"Elder Danzo is currently out of danger, but it's uncertain when he'll wake up. According to the medical staff, even if he regains consciousness, his ability to act as a ninja on the battlefield will be greatly reduced."
Minato stood outside and answered Jiraiya's question.
At the entrance of the tent, there were two Root Jonin standing like gatekeepers.
They were both injured, clearly survivors from the previous battle. They stood guard here to prevent anyone from disturbing their leader, Danzo, during his rest, except for hospital staff.
"Is it that serious? What exactly happened? How did your operation fail?"
In Jiraiya's initial judgment, this planned extermination battle seemed almost foolproof, with a success rate of over eighty percent not being a problem.
Minato responded to Jiraiya's query with a bitter smile:
"Well, we underestimated the opponent's strength and misjudged their Taijutsu coverage. Overall, it's an enemy whose intelligence, though known, cannot be completely targeted."
Before the battle, Root indeed obtained some intelligence about Hyuga Ayane, using the total combat time of the bait squad to estimate Ayane's power limit.
And even though this estimation raised the opponent's strength as high as possible, it still resulted in a misjudgment.
A misjudgment to an almost absurd degree.
Thinking of that overwhelming Gentle Fist impact, Minato could only say it shattered his preconceived notions of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist.
The perspectives on the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist need to be reconstructed.
If not for Might Duy consuming the Secret Medicine and, in a critical moment, opening the Seven Gates to substitute Danzo and mitigating part of the force, Danzo would have died on the spot.
Even if he didn't die, when brought back, he might have died due to unsuccessful resuscitation.
As for Minato himself, because of the time difference, while waiting for Danzo's attack to hit, he used Flying Thunder God Jutsu to execute the next round of attacks.
But before he could transfer using Flying Thunder God Jutsu, seeing Danzo's disastrous situation instantly made him dismiss the idea and quickly retreat from the battlefield with the severely injured Danzo to prevent the Root Leader from dying from severe injuries.
To ensure others' safe retreat, eight Root Ninja from two squads decisively stayed behind, sacrificing themselves to cover the retreat.
Understanding the course of events made Jiraiya's expression extremely solemn.
Even if he were there, he feared he might not fare well if caught off guard.
Ninja intelligence is incredibly important.
Although he didn't like Danzo, he had to admit this battle was significant for Konoha.
The more intelligence you gather about the enemy, the fewer casualties in subsequent battles.
Once these are understood, even the strongest enemy can be targeted using tactics.
Even a tough Byakugan Ninja like Ayane, with so much crucial intelligence gained, the next battle should be much easier, not leaving them helpless.
However, Jiraiya didn't think Ayane would have the guts to engage Konoha in another large-scale confrontation.
If she is wise, she should understand the consequences of her intelligence leak upon engaging in another battle.
Thus, her actions should be much more restrained.
Alternatively, she might retreat more cautiously from the Land of Grass battlefield.
Either way, Konoha can breathe easier.
However, there is a rather serious issue; Root suffered heavy losses this time and may not be able to make any impact on the battlefield for a while.
Suddenly losing twelve members, all elite ninja of Konoha, is not a small loss.
Hopefully, Danzo can be a bit more sensible. Jiraiya thought this, but he knew it was unrealistic.
"Minato, I'll leave this to you. Take a rest for the next few days."
"Yes, Jiraiya-sensei, please go ahead."
After Jiraiya left, Minato also walked in a different direction, pondering the situation.
Clearly, it was difficult for him to participate in this battle; his Flying Thunder God Jutsu was, to some extent, restrained by the Byakugan.
No matter where he appeared, if within a ten-kilometer radius, he would be detected.
After transferring, he needs to prepare for an attack. Although the time is short, there is undeniably a gap—the same as Ayane's momentary stiffness after using Revolving Heaven.
The gap between transferring using Flying Thunder God Jutsu and the attack landing on the enemy is his 'stiff time.'
To compensate for this stiff time, honestly, Minato didn't have a good idea except for continuous practice to further shorten the attack duration needed.
Moreover...
Insufficient offensive power is the key issue. Minato's blue eyes showed a hint of gravity.
He opened his palm, instinctively forming a blue Chakra Ball that could fit in his hand.
It was the A-rank seal-less ninja technique he developed—the Rasengan.
A special ninja technique of extreme Chakra form transformation.
Although its power is enough to kill most ninja, as enemies grow stronger and their abilities become more specialized, he gradually discovered that this A-rank seal-less ninja technique—Rasengan, also had its limits in attacking power.
Suddenly, Minato thought of something.
"Speaking of which, the Lightning Style nature transformation ninjutsu Kakashi demonstrated during the mission is precisely opposite to my Rasengan."
One is Chakra nature transformation.