With the withdrawal of the Hidden Mist forces, the surprise attack finally came to an end.
The Konoha shinobi who marched back across the shoreline looked utterly exhausted. Many moved slowly, their armor stained with blood and seawater. Bodies covered the battlefield, both friend and enemy alike. Some ninja knelt beside fallen comrades, grief written plainly across their faces. Others stared silently at the ground, their expressions empty.
War had already claimed too many lives.
For most of them, death had become something almost routine. Simply surviving another battle already felt like a blessing. In such a world, few had the strength left to demand anything more.
"Nawaki, after this battle, will the war with the Land of Water finally end?"
The question came as Hayashi reunited with his old friend among the returning troops.
The enemy commander had fled in defeat. Out of the feared Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, only four were still able to fight. Added to that was Konoha's earlier victory in the Land of Bears. From Hayashi's point of view, the Hidden Mist Village had already suffered heavy losses. Negotiating peace seemed like the logical step.
Still walking at the rear of the formation, Hayashi shook his head slightly.
"Not even close," he said.
"If a single battle could truly end the war and crush Hidden Mist completely, I would chase them to the very last man. I would not let them escape so easily."
Hidden Mist had suffered a defeat today, but that did not mean the war was over. Large numbers of Mist shinobi were still stationed near the border of the Land of Hot Springs. Those forces could invade the Land of Fire at any moment, or link up with the Hidden Cloud Village to launch a combined offensive.
Even deeper inside the Hidden Mist Village, many elite shinobi had yet to be deployed.
The war had barely reached its middle stage. Under those circumstances, the Fourth Mizukage had little reason to seek negotiations.
"Even if we cannot force them to agree to peace," Nawaki continued, "we can at least drive them out of the Land of Waves, right?"
"That depends on what we accomplish today."
Hayashi narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked toward the horizon. The sun was slowly rising above the ocean, casting pale golden light across the battered battlefield.
Cleaning up after a large-scale battle was never easy.
Konoha shinobi spent hours identifying the fallen, separating their own comrades from enemy corpses, and recording the casualties. The process was slow and emotionally draining.
The preliminary casualty report did not arrive until the afternoon.
Hayashi picked up the report and scanned through the numbers. Even though he had already prepared himself mentally, the figures still caused his expression to tighten.
Out of nearly two thousand Konoha shinobi who participated in the battle, more than five hundred had died. Many others were severely injured and would not return to combat anytime soon.
Compared with Hidden Mist's losses, Konoha had actually suffered fewer casualties. However, the difference in manpower between the villages made every loss painful.
Konoha did not have the luxury of wasting shinobi.
After reading the summary, Hayashi set the scroll down and continued working.
Now that he had officially arrived at the front line, the acting commander Hatake Sakumo had transferred almost all command authority to him.
The handover alone took nearly the entire day.
Commanding a frontline force meant dealing with countless responsibilities, troop rotations, supply management, patrol schedules, intelligence reports, and coordination between units. Fortunately, Hayashi had spent years assisting Orochimaru and had already learned how to handle such tasks.
Even so, the burden would have been overwhelming if not for Sakumo's support.
Night had already fallen.
Inside the central command tent, Hayashi sat alone with several stacks of documents spread across the table. A lantern flickered beside him as he carefully drafted a detailed report for the Third Hokage.
What had begun as a sudden ambush had escalated into a large-scale battle. The Hokage needed to know everything that had happened on the front line.
Hayashi also needed to include the names of those who had distinguished themselves during the fight.
The Hokage required a list of war heroes so that the village could follow proper procedure, official commendations, public recognition, and battlefield promotions.
In the past, Orochimaru had usually handled these reports, but Hayashi had assisted enough times to know the routine by heart.
The process was simple.
Praise them thoroughly.
Write about their courage, their decisive actions, their unwavering loyalty to Konoha. Describe their accomplishments in the most impressive way possible. That was the standard format for battlefield commendations.
