"They're trying to escape..."
"Stop them."
"Don't let them get away..."
"..."
Voices rose one after another on the battlefield.
Clearly, Seimei wasn't the only one who noticed the Iwa-nin's intentions.
Some tried to stop them, but Seimei remained unmoved.
He had already contributed enough in this battle. Seeing that it was about to stabilize, he didn't want any unexpected complications.
However, since Iwagakure chose to retreat, it meant that Konoha's reinforcements had arrived or were not far away.
Just as he was thinking this, a massive creature suddenly emerged from the distant cliff.
It was a giant venomous snake with horns on its head and purple markings all over its body. Its fierce eyes were filled with the intimidation of a top predator.
"Manda!"
Seimei murmured.
That's right, this giant snake was the summoning beast from Ryūchi Cave - Manda.
As for how Seimei recognized it?
It was simple. On top of its head, between the two horns, stood a pale man with golden vertical pupils, purple eyeshadow, and an eerie aura.
Who else could it be but Orochimaru?
Combined with the snake's appearance, it was easy to guess its identity.
If nothing unexpected happened, this was the first wave of reinforcements.
However, what surprised Seimei was that Orochimaru himself had come.
He was the commander-in-chief of Konoha's forces in the Land of Rain battlefield. It was rather inappropriate for him to leave the main camp so rashly.
But considering his strength, Seimei understood.
As one of the Sannin, Orochimaru's power was undoubtedly on par with any Kage-level强者.
With such strength, who could possibly stop him in a hurry?
Moreover, this place wasn't far from Konoha's main camp in the Land of Rain. If they encountered an ambush, Orochimaru only needed to delay for a short time, and support would arrive soon.
In that case, his brief absence from the main camp wasn't a big deal.
Besides, with Manda, he could reach the battlefield in the shortest time and control the situation with overwhelming strength.
This way, he could not only buy time for the subsequent reinforcements but also reduce their own casualties.
It was a win-win situation, so why not?
Afterwards, things developed as Seimei expected. Orochimaru's appearance immediately stabilized the situation. With just a few simple ninjutsu, he intercepted a dozen Iwagakure Jonin.
Coupled with the Iwa-nin held back by other Konoha Jonin, in terms of Jonin alone, almost half of the attacking Iwa-nin were left behind.
In addition, dozens of Iwagakure Chunin were also stopped.
Clearly, Orochimaru's personal arrival was beyond Iwagakure's expectations and disrupted their plans.
Otherwise, Iwagakure, having come prepared, wouldn't have retreated in such a hurry.
Yes, it was hasty.
Otherwise, how could they have left so many people behind?
The whistle from earlier must have been the signal for an emergency retreat.
That's why the Iwa-nin fighting him had such a drastic change in expression after hearing the whistle and then hurriedly fled.
This was the role of a top-tier expert, capable of changing the tide of battle single-handedly.
The Iwa-nin, who were so imposing just moments ago, had now become stray dogs, being chased away.
However, Seimei had no intention of kicking them while they were down. After confirming the surroundings were safe, he took out ointment and bandages for treating external injuries from his ninja tool pouch and began tending to his own wounds.
Although he hadn't suffered any severe injuries in the previous battle, he had quite a few superficial wounds. If not treated promptly, they might cause some trouble.
Tap, tap, tap~
Footsteps approached.
Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko walked over from not far away.
Seimei looked up and saw that both of them also had many wounds, and their faces were pale.
However, this wasn't due to excessive blood loss but rather from being frightened by the scene in front of them.
At this moment, the battlefield was littered with severed limbs, blood, and gore everywhere. Coupled with the occasional groans of pain, being able to stand was already considered good.
Seimei roughly scanned the area. On Konoha's side, there were about two hundred surviving Chunin and Genin, roughly two-thirds of the original number.
It seemed like quite a lot, but one shouldn't forget that this battle only lasted for about ten minutes.
Moreover, those Iwa-nin specifically targeted the Genin.
Therefore, among the two hundred survivors, most were Chunin. The casualty rate for Genin was definitely over fifty percent.
And among these fifty percent, novice Genin accounted for the majority.
Imagine, a ground full of corpses, most of them your familiar classmates. What kind of feeling would that be?
Seimei was slightly better off. He wasn't close to these people, so he wasn't deeply affected.
But it was different for Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko.
The former was good at socializing and had good relationships with many classmates, while the latter was more attentive and remembered everyone.
In this case, the psychological pressure was unimaginable.
"Seimei, do you think we'll also die on the battlefield one day?"
In the silence, Ryosuke suddenly asked.
"No..."
Seimei was about to say "no," but after opening his mouth, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
As far as the Third Ninja World War was concerned, its brutality was no less than any other Ninja World War.
It was still the early to mid-stage of the war, and the casualty rate wasn't too high yet. But when Konoha was pushed back to its doorstep, that's when things would get truly tragic.
Not to mention Chunin and Genin, even Jonin would die in droves.
Seimei couldn't even be sure if he could survive until the end, so how could he tell Ryosuke that he wouldn't die?
After a long silence, Seimei said, "Don't overthink it, just try your best to stay alive."
"Try my best to stay alive..."
Ryosuke murmured and fell silent.
Time passed by second by second.
About five minutes later.
The second wave of reinforcements arrived.
This time, not only combat personnel came, but also a considerable number of medical ninja.
As the first village to establish a relatively complete medical ninja training system, Konoha had more medical ninja than the other major ninja villages.
Therefore, the survival rate of injured ninja was much higher than in other villages.
Just like now, under the protection of some combat ninja, the medical ninja quickly moved across the battlefield, using medical ninjutsu to treat the wounded.
Those with minor injuries could recover almost completely on the spot, while those with more severe injuries could at least have their lives temporarily saved.
Seeing the superficial wounds on his body heal rapidly, Seimei decided that he must learn some medical ninjutsu in the future, no matter what.
There was no other way, medical ninjutsu was simply too convenient.
As long as there was enough chakra, minor injuries and illnesses could be easily cured.
Seimei didn't think he wouldn't get injured in the future, so it was better to be prepared.
Of course, if he could increase his physique attribute high enough for his body to possess a certain degree of self-healing ability, then he might not need medical ninjutsu.
But that was a long way off. The battlefield was so dangerous, he definitely needed to learn one or two medical ninjutsu for emergencies first.
"Alright!"
The medical ninja in front of him removed his hand from Seimei's shoulder and instructed, "Avoid contact with water and strenuous activity for the next few days. You should fully recover in about three days."
"Thank you!"
Seimei expressed his sincere gratitude.
"You're welcome."
The medical ninja replied and then quickly moved on to another injured person.
(End of Chapter)