Uchiha's personal opinion

Uchiha Tokumitsu was stunned and disoriented by the massive shockwave from the impact.

Even the outer shell of Susanoo had pieces of chakra bones falling off.

Uchiha Tokumitsu controlled the two giant arms of Susanoo to grab the two sides of the Three-Tails' body, and with great effort lifted it up and threw it over his shoulder, causing Yagura Karatachi, who was wrapped in the thick Three-Tails' chakra, to also see stars.

At this time, the ninja army in the Hidden Mist camp had also begun to leave the camp and retreat. They fought and retreated while being pursued by the Hidden Leaf Ninja Army, getting closer and closer to the battlefield of Uchiha Tokumitsu and Yagura Karatachi.

Even if Uchiha Tokumitsu was arrogant, he was unwilling to try to stop the large Kirigakure army, which was eager to retreat but still fought tenaciously, under the attack of Yagura Karatachi.

"Withdraw from this position!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu issued an order to his subordinates, then manipulated his Susanoo to dodge to the side, slowly retreating under the watchful gaze of the Three-Tails.

The Hidden Mist Ninja Army quickly bypassed the confrontation between the Tailed Beasts and Susanoo, while the Leaf Village Ninja Army gradually closed in.

Yagura Kujira remained unfazed, quickly condensing a Tailed Beast Ball at the mouth of the Tailed Beast.

The advance of the Konoha ninja army gradually slowed down, and their formation dispersed.

In numerous past battles, Yagura Karatachi has repeatedly used this move to repel the swift attacks of the Konoha ninja army.

"Tailed Beasts... I hate this kind of extraordinary fighting power the most..."

Seeing the situation, Uchiha Tokumitsu once again controlled Susanoo to retreat, and after reaching a safe location, he deliberately dispelled Susanoo.

Firstly, it was to prevent Yagura from risking his life, and secondly, he was already on the verge of collapse.

Even with the chakra absorbed by Samehada to replenish his strength, the high intensity of his eye power output was already causing him excruciating pain in his eyes.

After dispelling Susanoo, Uchiha Tokumitsu staggered a bit, and his subordinate Uchiha ninjas quickly went to support him.

"I'm fine..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu waved his hand, indicating that he was fine.

He then raised his hand to wipe away the black tears streaming down his face and blinked hard a few times.

After this ordeal, he felt that his eyesight seemed to have weakened a bit.

"Kaleidoscopes are truly a double-edged sword..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu then wiped away his black tears and secretly pressed the Chengqi acupoint below his eyes to relieve the discomfort.

Originally, during the ambush in the Land of Whirlpools, Yagura Karatachi's control over the Tailed Beasts was not as sophisticated as it is now. Back then, with the help of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Yagura Karatachi could barely hold his own against Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo. Now, with his control over the Tailed Beasts becoming even more refined, he has managed to force Uchiha Tokumitsu, Hatake Sakumo, and Orochimaru to refrain from making any rash moves.

Although the three were not afraid of Yagura Karatachi after he transformed into a tailed beast, their ninja army was definitely no match for the bombardment of the tailed beast ball.

Rather than forcibly keeping this group of Hidden Mist Ninja, preserving the rest of the troops is more important.

After all, their direct subordinate ninja forces are the foundation for their power and survival in Konoha.

Thus, amidst an atmosphere where both sides were hesitant to act rashly, the Hidden Mist Ninja Army successfully withdrew.

"I wonder if adding the Tailed Beasts would alleviate the negative effects of overuse of the Mangekyou Sharingan."

Yagura, the tachibana, also began to slowly retreat.

Looking at the Three-Tails, whose movements shook the earth, Uchiha Tokumitsu felt a surge of longing once again.

He then thought of the Two-Tails Jinchuriki he had killed in the Land of Waterfalls.

"Several years have passed, the Two-Tails should have been reborn by now..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu licked his lips, a longing for the tailed beasts welling up in his heart.

Even if it's inconvenient to become a Jinchūriki, it's not impossible to control a Tailed Beast with the Sharingan like Madara Uchiha did.

Sakumo Hatake and Orochimaru also slowly advanced, following Yagura Karatachi's retreat.

However, the subordinate ninja army had already dispersed and was attempting to flank and retreat the Kirigakure ninja army.

"Pity……"

Orochimaru suddenly said.

"Ok?"

Sakumo Hatake was somewhat puzzled.

"It's truly a pity that we couldn't achieve complete victory in one battle..." Orochimaru sighed. "I wonder if Kirigakure has simply retreated like this..."

Although Orochimaru was older than Uchiha Tokumitsu, his record in this Fourth Shinobi World War was actually inferior to that of Uchiha Tokumitsu.

As for Hatake Sakumo... Orochimaru glanced at him without revealing his expression, seemingly lost in thought.

A gentleman can be deceived by his principles...

"It would be good if we could successfully drive out Kirigakure, so that too many of our comrades in the village wouldn't have to be sacrificed..."