Whether such glowing praise might accidentally bring bad luck to the recipients was another matter entirely.
For the people of Konoha, the only message that truly mattered was simple.
The front line was winning.
Enemy villages were suffering losses, while Konoha continued to stand strong.
After finishing that section, Hayashi moved on to the most serious part of the report.
The list of the dead.
Even though today had ended in victory, war always demanded a price. The village needed an accurate record of those who had fallen so that their families could receive compensation and support.
If the earlier sections could afford some exaggeration, this part required absolute precision.
A single mistake could affect the lives of surviving family members, especially children who had lost their parents.
Hayashi had already assigned that task to Himeji earlier, which was why neither of them had eaten yet.
"Nawaki?"
During a brief pause, Hayashi looked up and saw his friend pushing aside the tent flap and stepping inside.
"Something came to mind," Nawaki said. "I thought I should mention it."
"Go ahead."
Hayashi gestured for him to sit down, then asked Himeji to find some food while they talked.
"When the Hidden Mist attacked this morning," Nawaki began, "Nono and I were out on patrol. Suddenly there was an explosion inside our perimeter."
"The enemy slipped past the scouts and launched a silent raid. Nono and I both suspect that there might be a spy within headquarters."
He had deliberately stayed silent during the earlier Jonin meeting because he feared alerting the potential traitor.
Hayashi nodded calmly.
"Sakumo already mentioned the same concern to me. He shares your suspicion."
"But only a small group knows the exact scout assignments," Nawaki said. "And none of them should have any connection to Hidden Mist."
"Could someone have leaked information accidentally?" Nawaki asked.
Hayashi shook his head.
"There is no realistic way to investigate that right now."
It was not as if he could summon the Hyuga clan and politely ask whether someone had revealed military intelligence.
More importantly, Hayashi already had his own theory.
If Uchiha Madara truly controlled Hidden Mist from the shadows, then White Zetsu could easily gather intelligence anywhere in the ninja world. Against that kind of surveillance, even the most secure defenses would be meaningless.
"So we just ignore it?" Nawaki asked with clear frustration.
Hayashi calmly picked up his teacup, took a sip, and smiled faintly.
"I already have a solution."
At that moment, Himeji returned with a boxed meal in her hands. She placed it in front of Hayashi before quietly stepping aside.
"Thank you," Hayashi said.
Then he glanced at Nawaki.
"You already ate, right?"
"I did," Nawaki replied slowly. "Why?"
An uneasy feeling suddenly appeared in his mind.
"Good."
Hayashi turned to Himeji.
"How many names are left to copy?"
"A little over three hundred."
"Give two hundred of them to Nawaki."
Silence filled the tent.
"I am on patrol tonight," Nawaki protested.
"Patrol?" Hayashi scoffed lightly. "You are clearly planning to take Nono out for a date."
He continued calmly.
"Minato is currently assisting Jiraiya sensei in the Land of Wind. You cannot even help me copy a few names?"
Nawaki sighed deeply, clearly defeated, and accepted the scroll.
While he worked, another thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"By the way, did you finish my commendation report?"
"Of course," Hayashi replied casually.
He recited the contents from memory.
"Single handedly held off a dozen jonin level opponents. Personally eliminated the Swordsman Tosaburo. The battlefield trembled at the sight of Nawaki's strength."
Nawaki frowned.
"That sounds too ordinary."
He shook his head.
"Add some stronger wording. At the very least compare me to the Fourth Mizukage."
Hayashi stared at him silently.
If Nawaki ever died, Hayashi thought privately, it would probably be because of his own bragging.
While continuing to copy names, Nawaki suddenly muttered to himself.
"I should choose a proper title for myself."
"Water God? No, that was Grandfather's title."
"King of Water Release? That sounds terrible."
He looked up.
"Do you have any suggestions?"
Hayashi raised an eyebrow.
"You could call yourself the Sea King."
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