94 - The Name That Shook Five Nations
Inside the makeshift battlefield hospital, seeing that the one treating them was not Tsunade, but a masked stranger, many ninjas from Uzushio felt deeply uneasy. However, after learning that he was a medical-nin specially invited by Tsunade from outside, and that his medical skills were on par with hers, they finally felt at ease.
About to receive a large sum of money, Shin went all in, offering the best service possible.
In the battle against Kumo, Uzushio also suffered heavy losses, nearly 500 ninjas died, and close to 600 were wounded.
Although the explosive tags played a huge role and ultimately secured a total victory, annihilating Kumo's forces, their opponents were far from weak. Among the wounded, more than 200 were seriously injured.
Shin and Tsunade were primarily responsible for operating on and treating these critical patients. The rest, who were not as severely injured, were assigned to other ninjas for treatment.
Those minor wounds could be dealt with using some Konoha White Medicine, a bit of Konoha Black Balm, and some rest to speed up recovery.
For three straight days, they had no time to rest. Finally, after finishing their work, both collapsed onto chairs. After exchanging a glance, they couldn't help but laugh.
The scene was all too familiar to them. Back at Konoha Hospital, they had experienced this exact kind of situation many times.
"You've worked hard," Shin said with a smile. "What do you want to eat when we get back?"
Tsunade leaned her head on his shoulder and said mischievously, "I want you."
"You don't have to wait until we get back." Shin pulled her into his arms and started getting handsy.
"Stop it!" Tsunade quickly looked around, blushing furiously, and pushed him away. "Not here!"
"I know a perfect place," Shin said, then picked her up and in an instant, the two vanished from sight. The omitted words brought happiness to the real body, but misery to the clone.
---
Shin's spiritual wood clone was still in a hidden underground chamber in Uzushio, tirelessly collecting intelligence on Suna and Iwa. With the help of another elder of the Uzumaki clan, Jotaro, the information was passed to all corners of the battlefield under Tsunade's name.
Now, even without Ashina overseeing things, no one in Uzushio questioned Tsunade anymore.
On the contrary, thanks to Ashina's intentional propaganda, she had become the savior of the entire Land of Whirlpools. It was she who, like a master strategist, used her outnumbered forces to consecutively crush the armies of Kiri and Kumo, even forcing the allied shinobi forces into retreat.
It was she who always led the charge, the first into battle, slaying generals and capturing leaders with unmatched might, striking fear into the hearts of her enemies.
It was she who, after the battle, worked tirelessly to treat the wounded ninjas of Uzushio, bringing them healing and hope.
It was her, her, and only her, their hero… ahem…
So, no one could question her orders. Anyone who did would be deemed a public enemy of the Land of Whirlpools. Of course, since the Kiri and Kumo armies were almost completely wiped out and the four lesser ninja villages' forces had just fled to sea, her reputation hadn't yet spread across the entire shinobi world.
But it was only a matter of time before everyone knew the name Tsunade. And her prestige in Konoha would rise to a level that even Hiruzen couldn't suppress, no matter how hard he tried.
---
At the southwest battlefield, faced with no other choice, Suna and Iwa finally decided to retreat. But barely half a day after making that decision, they received a shocking piece of news: Kumo had been completely wiped out, and the four lesser ninja villages had fled in disarray.
The reason they were even able to receive this intel was because Shin hadn't ordered his forces to block those specific intelligence-gathering routes. Upon hearing this, Chiyo and Kitsuchi could no longer sit still.
At that moment, things like seizing benefits or launching breakthroughs no longer mattered. All they wanted was to retreat. The total destruction of the Kiri forces could be chalked up to carelessness.
But what about Kumo?
Those brutes might have looked reckless, but Kitsuchi, who had dealt with them many times, knew that each of them was extremely cunning. Yet they had still been completely annihilated. Even A had been captured.
This was beyond shocking. It was terrifying.
They were gripped with fear. And through the intelligence reports, they finally learned the truth.
The one who had led Uzushio to a seemingly impossible victory wasn't Ashina, nor even someone from the Uzumaki clan, it was a medical-nin from Konoha: Tsunade.
Before this, her name wasn't widely known in the shinobi world, as she had been focused on her private struggle with Shin, burying herself in training and rarely taking on missions. Her fame was limited to Konoha, where she was known only for her godlike medical ninjutsu. No one would have imagined that this person, just one person, could annihilate the armies of two major ninja villages, send the four lesser ninja villages fleeing in panic, and leave the remaining two great villages completely on the defensive.
As the armies of Suna and Iwa retreated, the Uzushio ninjas had no intention of letting them go. It was as if they were venting all their hatred, relentlessly pursuing and slaughtering them all the way to the border. Along the way, the Suna and Iwa ninjas suffered immensely.
Some felt angry and tried to organize ambushes. But none of their traps worked, instead, they were counter-ambushed by the superior forces of Uzushio and completely wiped out.
By the time they reached the ships waiting to evacuate them, less than half of the Suna and Iwa ninjas remained. Fighting in foreign lands often meant such helplessness. But just when they thought salvation was in sight, as they laid eyes on the ships and believed they could finally escape, those very ships exploded before their eyes.
Dozens of vessels were instantly blown to pieces, just like the shattered morale of the two great villages' remaining forces, sinking into the sea. After destroying the ships, the Uzushio ninjas suddenly changed tactics. They stopped pressing the attack and instead pulled back, keeping their distance while slowly wearing down the enemy.
Ten days later, the exhausted and out-of-supplies Suna and Iwa forces, who had already run out of ammunition and energy seven days earlier, were surrounded and crushed by Uzushio's army, personally led by Tsunade and Ashina, in a full-scale assault.
Aside from a few high-ranking individuals like Chiyo and Kitsuchi who were captured, and a small number who escaped to unknown places, the rest were completely annihilated.
During these ten days, envoys from Uzushio also arrived at Kumo and Kiri. Their purpose was singular: to deliver intelligence and issue a warning.
Upon hearing that their armies dispatched to the Land of Whirlpools had been completely destroyed and that their top commanders were captured, the Third Raikage and the Third Mizukage both thought they had misheard.
When they heard Uzushio's envoys declare: "Whoever attacks us again will be the first to be crushed," they burst out laughing, reacting in almost the exact same way. But when they detained the envoys and then discovered they had completely lost contact with their own forces in Uzushio, panic set in.
After dispatching small scouting teams into the Land of Whirlpools, they finally uncovered a shocking truth: Every word the Uzushio envoys said was true.
Not only that, they also received confirmation that the Suna and Iwa armies had been completely destroyed. Alongside these devastating reports, another name sent shockwaves through the shinobi world: Tsunade.
The woman who, through sheer personal strength, had led Uzushio to defeat the allied forces of all the great ninja villages. Her name spread across the shinobi world overnight. Suddenly, everyone started investigating who Tsunade was.
And her title evolved during this war, from "Princess of Konoha" to "Queen of Konoha." Once that title appeared, it was instantly acknowledged and accepted by the entire shinobi world.
As her fame reached every corner, the details of the war also began to spread.
Stories such as:
Outsmarting Fuguiki;
Ambushing and driving back the Four Nations;
Using explosive tags to crush Kumo;
Demoralizing and psychologically breaking Suna and Iwa;
Encircling and exterminating them...
Details about how she exploited the divisions between the great ninja villages, set up chain schemes, and defeated them one by one were gradually revealed.
As soon as those details surfaced, people in Konoha began turning the stories into novels, which quickly gained popularity across the village. And it wasn't long before those stories began circulating throughout the entire ninja world.
Even though she hadn't yet returned to Konoha, the entire village was already abuzz with discussions about her.