"The number of Ninjas personally slain by Sora-sama is..."
After taking a deep breath, the Intelligence Division's Jonin said with a trembling body: "One hundred and twelve Jonin, two hundred and ninety Chunin, three hundred and fifteen Genin... a total of seven hundred and seventeen people..."
"Seven hundred!"
"And seventeen people!"
As the words fell, the face of the Jonin reporting the battle situation was full of shock, as if he still couldn't believe everything he saw in the battle report.
"One hundred and twelve Jonin!?"
Upon hearing this, Fuguki couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath, his eyes filled with terror.
Although he had been mentally prepared for Sora's terrifying battle record, when he actually heard the number now, he still couldn't help but feel his scalp go numb and the hairs on his arms stand on end.
Jonin!
That's Jonin!
Even in a great Ninja Village, Jonin are the upper echelon of the village's strength. If placed in a small Ninja Village, a Jonin could even serve as a leader-level figure.
This is the elite among the elite!
And now,
In this Tenfu Gorge campaign, Sora, relying on his own strength, killed one hundred and twelve Jonin, among them even many Elite Jonin from prominent clans!!!
Too terrifying!
This is simply too terrifying!
At this moment, Fuguki only felt a shocking chill rise from his tailbone and instantly sweep through his entire body.
Don't forget.
Nominally, he is also just a Kirigakure's Elite Jonin!
Doesn't that mean if he became an enemy of Sora, he would only become an insignificant name on this death list?!
"Well, it's Sora after all!"
Upon hearing this, Yagura said with immense admiration in his heart: "While facing Konoha's Yellow Flash and the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, he could still kill over a hundred Jonin. This is no longer something an ordinary Kage-level Ninja can accomplish. Probably only someone like Uchiha Madara, or the God of Ninja, Senju Hashirama, would possess such an unrivaled capacity, right?"
Shock!
Extreme shock!
Especially when Yagura recalled the hard-fought battle he faced against Jiraiya, he could feel just how exaggerated and terrifying the significance of Sora's battle was.
One person suppressing the berserk Nine-Tails + the Yellow Flash, plus the terrifying number of over seven hundred personally slain.
Without exaggeration, such a glorious achievement, even placed within the entire history of Kirigakure, could be called unprecedented and likely never to be repeated.
Sora was like a grand historical scroll slowly unfurling before Yagura. Amidst the ink-wash landscape, that sacred and magnificent perception made Yagura uncontrollably immerse himself in it, unable to extricate himself.
At this time, Yagura's expression was solemn yet fanatical, his heart also filled with surging emotions. Because this moment was probably the beginning of Kirigakure's journey towards glory, the starting point of Kirigakure's revival.
To personally experience and witness this period of history was perhaps the greatest thing Yagura could imagine in his lifetime.
Fuguki was also trembling. Even though the Intelligence Division's Jonin had repeated the battle report's contents three times, he still couldn't believe it and asked, "Ryu... are you sure the numbers on the battle report are correct?"
One hundred Jonin!
Slaying one hundred Jonin, such a thing is simply insane!
You must know…
Minato made his name precisely by slaying fifty Iwagakure Jonin, quickly stirring up a whirlwind known as the Yellow Flash across the entire Ninja World.
And Sora's achievement doubled that of Minato.
Moreover, on this list of achievements, there were also two hundred and ninety Chunin and three hundred and fifteen Genin!
Seven hundred elite Konoha's Ninjas were not some pushovers. That number, even if they stood still on the battlefield letting you kill them one by one, would take who knows how long!
Sora actually really accomplished such a heaven-defying feat. For Fuguki, this was simply too unbelievable.
This is simply not something any so-called Ninja could accomplish!!!
"Fuguki-sama..."
The Jonin named Ryu knelt on one knee and said respectfully, "The numbers of personally slain on the battle report are very precise. Because Sora-sama used Ice Release to freeze all those Konoha's Ninjas solid, our people easily clarified the count. Adding in some fragmented corpses slain by Sora-sama, the margin of error for the personally slain count should not exceed five percent."
