Ninja Ice House

Overall, while all sides seemed to be giving it their all in the battle, only the Sand Village was truly serious. Gaara was extremely important to them at that moment. With Sasori's second defection, losing all credibility and severely damaging Chiyo's reputation, if it weren't for Gaara, a strongman who secured the position of the Fifth Kazekage and supported the backbone of the Sand Village, they would probably have truly fallen to a second-rate power and been removed from the list of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

How can a ninja village that can't even select a "Kage" be ranked alongside Konoha, Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure?

Now that even the One-Tailed Shukaku has been lost and is unlikely to be found again, the Sand Village has lost its most important trump card and truly has no choice but to fight desperately.

The battle, though short in duration, was incredibly intense. It ended with Deidara's insane self-destruction, as if this madman had been driven to desperation and had no choice but to choose a method of mutual destruction.

Rumors of Deidara's death have surfaced more than once or twice, with him reappearing every now and then. The Sand and Konoha ninjas present were not entirely sure whether the blond rogue ninja, who had been violently reduced to ashes in his self-destruction, was truly dead. The most important thing right now was to treat the wounded, restore their condition, and defend against any potential powerful enemies.

The final, violent self-destruction had limited direct lethality; it was the intense shockwave that severely impacted the body, especially the auditory and brain nerves. Many ninjas who were nearby couldn't withstand it and fainted, but in reality, they weren't seriously injured.

However, Gaara, in his puppet form, acted recklessly, unleashing wide-range ninjutsu without considering whether it was depleting his chakra.

The good thing is that very few people died in battle. There were many ninjas who were seriously injured and temporarily lost their ability to fight, requiring emergency treatment. As a result, almost all of the main combat forces had to stay behind to treat the wounded and protect them, so there was no way to pursue them.

After Karin finished treating a seriously injured person who had been dug out from five or six meters underground and was out of danger, she took off her medical gloves, wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead, and was about to rest for a while when Naruto Uzumaki, who was wrapped in bandages like a dumpling, walked over.

"I heard you ran into Sasuke. How is he? Why didn't you bring him back?"

Her tone was urgent, even a little impolite, but Karin didn't bother to argue and replied:

"I will submit the details to the village in the form of a mission report. The Fifth Hokage will be in charge. All I can tell you now is that he is still alive and out of danger."

"Then why doesn't he come back?"

“I understand how you feel. Sasuke is also my classmate for many years. Although our relationship isn’t exactly great, it’s still fairly amicable. So you don’t need to worry about me doing anything to him. In fact, there aren’t many people in this world who can make him unhappy in the future.”

Having awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, and even transplanted his eye power in one step, inheriting Itachi Uchiha's Amaterasu Black Flame and advancing to the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, Sasuke Uchiha had already unlocked the power of "Indra's reincarnation chakra." When his awakening reaches a deep enough level, like "Amenotejikara," an eye technique that enhances combat power comparable to the Flying Thunder God Technique, and when he develops Susanoo to its complete form, his path will be much easier.

"Really? I see. Sorry to bother you!"

“You… take good care of yourself. You’re badly injured, and your physical condition is even worse than Kong’s. But your endurance and recovery speed are simply not normal. If it were anyone else, they would have passed out long ago and wouldn’t have woken up for three days and three nights.”

"I know, the Sage Body of the Uzumaki Clan, you also..."

"Shh..."

Karin made a shushing gesture, smiled gently, and said...

"This is not a topic I can discuss with you. Please remember, my name is Karin, and my surname is Kosugi..."

Karin's mother, Momiji, is a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, but she has never been called Uzumaki. The kingdom and family that have long since disappeared do not need Karin to bear the consequences. Even if her father, Kosugi Bokusui, intends to restore the Uzumaki kingdom and make one of his younger siblings the ruler, it will not be a matter of a short time. At least it will have to wait until they grow up.

"I took the liberty."

"It is a bit presumptuous of me, but the fact that you would speak to me so politely shows that you have a deep obsession with Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Um……"

Without saying much, after a moment of silence, Karin broke the awkward silence:

"What's the situation on the Sand Village side? Mizuki-sensei is in charge, but I don't know what he said. How's Gaara? It seems like things aren't going well on our side..."

Speaking of this, Naruto's face darkened, and he replied in a dejected tone:

"Grandma Chiyo is using forbidden techniques to heal Gaara. Gaara is probably alright, but Grandma Chiyo..."

They sighed and looked at each other in silence.

As a combat profession that involves risking their lives to complete missions, ninjas have a deep understanding of life and death. Even though they haven't been ninjas for many years, they are no longer the rookies who just graduated from ninja school and haven't experienced much.

In contrast, the older generation who experienced the Fourth Shinobi World War were more calm and rational. They had lived in peace for so many years and had never even experienced the bloody night of the Nine-Tails' attack on the village. The younger ninjas, who had only seen some big scenes during the Uchiha Clan Massacre and the Konoha Crush, had not yet adapted to the sudden death of their relatives, friends and acquaintances.

This battle didn't last particularly long, unlike the Shinobi World War where hundreds or thousands of ninja troops gathered on the border and engaged in a protracted standoff and tug-of-war. However, the intensity of the battle was extremely high. More than a dozen elite Jonin took turns attacking, and there were more than just one or two who could reach or approach the strength of the Five Kage. Ordinary Chunin, who were the backbone of the ninja force, were barely even "background" in the battle.

Naruto Uzumaki, unaware of how significantly this intense conflict had boosted his own strength, was still immersed in the negative emotions of Gaara's impending resurrection and Chiyo's inevitable death due to a forbidden technique.

"Naruto, that's how the world of ninjas is. It's hard to accept, but we have to face it..."

Kakashi Hatake, whose stamina and chakra were severely depleted, managed to regain some mobility and walked over despite the aches all over his body. He reached out his large hand, intending to pat the boy's head as he used to, but found that the once innocent boy was now almost as tall as him. So he patted the still somewhat immature shoulder instead.

"Peace is everyone's expectation. The First Hokage established Konoha Village with the ambition of realizing this dream. Although he ended the bloody Warring States period, he did not achieve his ultimate goal. So... we must work hard!"