Uchiha Mei did not return that night after leaving.
The next day, Konoha and Kirigakure engaged in fierce fighting on the battlefield previously cleared by the reconnaissance squads.
Everyone from the Konoha Camp mobilized except for the necessary personnel left behind.
Clearly, Kirigakure had not expected Konoha to launch such a large-scale battle, and they were caught completely off guard.
However, Kirigakure's overall strength in the Land of Bears was clearly much higher than Konoha's.
Even though Konoha gained some initial advantage through surprise, this small edge was not enough to turn into a decisive victory.
Predictably, the war devolved into a war of attrition.
Fighting continued on the battlefield for a full day and night.
Uchiha En and Asana stood in the camp, their expressions extremely solemn as they looked at the smoke-filled battlefield ahead.
"Is this what a real battlefield is like? The reconnaissance missions we had before seem like child's play compared to this," said Asana.
"Yes! I never thought a real battlefield would be so brutal."
"How many people will die in this day and night of fighting?"
"Who knows? But the number of casualties certainly won't be small."
After Uchiha En finished speaking, both fell silent.
After a long while, Asana spoke again: "No wonder Lord Orochimaru didn't let our reconnaissance squad participate in this war.
On a battlefield like this, the reconnaissance squad members can't utilize their advantages and might even be surrounded by the enemy."
"That's true, but after the war ends, we will likely be sent to clean up the battlefield and finish off the Kirigakure Ninja who haven't completely died yet," said Uchiha En.
"En, do you think we can win this time?"
"We should be able to! The Jonin have discussed this for so long, and with the Nara Clan Head providing strategy, they wouldn't act rashly without absolute confidence."
"I hope so!"
After another half day, the sounds of fighting on the battlefield gradually ceased, and moments later, cheers erupted from that direction.
Konoha won!
Just as Uchiha En had guessed, Orochimaru issued orders to all standby reconnaissance squads, telling them to immediately assemble to clean up the battlefield.
Cleaning up the battlefield here mainly involved collecting Ninja tools and sealing scrolls from the dead Kirigakure Ninja, and incidentally finishing off any Kirigakure Ninja who weren't dead yet.
The bodies of their own comrades would be handled by specialized personnel, so they didn't need to help.
Uchiha En's squad immediately assembled and headed to the battlefield.
Upon arriving at the battlefield, the first thing that met their eyes were corpses—those of Kirigakure Ninja and Konoha Ninja.
Uchiha En suppressed his internal discomfort and threw himself into the search work.
Uchiha En had originally thought that in a battle of this scale, there would be many people who escaped by feigning death or were gravely wounded and dying, allowing him to gain a wave of Attribute Points.
But unexpectedly, after activating his Minds Eye and searching for a long time, he didn't find a single living Kirigakure Ninja.
Uchiha En couldn't help but ask Aburame Shibi, "Teacher Shibi, we've been walking for so long, why aren't there any Kirigakure Ninja feigning death or gravely wounded?"
"Do you think battles between Ninja are that easy to escape? Once one side falls, the Ninja will ruthlessly finish them off until they confirm the enemy is dead.
It's almost impossible to survive on the battlefield using such methods."
After hearing Aburame Shibi's words, Uchiha En fell silent. It seemed that battles between Ninja were much more brutal than he had imagined.
Uchiha En sighed, extinguished the idea of taking advantage of loopholes, and began to focus on collecting enemy supplies.
All the reconnaissance squads from the Konoha side mobilized together, spending half a day thoroughly scavenging all useful items from the dead Kirigakure Ninja.
As for the corpses of the Kirigakure Ninja, they did not damage them. Kirigakure would likely send people to collect them later.
After searching around, Uchiha En picked up many war supplies and over a dozen sealing scrolls.
These sealing scrolls were ones the Ninja didn't have time to destroy before they died, just like Uchiha En's parents back then.
Generally, those who could afford sealing scrolls were Ninja with decent strength, and their collections inside the scrolls were naturally much richer than those of ordinary Ninja.
Orochimaru's main purpose in having them clean up the battlefield was also for these items.
Uchiha En was quite curious about what was inside these sealing scrolls. He was about to open one but was stopped by Aburame Shibi.
According to Aburame Shibi, sealing scrolls should not be opened casually. They might contain the enemy's final means of killing, and opening them could be dangerous.
Moreover, if a sealing scroll was not taken away by the Ninja who killed its owner, the valuables inside belonged to the Village and could not be casually looked into.
Uchiha En curled his lip and had no choice but to give up the idea of opening the sealing scrolls to look inside.
Another hour passed, and the search work was completely finished. Uchiha En and the others turned and left the battlefield.
Uchiha En still gained something from cleaning up the battlefield this time.
Although it was difficult for anyone to survive a battle between Ninja, the sheer size of the engagement made a difference.
Uchiha En still found three stragglers and eliminated them, gaining 3 Attribute Points. His current total of Attribute Points reached 12.
After returning to the camp, Uchiha En and his two teammates handed over everything they had collected to Aburame Shibi.
Aburame Shibi took the supplies and went to meet Orochimaru.
Ten minutes later, Aburame Shibi emerged from the tent and turned to Uchiha En and the others, saying, "Lord Orochimaru wants to see you."
"See us? Teacher Shibi, are you sure?" Yamanaka Teruzuki asked with a look of surprise.
Aburame Shibi shook his head and said, "No mistake. To be honest, I'm quite surprised myself why Lord Orochimaru would want to call for you three Genin."
Aburame Shibi was right; there were too many Genin in the Village, and countless Genin on the Land of Bears battlefield. Even if Uchiha En and Asana were considered outstanding among Genin, they were not prominent enough to attract the attention of a great figure like Orochimaru.
Therefore, when Orochimaru said he wanted to meet Aburame Shibi's three subordinates, not just Aburame Shibi but everyone in the tent seemed very surprised.
However, Orochimaru was the Supreme Commander of the Land of Bears Camp. If he wanted to see Uchiha En and the others, nobody else would say much; it was just meeting three Genin, not a big deal.
Moments later, Uchiha En and his two teammates, led by Aburame Shibi, arrived at the central tent of the camp.
The tent didn't look very big from the outside, but once inside, it was much larger than Uchiha En had imagined.
Inside the tent were two conference tables and a table resembling a sand table, which, judging by the contours, appeared to be a map of the Land of Bears' terrain. A huge map of the Land of Bears was also hanging prominently at the front.
As the three of them entered, everyone else in the tent turned their heads to look at them.
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