The war ended with Suna's defeat.
From the moment Minato Namikaze replaced Orochimaru to face Chiyo, Suna's tactics were already destined for one outcome.
Konoha had tied down their top combat power. How could the number and quality of the shinobis at the bottom compete with Konoha, who had a larger base?
With Shukaku being suppressed by Orochimaru in cooperation with his summoned beast and Chiyo repelled by Minato Namikaze, the remaining Suna shinobis fled in the Land of Rivers' direction as if they had received a signal.
Konoha's shinobis didn't pursue them either.
Even for the winning side, casualties were inevitable.
The medical shinobi unit that arrived from Kikyo City tried to save as many living people as possible. Those who could still move insisted on turning over the bodies on the ground to look for possible survivors.
However, Minato Namikaze, who didn't see his three students on the battlefield, ran in the direction of Kikyo Mountain, full of worries.
"Dean, dean! There's a child here!"
At the edge of the battlefield, Nonō Yakushi was helping out with some children and rushed over when she heard the call.
"Why would such a small child be on the battlefield?"
She channeled her chakra into her palm and carefully treated the wound on the boy's head.
A few moments later, the boy, whose injuries had improved, woke up and looked timidly at the strange woman in front of him.
"Where are you from?" Nonō asked gently.
The boy shook his head and said nothing.
"She asked you something!" Urushi, who found the boy, denounced.
"Don't be like that, Urushi. " Nonō turned back to stop Urushi, "Maybe he hurt his head and lost his memories? In the future, you will follow us to live, okay?"
...
On the other side, Minato Namikaze rushed to Mount Kikyo.
There were traces of fighting everywhere on the mountain. So he followed the trails up the mountain and met Konoha shinobis, looking for something all over the mountains.
"Was there an accident?"
Minato Namikaze stopped a Genin and asked anxiously.
The Genin turned back, with a sobbing voice under his resolute face, "We were intercepted by Suna and were unable to support the front battlefield in time. Manoshi-sama lured the enemy leader away, and his whereabouts are unknown. "
Minato Namikaze listened to the shinobi's recap of the battle while helping to find him and visibly froze when he heard that Manoshi was a Jinchūriki.
"Found him! Found Manoshi-sama!"
Some shinobis were running and shouting at the same time.
Soon, even the wounded arrived with the help of others, and all the surviving Konoha shinobis gathered at the foot of the mountain on the other side of Mount Kikyo.
Minato Namikaze also met his three students.
However, the focus of the crowd was on Manoshi, who was submerged in the stream.
Rin Nohara, the only medical shinobi, ran forward and cut off Manoshi's clothes with a kunai.
"There's a heartbeat!"
However, the medical jutsu she had mastered could only treat the burning wound on Manoshi's body surface. She can't replenish the water lost in his upper body.
"Rin, let me do it. "
Minato Namikaze stopped Rin, who was uselessly trying to do something, and took Manoshi from the water into his arms.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
...
"Water, water --"
Manoshi, who suddenly emerged from the water, muttered in an unconscious state.
A soft finger dipped in some warm water was placed next to his mouth. Manoshi, who felt the wetness on his lips, subconsciously sucked the finger into his mouth and licked it gently.
Nonō Yakushi tenderly allowed Manoshi to cover her finger with his mouth.
There was silence in the ward, and only two people could be heard breathing.
Suddenly, Manoshi's brow tightened as if he dreamed of something dangerous, and the power of the divine dragon that had been silent in his body became active again.
Awakening with a jolt, Manoshi sprang to his senses but could only fall back onto the bed because his muscles were too dehydrated and weak.
"Don't move around and tell me if you need anything. "
The gentle voice intruded into Manoshi's ears. It was somewhat familiar, and he asked, bewildered, "I'm alive? Is that woman dead?"
In his last memory, he finally climbed to shore, forcibly condensed the power of the divine dragon into a fist, and then lost consciousness.
"I'm afraid the other party isn't dead. "
Minato Namikaze, who had been guarding the door, heard the noise and pushed through the door.
"We found no traces of a body at the scene. "
Minato pulled up a chair and sat down by the bed. He said to Nonō, "Would you please leave for a moment? Manoshi and I have something to talk about that can't be heard by others. "
Nonō nodded understandingly and helped Manoshi, who had difficulty moving, to sit up and put two pillows on his back.
Then she closed the door and left.
"How do you feel? Is there anything uncomfortable? " Without getting to the point, Minato Namikaze asked with concern. "I was negligent in my tactics this time and recommended you to Orochimaru-sama, not realizing that the opponent also had a backup plan. "
If Manoshi's strength hadn't taken everyone by surprise and exhausted Pakura at Mount Kikyo, the outcome of this war wouldn't have been known.
"If I hadn't gone, the casualties would have been much worse." Having fought in person, Manoshi had a stronger understanding of his opponent, "Her bloodline limit isn't easy to deal with; only you and Orochimaru-sama could possibly defeat her. "
In one-on-one combat, within the strength of Konoha's defense at Kikyo City: the Hyuga clan, and the Akimichi clan, were shinobis with great close combat abilities, while Shikaku Nara was good at strategies, but useless even when fighting.
"Haha, Manoshi, you have done a good job. " Minato comforted with a smile, "The other party is one of the best in Suna -- Scorch Release Pakura. Even Kiri shinobis that are good at Water Release jutsu can't beat her. "
Turning the conversation around, Minato sat up straight and stared at Manoshi's face and asked, "However, they say that you were able to defeat Pakura thanks to the tailed beast-like power you used in battle. Is that true?"
Actually, Manoshi had already prepared for this question.
He couldn't hide the fact that he had a strong ability forever, and excuses had long been found.
"This is the blood ability of my Uchiha clan. In fact, someone has seen it before, that is, the full-body shield. "
Manoshi gestured in the air and said with a serious face, "That is a powerful eye technique called Susanoo. But my eyes were damaged, so I could only barely form that dragon's appearance. "
Anyway, in this world, as of this time, only Madara Uchiha knew how effective Sharingan's ultimate mystery Mangekyō was.
Manoshi's excuse was also very reasonable.
"That's right ..." Minato Namikaze held his chin in one hand and pondered for a moment, "Because I have had contact with the real Jinchūriki, I have always had a feeling that there is a conscious collection of natural energy in your body. However, if this is the bloodline limit ability, then I might have been mistaken. "
"A conscious collection of natural energy?"
Manoshi repeated it, and his mind froze.
In fact, he also found anomalies in constant use but never thought in that direction.
It might be a bit too much to say that it was conscious, but reflecting on this time since the Divine Dragon mode was developed, Manoshi's thinking had really been affected.
'Was there a problem with the power of the divine dragon?'
Manoshi remembered what Lee Sin, the blind monk, said to himself, 'I was once as confused as you, wondering if I controlled power.'
He thought for a moment.
"Natural energy is an energy that is free in the air. "
Minato Namikaze saw Manoshi freezing and thought that the other party didn't understand the existence of natural energy, so he explained:
"However, under normal circumstances, this free energy in the air could only be absorbed by the tailed beasts and converted into chakra for use. "
In fact, there was another method that human beings could use, that was, mixing it with chakra in a certain proportion to form senjutsu chakra, which allowed users to enter the sage mode.
However, this method was very dangerous, and Minato didn't dare tell Manoshi for fear that he would try it himself.
"In a word, be more careful when using this ability. Okay then, I won't disturb your rest. "
Minato Namikaze got up and left, leaving Manoshi alone in the ward to think.