Chapter 65: Returning to Konoha

"Finally back..."

Uchiha Feiyu looked at Konoha and let out a long breath.

Most of the ninja who had stayed on the Sunagakure front in the Land of Rivers had now returned, with only a small portion remaining to carry out border patrol and guard duties.

The formation of over a thousand ninja was vast and mighty, yet upon seeing Konoha, countless ninja could not help but shed tears; although in Uchiha Feiyu's eyes, he had fought this battle quite easily, in reality, Konoha had suffered heavy losses.

To say nothing of the rest, in the decisive battle against the Sand Ninja alone, Konoha had lost over 2,000 ninja due to poison gas, accounting for nearly half of Konoha's initial main force.

Adding in the casualties from other miscellaneous battles, only about thirty percent of the ninja from the original front remained.

And this was only the beginning of the Ninja World War; it would likely become even more tragic as it went on.

After returning to Konoha, many relatives of the ninja ran out into the village to search for their loved ones; some found their kin, while others could only find an urn of ashes.

For a time, people wept with joy or wailed in grief, and all sorts of human life were played out in the small Ninja Village.

Uchiha Feiyu was undoubtedly an outlier among them; never mind parents, he didn't even have many friends in all of Konoha, so naturally, he could not empathize with these people.

"Come with me to the Hokage Office, Feiyu-kun. You have performed a great service this time, and the Hokage needs to summon you as well."

Orochimaru, who also wore an indifferent expression, spoke to Uchiha Feiyu. Uchiha Feiyu nodded; besides having performed great military service, on the other hand, he was now apprenticed to Orochimaru, and naturally, the Third Hokage wanted to get to the bottom of his situation.

Following Orochimaru to the Hokage Office, the moment he pushed open the door, Uchiha Feiyu was slightly stunned.

Inside the office, besides the Third Hokage, there was a blonde beauty with a large chest, who was listening to the Third Hokage's nagging with an impatient expression.

"Enough, old man, do you really expect me to go to the battlefield?"

The blonde beauty slapped the table and shouted loudly. At this moment, Orochimaru and Uchiha Feiyu happened to walk in. The blonde beauty, realizing this, paused slightly, then snorted and walked straight out the door.

"Sigh..."

The Third Hokage sighed, picked up his pipe and took a puff, then looked up at Orochimaru with a smile appearing on his face again.

"You've worked hard, Orochimaru. And our little hero here—Feiyu, you probably don't know, but you now have the title of Little White Fang."

Little White Fang... what kind of hellish title is that? It's not even as good as the Konoha Ghost name the Sand Ninja called me!

Uchiha Feiyu complained in his heart, but his expression remained unchanged. Orochimaru, however, frowned:

"Is Tsunade still unwilling to participate in the war? If Tsunade had been there when dealing with Sunagakure this time, we wouldn't have suffered such huge losses."

The Third Hokage shook his head and sighed:

"Not yet. You know, Tsunade still hasn't walked out of her mental block."

The Third Hokage's words were somewhat cryptic, but Orochimaru understood clearly; he meant that Tsunade's hemophobia had not yet recovered.

Tsunade's hemophobia could be considered Konoha's top secret. Now that there was an "outsider" like Uchiha Feiyu in the Hokage Office, the Third Hokage naturally found it difficult to speak plainly.

Orochimaru nodded in understanding and did not chat further about Tsunade, instead saying to the Third Hokage:

"Feiyu is now my disciple. The military merit he earned on the front line is enough to exchange for several S-rank Ninjutsu. I brought him here this time because I want him to pick a few Ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals."

The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe and nodded:

"That is only right. With the merits you have earned, Feiyu, you can choose three S-rank Ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals. Of course, these Ninjutsu are not easy to practice. In my opinion, it is best for you to choose only one S-rank Ninjutsu as your main focus, and use the rest to select some A-Rank Ninjutsu to make up for any shortcomings."

Uchiha Feiyu nodded. Even if the Third Hokage had some selfish motives, this was indeed the advice of an experienced veteran.

Kakashi in the Shippuden era was known for mastering a thousand Ninjutsu, but in reality, when he was truly fighting for his life, he still used the same old Chidori and Raikiri. Almost every member of the Uchiha Clan with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan could copy a hundred or so Ninjutsu, yet when fighting, they basically still used Fire Release and Sharingan Genjutsu.

For top-tier ninja, ordinary Ninjutsu were only used to cover weaknesses; they themselves usually possessed a series of powerful Ninjutsu they were most proficient in as their true combat template.

Even the Third Hokage, who appeared to learn the most miscellaneous techniques, had his own area of greatest proficiency: the taijutsu staff techniques paired with Enma, and the mixed Ninjutsu unleashed through the combination of five-element techniques. It was only because such Ninjutsu required a massive foundation of elemental Ninjutsu that he learned so many ordinary ones.

As for Sarutobi Hiruzen's selfish motives, it was likely that he did not want more S-rank Ninjutsu to leak out. After all, Uchiha Feiyu was also an Uchiha; if he were to reveal these foundational Konoha Ninjutsu to the Uchiha Clan, it would certainly not be a good thing for Konoha.

In the ninja world, there were mental Secret Techniques that could place seals on the brain to prevent others from stealing Ninjutsu, but if the owner of the Ninjutsu revealed them voluntarily, there was simply no way to stop it.

This world was not some world of Immortal Cultivation; there were no such things as Dao heart oaths. Although the Ninja Village had rules against privately teaching high-level Ninjutsu, the effectiveness depended entirely on individual moral integrity and the importance placed on the rules.

Fortunately, Uchiha Feiyu didn't really care about the Ninjutsu in the Scroll of Seals. In any case, the Third Hokage would certainly not put Forbidden Techniques like Reanimation or the Dead Demon Consuming Seal in the Scroll of Seals. If he could find the Flying Thunder God in there, Uchiha Feiyu would have to praise the Third Hokage for his broad-mindedness.

The Third Hokage formed seals with both hands, and with a "bang," he summoned a massive scroll. Uchiha Feiyu leaned in to take a look and confirmed that the Scroll of Seals that Uzumaki Naruto stole in the original work must have been a fake.

Because this Scroll of Seals was densely covered in seals, and who knew how many types had been placed on it. For a scatterbrain like Uzumaki Naruto, it would be a miracle if he could open the Scroll of Seals; even his parents would have to spend a long time undoing it without being disturbed.

The Third Hokage was clearly well-versed in undoing seals, but it still took him three or four minutes to remove most of the seals on the Scroll of Seals before handing it to Uchiha Feiyu, while saying:

"A small portion of the content remains on this Scroll of Seals; it is truly too harmful to the heavens, so it remains sealed. Unless Konoha reaches a moment of life and death, it will not be passed down."

(End of chapter)