Chapter 326: Intelligence

Among Konoha's team were many familiar faces, all strong elites from prominent families. Tsunade recognized them immediately but hadn't expected to encounter them here, nor to see them in such a sorry state.

Meeting Tsunade was an unexpected blessing; nearly everyone from Konoha was injured, and the two medical nin with them were almost out of chakra.

Gaku nearly cried when he saw Tsunade. His ninja dog had been slashed in the hind leg by Jūzō. Had it not dodged quickly, the leg would have been completely severed.

They had only managed to do some basic treatment, and it needed proper healing, but with no chakra left for the medical nin, he could only watch his dog limp in pain. Now, meeting Tsunade felt like a godsend.

"What happened to you all?"

Tsunade immediately went into medical mode, summoning a fist-sized slug with her summoning jutsu as she questioned them.

Treating each one individually would take too long, but with Katsuyu's clones, she could heal everyone simultaneously.

"Lady Tsunade." Katsuyu's soft voice sounded as it emerged from its squishy form.

Tsunade nodded to the slug, instructing, "Heal them."

"Yes, ma'am." Katsuyu's antennae twitched, and it split into clones, which climbed onto each injured Konoha shinobi.

With Katsuyu clones taking over the healing, Shizune simply stood by in silence.

Only Ninashi's injuries were minor enough to ignore. He stepped forward in response to Tsunade's question and explained in a grave tone, "While carrying out a mission to target Rain forces, we were ambushed by a team led by Ye Zi. We suffered heavy casualties, and Captain Sakumo… most likely didn't survive."

The mention of Ye Zi's name and the possibility of Sakumo's death made Tsunade's body tremble. Her eyes flashed with a cold glint as she demanded, "Tell me everything, in full detail!"

The group found a nearby place to rest temporarily, and Ninashi recounted the events from the start of the mission to the present, focusing especially on Ye Zi's abilities.

After hearing Ninashi's account, Tsunade bowed her head, fists clenched so tightly that her pale skin showed bulging veins.

"That idiot Jiraiya…!"

She was stunned by Sakumo's likely death, furious that Jiraiya had withheld mission details, and enraged at Ye Zi's use of her grandfather's signature jutsu against his own village comrades. All her emotions clashed and tangled, creating a storm in her heart.

Her closed eyes concealed her simmering anger, while her fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white. Her body trembled slightly, unable to calm down, each twitch revealing her intense feelings.

The intelligence had confirmed the truth, meaning the murderer of Dan Katō was most likely Ye Zi.

Regardless of whether the village had wronged Ye Zi, his actions had crossed too many lines. He had to be killed.

"Even someone as strong as Sakumo was defeated by Ye Zi… and that was nearly ten elite squads who couldn't take down even a clone of his," Tsunade thought, brows furrowed. Despite her seething anger, she forced herself to think rationally about the extent of Ye Zi's power, though her body continued to tremble with emotion.

Next to her, Shizune watched with concern but wisely remained silent, knowing that saying anything now would only make things worse.

Thanks to Katsuyu, everyone's injuries soon recovered.

Tsunade took a deep breath, glanced over the newly healed group, and said in a low voice, "Lead the way. At the very least, we'll retrieve our fallen comrades' bodies."

She found it disappointing that Ninashi and the others hadn't retrieved the bodies of their comrades, though considering how fear-stricken they were by Ye Zi, she refrained from reprimanding them.

Although the injuries were healed, the atmosphere remained heavy. With Tsunade and Shizune now with them, the group made their way back along the route to the battlefield.

When they reached the place where Sakumo had fought, Tsunade silently stared at the bloodstain on the ground, sighing softly. Her desire to crush Ye Zi's skull only grew stronger.

With her experience, she could tell that Sakumo was almost certainly dead, and since his body was missing, a bad feeling settled over her. She feared that their effort to retrieve his body would end in disappointment.

Moving past this area, Tsunade and her comrades entered the section where Ye Zi's Wood Clone had unleashed Deep Forest Emergence. Even though she had heard Ye Zi could use this jutsu, seeing it with her own eyes still shook her.

The First Hokage, her grandfather, was the only Konoha shinobi who had ever used Wood Release, and after his death, it was believed that Wood Release had gone with him to the grave.

Now, a foreigner she and Orochimaru had brought into Konoha had somehow gained access to Wood Release, even mastering her grandfather's Deep Forest Emergence.

Even if she wracked her brain, Tsunade couldn't think of an explanation for this. The only reasonable speculation she could confirm was that Ye Zi likely had Senju blood.

This theory had surfaced long ago, and while Tsunade knew it was possible to use Wood Release without Senju blood, she held on to this suspicion because she knew about Ye Zi's unique body condition.

To gather their comrades' bodies, the team spread out to search.

A while later, everyone returned, faces filled with guilt.

The bodies… were all gone.

Though Tsunade had anticipated this, it didn't make facing the reality any less painful.

It was common for a fallen ninja's body to be retrieved by the enemy.

According to Ninashi, the Hyūga members, Hizashi and Aohiko, had scanned the area with their Byakugan before they left, confirming no enemies nearby. But, since Ye Zi's whereabouts were unknown, they dared not linger.

Afterward, they left and met Tsunade, and by the time they returned, almost three hours had passed, plenty of time for the enemy to collect the bodies.

Thus, the bodies had likely been taken by the Rain side, making Ninashi's decision to retreat understandable.

Of course, they couldn't know that White Zetsu had been the one to retrieve the bodies, and his combat abilities were minimal.

Confirming the absence of bodies and seeing the traces left by Deep Forest Emergence, the group proceeded to the area where the Sand Shinobi had fought. Seeing the aftermath of Kotoe's Strangling Vines, they were once again left in somber silence.

They had no idea of the Sand Shinobi's current situation or where Ye Zi had gone. Even if Tsunade wanted to investigate further, there was no clear trail. They had gathered all the information needed and decided it was time to return.

The Konoha team set off on the road back to the village.

This mission had brought Konoha significant losses. During these times, every Jōnin was a precious resource, especially elite Jōnin. But most critically, they had lost the powerful White Fang of Konoha.

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