Sakumo Hatake sighed, "It's a pity we didn't bring the sealing team this time, otherwise Yagura Karatachi wouldn't have been so rampant."

The most effective tactic against such an oversized giant creature is to have the sealing team handle it while the experts are engaged.

"I remember that Deguang-kun has Uzumaki ninjas under his command. Their sealing techniques should be quite good, right..."

Orochimaru probed subtly.

He had already suffered a loss once in front of Uchiha Tokumitsu, but that didn't stop him from testing Uchiha Tokumitsu's power again by asking others.

"They must have taken a few men with them to the battle, but I don't know if they've brought them back yet..."

Hatake Sakumo also looked in the direction where Uchiha Tokumitsu had retreated.

"It feels like we're politely seeing off the Hidden Mist Village as they leave..."

Orochimaru changed the subject again very naturally, as if he had just asked casually.

According to what Sakumo Hatake said, it seems there are several Uzumaki ninja at the Uzushiogakure camp... This might be something to consider...

"I wonder if there are new reinforcements in the Kirigakure fleet. If so, this battle is not over yet..."

Although Hatake Sakumo had no desire to fight anymore, he still felt that something was wrong.

Suddenly, the Tailed Beast Ball in the Three-Tails' mouth burst forth with a fierce light.

Orochimaru's eyelids twitched, and he immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Tailed Beast Ball!"

A massive ball of chakra slammed towards their location.

Immediately afterward, Yagura's tailed beast cloak disappeared, and he quickly retreated under the protection of several subordinates.

"Ninja Art: Triple Rashomon!"

Orochimaru immediately bit his finger and formed hand seals to unleash a ninjutsu to block the attack of the Tailed Beast Ball.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"

The Tailed Beast Ball broke through the three Demon Gates in succession.

"Earth Escape Technique: Multiple Earth Walls!"

Hatake Sakumo quickly slapped the ground with both hands, summoning thick earthen walls that barely managed to withstand Yagura's attack before he left.

The men behind them were already pale with fright.

"call……"

Sakumo Hatake breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at his subordinate ninjas, and said to Orochimaru, "Forget it, no need to chase them..."

"Until we find a way to deal with Jinchuriki in this state, there's really no need to pursue them any further..."

Orochimaru nodded.

But his mind had already drifted to the Land of Whirlpools.

Chapter 148 Overturning Rivers and Seas

Uchiha Tokumitsu successfully reunited with Hatake Sakumo and Orochimaru. Apart from elite ninja units such as the mobile force, the ordinary ninja units under their command were scattered in small teams and advanced towards the direction of Kirigakure's retreat.

After scattering the ninja army, although they might be easily broken through the encirclement by the large-scale counterattack of Kirigakure, at least they wouldn't have to worry about being wiped out by a sudden Tailed Beast Ball. Moreover, the elite ninja army under their command could provide timely rescue.

It seemed that Kirigakure was indeed withdrawing from the Land of Fire, and the Konoha ninja army, maintaining a proper distance, advanced smoothly in pursuit without encountering any further counterattacks or attacks from Kirigakure ninja.

"Ahead lies Tsugaru Gorge, the only strait here suitable for ships to dock..."

Holding the map, Hatake Sakumo compared it with the route they had taken and deduced the retreat destination of the Kirigakure Second Army.

"Did the sensory ninjas make any discoveries?"

Orochimaru asked.

"No unusual activity detected..."

The Jonin in charge of the sensory class quickly replied.

“It seems Kirigakure is indeed retreating, but…” Orochimaru’s gaze turned to Uchiha Tokumitsu: “Tokumitsu-kun, what do you think?”

"See with your eyes."

Uchiha Tokumitsu replied casually, seemingly out of boredom.

"Hehe...that's an interesting answer!"

Orochimaru, who was choked by the saliva, was not angry, but just chuckled strangely a few times.

"It's a good thing after all... The headquarters' fighting force is already exhausted, so ending the war here is not a bad thing..."

Sakumo Hatake put away the map and sighed.

"But if it ends like this, we won't be able to get compensation from Kirigakure. Will the village even have the money to pay our IOUs?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu casually remarked.

"This……"

Hatake Sakumo was also having a headache.

The ninja clans only received IOUs after handing over their clan ninjas, but these IOUs had to be paid after the war. If they failed to receive the surrender compensation from Kirigakure and the village's finances couldn't cover the debts, even he, as the leader of the Jonin class, would likely be in trouble.

Who made it possible for all the clan's ninjas to fight under Sakumo Hatake's command?

"If we want Kirigakure to surrender completely, we'll probably have to fight all the way to the Land of Water's mainland..." Orochimaru chimed in, "Otherwise, Kirigakure, which is isolated overseas, won't give up so easily."

"...The chances of successfully launching a long-distance expedition across the sea into the Hidden Mist are almost nonexistent."