Chapter 341: Compromise

Tsunade received the news from the rear and was thinking urgently about what to do. Jiraiya at the front line received the news earlier than Tsunade that there was a problem with his own unit responsible for logistics issues.

Yamanaka Kaiichi, who was the first to receive the news, immediately sent more personnel for investigation and support, and also reported the information to Jiraiya as soon as possible.

"What did you say!? Something happened to Demou in the rear!? Are you sure!?"

Jiraiya suddenly stood up from his seat and looked at Yamanaka Haiichi with a slightly shocked expression and asked.

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya, it is 100% certain. And judging from the results of the preliminary exploration, it should be Orochimaru who takes action, and the target should be the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, or the blood of the Hyuga clan, because in addition to In addition to Demou, the other members of the Hyuga branch who were responsible for guarding Demou also disappeared, and not a single body was left in place."

Yamanaka Haiichi said with a serious expression.

It is true that members of the Hyuga clan will not leave the village easily, but as long as the village needs it, or if they themselves have any needs, they will still leave Konoha Hidden Village, or even the Fire Country, but almost never They may be acting alone, but they must be accompanied by a considerable number of guards. This is why the separation exists.

Whether it is Hyuga Tokuma who followed Jiraiya to the front line, or Hyuga Tokuma who stayed at the logistics base, they are all protected by more than a dozen members of the branch family, and their personal combat prowess is above the chunin level. .

This is also the most direct way for the Hyuga clan to protect the boundaries of their blood lineage.

In fact, in the past many years, this method has been used to protect members of the Hyuga clan many times, and the only one that showed its Byakugan was the one obtained by Kirigakure Village.

And today there was a second accident.

The one who took action was Orochimaru.

"!?"

The moment Jiraiya heard this name, his expression also changed.

"Jiraiya-sama!!"

And that is at the same time.

Outside the main tent.

A very high-pitched voice came next, and the next second a slender man dressed in white stepped forward. It was the Hyuga who followed Jiraiya in this battle. between.

At this moment, this member of the Hyuga clan also looked anxious and angry.

After hurriedly bowing to Jiraiya, he couldn't wait to say: "Jiraiya-sama, I heard that there is a problem with Demou!? Is this true!?"

After all, the Hyuga clan is still the largest ninja village in Konoha.

Moreover, there are still special communication channels between the clans that belong to them.

As soon as there is a problem with Hyuga Tokuma, Hyuga Tokuma will naturally know about it in the shortest possible time.

As members of the same clan, they are also cousins ​​with a closer relationship.

Tokuma will naturally be very concerned about Demou's problems.

"Don't worry, Tokuma. I have immediately sent people to pursue him. I will try my best to rescue your Hyuga clan members including Tokuma."

Jiraiya said in a very calm voice.

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama, and also ask Jiraiya-sama to let me join the search team. I..."

Tokuma first bowed again to express his gratitude, and then continued to express his intention to participate in the search operation.

"Tokuma, although it is not 100% clear at the moment, the intention of the attacker is obviously to look down upon you, the Hyuga clan. You are also a member of the clan, and you cannot leave the front line casually now. God knows if these people will still come back. Staring at the second pair of white eyes, you can't act privately. I have already made arrangements here and sent the corresponding news back to the village. You don't have to worry too much, Tokuma, the village will definitely do its best to rescue. ”

Jiraiya waved his hand to interrupt Tokuma's words and said with a solemn expression.

This is not Jiraiya's excuse.

Rather, it is a dangerous issue that really needs to be considered.

What if Orochimaru feels that a pair of white eyes is not enough? Tokuma's safety is a big problem, and it is not yet 100% clear what Orochimaru's intentions are.

Do you simply want to obtain the Byakugan Blood Succession Limit, or do you want to cooperate with Menma to launch an attack? When everything was unclear, Jiraiya didn't want to see more uncontrollable factors.

A member of the Hyuga clan disappeared together with more than a dozen members of the branch family. This was already a big commotion. If another member of the clan was poisoned, Jiraiya would feel that it would be his greatest fault. Dereliction of duty.

