was rare for Konoha ninjas to be ambushed. Therefore, in her view, the most important thing in war was intelligence.
"Intelligence?"
He nodded slightly, grudgingly acknowledging her answer.
"And what about you?"
"Nawaki, Mikoto, what do you think is the most important thing on the battlefield?"
"This..."
They had thought that since Rin had answered, he would not ask again. But they had not expected that this was a question that each of them had to answer.
Nawaki hesitated for a moment, then said, "Sensei, I have never really been on a battlefield, and I have rarely heard my sister or grandmother talk about what it's like."
"So, I think the most important thing is to protect the medical ninjas."
"After all, since the establishment of the Konoha Hospital and the growth of the medical ninjas, many who were once seriously injured and incurable have survived."
"So, as long as we protect the medical ninjas, then the ninjas of our village will not be afraid of being injured and will attack the enemy, thus achieving victory."
"Protecting the medical ninjas? That's also acceptable."
"Phew."
Seeing that his answer had been approved, Nawaki let out a sigh of relief.
"Mikoto, what do you think?"
"I think it should be strength."
Touching her small face, she said a little embarrassedly, "As long as one has great strength, then one can kill more enemy ninjas on the battlefield and bring victory to Konoha."
"Strength, also not bad."
He nodded, then summarized, "Intelligence, medicine, strength..."
"The three of you all have your own views on the most important thing in war."
"But in the final analysis, there is only one goal."
"And that is—"
"To survive!"
"Whether it's gathering intelligence, protecting medical ninjas, or possessing the strength to protect everyone, the most fundamental desire is to want to live!"
"And this is also the reason for the urgent special training I am giving you."
"War is different from squad combat."
"The stealth and assassination of squad combat are short-term, contact-based bursts."
"A ninja can unleash their strongest power in a short period of time, using their most powerful ninjutsu to annihilate the enemy."
"But war is different."
"In a war, a ninja needs to be in contact with the enemy for a long time, even in close-quarters combat."
"Therefore, how to allocate your chakra in a war, to maintain a longer fighting time, is the most important thing."
"So, for this period, the focus of our training will be on the precise control of chakra."
"Are you ready?"
"We're ready!"
…
"Clang!"
"Clang, clang, clang!"
"Boom!"
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The clash of weapons echoed on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain.
It had to be said that the ninjas of Root were indeed the elite troops of Konoha.
In just over an hour, the casualty ratio between the Rain and Root had reached a staggering seven to one. That is to say, for every one Root ninja killed, the Rain had to lose more than seven.
However, although the casualties on their side were great, the Rain ninjas continued to charge forward against the ninjas of Konoha. And as time went on, as the chakra of the Root ninjas was depleted, the casualty ratio began to decrease. Although it still couldn't reach one-to-one, it was barely maintained at three-to-one, or four-to-one.
Danzo's expression was grim.
He had to admit, he had underestimated the Rain.
Compared to the ninjas of other small villages, these seem to have an extremely strong faith, and were not afraid of war at all. No, or rather, under this strong faith, they were not afraid of death.
Batches of them were killed, but more appeared from behind to fill the gaps left by their predecessors.
Before the battle, he had thought that with just his Root ninjas, he could rout them. But now, he had to admit that if the battle continued like this, it was not impossible that his own forces would be wiped out before the Rain was defeated.
"Should we retreat?"
This thought suddenly flashed through his mind. And once it appeared, he felt he could hardly suppress it.
As a powerful elder of Konoha, Danzo knew full well what his everything relied on.
Root was the greatest trump card he had created for himself.
If all of his Root ninjas died in battle, he could imagine that in the future, in Konoha, he would be the one to be purged. Whether it was for power or to save his own life, he could not let Root be defeated.
However, in the end, the sliver of attachment he had for Konoha in his heart still overcame his selfishness. It was for this reason that he did not order them to retreat, but to firmly hold the Rain back beyond the border.
"Surrender, Tsunade!"
Amidst the roar of battle, Hanzo of the Salamander, while fending off her attacks, tried to persuade her to surrender.
"The unit you are leading is about to be crushed by us."
"And you yourself are no match for me."
"If you surrender now, I promise I can give you a dignified end."