Chapter 073: Before the Final Battle

With a single command from Wang Bo, all his subordinates retreated in an orderly manner.

The Leaf ninjas, who had been getting beaten, finally realized that the enemy was retreating. How bizarre—they clearly had the upper hand, so why would they suddenly withdraw?

Shisui Uchiha watched Bai's retreating figure but did not pursue. After a moment's hesitation, he joined the rescue efforts.

For example, pursuing Bai was less important than the lives of the Leaf ninjas.

That was the kind of person he was.

The reason Wang Bo retreated was not to give Leaf a chance to surrender, but because Leaf's reinforcements were about to arrive. If they didn't leave now, soon the enemy would come flooding in endlessly.

Although his ninjas were all quite skilled, facing several times the number of enemies, they would still be overwhelmed by the enemy's numbers.

So Wang Bo ordered the retreat.

After all, tonight's objective had been achieved: not only had they destroyed the trap set by Leaf, but they had also killed a large number of Leaf ninjas.

Wang Bo roughly calculated that the battle had lasted only about half an hour, but Leaf had lost at least several hundred ninjas.

This included several jonin, dozens of chunin, and hundreds of genin.

For Leaf, this was a considerable blow.

After all, even for Leaf, training so many ninjas was no easy task. The loss of so many lives would be a heavy burden for them.

After Wang Bo and his group retreated, they returned to their temporary camp and set up defenses, but kept a close watch on their surroundings to prevent a counterattack from Leaf.

On the other hand, when Leaf's reinforcements arrived, they saw a group of defeated troops. The leading ninja, Hiashi Hyuga, was shocked and immediately ordered others to begin rescuing people and putting out fires.

After working all night, they finally managed to rescue everyone.

Even the bodies buried in the ground were dug out.

After some tallying, Shikaku Nara finally obtained the death list. Glancing at the numbers, he couldn't help but frown.

Kakashi Hatake walked over and took a look, his face involuntarily twitching.

Since the Third Great Ninja War, in the past ten-plus years, Leaf had never suffered such tragic casualties, nor had they experienced such a crushing defeat.

Even during the Nine-Tails incident that night, the greatest harm was to civilians, not ninjas.

This was the most severe loss since the Third Great Ninja War.

Seeing the expressions on the two men's faces, Hiashi Hyuga knew it was not good news, but he still asked, "How is the situation?"

Shikaku Nara said, "According to statistics from last night's battle, the number of dead ninjas is as high as four hundred and thirty, while the injured number over fourteen hundred, half of them seriously wounded. Even if they recover, they won't be fit to continue as ninjas."

Hiashi Hyuga took a deep breath. Although he had known the news might be bad, he hadn't expected it to be so tragic.

In a single battle, Leaf had lost over a thousand ninjas.

"What a Igarashi, what a Igarashi!!!"

Might Guy flew into a rage, smashing the table in front of him with a punch. His aura surged violently, and in his fury, he directly opened the Sixth Gate.

A terrifying blast of air swept outward, but Kakashi suddenly appeared before him, patting his shoulder and saying, "Calm down."

"How can you tell me to calm down?" Might Guy roared. "The dead and wounded are my comrades of Konoha."

"Then what do you want to do?" Hatake Kakashi demanded.

"I want revenge!" Might Guy said without hesitation. "Revenge for our fallen comrades."

"Then you should be even calmer. Acting impulsively will only ruin things." Hatake Kakashi remained unmoved, staring at Might Guy with his listless eyes.

Might Guy's body stiffened slightly. He slowly closed the Sixth Gate and sat down heavily.

Nara Shikaku looked up at Sarutobi Asuma and asked, "How did the Hokage respond?"

Sarutobi Asuma took a puff of his cigarette. He knew what Nara Shikaku was asking. In fact, he had returned to Konoha last night and relayed Wang Bo's words to his father.

His father, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had given his response.

"The Hokage told me that Konoha will never surrender, least of all to a merchant."

Nara Shikaku nodded. He knew the Hokage would say that. "Then we must mobilize Konoha and prepare for the Fourth Great Ninja War. Yesterday's battle showed us that our enemy is no less powerful than any hidden village."

Everyone nodded.

Nara Shikaku paused, then continued, "Moreover, if we cannot resolve this battle in the shortest time, once it drags on, the other hidden villages will inevitably tear up their agreements with us. Then we will face not just the Igarashi family, but other villages as well."

"Fighting on two fronts is not good news for Konoha."

Konoha was no longer what it used to be. Orochimaru had defected, Tsunade had left, and Jiraiya's whereabouts were unknown. The village no longer had figures capable of leading an army.

If they had to fight on two fronts, the chance of collapse was far too great.

After careful consideration, Nara Shikaku said, "Therefore, I propose that we must strike with overwhelming force, mobilize all of Konoha, and annihilate the Igarashi army. Otherwise, if time drags on, worse things are bound to happen."

Everyone was alarmed by Nara Shikaku's analysis, but they had to admit it made sense.

Hatake Kakashi said, "As things stand, we have no choice but to fight."

Nara Shikaku nodded and asked, "When will the next reinforcements arrive?"

Sarutobi Asuma said, "They can be here by noon today."

"Good," Nara Shikaku said. "Then we will settle the battle with the enemy at noon today and crush them completely."

Meanwhile, the people in the meeting did not know that a pair of eyes hidden in the shadows was observing their every move.

After hearing their plan, the person hidden in the shadows left Konoha's temporary base. Once outside, he squeezed out of the ground and transformed into Black Zetsu.

"The decisive battle is at noon today. Maybe I can take the opportunity to take Konoha's Nine-Tails away. After all, Konoha is no match for that monster."

Others did not know Wang Bo's strength, but Black Zetsu knew it all too well.

After all, Obito Uchiha had proven Wang Bo's strength with one arm—it was truly terrifying.