In truth, the process of persuading Jiraiya had not gone very smoothly.
Jiraiya also believed that Orochimaru's "lure the enemy deep" plan was too risky. If anything went wrong, it would be very hard to control. So Orochimaru took a step back and let Jiraiya first clash with Sunagakure according to his own ideas. If they couldn't gain an advantage, then they would adopt Orochimaru's plan.
But to ensure the bait plan did not leak early, Orochimaru would not appear on the Wildfire City battlefield. Jiraiya would have to face Sunagakure alone.
Jiraiya agreed.
However…
"Mikami Yuu, if your squad wants to, you may participate in Jiraiya's operation."
Orochimaru turned to look at him. "Recently, Wildfire City has been clashing with Sunagakure frequently, and they've suffered quite a few casualties. Jiraiya specifically asked for you to go over and help. You've already shown your faces on this battlefield before, so if you appear again, Sunagakure won't find it strange.
"However, right now you are my subordinates. If you don't want to go, you can refuse."
"Well…"
Yuu pondered briefly.
He really didn't particularly want to go to Wildfire City.
After all, aside from the worse living conditions, Mount Kikyo was quite comfortable. Every day, he only had to do some work, then he could slack off and train. It was about the same as being back in Konoha. But if he went to Jiraiya's side, his daily rhythm would become chaotic. After all, battles did not care whether it was day or night.
"Speaking of which… are they short on medical ninja at Wildfire City?"
Yuu thought of this point.
"Hm?"
Orochimaru froze slightly. "They should be. If battles have been breaking out frequently recently, then there should be no small number of wounded."
"Then can Rin and I go help treat the wounded, without doing reconnaissance or combat missions?"
Yuu said.
Naturally, he had a reason for making this suggestion.
As early as nearly a month ago, Yuu had already pushed the progress of Healing Technique's special event, "Personally Treat 100 Patients," to around seventy percent.
Originally, he had been thinking of taking advantage of his return to Konoha for the Chūnin Exam to visit Konoha Hospital a few times and finish grinding this progress. But because of things like rescuing the Uzumaki and becoming Tsunade's disciple, his progress had been limited. Now that he was back on the front line, he figured he should finish this first.
Although there was no evidence that the difficulty of a "special event" correlated with how much a "trait" advanced, Yuu was still quite looking forward to Healing Technique's max-affection trait.
A trait that took this long to unlock…
surely couldn't be too weak, right?
While he was at it, he could also ask Hebishi to help borrow some equipment so he could study Uzumaki Kana's blood sample.
Yuu was a little uneasy about letting Orochimaru know of this thing's existence. That was why, when he was in Konoha earlier, he had not asked Orochimaru for help. It would be better for him to secretly study it first, confirm the situation, and only then talk about the rest.
Opposite him,
Orochimaru nodded slightly. "Fine. Then pack up and head to Wildfire City's base as soon as possible."
"Wait, Yuu, what about me! I'm part of this team too!"
Obito quickly raised his hand.
Yuu glanced back at him and said casually, "You follow Kakashi and stay here to continue carrying out Lord Orochimaru's mission. You can't help with medical treatment anyway."
"How can it be like that…"
Obito was a little depressed.
Rin's lips curved slightly, revealing a faint smile.
As expected, this kind of thing still needed her. Although her Healing Technique was quite a bit worse than Yuu's, she had already reached the level of an ordinary medical chūnin. She should be able to play a significant role.
A little farther away,
Kurenai watched this scene and gently pressed her lips together, starting to consider whether she should also learn some medical ninjutsu so she could get closer to a certain white-haired boy…
Since it was already quite late,
Yuu and Rin did not depart immediately. They prepared to rest for the night and set out the next day.
The others also dispersed one after another, returning to their tents or stone chambers to wash up and rest.
…
It was early the next morning.
Two or three hundred li from Mount Kikyo, at Sunagakure's camp, inside a tent at the center of the camp.
The atmosphere was solemn and murderous.
More than a dozen Sunagakure jōnin sat neatly inside the tent. The person in the main seat was Rasa, with short brown hair and nearly twenty years of age. Beside him were Elder Chiyo and the former commander of the southwestern battlefield—for Sunagakure, the northeastern battlefield—Ishikawa Tetsuiwa.
As for why Rasa was sitting in the main seat…
It had been more than half a year since the Third Kazekage entered a state of unknown life or death.