And there is another reason that Tokuma is still needed here on the front line for the time being. The Hyuga clan's Byakugan is one of the important assets in the war.

Although everything seems to be peaceful in Menma's place, what if this is what Menma arranged? Wait until the front line loses its most critical 'eye' before launching a surprise attack?

That kind of result was something Jiraiya didn't want to see.

Even if Tokuma leaves, there will still be other Hyuga people, but under normal circumstances it is impossible for the branch family to compare with the clan family.

"But..."

Tokuma felt anxious and wanted to say something more.

"Tokuma, you have to believe in me, and you have to believe in the village!"

Jiraiya said with a slight emphasis.

"!?"

This is obviously a mandatory command.

Tokuma's face froze. After the blue and red changed several times, Tokuma could only nod silently and said, "Yes, I understand, Master Jiraiya."

Then.

He bowed to Jiraiya again and turned to leave the tent.

Looking at the back of Hyuga Tokuma going away.

Jiraiya rubbed his temples with a headache.

"Haichi, I'll trouble you to follow up on the next matter, especially in Takigakure Village. There must not be any problems."

Jiraiya said very seriously.

"Yes, Master Jiraiya, please rest assured!"

Haiyi also bowed and replied.

'Menma, Orochimaru, what are you going to do! '

Jiraiya frowned and thought silently in his heart.

The sudden waves of shock at the appearance of the snake, the increasingly bizarre situation, this war in which the five major ninja villages participated to varying degrees has also entered a more confusing situation.

Because from the current situation.

Only one village, the Hidden Mist, has completely given up the will to fight. Although there has been no public declaration of withdrawal from the war, the remaining Mist Ninjas have all retreated to the territory of the Land of Water, which is the best proof of their attitude.

This is already a sign of weakness by a major ninja village.

And it can be foreseen that the Hidden Mist Village will never come back in a short time. Through this war, the world will clearly realize the weakness of the Hidden Mist Village. They lost so many Mist Ninjas in one battle, but could only swallow their anger. In addition, the news of the loss of the Three-Tail and Six-Tail was slowly learned by the entire ninja world, and the status of the Hidden Mist Village as a major country will also become shaky.

Withdrawing from the war is their last resort.

But there is only the Hidden Mist Village.

In the north, the Hidden Rock Village and the Hidden Cloud Village are still engaged in a fierce battle. The Hidden Rock Village, which has almost dispatched most of its main forces, has already invaded the territory of the Land of Thunder in the first attack.

The sphere of influence previously radiated by the Hidden Cloud Village.

Now it has all fallen into the control of the Hidden Rock Ninja.

Now the Hidden Rock Ninjas are launching the most violent attack on the largest stronghold established by the Hidden Cloud Village in the western border. Once they can break through here, even a large area previously occupied will be swallowed up by the Hidden Rock Village. The parts from the Frost Country to the north, the Field Country to the south, and the Hot Spring Country will no longer be controlled by the Hidden Cloud Village.

This large area will become the power range of the Hidden Rock Village in the future.

The power of the Hidden Cloud Village will be greatly reduced.

This is the strategic goal that Ohnoki has always wanted to achieve.

It is also a place that the Hidden Cloud Village must not give up easily. The Fourth Raikage also took another batch of elite Cloud Ninjas to support the front line when he learned that the Hidden Rock Village had strengthened its offensive, regardless of his injuries that had not yet fully recovered.

In the most difficult period after his father died in the war, he did not lose this rich area.

Now it is even more impossible to choose to give up so easily.

Whether a ninja village can remain strong for a long time is directly related to how large the area it can control is!

Lose this place.

The Hidden Cloud Village will lose a considerable part of its mission share and a lot of material supply areas, which is already very fatal, not to mention that this is an important strategic location that can influence the war. Lose this place.

In the future, their Hidden Cloud Village will always be threatened by the Rock Ninja.

This is like a sword of Damocles hanging over his head, which the Fourth Raikage cannot accept 100%.

Therefore, the Fourth Raikage is also determined to fight to the last moment.

The battle between the two major ninja villages has become more bloody.