Reaching this point, Ryu's tone also gradually became excited. Not to mention Fuguki's disbelief, when this data first appeared, the Anbu and Intelligence Division's Ninjas responsible for the statistics basically didn't dare believe it.
It was only after confirming it over a dozen times, back and forth, that the specific data was formed into a battle report and presented.
"So it's all true…"
Fuguki finally accepted reality. His expression also gradually changed from shock and disbelief to awe and trembling.
'Yuki...'
'Is simply a god of slaughter!'
'He is Kirigakure's ultimate trump card, a human-shaped nuclear weapon even more terrifying than a Jinchuriki!!!'
…
Konoha Village.
Hiruzen, who had already signed a peace treaty with Iwagakure's Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was sitting in the Hokage's office with a gloomy face. He smoked his pipe silently, not speaking for a long time.
The entire office was shrouded in an atmosphere of extreme low pressure.
At this moment, sitting opposite Hiruzen were two powerful figures of Konoha, the Elder Council's members Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. Their faces were also very unpleasant, because they had already received the battle report from the front lines between Konoha and Kirigakure.
"Sigh..."
"That Kirigakure's Yuki Sora has ultimately become the village's serious threat. If we had known this earlier, we should have eliminated him at all costs back then."
After a long silence, Hiruzen slowly blew out a smoke ring, his tone carrying a hint of regret as he spoke.
Over half a month ago, the Third Hokage had heard the name 'Yuki Sora' from his student Jiraiya.
Probably due to his habitual disdain and contempt for Kirigakure, he hadn't paid too much attention to the matter.
However, the development of reality gave Hiruzen a resounding slap in the face.
Suppressing Minato and Kushina, personally slaying nearly seven hundred people, the number of Konoha's Jonin killed by Sora's hand exceeded one hundred.
Such losses, even for the Strongest Ninja Village like Konoha were already a severe blow, somewhat unbearable.
"The news from the front lines is that Kushina's heart was pierced. She's still in the intensive care unit, we don't know if she'll survive..."
Mitokado Homura also sighed: "The village's losses this time are too great. Just from one Tenfu Gorge campaign, the number of Jonin killed exceeds thirty percent of the total Jonin losses in the Second Great Ninja War. This will greatly damage the village's foundation and is also a huge blow to the morale of the village's Ninjas."
"Yes..."
Hiruzen put down his pipe, shaking his head with a bitter smile: "Who would have thought that Kirigakure's Yuki Sora would be powerful to such an extent? I thought I was paying enough attention. To suppress the Kirigakure front, I quickly settled the Iwagakure front line and immediately sent Minato and Kushina to reinforce Jiraiya. But I still never expected..."
"That guy Yuki Sora actually had the ability to single-handedly suppress the berserk Kushina and Minato. This kind of power surpassing a Jinchuriki is already at the level of a Tailed Beast, right?"
Reaching this point, even Hiruzen, who had experienced three Great Ninja Wars, couldn't help but have a flash of near disbelief in his eyes.
Yuki Sora…
This young Kirigakure's Ninja had repeatedly exceeded his expectations. The talent and strength he had displayed so far even made Hiruzen vaguely think of his own teacher, that master who developed and mastered countless Forbidden Jutsu...
The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama!!!
Despite feeling somewhat disrespectful, Hiruzen Sarutobi vaguely felt that even his teacher, that peerless master of Forbidden Jutsu, might not possess the seemingly lawless, overwhelming power of Sora.
Too tragic!
The losses are simply too heavy!
This single campaign directly caused the loss of more than half of Konoha's frontline elites. Not to mention the Kirigakure front, it even had an immense impact on the overall situation.
In this Third Great Ninja War, Konoha's enemies were not just Kirigakure, but also the stronger Kumogakure and Iwagakure, as well as Sunagakure and Amegakure watching and waiting for an opportunity from the shadows.
Now,
A thousand-strong force directly routed, with nearly eighty percent casualties... this simply made Hiruzen's heart ache so much he felt like vomiting blood.
