Malphegor
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IUTT: Ch. 85
🕑 Added 2025-05-22 16:26:31 +0000 UTC"It was mainly because he gradually realized that staying in the command room only meant passing on messages, he wasn't making much of a difference," Shin explained.
"I'm the one who holds the overall intelligence. Even if I had wanted to deceive him, he wouldn't be able to tell. Eventually, all the decision-making completely fell to me. So he simply chose to trust me entirely and handed over the fate of the entire Land of Whirlpools to me. This way, everything became more natural. Promoting your achievements also became much easier."
Tsunade no longer had much of a reaction to his words. Having been under his influence for a long time, her mindset had undergone significant changes, so she now viewed many things differently.
Originally, she had come to the Land of Whirlpools with the genuine intention of helping. But now, while still helping, she also began to heed his advice and think about how to maximize her reputation.
When he had first proposed the plan to seize control of the battlefield, she had been resistant. However, the past few days, filled with doubts and interference from others, had truly worn her down.
"You're right," she sighed. "If you don't want to be held back, if you want commands to be followed precisely, then there can't be too many voices on the battlefield. The same goes for a village. Normally, it's good to listen to various opinions, but when it comes to decision-making, there can only be one voice. Otherwise, chaos is inevitable."
"Hahaha!" Shin teased, "Looks like you've learned how to think like a Hokage."
Tsunade muttered irritably, "Are you saying that just to annoy me?"
Thinking like a Hokage had long been something Shin mocked, even used as an insult. That was because it was Hiruzen's highest praise for someone.
In his view, to think like a Hokage meant that even if you were ordered to kill your own parents, or your entire clan, as long as it was in the name of protecting the village, you should gladly accept it.
In other words, in Hiruzen's eyes, whoever obeyed absolutely was the true inheritor of the Will of Fire.
"I'm being serious!" he said sincerely. "Hiruzen is a fake. You're the real deal."
"Someone's coming," he suddenly lowered his voice, then went completely silent.
"Tsunade!"
"Lady Tsunade!"
After the battle had completely ended, a group of Uzumaki ninjas, led by Ashina, came running over in high spirits.
"A great victory! A great victory! The Land of Whirlpools is saved!" He cried with tears streaming down his face.
Seeing their conversation interrupted again, Tsunade's mood instantly turned sour. She asked flatly, "What's the status report from the battlefield?"
"Uh…" The ninjas who ran over looked at each other in confusion. Didn't they just win a massive battle? Why did she seem even more displeased?
"In this battle, we eliminated 687 enemies, just 13 short of the 700 predicted in your intelligence report," Ryo said.
Tsunade showed little reaction and continued, "What were our casualties?"
"Thanks to your excellent leadership, and your powerful strength in cutting down the enemy's main forces, especially in slaying Fuguki, this time, we lost 42 ninjas, and fewer than a hundred were injured."
As the strategist for the eastern battlefront, Ryo had been under a lot of pressure lately. Among the top officers in the eastern camp, Shin was the only one who saw the situation clearly, that Tsunade's role as supreme commander couldn't be changed, and urged everyone to fully cooperate with her to secure victory.
As a result, some had secretly called him a traitor behind his back.
Now, under Tsunade's command, they had achieved a major victory, and he finally felt vindicated.
"All units, clean up the battlefield as quickly as possible, then return to camp and rest. In a few days, we'll launch a raid on Kiri," Tsunade ordered.
"Uh... we're not going right away?" Ryo asked, puzzled. "The news of Kiri's near-total annihilation probably hasn't reached them yet. If we take advantage of this moment and march rapidly to launch a surprise attack..."
"That's an order," Tsunade interrupted, unwilling to explain further.
Seeing that Ashina showed no objections, Ryo immediately stood at attention and responded loudly, "Yes."
---
Back at the camp, all the Uzushio ninjas were in high spirits. This unprecedented victory had erased all their prior doubts about Tsunade and removed any objections they had toward Ashina's action.
In fact, with the subtle promotion by some of Ashina's planted agents, many of the ninjas even began to feel a sense of fear in hindsight.
If they had truly been swayed by Kuroishi and the others and missed the opportunity to strike, not only would they have lost the current victory, they might have led the Land of Whirlpools to its demise.
If that had happened, they would all be condemned as traitors.
So in their eyes, those three truly deserved their punishment. To blatantly obstruct military operations at such a critical moment, placing personal interest above the safety of everyone, in a time when the nation was on the brink of destruction, was both shameful and detestable.
The way everyone looked at Tsunade changed. They finally understood why Ashina trusted her so much. Many ninjas, who had already resigned themselves to death, now found their mindset shifting.
With her leading them in battle, perhaps defeat wasn't inevitable after all. Even though they were all prepared to fight to the death, who wouldn't prefer to win?
Tsunade, however, didn't concern herself with what others thought. She took a few medical-nin and went to the makeshift medical station to begin surgeries and treatments for the wounded. Thanks to her efforts, as long as the injured hadn't died on the battlefield, it wouldn't be long before they were back on their feet.
Since the battle had ended so quickly, even the severed limbs of a few ninjas had been recovered. Though some might never regain their former flexibility due to the delay in treatment, at least they wouldn't be permanently disabled.
And so, the rumors of Tsunade's miraculous medical techniques spread throughout the camp once again.
The word was: as long as you weren't dead, she could restore you to your original state, further enhancing her prestige.
---
While Ashina continued to promote her and elevate her reputation, Suiten reappeared outside the Kiri camp.
Seeing hi still alive and well, Genji didn't even know what to say.
At that moment, he was filled with sorrow and anger, but he had no way to punish Suiten. After all, this guy had opposed the operation from the very beginning.
So the failure of the mission had nothing to do with him. And according to the few survivors who had managed to escape...
Before the battle began, Suiten had even advised Fuguki to slow down the march, expand the reconnaissance range, and be wary of traps.
But Fuguki had acted recklessly and ignored his advice.
Yet 700 elite troops had been lost, and they hadn't gained a single thing.
Genji could already imagine what awaited him upon returning to Kiri.
"You're actually still alive?" When Yumi heard that Suiten had survived, she rushed over immediately, and her first words were anything but polite.
