Inside a cave,
Tsunade was treating Jiraiya's severe injuries.
"Give up, Tsunade."
Orochimaru, who had just returned from scouting outside, tried to persuade her to stop.
"What nonsense are you talking about, Orochimaru, you bastard?"
Rumble…
The cave where the three of them were hiding trembled constantly.
"The Stone Village's Earth Release will destroy this mountain very soon. If we want to escape, we can't hesitate. You and I must leave immediately."
"And Jiraiya?"
"If we try to escape while carrying Jiraiya, it's impossible."
"That's why I'm using medical ninjutsu."
"Tsunade, this is wartime. We can't reduce our survival probability over uncertain personal feelings."
"What probability?"
"Our chance of survival. One person can escape. Two people might barely manage. But with three people, we'll all die."
Tsunade stared at him in shock.
Orochimaru continued,
"You can keep treating Jiraiya if you want. No problem. I'll just send him on his way."
If you were conscious, Jiraiya, you would want Tsunade to live, wouldn't you?
Just as Orochimaru was about to act—
"Take one step forward and I'll kill you," Tsunade said coldly.
"Looks like the three of us are holding each other in check."
Tsunade continued,
"What do you mean? Right now it's just a matter of which of us moves faster."
Orochimaru frowned in confusion.
At that moment, Jiraiya weakly raised his hand and made a peace sign.
Even so, Jiraiya still trusted Orochimaru.
"Jiraiya's trust will stop you from going through with it," Tsunade said confidently.
You're the one who doesn't understand Jiraiya, Tsunade. Jiraiya actually agrees with me. If you can survive, he wouldn't consider sacrificing his life to be a big deal.
Orochimaru's resolve to act only grew stronger.
"Orochimaru-sensei, did I come at a bad time? It looks like I'm disturbing the three of you."
"Who's there?"
"Of course it's your beloved student."
Uchiha Kamito slowly revealed himself.
"The Stone Village's Secret Technique—Hiding with Camouflage?"
"Oh? Orochimaru-sensei knows about it too? It's a pretty good technique. Looks like I made another profit this time."
"Where are the Stone Village ninjas outside?"
"There's a saying in the ninja world: never fight an Uchiha one-on-one. But the Stone Village ninjas outside—on average, each one gets to face three Uchiha. Orochimaru-sensei, what do you think will happen?"
Orochimaru imagined pairs of Sharingan staring at him.
A drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead.
(Uchiha: If we're second in intimidation, who dares claim first?)
"By the way, Kamito, I don't remember ever accepting you as my student."
"Oh? Is that so? Doesn't matter. I already call the Hokage 'grandmaster,' so something this small isn't worth worrying about."
"Hmph, you sly brat."
"Heh, thanks for the compliment, sensei."
...
Meanwhile, on the battlefield between the Rain Village and Konoha,
The blue-purple barrier still stood tall, but a new group of ninjas had replaced the previous one.
The Aburame clan had already rotated out and were slowly recovering their chakra.
Senju Hideki, however, looked completely fine.
The talent of the Senju clan was truly enviable.
In just this short time, he had already run out to clean up the remaining Rain Village ninjas.
"Earth Release: Monstrous Strength Rock Fist Technique!"
One punch slammed down.
The ground shook violently.
Flying fragments of stone injured many Rain Village ninjas.
"In the name of the Senju, I will stand at the front of the formation! Charge with me!"
Senju Hideki covered himself with a layer of rock armor.
Combined with the Monstrous Strength Rock Fist Technique, he looked like a fully unleashed "Might Guy"—tough as iron and knocking enemies down one by one.
"Genjutsu: Tree Binding Death."
"In the name of the Yuhi clan, we will clear all enemies for Konoha!"
"Konoha Style: Crescent Moon Technique."
"In the name of the Gekkō clan, we will fight until death!"
"Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet Technique."
"In the name of the Mitarashi, we will never be inferior to anyone!"
...
"In the name of the Hyūga clan—die! Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Hyūga Hiashi and Hyūga Hizashi led their clansmen in harvesting the lives of the remaining Rain Village ninjas.
Hyūga Hiyasu and Nara Shikaku observed the battlefield from the side, ready to fill any gaps at any moment.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"
Hiyasu struck out with one palm, instantly killing a Rain ninja who had been pretending to be dead to ambush a Konoha shinobi.
"Be more careful. Dying right when victory is near would be truly stupid."
"Ah—thank you, Hiyasu-sama."
The rescued Konoha ninja blushed with embarrassment. He had been far too careless and resolved to be extra cautious from now on.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Bind Technique."
Nara Shikaku immobilized another Rain ninja.
"Watch yourself."
"Thank you, Shikaku-sama."
The rescued ninja thanked him and slit the Rain ninja's throat with a kunai.
...
At another end of the battlefield, around 180 Konoha ninjas surrounded a dozen Rain Village shinobi.
Inside the circle, Minato Namikaze was fighting them alone.
Dodging, weaving, flashing, striking throats—
Minato toyed with the dozen Rain ninjas like they were in the palm of his hand.
One of the Rain ninjas finally broke down.
"Why? Why humiliate us like this?!"
"Humiliate you? Not at all. I'm just training my evasion and killing techniques. I can't exactly practice on my own comrades, right? But with enemies like you, I can finally let loose and polish my skills. So… thank you."
Minato flashed a bright smile.
He thanked them sincerely.
"Ahhh! I'll kill you!"
The Rain ninja believed Minato was deliberately mocking him.
He screamed and rushed forward.
One second later, a large hole appeared in his throat, and he collapsed.
Two minutes later, all the Rain ninjas were lying dead.
The surrounding Konoha ninjas applauded.
"Minato, that was impressive."
"When we get back, you'll probably be promoted to jonin."
"Minato, my daughter just started at the Ninja Academy. You two aren't that far apart in age—want to consider it?"
"You beast! Your daughter is only five!"
"Minato is only eleven. What's six years of difference?"
"Still, you're a beast. Minato, my daughter works at the ninja hospital. She's seventeen now. As the saying goes, an older woman by three years is like holding a brick of gold. She's six years older than you—that's two bricks of gold. Think about it carefully."
"You bastard! When I won't marry my daughter off to you, you try to beat me to it? Have some shame!"
The two fathers arguing about marrying off their daughters were on the verge of fighting.
The people around them rushed to stop them.
Taking advantage of the chaos,
Minato hurriedly slipped away.
Marriage pressure was terrifying.
It felt even more dangerous than fighting a dozen Rain ninjas.
Besides, I already have Kushina. Who wants your daughters?
Ah—
Cough, cough… calm down.
Kushina hasn't even agreed yet.
...
One hour later,
Aburame Shiken asked Aburame Shikuro,
"You're sure all the poisonous insects inside are dead?"
"Relax. These poisonous insects die naturally three minutes after leaving a living host. Besides, I can sense their life force. There isn't a single living one left inside."
"Alright."
With a single command from the Aburame clan earlier, the massive barrier that had buried three thousand Rain Village ninjas collapsed.
The war between Konoha and the Rain Village officially came to an end.