"Hiruzen..."
"The real challenge is only just beginning now!"
Utatane Koharu, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke with a serious expression: "The failure of this campaign is not decisive. We still have a chance to turn the tables. Moreover, this is a war we cannot afford to lose!"
"Don't forget!"
"Those stationed on the Kirigakure front line are not only your student Jiraiya, but also the successor we have long identified, Namikaze Minato. If the Kirigakure front completely collapses, this black mark will definitely be pinned on Namikaze Minato's head by certain interested parties."
"At that time, all the contributions Minato made for the village in the Third Great Ninja War will become meaningless. And Orochimaru might, with Danzo's support, become the primary candidate for the Fourth Hokage. That would be truly disastrous!"
As the words fell, a sharp glint finally flashed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.
War.
The death of some ordinary Ninjas is acceptable. But no matter what, the plan for the Hokage's successor absolutely cannot be disrupted.
Orochimaru taking the position?
Hah!
If his genius student, who never liked being controlled, really ascended to the Hokage's seat, he would probably drag the entire Konoha into an endless abyss very quickly.
'Such a thing...'
'Must absolutely not happen!!!'
…
Iwagakure.
Tsuchikage's Office.
The short-tempered Onoki slammed the intelligence report onto the table, angrily saying: "All these years in Iwagakure, I've spent so much money, fattened up so many people, just so you can bring me this kind of nonsense intelligence!?????"
The furious Onoki even floated up in his anger, berating the Anbu before him: "Go and verify this matter for me, check the details! Are you saying that Konoha's Namikaze Minato, whom even I had no way to deal with, was actually taken down by some unknown Yuki Sora?"
"Even that Yuki Sora single-handedly killed nearly a thousand Konoha's Ninjas? Does he think he's Uchiha Madara!!!!"
"Investigate!"
"Go investigate now!!!"
The Anbu in the office quickly retreated, trembling, afraid that if they were slow, they would be hit by a Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique.
However, after confirming through several different intelligence channels, Onoki discovered that the initial intelligence was actually true!!!
'True?'
'That's simply outrageous!!!!'
"Yuki Sora..."
"A mere Village of the Bloody Mist actually has such a monster Ninja!??"
"Hah!"
"So what if they do?"
"Anyway, with Konoha as the big sucker acting as a meat shield, when Konoha and Kirigakure fight to a stalemate and both are weakened, that will be the time for my Iwagakure to step in and reap the rewards!"
…
The sea.
On a misty island.
The burly and strong Fourth Raikage, A, was staring intently at a map hanging on the wall. The map marked the position distributions of Kumogakure and Kirigakure's forces on the island, and also used red arrows to mark Kirigakure's possible attack directions.
Currently, Kumogakure had already gone to war with Kirigakure.
This was also the first war formally initiated by A after ascending to the position of Raikage. The target he chose was the isolated island far from the mainland… Kirigakure!!!
In the Fourth Raikage's view, although Kirigakure was a great Ninja Village, its strength was the weakest among the major villages. Especially the Mizukage of Kirigakure, who was simply a weak cannon fodder, not even worth looking at.
Back then,
If that cowardly Mizukage hadn't left over a hundred Ninjas to cover his retreat, he would probably have had his neck twisted by his father, the Third Raikage, in less than half a minute of fighting.
"Village of the Bloody Mist..."
"All are incompetent good-for-nothings. Even if the Kaguya, Hozuki, Yuki and other clans come out in full force, they won't hold back the edge of my Kumogakure's forces for long."
A faint, disdainful smile appeared on the Fourth Raikage's face.
Although his head might be full of muscles, he also knew the principle of picking the weakest enemy. Choosing to go to war with Kirigakure right after taking office was precisely to find the weakest opponent to establish his merits as the Raikage.
However,
Just as the Fourth Raikage's eyes were flickering, a Kumogakure's Jonin suddenly rushed directly into the command tent, his face filled with an expression of utter disbelief.