manynovel Chapter 163 From Warm Sunshine to Scorching Sun
Chapter 163 From Warm Sunshine to Scorching Sun
Chapter 163 From Warm Sunshine to Scorching Sun
Ironically, nowadays, the person who trusts Minato Namikaze the most in the entire northern ninja world is actually Kiyokawa Shiba, the man who hurt him the most in the past!
With the attack from Iwagakure and Kumogakure, Minato Namikaze's reputation and situation plummeted to rock bottom, teetering on the brink of despair!
He continued to fight, and was still invincible on the battlefield, but he could not save the leaky and retreating front.
In an instant, the sound of the yellow flash finally dimming and Minato Namikaze's glory fading could be heard from the inner lake of the Land of Demons all the way to the outer sea of the Land of Hot Water.
During this period, Minato Namikaze wrote to his teacher Jiraiya more than once, asking for help.
But now, there's very little left for Jiraiya to teach him. All he can repeat are those few phrases: "For the village," "For Konoha," and "You are the savior of prophecy, you must believe in yourself."
For several days in a row, Minato Namikaze only slept two or three hours a day, either fighting on the front lines or looking at the map and thinking about countermeasures. As a result, his dazzling blond hair stuck together, his eye bags were heavy, and his eyes were full of bloodshot veins.
His haggard appearance and his best efforts were seen by every Konoha ninja around him, but no one could help share the burden.
The more exhausted he appears, the more those with ulterior motives will feel that the empire is on the verge of collapse and there is no way to save it.
As a result, Konoha suffered even greater losses in the following battles!
Upon seeing the damage report, Minato Namikaze's usually gentle face revealed undisguised anger for the first time, and he couldn't help but clench his fist tightly over the reel.
"What does it mean that these seven squads returned to the village after their defeat? Who authorized their return? Are we now allowing these squads that abandoned their missions to return to the village without my, the commander, having any say in it?"
He stared intently at his adjutant, Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
The common feature of these seven teams is that they all have members with the surname Sarutobi, some are members of the Sarutobi clan, and some are village ninjas who changed their surname after marrying into the family.
Moreover, Minato Namikaze knew without asking that if he let these seven squads go back without any further questions, then even those ninjas in the squads who didn't originally have the surname Sarutobi would only have one option left after returning: change their surname.
While the front lines are suffering defeat after defeat, a certain ninja clan is taking advantage of the situation to expand and grow stronger in the rear!
In the past, out of gratitude for his mentorship, he had always turned a blind eye to this phenomenon.
But at this moment, he finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Shinnosuke was still trying to remind him: "Minato-sama, this was... approved by the Third Hokage, and the previous defeats were not entirely their responsibility."
Besides, they'll be punished when they return to the village. Ninjas who fail their missions will carry the label of "useless" for life, no matter where they go!
Shinnosuke was trying to convince Minato Namikaze that these people would be punished accordingly.
In the past, Minato Namikaze would have tolerated it.
But now, for the first time, he didn't want to hold back anymore!
"Enough! Haven't your Sarutobi clan taken in enough 'trash' since the start of the war?!"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke was shocked.
This was the first time he had ever seen the warm and gentle Minato Namikaze erupt in such fury.
And this is only the beginning!
Soon after, a masked ninja teleported in to report: "Lord Minato, the seven squads of ninja who deserted have been captured."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke was even more horrified.
He never expected that Minato Namikaze would be so ruthless this time, openly slapping the face of the Sarutobi clan.
Moreover, wasn't this masked ninja a former subordinate of Root? Now he's been completely recruited by Minato Namikaze! When did all this happen? Shinnosuke realized he had no idea!
Minato Namikaze then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to disappear instantly.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke then realized something was wrong and quickly formed hand seals to use the Body Flicker Technique to chase after them!
But by the time he arrived at the location, it was already too late...
All he saw was Minato Namikaze's cold face, which he had never seen before, and more than twenty corpses lying neatly on the ground.
The seven Sarutobi clan squads, who should have been returning to their village, were now all lying on the ground in perfect unison, and it didn't seem to be Minato Namikaze's doing—they all had kunai stuck in their stomachs.
These twenty-odd people all committed suicide by disembowelment, without exception!
Standing at the forefront of this scene were representatives of the ninja clan from the northern front.
At this moment, these ninja representatives stood with their heads bowed before Minato Namikaze, silent and trembling with fear, none daring to raise any questions.
The next moment, Minato Namikaze looked at Hideki Hyuga, an elder of the Hyuga clan.
"Elder Hideki, the Sarutobi clan has set an example. Can the Hyuga clan guarantee uninterrupted reconnaissance along the front lines?"
Hideki Hinata bowed deeply, his former arrogance completely gone.
"We, the Hyuga clan, pledge our utmost effort, Commander!"
Minato Namikaze simply nodded silently, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
At that moment, every ninja representative in front felt a bone-chilling cold and immense pressure.
The once gentle little sun, as warm as the spring sunshine, has finally been forced by them to learn the scorching heat and intensity of the midsummer sun!
As for Sarutobi Shinnosuke, he just stood there blankly, as if he had lost all the strength to speak.
He didn't know how to go back and explain it to his father, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
However, as Sarutobi Shinnosuke's spirits sank to rock bottom, Konoha's northern campaign miraculously rebounded in the subsequent battles!
As if overnight, all the Konoha ninja on the entire front suddenly grasped the true meaning of the Will of Fire! They fought with selfless courage and fearlessness, following in the footsteps of Minato Namikaze, fighting to the death without retreating!
As it turns out, no matter how beautiful the leaves flutter or how warm the firelight burns, nothing can move people's hearts as much as the boundary between life and death!
On that day, Minato Namikaze shed his innocence and naivety, and matured a lot overnight, as if he were reborn.
However, as a price, the distance between him and the Sarutobi clan, and even the Third Hokage who had mentored him, grew ever wider!
After Minato Namikaze forcefully suppressed the internal conflicts within Konoha, Konoha's counterattack began!
Onoki thought he had obtained the secret to victory from Akatsuki through Yakushi Nonou, but he didn't know that what he had obtained was just some superficial information that Shiba Kiyokawa thought was okay to show to him.
When things are going well, it's not a problem to bully the Konoha ninja clan who are focused on protecting their clan.
However, when faced with the Konoha forces that had been clenched into a fist by Minato Namikaze, these small forces suddenly seemed inadequate!
Even more so than what Minato Namikaze learned from the Akatsuki organization through his own post-war reflections!
In the blink of an eye, the two great ninja villages, both trained by the Akatsuki organization, began their first head-on confrontation!
There will be another chapter at midnight~
(End of this chapter)