A simple forward camp had already been thrown together on the Earth Country border. Inside the main command tent, Danzo sat in the central seat looking unusually bright and energized. The dark, brooding aura he normally carried was gone.
It was the second day after the battle. Most of the pursuit teams had returned, and the remaining work was just battlefield cleanup. The jonin gathered here were the ones who had already completed their missions.
"You've all worked hard," Danzo said. "This was a solid victory. Your contributions have been recorded. The village will reward you properly."
The jonin around the tent lit up. They hadn't come here for praise. They wanted the actual rewards that came with a big win—rank, strength, status. This victory had earned them all of it.
Danzo felt the surge of loyalty in the room and let it feed the ambition burning inside him. These men would be his supporters when he finally reached for the Hokage seat.
He glanced at Mimura Yagami, who sat quietly nearby, and gave a faint, mocking smirk before raising his hand. The tent fell silent.
"Everyone," Danzo said in a low voice. "The battle results have been tallied. I think it's only right that we hear them together. Mimura, read the report."
All eyes turned to Mimura. Everyone knew Danzo was deliberately putting him on the spot. Some looked sympathetic. Others smirked.
A Root ninja stepped forward and handed Mimura the scroll. Mimura took it with a blank expression, then glanced up at Danzo with a tired shake of his head. He didn't understand why Danzo hated him so much. He had never tried to compete with him for power, yet Danzo kept targeting him.
He opened the scroll and scanned it quickly. His eyes stopped on one set of numbers.
Iwa dead: 324.
Leaf dead: 148.
For a battle that supposedly drove Iwa completely out of Grass Country, the enemy casualties seemed far too low. The kill ratio didn't make sense either. Iwa had the largest number of ninja, but their quality was spread thin. Achieving such a lopsided result while claiming a crushing victory felt off.
Mimura kept his doubts to himself. He simply read the report out loud exactly as it was written.
The tent grew quiet as the numbers sank in. The jonin exchanged uneasy looks. Something didn't add up. They had pushed Iwa hard—why were the confirmed kills so low?
Danzo's face darkened. He had been riding the high of victory, but these numbers were disappointing.
"Terai," he said coldly. "Are these numbers accurate?"
Terai, the Root ninja who had compiled the report, wiped sweat from his forehead. "They've been double-checked, Lord Danzo. The data is correct."
"Then explain why we only recorded three hundred and twenty-four enemy deaths after driving them out of Grass Country."
Terai answered carefully. "The fighting may not be fully over, so some numbers aren't in yet. Also, Iwa retreated very cleanly. They avoided prolonged engagements, which kept their losses lower than expected."
Danzo forced down his anger. "Then finish the count as fast as possible. I want an accurate report sent to the village so everyone knows what you accomplished here."
Even while frustrated, Danzo still tried to keep the jonin on his side. The meeting ended on a mixed note. The camp returned to high activity. While the kill count was lower than expected, the fact that they had driven Iwa out of Grass Country and pushed into Earth Country itself was still a major achievement. Morale stayed high.
Iwa played along with Danzo's overconfidence. Their forces had been heavily committed against Cloud, so their response on this front was slow and defensive. For several days they only held ground and never launched a real counterattack. This only made Danzo bolder. He kept pushing his troops to hunt down remaining Iwa forces.
While Danzo's camp celebrated and grew arrogant, his victory report finally reached Hiruzen back in Konoha.
The news came at a useful time. The fallout from Danzo's attempt on Yohei's life had been suppressed but not forgotten. Restoring Danzo's elder position right now would anger the other clans. This victory gave Hiruzen some breathing room.
Koharu studied the report with narrowed eyes. "Hiruzen, doesn't something feel off about this?"
Hiruzen and Homura both read it again but didn't see the issue at first.
Koharu pointed it out. "The enemy casualties are far too low. We supposedly drove Iwa completely out of Grass Country, yet they only list three hundred and twenty-four dead. That number is suspiciously small for a battle of this scale."
Hiruzen and Homura exchanged glances. She had a point. The numbers didn't quite match the scale of the claimed victory.
"Even if the kill count is lower than expected," Hiruzen said after a moment, "the strategic goal was achieved. I don't believe Danzo would fake the overall result."
Homura nodded in agreement. Both men were in good spirits. Across all fronts, Leaf was holding strong or pushing forward. It felt like Konoha was at its strongest in years.
Homura saw an opening. "Since Danzo delivered such a big win, shouldn't we consider restoring his elder seat?"
Hiruzen's expression turned cold. He took a long drag from his pipe before answering. "Not yet. We only stripped him of the position a short while ago. If we give it back now, the Uchiha and the other clans will see it as us ignoring their concerns. We spent a lot of effort calming them down. I'm not about to stir that pot again while the war is still going."
Homura tried to push once more, but Hiruzen cut him off. "At least until the war ends. Any earlier and we'll face unified resistance from the major clans. That's not something we can afford."
Neither of them realized that Danzo's real target wasn't the elder seat anymore. He was aiming for the Hokage's chair itself.
While Danzo's camp celebrated their dominance, Iwa finally struck back.
The night attack came without warning.
Iwa's intelligence teams had spent days mapping the exact range of Leaf's defensive barriers and alarm systems. Danzo's overconfidence had left the outer perimeter almost completely unguarded.
A massive Tailed Beast Bomb tore through the darkness and slammed into the barrier surrounding the camp. The explosion lit up the entire sky. The defensive field flickered violently, then shattered.
The shockwave rolled across the camp as alarms finally began to blare.
Dozens of elite Iwa teams poured in right behind the blast. Some went straight for supply and logistics points, using Fire Release and explosive tags to destroy everything they could reach. Others focused on spreading chaos—destroying command structures and breaking up forming Leaf squads. Dedicated hunter teams specifically targeted any Leaf groups that tried to organize.
Another team headed directly for the medical camp, the weakest point in any base and home to hundreds of wounded.
At the center of the assault, Han—the Five-Tails jinchuriki—charged straight toward the main command tent with several jonin teams supporting him. Steam armor cloaked his massive frame as he smashed through every obstacle in his path.
Kunai, shuriken, fireballs, and wind blades all broke harmlessly against the scalding steam. The jonin around him used the distraction to rain ninjutsu down on any Leaf resistance.
Inside the camp, everything fell into chaos. Leaf forces were scattered and uncoordinated. Most fought in small isolated groups instead of forming any real defense.
Danzo blasted back the nearest Iwa attackers with Vacuum Serial Waves and shouted, "Terai! Send up the signal! Everyone rally on me!"
A bright white flare shot into the night sky. Scattered Leaf ninja across the camp immediately began moving toward it, desperate for leadership.
Han watched the flare rise and smiled coldly. Good. Gather together. It will make wiping you out that much easier.