In the thirty-ninth year of Konoha, news following the end of the heat season spread through the ninja world like a shockwave.
Facing a Konoha force of fewer than three thousand, the Iwagakure army had suffered a string of crushing defeats.
On the Southern Front, nearly half of their shinobi forces were wiped out. The Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Roshi, was captured, and Fūga was forced to retreat with the remaining troops back to the Kannabi Bridge line.
After that, the village dispatched several thousand reinforcements to stabilize the situation. Their numbers temporarily strengthened the Iwagakure army, but the outcome grew even more absurd. Within a few months, those reinforcements were systematically dismantled by Konoha forces, and the supply route into the Land of Grass was completely severed.
After this campaign, Commander Fūga became the target of ridicule within the village, second only to the disgrace still associated with the Third Kazekage, who had once been captured years earlier by four Konoha shinobi working together.
Anger spread among both shinobi and civilians of Iwagakure. In the Land of Grass, they had once managed to hold their ground, exchanging victories and losses with Konoha, even pushing them back at certain points. Yet back in the Land of Earth, they were now being driven straight to their doorstep.
It felt like a battle where one side was still laning in the early phase, only to suddenly realize the opposite lane had already collapsed, outer defenses destroyed in minutes, and the entire map control lost.
There was almost nothing left to respond with.
Aside from the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, eight elders of the council and several clan heads launched repeated impeachment demands against Fūga. Each accusation was backed by detailed battlefield reports.
They claimed he had ignored village directives, initiated an unauthorized war against Konoha, and mishandled troop deployments so severely that a force of over seven thousand had been reduced to being crushed by fewer than three thousand enemy shinobi.
Where was the pride of the Land of Earth?
On the battlefield itself, Fūga had no space to care about political storms brewing back home. He and his subordinates were effectively trapped, like turtles sealed inside a jar, a situation so absurd it bordered on laughter.
Fūga was not old, barely around thirty, but exhaustion clung to him. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and fatigue seeped through every movement he made.
He had never experienced a war this suffocating.
At first, it had been roughly four thousand against four thousand. Even if they had failed to win, that would have been acceptable. After all, their opponents included Konoha's Lightning Flash, the White Fang Sakumo Hatake, and Orochimaru of the Sannin.
But what came next pushed the situation into outright chaos.
Konoha forces began launching continuous surprise strikes. Each attack appeared directly beside Iwagakure positions without warning, rendering their reconnaissance units completely ineffective.
There was already a gap in individual strength between Iwagakure and Konoha shinobi. Now, each engagement saw Konoha fielding numbers several times larger than expected.
It had turned into a one sided slaughter.
According to battlefield reports alone, it looked as though Fūga had split his own army into small squads of two hundred and was sending them out to be eliminated in sequence.
No wonder the elders were furious.
Later, intelligence gathered by spies inside Konoha revealed the truth. Konoha's Lightning Flash, Minato Namikaze, had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, allowing him to teleport large groups of shinobi instantly across the battlefield.
With that ability, there was simply no way to respond.
If this continued, Iwagakure's defeat was only a matter of time.
Under mounting pressure, Ōnoki issued a secret order for Fūga to advance directly from Kannabi Bridge.
Eventually, they established a forward position dozens of miles from the main Konoha forces, preparing for a final defensive stand. Their purpose was to cover the withdrawal of several thousand Iwagakure troops stationed in the Land of Grass back to the Land of Earth.
Iwagakure was retreating.
---
In the Land of Grass, inside the Iwagakure encampment, Kitsuchi sat on the ground outside the camp. Beside him, a young jonin was carefully wiping a tachi.
Halfway through cleaning the blade, the shinobi suddenly spoke with clear frustration.
"Is Fūga eating dirt? Even with more than seven thousand troops, he still couldn't beat Konoha forces deep inside the Land of Earth."
The young jonin, Mabi, was widely considered a genius among his peers. That reputation came with arrogance, and he had little tolerance for failure.
After holding their position in the Land of Grass for so long, only to be forced into retreat because of problems in the homeland, his dissatisfaction was obvious.
Kitsuchi replied in a steady tone.
"You cannot blame Fūga entirely. His specialty is sealing techniques. The old man assigned him here to suppress Roshi, but no one expected Roshi to be captured so quickly."
As someone from the same generation as Fūga, Kitsuchi understood him well.
The rumors circulating in the village had already been suppressed by the Third Tsuchikage.
Ōnoki was not foolish. He would not remove a commander simply because of one defeat.
Even the elders who voiced complaints understood Konoha's strength. Some things made sense when thought privately, but changed completely when spoken aloud.
After a short silence, Mabi asked.
"Is Konoha's Lightning Flash really that strong?"
Roshi's strength was well known. Even without fully transforming into the tailed beast, he was not someone Mabi and Kitsuchi could easily defeat together.
And yet, such a shinobi had been captured.
It was only now, after hearing the name countless times over the years, that the reality of it began to sink in.
Kitsuchi nodded slowly.
"He is strong. Very strong. Leaving aside the Mangekyō Sharingan, he also possesses the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique. With talent like his, I would not be surprised if he eventually learns even the Third Tsuchikage's Dust Release."
Mabi exhaled.
"Then why are we still fighting? Even if we retreat to the Land of Earth, Tsunade and Shinnosuke will follow and regroup with the main Konoha forces. With the Nine Tails Jinchūriki as well, Konoha will have three tailed beasts. Can we even win that?"
"I heard the agreements after the defeats of the Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist were not harsh. Maybe we should have surrendered earlier."
Kitsuchi glanced at him.
"So even you are thinking like those fools in the village? Konoha has a chance to win, but do you think we do not?"
Mabi froze.
"Does that mean the village intends to defeat Konoha here in the Land of Earth? Is Lord Third Tsuchikage going to take the field himself?"
Kitsuchi looked toward the distant horizon and let out a cold chuckle.
"It is not just him. The village has already paid too much for this war. Keep your eyes open, and you will see how we turn this situation around."
Mabi gave a small laugh.
"Then I will be watching."
---
Two days later, Iwagakure had finished its preparations.
On a wide plain that would soon become a battlefield, Kitsuchi stood at the front of the formation. His expression was grave as he looked toward the distant Konoha encampment, then back at his own forces.
"If we win, it will be Iwagakure's last battle worth remembering. If we lose, it will truly be the last."
He raised his voice.
"Advance."
The army began to move.
After three long years in the Land of Grass, the Iwagakure forces were finally withdrawing.