Although Sunagakure had not given up searching for him, such a large village could not remain leaderless forever.
So,
after collisions and compromises between various factions, Rasa, who had once served as a guard for the Third Kazekage and was among the stronger members of the younger generation, was pushed forward as acting Kazekage. Before the Third Kazekage was found, he would manage the village's affairs, including this war that would determine Sunagakure's fate.
They called him "acting,"
but anyone with eyes could see that the chance of finding the Third Kazekage was already very small.
As long as Rasa did not make any major mistakes during this period, once the war ended, he could smoothly become official and turn into the rightful Fourth Kazekage.
Therefore,
the current Rasa could be said to be full of confidence and ambition.
"Comrades, please look at this map!"
"As everyone knows, the Wildfire City currently occupied by Konoha was once within Sunagakure's sphere of influence. But during the Warring States Period, it fell into the hands of the Land of Fire. Over the past several hundred years, no fewer than forty large and small battles have broken out around this place. The rights and wrongs of it all are difficult to explain…
"But today, this is a heaven-sent opportunity to reclaim lost land and establish our might in one battle!"
"Kumogakure has already responded to our invitation and launched an invasion at the northeastern border of the Land of Fire, tying down Konoha's forces. As for Wildfire City, our Sunagakure army is pressing down with all our elites deployed! The troop ratio in this battle is five thousand against three thousand. The advantage is ours!"
Rasa's face was flushed as he looked around, speaking with spittle flying.
As his words fell,
the tent immediately rang with low murmurs of agreement.
"Lord Rasa is right!"
"Exactly. We have so many more people than Konoha. Each of us could drown them with a mouthful of spit. How could we lose?"
"Hmph, if not for worrying that Ōnoki might go back on his word, we could have drawn another thousand-plus people from the north. Then we'd have an army of six thousand. Forget one Jiraiya—even if Sarutobi Hiruzen personally led the troops, we'd make him return in defeat!"
"As expected of Lord Fourth Kazekage. He accomplished in one move what we could not!"
"…"
In a corner,
Pakura, with orange hair and a backless outfit, curled her lip, her face showing mockery.
"A petty man intoxicated by success."
Speaking of which,
ever since she had been captured by Konoha last time and then returned, Pakura's days had not been easy.
On one hand, because Chiyo's assassination operation had failed, she had not fulfilled her promise to take Pakura as a disciple. On the other hand, several jōnin in Rasa's faction had seized on Pakura's capture and made a big issue of it, openly and secretly questioning her loyalty in front of the higher-ups, even framing her as "colluding with Konoha."
Under pressure from both sides, Pakura's voice in the village rapidly weakened. Even her cultivation resources had been cut down greatly.
If not for the fact that her strength remained, and that a few jōnin who were not on good terms with Rasa were willing to speak up for her, Rasa would probably have marginalized her completely long ago. Even so, in this jōnin meeting, she could only sit at the very end, like a silent decoration.
To be fair, Chiyo's actions were understandable.
After all, her original target had been to kill the "White Fang descendant," Mikami Yuu, only to realize it had all been a misunderstanding. Then Namikaze Minato had wiped out the squad that participated in the operation. The fact that Chiyo did not take her anger out on Pakura already showed some self-restraint. Asking her to fulfill her promise was honestly unrealistic.
But Rasa's behavior was a classic case of jealousy toward the capable and abusing public power for private grudges.
They were both Suna ninja, yet he remembered a tiny grudge like this to this day. His heart was probably smaller than Kun-kun's.
Pakura was inwardly ridiculing him,
when Rasa in the main seat seemed to sense something and cast his gaze over.
"Hm, Jōnin Pakura, from the look on your face, you seem to disagree with what I said just now? If you have any thoughts, why not speak them aloud and let our colleagues discuss them together?"
In an instant,
all gazes focused on Pakura—some curious, some worried, but most taking pleasure in her misfortune.
"…"
Pakura pressed her lips together and suppressed the urge to confront him.
"I said Acting Kazekage-sama's insight is excellent."
"…Heh, Jōnin Pakura, you are too modest."
Rasa smiled, but his eyes were very cold.
"Although you were previously captured by Konoha because of an unfavorable operation, who in Sunagakure does not know the great reputation of you, the Scorch Release user? With your strength, you should not be harshly blamed for one failure.