The surrounding countries of Hot Spring, Frost, and Field, including the Iron Country, which is exclusively for samurai and has always maintained permanent neutrality, are all in the midst of wind and rain, and they are always worried that the battle between the two ninja villages will affect them.

In fact, every time there is a battle between the big ninja villages, the small ninja villages are the most painful. Not only do they have to provide the corresponding manpower and material resources for the big countries, but every battle will bring great damage to the small countries in the war zone.

Many innocent people will lose their homes and relatives because of this.

This is the suffering that the big countries bring to the small countries that Nagato said to Naruto in the original work.

But these small countries can only choose to endure silently.

The warring big countries will not care about the feelings of these small ninja villages.

The eyes of the Hidden Rock Village and the Hidden Cloud Village are only each other, and in the southern area, whether it is Konoha or the Hidden Sand Village, they are just temporarily withdrawing to a relatively delicate area, not really ending the war.

The Hidden Sand Village is okay. Under Maki's order, all members are restrained.

But here in Konohagakure.

There will still be local clashes with Takinin from time to time. As long as Tsunade in the village does not issue an order to withdraw troops, the war will continue. The three ninja world wars that broke out in the past few decades.

It seems that each time will last for several years.

But 99% of the time it is a similar local battle.

This is not only a test and surprise attack from various angles, but also a judgment made out of unwillingness.

Want to delay for as long as possible to see if the enemy country will reveal some gaps due to lack of patience.

The current Konohagakure has a similar mentality.

How long this can last is a big question mark, as ninja wars are also very logistical.

In general, each country needs to bear more than half of the logistical materials, and the rest is provided by the ninja village itself.

Even if the Fire Country is a big country, it is impossible to supply unlimited supplies.

Not to mention, the contradictions between the country and the ninja village have always existed. The internal strife between the twelve guardian ninjas in the Fire Country is unknown to ordinary people, but it is not a special secret among the top leaders of various countries.

Therefore, in any war, Konoha needs to consider more factors than other ninja villages, but this is Konoha's problem.

Menma doesn't care at all.

If Konoha wants to continue the war, then he will accompany it. If it continues to stalemate, he doesn't care. As long as it is not a collapse war, once it enters a stalemate, the defense will always be much less pressure than the attacking side.

The fact is that Menma has the leisure to consider other issues and plan some special arrangements for his next step.

The Takigakure Village led by Menma is sitting on the mountain, which is a headache for Konoha. They can't find any space to attack. Want to force it? They couldn't do it before with the cooperation of Mist Ninja and the containment of Sand Ninja. Now it's impossible for them to do it alone.

This is not a one-on-one duel in the full sense. Konoha has too many problems to worry about.

Not to mention the strength that Menma has shown now.

Jiraiya also finds it difficult to make a move.

You can't really play self-destruction with Takigakure Village, right? That would take a lot of brain problems to make a decision?

And this is the result of completely losing the dominance of the war.

The two sides were deadlocked in the front line for more than half a month.

With the news that the Rock Ninja had officially defeated the Cloud Ninja army gathered on the front line in the northern battlefield and took down the Fengzhu stronghold controlled by the Cloud Village.

Tsunade, who was far away in the Hidden Leaf Village, pondered for a long time, and it was also under the advice of Shikaku who had just recovered and returned to work.

She had no choice but to order the front-line Konoha ninja army to retreat directly.

In fact, if she didn't give the order now, she would only be wasting war supplies in vain. In the Hidden Leaf Village, the large army had already retreated to the hinterland of the Wind Country with Maki, and the most basic garrison troops remained on the front line.

It is possible that troops could be transferred from the Hidden Leaf Village at any time.

Although they are not particularly elite ninjas.

But once the number increases, they can still kill people.

Even though Danzo strongly opposed it, Mito Kado En and Utatane Koharu still supported Tsunade's judgment this time.

So.

As the thousands of Konoha ninjas gathered on the front line withdrew to the Hidden Leaf Village under the leadership of Jiraiya.

This so-called Fourth Ninja World War officially came to an end after lasting just over a month.