In the forest, Haruto Saito was running at full speed.
It was already the afternoon of the second day. Since leaving Chao Mountain, Haruto hadn't stopped for a moment.
A total of six people—Haruto Saito, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Hattori Ryuuno, and Thirteen—had all successfully evacuated!
Although the flood was terrifying, and Haruto's attack was indiscriminate, someone with Hattori Ryuuno and Thirteen's strength could naturally escape with ease. If there were others in Kirigakure with such abilities, they too could have survived.
Haruto never intended to kill the truly powerful individuals.
Even after the disaster, he didn't bother hunting down the top elites of the Kirigakure army—like the Grand Commander, the Assistant Commanders, or the various Captains—despite having the chance to kill them effortlessly.
Haruto knew the flood couldn't kill everyone. In fact, it wouldn't even eliminate half of them!
The truly powerful individuals, especially elite Jonin and higher, wouldn't be killed by the flood. Most wouldn't even be seriously injured! And now that they had lost their minds in rage, hunting them down was unnecessary. Haruto wasn't afraid for himself, but he worried about Tsunade and the others. If they were surrounded and overwhelmed, losing even one person would be an unacceptable cost.
Thus, the best decision was to retreat immediately!
No hesitation!
Besides, the most important reward had already been secured!
A thousand kills!
The Thousand Kill Achievement!
At three o'clock that afternoon, Haruto and his team returned to Furuta Village.
The Anbu operatives who assisted in the mission didn't return with them; they had dispersed after leaving Chao Mountain.
—
Inside the palace hall of Furuta Village.
"I'm exhausted… completely worn out…" Haruto stretched lazily as he walked inside. He was truly fatigued, having barely rested at all.
"Sir, urgent intelligence report!" A ninja from the covert operations team suddenly appeared at the doorway.
"Is it about Chao Mountain?" Haruto turned back to ask.
"Yes!" The ninja nodded, his expression filled with excitement.
The report had arrived astonishingly fast!
Haruto flashed over to the doorway, took the scroll, and scanned it.
**Urgent Intelligence:** Last night, the 1st and 3rd Kirigakure military camps were struck by a man-made flash flood, suffering catastrophic losses. Current estimates report over 1,300 ninja casualties, with more than 2,000 injured…
This intelligence came from an eastern coastal outpost in Uzushiogakure, relayed this morning.
It was sent using a messenger bird!
The speed of the bird was far superior to that of Haruto and his team.
So, just as Haruto's group had returned, the intelligence had also arrived!
With such a massive event last night, it wasn't just Konoha's undercover forces that had picked up on it—any spy worth their salt would've caught wind of the incident!
Tsunade and the others gathered around Haruto, peering over his shoulder at the scroll.
Analyzing the report, it was clear—the two Kirigakure divisions had suffered over 3,000 casualties. Last night's operation was a resounding success, completely overturning Konoha's previous disadvantage in Uzushiogakure…
"Has the report reached Konoha?" Haruto handed the scroll back to the covert ninja, his tone calm.
He had already passed the most exhilarating moment.
The moment the flood was unleashed, Haruto had known—he had succeeded!
The scale of the casualties was entirely within his expectations!
"The report was sent this morning!" the covert ninja confirmed.
"Good. That's all for now." Haruto nodded.
Now that intelligence reports related to Furuta Village were always sent in duplicate, the report had been transmitted to Konoha from the eastern outpost that morning. By his calculations, it should arrive in Konoha by the afternoon of the following day.
With that, there was nothing urgent left to handle.
Haruto, feeling dizzy from exhaustion, decided to get some sleep. Everything else could wait until he woke up!
—
Haruto returned to his room alone. He didn't bother Tsunade because he had something important to do first—checking his rewards! More than a thousand enemies had perished last night, including the highly significant Thousand Kill Achievement…
Just as he sat down at the desk, a knock came at the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's me!"
It was Tsunade's voice.
Because the room was sealed with a protective barrier, Tsunade couldn't simply barge in.
Haruto stood up and opened the door, letting Tsunade inside before shutting it again.
Tsunade walked over to the desk and sat down, looking hesitant, as if she had something on her mind.
Haruto walked behind her, embraced her from behind, kissed her on the cheek, and asked, "What's wrong, my dear wife?"
"Who's your wife? Shameless!"
"You, of course! Didn't you say that if my plan succeeded, you'd agree to marry me?"
"I… that… I haven't married you yet… Ugh, I didn't come here to talk about that, Haruto!" Tsunade suddenly became serious, dropping her usual teasing tone.
"What's the matter?" Haruto asked, puzzled.
"Don't you think… it was too cruel?" Tsunade's expression darkened.
"Ah…" Haruto paused, then contemplated her words.
Letting go of Tsunade, he walked to the wall, pulled out a small blackboard from his inventory space, and affixed it to the wall. Then, he took out chalk and a teaching pointer.
Don't ask why he had these things—Haruto's inventory space had everything!
*Clap clap!*
Haruto tapped the blackboard.
"Tsunade, please pay attention. Let me start by explaining the fundamental relationships between people… first…"
Haruto launched into an extremely serious ideological lecture!
He felt it was necessary to correct Tsunade's misguided perceptions.
Mercy toward the enemy was cruelty toward oneself!
However…
For some reason, as the lecture continued, it somehow led to both of them ending up on the bed.
Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that night had fallen…
—
The next afternoon, Land of Fire, Konoha Village.
Inside the Hokage building, an expanded high-level meeting was underway.
This was the fourth such meeting called recently by Hiruzen Sarutobi. The focus was, as always, on Uzushiogakure and Amegakure. While the war in Amegakure was the top priority, the situation in Uzushiogakure had become increasingly troublesome!
Kirigakure was advancing aggressively…
Haruto's refusal of Konoha's reinforcements, while insisting on maintaining a special forces unit for future deployment, had drawn significant complaints—even attempts at impeachment!
The ninjas drafted from various clans had unique abilities, but now they were grouped together, unable to perform any missions and left to wait. Naturally, this sparked resentment!
Dissolve the unit? Deploy them to Uzushiogakure? What was the point of maintaining them?
The most vocal opposition came from the Hyuga clan!
They were clearly looking for an excuse to undermine Haruto, listing numerous accusations, even attempting to impeach him from his position as Konoha's commanding officer in Uzushiogakure.
"Lord Hokage, we can't allow Haruto to continue his reckless behavior!" Hyuga Rei stood up. "He's been completely passive, failing to act preemptively. His plot to abandon the camp has already been exposed—he has no chance of success, yet he refuses to make any adjustments! Are we supposed to wait for Kirigakure to strike first?"
"Rei makes a valid point!" Danzo fanned the flames, turning to Sarutobi. "Hiruzen, the only viable course of action now is to deploy the special forces to Haruto's village. They may not be able to face Kirigakure head-on, but if—"
Whoosh!
A figure suddenly appeared behind Sarutobi Hiruzen!
It was Shinshuke, the assistant captain of the Anbu—Hiruzen's own son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke!
"Father… urgent intelligence from Uzushiogakure…"
Shinnosuke stepped forward without hesitation.
He didn't even bother with formalities or proper titles.
Because he was simply too excited!