"How about this? In this battle, you will serve as the vanguard! You must use thunderous momentum to destroy Konoha's forward position and open a path for our army!"
"!!"
Damn it.
Pakura almost lost control.
Although Sunagakure had been boasting about its troop advantage, everyone knew that the average quality of Suna ninja was lower than Konoha ninja of the same rank and often had to be compared half a tier lower. And recently, Konoha had sent another batch of reinforcements, so their morale was high.
Under these circumstances, whether they won or lost after the battle began was one thing. But the vanguard would definitely be the first to die. After all, they would face Konoha's tightest defenses and strongest counterattack firepower.
The other jōnin present basically wanted nothing to do with this job. Now they were all wishing Pakura would hurry up and accept it.
"What's wrong, Jōnin Pakura? Are you unwilling to contribute to Sunagakure?"
Rasa narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone aggressive.
"…As you command, Acting Kazekage-sama."
Pakura took a deep breath and lowered her head in response.
Seeing this,
Rasa nodded in satisfaction, revealing a pleased smile.
"Very good! Then allow me to wish Jōnin Pakura great martial fortune in advance. May you win the opening battle and claim the first merit for Sunagakure!"
"…"
With the toughest assignment handed out,
the remaining deployment became much simpler.
Rasa distributed the missions one by one, then invited the veteran Chiyo to stand and say a few words. With that, this prewar mobilization meeting was declared over.
The many Sunagakure jōnin left the tent one after another, returning to prepare for the coming battle.
Pakura could not be bothered to listen to more nonsense from Rasa, so she immediately stood and followed the crowd out. She returned to the area where the squad she led was stationed and began preparing for the upcoming decisive battle.
Serving as the vanguard was indeed a bitter task.
But for the current Pakura, it was also an opportunity to prove her worth. Otherwise, who knew how long this life of being excluded and marginalized would continue?
"Speaking of which…"
Had that white-haired brat returned to the battlefield recently?
Wasn't he only supposed to return to Konoha for half a month or so?
Pakura thought this and casually picked up the research report beside her, which had already been flipped through many times.
Speaking of which, part of her current situation was because of that white-haired brat. Otherwise, she would not have been burdened with suspicion of "colluding with Konoha."
But because of the report he had given her, Pakura had received inspiration and improved her Scorch Release. Her ninjutsu attainment had taken another step forward. From this perspective, Pakura ought to thank Mikami Yuu.
Two conflicting feelings intertwined in her heart, making the female Suna ninja's mood a little complicated.
"…Forget it. I'll think about it after this battle."
"The current me is much stronger than before. If I meet that white-haired brat again on the battlefield… I'll spare his life."
…
"Achoo—"
Mikami Yuu sneezed.
Beside him, Rin immediately looked over.
"What's wrong, Yuu? Did you catch a chill while sleeping last night?"
"No, my nose just feels a little uncomfortable."
Yuu smiled and answered casually.
At this moment, they had already left Mount Kikyo and arrived at the Wildfire City base where the main force was stationed.
There was no need to dwell on the report-in process. The two quickly met Jiraiya, then were sent to the medical room at the back of the camp and began treating the wounded.
Cleaning wounds, changing medicine, surgical operations, removing toxins…
The treatments proceeded in an orderly fashion.
A few medical ninja did not know Yuu and Rin. Seeing their young age, they thought they were newly arrived apprentices and wanted to give them some guidance. But after seeing the two's skilled movements, they were shocked.
"You two… where did you learn medical ninjutsu? You're so practiced?"
Before Yuu could answer,
Hebishi's voice drifted over from the side.
"They're students personally taught by Lady Tsunade. Haven't you seen them at Konoha Hospital before? Alright, stop wasting time over there. Hurry up and help me deal with this patient. We may need to use a sealing array."
"Coming."
Yuu answered.
Two full days passed in intense treatment.
Starting on the third day, Sunagakure gathered its elite forces and launched a several-day full-front assault on Konoha's camps centered around Wildfire City!
Yuu and Rin did not personally participate in this battle. They only saw large numbers of wounded being sent to the rear. Those with light injuries were treated briefly and sent back to the battlefield, while those with severe injuries stayed behind to recover.
With the addition of this new batch of "fresh troops," Yuu's mission progress climbed rapidly. Finally, one afternoon several days later, he saw the galgame system prompt:
[Ding! Special Event "Personally Treat 100 Patients" completed! Current progress: 100/100!]
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!