The battle concluded, leaving only one enemy deliberately spared by Namikaze Minato, while the rest were annihilated.
Hoshita Shūichi eliminated six, Uchiha Shisui and Kurama Sanyō took down three, and the remaining foes were all dealt with by Namikaze Minato.
As for the five samurai, though they sustained injuries, their kill count remained zero.
Hoshita Shūichi took charge of healing the five samurai, while Uchiha Shisui and Kurama Sanyō assisted Namikaze Minato in interrogating the captured enemy using genjutsu to extract intel.
The spared enemy was a jonin, and his willpower proved formidable.
Half an hour later, Hoshita Shūichi finished treating the samurai, and Namikaze Minato had successfully obtained the intelligence.
These ninja were indeed from Iwagakure!
Their objective wasn't just to extract information from the Fire Daimyo's envoy but also to capture the envoy alive and frame Sunagakure for the act.
Given the ongoing conflict between Konoha and Sunagakure over the Land of Rivers, escalating tensions—or even outright war—between the two villages would greatly benefit Iwagakure.
As for why they didn't launch a direct assault and instead opted for a fatigue tactic, the reason lay with Namikaze Minato.
Though the Iwa-nin had three jonin among them, they lacked confidence in their success.
Namikaze Minato hadn't yet earned the moniker "Yellow Flash," but his reputation in the shinobi world was already rising, particularly for his speed.
Unfortunately for Iwagakure, they underestimated Namikaze Minato, as well as the resilience and combat prowess of Hoshita Shūichi and his team.
Hoshita Shūichi, in particular, stood out. His seal-less fire release, combined with his high concentration and reflexes, allowed him to dispatch enemies faster than even Uchiha Shisui.
The only downside was the immense chakra drain.
By the time the healing was done, even as his stamina began recovering, Hoshita Shūichi couldn't fight off the overwhelming drowsiness.
The aftermath of 10x Focus Mode was no joke.
"Minato-sensei, I'll take care of Shūichi!" Uchiha Shisui offered, hoisting Hoshita Shūichi onto his back.
Hoshita Shūichi's eyelids felt like lead. "Thanks, Shisui..."
Freed from the burden of escorting the envoy, the group's return journey was significantly faster.
Of course, with the four palanquin bearers in tow, their pace still couldn't match that of ninja traveling unencumbered.
By evening, they had crossed into the Land of Fire. Hoshita Shūichi, carried in turns by Uchiha Shisui and Kurama Sanyō, had fully recovered and was back to his energetic self.
Gathered around a riverside campfire, grilling fish, Hoshita Shūichi reflected on the day's battle and asked, "Minato-sensei, when you use the Flying Thunder God Technique, you rarely seem to combine it with ninjutsu."
Earlier, he had witnessed Namikaze Minato fail to finish off an Iwa jonin in one strike with the Flying Thunder God, as the enemy's Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall had blocked the attack. In the end, Minato had settled for capturing the man alive.
Namikaze Minato sighed lightly at the question. "The Flying Thunder God's speed leaves no time for hand seals, nor can I prepare ninjutsu in advance. Shūichi, I don't have your knack for seal-less fire release. So, I've been trying to develop a seal-less ninjutsu to complement the Flying Thunder God, but I haven't succeeded yet."
Though he said this, the original purpose of the technique he was developing wasn't solely for this reason.
"Seal-less ninjutsu? That's incredible!" Kurama Sanyō exclaimed, then eagerly asked, "Minato-sensei, could you include us in your next training session?"
Namikaze Minato smiled warmly. "Of course, no problem."
The next day, Hoshita Shūichi and the others returned to the Fire Daimyo's palace, where they were granted an audience. They also took the opportunity to evaluate several newly recruited ninja under the daimyo's employ.
This time, however, the atmosphere was far less intense than before—it was purely an assessment.
The ninja were weaker than the previous batch, mostly at chunin level, with no jonin among them.
Later, as expected, Hoshita Shūichi was summoned for a private audience with the daimyo.
Seizing the opportunity, he recommended several young Konoha prodigies.
For instance, Hatake Kakashi, the youngest graduate in the history of the Konoha Ninja Academy.
And Sarutobi Asuma, the Third Hokage's son.
The daimyo was thoroughly impressed by Kakashi, whose name he'd heard before.
But he had reservations about Sarutobi Asuma—after all, this was the Hokage's son!
However, Hoshita Shūichi quickly swayed him with a single argument: "Securing the Hokage's son would make a greater impact than recruiting ten prodigies."
By the time Hoshita Shūichi left, he was ten million ryo richer.
The daimyo's wealth was truly staggering.
On the afternoon of July 31, Hoshita Shūichi and the others finally returned to Konoha.
After reporting the mission's completion at the Hokage's office and collecting their payment, Namikaze Minato announced a week-long break—though they agreed to meet the next day to observe his new technique's development.
Following a bath and lunch, Hoshita Shūichi headed to the Konoha Hospital as usual.
This mission had lasted nearly a month, making it the longest one he'd undertaken so far.
After such a long time apart, he missed Yakushi Nonō dearly.
At the hospital, he quickly found her tending to an injured ninja.
"Let me help," Hoshita Shūichi offered, stepping forward.
Yakushi Nonō, her forehead glistening with sweat, looked up and brightened at the sight of him. "Shūichi..."
With a smile, Hoshita Shūichi activated the Mystical Palm Technique, taking over her position.
However, the number of injured today seemed unusually high, leaving Yakushi Nonō with no respite.
Noticing this, Hoshita Shūichi picked up the pace to lighten her load.
Before he knew it, the afternoon had passed.
By the time the treatments concluded, Hoshita Shūichi felt utterly drained.
"You did well," a familiar voice remarked, followed by a box of milk appearing before him.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama!" Hoshita Shūichi accepted it gratefully, then asked, "Tsunade-sama, why are there so many injured today? And so many poisoned—was it Sunagakure's doing?"
Tsunade nodded slightly. "It's related to the Land of Rivers."
As expected.
Hoshita Shūichi frowned briefly but quickly dismissed it.
This wasn't his concern—he wasn't at that level yet. There was no point in worrying over matters beyond his control. Improving his strength was what truly mattered.
"Tsunade-sama, let's continue training today," Hoshita Shūichi declared.
"Of course," Tsunade agreed readily.
Without Hoshita Shūichi to spar with, she'd grown somewhat bored during her secret technique development.
After bidding farewell to Yakushi Nonō, the two headed to a nearby training ground to begin their session.
This time, Hoshita Shūichi incorporated not just taijutsu and fire release but also kenjutsu, particularly the Triple Moon Slash.
Yet he couldn't help but notice that Tsunade seemed stronger than before—her reflexes and attack speed had noticeably improved.
Noticing his surprise, Tsunade smirked. "Don't underestimate me, brat. I may be a medic-nin, but I'm not the kind who needs protection from teammates."
Hoshita Shūichi hurriedly clarified, "I'd never underestimate you, Tsunade-sama. I just think you've grown even stronger than before."
Tsunade arched an eyebrow.
Stronger than before? So, she hadn't been strong enough in the past?
Was this supposed to be a compliment?
With a grumble, Tsunade increased her intensity by another thirty percent.
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