The central region of the Land of Grass.
The western front forces finally linked up with the border reinforcements. When the rescue troops saw the battered state of the western army, they couldn't hide their shock.
They had known the western forces took a beating, but this was worse than expected. Every single survivor was wounded, and the whole unit looked like it had been torn apart.
"Commander Mimura, we finally caught up with you." Tanaka stepped forward and gripped Mimura Yagami's hands, relief plain on his face.
"Jonin Tanaka, I was ordered to reinforce you. From now on my people answer to you."
Mimura pulled him aside, voice low. "Did you run into Danzo on the way here?"
Tanaka hesitated, then answered honestly. "I saw some Root operatives, but they just passed by without a word. Danzo himself? No sign of him at all."
Mimura's expression tightened. That wasn't right. Even if Danzo had run earlier, he should have returned once he heard the camp was still standing. The fact that he hadn't shown up after all this time made Mimura's gut twist.
They headed straight for Taiichi's shadow clone. The moment they arrived, the clone understood everything without a single word. It dispersed in a puff of smoke.
Two seconds later, the real Taiichi appeared out of thin air.
The raw, savage aura rolling off him after four straight hours of nonstop fighting hit the nearby chunin and genin like a physical blow. Even Mimura and Tanaka felt their hearts skip.
Taiichi caught himself fast. He pulled the killing intent back in and softened his voice.
"Jonin Tanaka, if you'd shown up any later I might've actually lost Iwa."
He said it like a joke, and both men forced a laugh to ease the tension. They had been genuinely rattled.
Mimura got straight to business. "Taiichi, how long until Iwa catches up?"
"Five hours. Maybe a little less if they push hard."
Mimura's eyebrows shot up. "That long? You actually stalled their whole army?"
"Long enough for us to pick our ground," Taiichi said. "We should find an open spot near the river, set up camp, and wait for them. I don't think they'll commit to a real fight once they see we've linked up with reinforcements. They got hit pretty hard while I was keeping them busy."
Mimura and Tanaka exchanged stunned looks. Whatever Taiichi had done out there, it had clearly broken Iwa's momentum.
They found a wide stretch of ground beside the river and got to work. The wounded were moved into cover while the rest of the forces took defensive positions. Logistics teams started raising tents.
Five hours later, right on schedule, Iwa's vanguard appeared.
It wasn't the full army. Just jonin and their personal squads—Higashi at the front with Han, the Five-Tails jinchuriki, standing beside him.
Higashi took one look at the prepared Leaf forces and felt the last of his hope die.
Taiichi stepped forward. After what he had just done to their main force, he was the only one with the weight to speak.
"Well, well. If it isn't Higashi from Iwa. You only brought this many people? Where's the rest of your army? Did they all turn into soft little bitches after I got done with them?"
Higashi's face darkened. "Don't get cocky, Matsushita Taiichi. You only slowed us down with speed and cheap shots. If you've got the guts, let's settle this head-on and see who dies."
Taiichi laughed, loud and mocking. "Funny. That's exactly how you beat us last night too, right? With a fair fight?"
He took ten steps forward, voice carrying across the field.
"I'm standing right here. You want a real fight? Send out five of your best. I'll take all of you at once. That fair enough? Or are you too scared to even try?"
Laughter erupted from the Leaf side. The Iwa ninja looked like they wanted to disappear into the ground.
Higashi opened his mouth, then closed it. He couldn't demand a full army clash now without looking like a coward. Everyone here knew Taiichi was the strongest person on the field—strong enough to beat down Han and still have energy to toy with their entire force.
Taiichi didn't give him time to recover.
"Higashi, you won't fight and you won't leave. So what the hell are you doing here?"
He raised his hand. Behind him, Mimura shouted, "Revenge! Revenge!"
The cry spread like wildfire through the Leaf ranks until it became a single, pounding rhythm.
"Revenge! Revenge!"
Taiichi took the first step forward. Mimura followed. Then every Leaf ninja stepped with him.
Phoenix Sage Fire orbs bloomed around Taiichi, hundreds of glowing golden spheres lighting up the field.
Higashi remembered the meteor shower of golden fire that had wiped out two hundred of his men earlier. He made his decision in an instant.
"Fall back. We're leaving."
Iwa turned and ran like the devil himself was on their heels. The only thing chasing them was the sound of Leaf laughter echoing across the river.
Taiichi let the fire orbs fade and let out a quiet breath. His chakra was running dangerously low. He still had wounded to treat.
Mimura walked over, grinning like a man who had just won the lottery.
"That felt good. Really damn good. I wanted to charge them so bad."
"Don't," Taiichi said quickly. "Commander Mimura, get the camp secured and start treating the wounded. We've got a lot of people who still need real care."
"Right. Right. Almost forgot the important part. Thanks for the reminder."
Iwa had been forced to back down for now. The western front was about to turn into a long, grinding stalemate.
But while the western forces focused on healing and rebuilding their camp, chaos was already exploding at Border Outpost 8.
Root operatives had gathered there after Danzo's retreat order. The agreed meeting time had long since passed. Danzo was nowhere to be seen.
The elite Root members were visibly uneasy. Root didn't tolerate lateness. Not even from their leader.
"Akatora, it's been over an hour. Danzo still hasn't shown. What do we do?"
The highest-ranking operative present, a middle-aged man named Akatora, looked around at the anxious faces.
"Cangying, take four squads and head back into the Land of Grass. Search the route we took for any sign of Danzo.
Tujiu, take two squads and slip into the Land of Earth. Check around our old camp for clues.
Everyone else stays here and keeps waiting. Maybe Danzo just ran into trouble and he'll show up soon."
The others nodded. It was the only reasonable call.
Cangying and Tujiu left with their teams. The rest stayed behind, the tension in the outpost growing heavier with every passing hour.
A full day passed. Cangying returned with nothing. No trace of Danzo on the retreat route.
Then Tujiu came back at a dead run, one of his men carrying a body on his back.
It was Terai. Dead. Already stiff.
Tujiu looked shaken. The men with him looked worse.
Akatora stepped forward and slapped Tujiu hard across the face. "Tell me what happened. Where's Danzo?"
Tujiu swallowed. "We found Terai's body first. Then we found the place where Danzo fought. There were traces of the Four Symbols Seal being used."
The words hit like a hammer. The Four Symbols Seal wasn't common knowledge. Only a handful of people in Konoha even knew it existed. And only Danzo's most trusted inner circle knew he had placed it on himself.
The seal activated on death. It was his final card to drag his killer down with him.
If the seal had triggered, then Danzo was gone.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Akatora was the first to pull himself together. "We return to the village. We report everything to the Hokage and ask him to send his best trackers. They might still find something."
No one argued. It was the only move left.
"Bring Terai's body," Akatora added. "He was the last one with Danzo. Maybe we can learn something from him."
Tujiu shouldered the corpse. The Root operatives left Outpost 8 at full speed, racing back toward Konoha.
The next day they arrived at the village and delivered the news straight to Hiruzen.
The reaction was immediate and violent.
Koharu and Homura didn't even wait to be summoned. They stormed into the Hokage's office the moment they heard.
Danzo was dead.
The news hit them harder than an earthquake. One of their own, equal in status, had been killed without anyone knowing how or by whom. The implications were terrifying.
Root believed Iwa had ambushed him. But Koharu and Homura weren't so sure. If it had been Iwa, the news would have already spread across the entire ninja world—just like the earlier attack on the western camp. Yet there had been no word at all.
Something didn't add up. And that scared them more than anything.